Helloworld says no Lufthansa Z class fare but EF says yes

[ozflier]

Hi,
I have an EF subscription and very happy that I did.
I see availability for a flight on EF but Helloworld Travel say they don't.
I suspect that there is a good reason for this but cannot work out what it is.
Maybe, there are different "Z"s for rtw fares??? Unlikely though.
Here goes
I am booking a LH business rtw fare which includes a FRA-NRT segment on 12 july. This is LH metal.
On EF I consistently have seen "9' for all fare classes incl the required 'Z" "(per the LH business rtw rules).
Helloworld say that their flight staff say no "Z" seats available on LF 710 on that day!
They want me to pay extra to get "D" seats which are available.
Can anyone give me a reason why EF can see them and, I assume they simply access one of the global flight engines ( eg Amadeus ) and reflect that availability.
I certainly do not want to cast aspersions on Helloworld but would like to know for future reference , should they be correct, why is it that EF shows incorrectly.

 

[Mattg]

I have two theories about what is going on here. Either your travel agent is lying to you, or "D" class is in fact what is used to build y our RTW ticket. FWIW I believe that Star Alliance RTW tickets use "D" class, but I'm not sure if Lufthansa RTWs (a separate product) uses Z or D class. It could be the latter.

Perhaps clarify with your travel agent (or another travel agent...) which is the correct fare class? I believe that Expert Flyer is usually pretty accurate, so if the agent tells you that Z class is being used, and Z class is showing on EF, then that's what they should be booking for you.

Edit: According to this thread, Z class can be used. So it seems the travel agent is trying to get you to pay more (so they earn a higher commission) unnecessarily.
Might be time to find a better TA...

 

[ozflier]

Ta for that.
I rang LH - there are Z seats on that flight!
I re rang the travel agent who says galileo say no Z seats !!
I should have done this all online but i like to support local agents.

 

[mannej]

I have two theories about what is going on here. Either your travel agent is lying to you, or "D" class is in fact what is used to build y our RTW ticket. FWIW I believe that Star Alliance RTW tickets use "D" class, but I'm not sure if Lufthansa RTWs (a separate product) uses Z or D class. It could be the latter.

Perhaps clarify with your travel agent (or another travel agent...) which is the correct fare class? I believe that Expert Flyer is usually pretty accurate, so if the agent tells you that Z class is being used, and Z class is showing on EF, then that's what they should be booking for you.

Edit: According to this thread, Z class can be used. So it seems the travel agent is trying to get you to pay more (so they earn a higher commission) unnecessarily.
Might be time to find a better TA...

It depends - not all TA's have full access to the available inventory. The airline may be showing Z9, but the TA may have sold their allocation of Z flights for that flight, or not have access to it at all.

 

[ExpertFlyer Voice]

Ta for that.
I rang LH - there are Z seats on that flight!
I re rang the travel agent who says galileo say no Z seats !!
I should have done this all online but i like to support local agents.

As you noted, ExpertFlyer shows Z inventory for that flight, for both the UK and USA POS, which matches what LH tells you over the phone.

 

[ozflier]

The travel agent says she rang LH and they say no Zulu class seats available on that flight!
"D" seating for that sector is an extra AUD600 per person.

 

[ozflier]

This airline game is weird.
I think Helloworld is correct and indeed offered me good prices for the overall itn.
I have asked LH to do some dummy bookings for my itinerary - they cannot even find a "D" seat FRA-NRT on 12 july and indeed had to book me into "C" class at an extra AUD1300 each!
No one can explain why - certainly zulu class is there but the rules of the LH rtw i am trying to get restrict seating class availability.
It looks like FRA/MUC-HND may have zulu availability so will try to do it that way.
Thank you for all your advice and will let you know the outcome.

 

[ozflier]

I was able to use the also available zulu class on that day MUC-HND.
The issue is not one of Helloworld-they gave me a good deal .
Airline fares are a complex issue.

 

[Mattg]

Airline fares are a complex issue.

Ain't that the truth!!

 

[moa999]

POS point of sale differences?