Rewards booking codes for VA?

[Moopere]

Mmm. Curious. I didn't think that MEL-PER was a valid route for the free Amex flight. I know PER-MEL is, but I thought the deal was limited to ADL westwards from any of the eastern cities. Would this Amex free flight have come off one of the premium Amex cards? (ie; Plat charge or something) ... might also explain why it booked against T instead of R (????)

 

[oz_mark]

Mmm. Curious. I didn't think that MEL-PER was a valid route for the free Amex flight. I know PER-MEL is, but I thought the deal was limited to ADL westwards from any of the eastern cities. Would this Amex free flight have come off one of the premium Amex cards? (ie; Plat charge or something) ... might also explain why it booked against T instead of R (????)

Perth is a valid destination from Melbourne on the Platinum Reserve card.

 

[Bofter]

Upcoming bookings:

Q = Velocity Business (Flexi + points upgrade)
Q = Velocity Business (Flexi + points upgrade)
H = Velocity Business (Points + Pay)
Q = Velocity Business (Flexi + points upgrade)
H = Velocity Business (Points + Pay)
H = Velocity Business (Points + Pay)

I think these were already known earlier in the thread, but they appear pretty consistent.

 

[serfty]

Have you flown these classes or just nutted it out?

I'm sort of glad of your conclusion of F .. I was fast coming to the same conclusion ... but only by observation. Very interested if you have actually flown a T fare as we have anecdotal reports of it being Amex flight related but no-one with a T boarding pass has reported yet.


[edit: S, T, A, U, X, R, F = Discount Economy

This is listed on the virgin website ... its just occurred to me that it might be in revenue order, much like ExpertFlyer listings tend to be. So, S = most expensive discount Economy, F = most economical discount economy.

R has been linked to promo type fares, like the Amex free flight and looking at EF its almost always sold out. T on the other hand has a couple of verbal reports of being linked to Amex free flight also, but almost always has good availability]

I followed jneufield's instructions above.

Interestingly, no fare class appeared on the boarding pass for the Amex flight!

My Amex flight is showing R class looking at the html/java.

As I linked to in post #87, T class is definitely used for Amex as well.

FWIW, my upgraded Flexi fares bookings were either B or M prior to being upgraded into Q class.

 

[KVS]

R = Some sort of promotional class. Its listed in Virgins 'earning' classes (see top of post), but there is mounting anecdotal evidence that R class is used for Amex "free" flights.

It is one of the deeply-discounted Regular Economy Classes:

[KVS Availability Tool 6.9.8/Diamond - Galileo: Fares/PSH/RU]

SYD  Sydney Kingsford Smith NS AU [YSSY]
AKL  Auckland Intl NZ [NZAA]
R/T  01 May 2012 | Economy

Carrier    From    To    Fare      Cur   AdvanceP  Min  Max  Fare Basis | Travel Period
---------  ------  ----  --------  ----  --------  ---  ---  --------------------------
DJ         SYD     AKL       321   USD        ***       360  FZDSVA
[B]DJ         SYD     AKL       321   USD        ***       360  RZDSVA[/B]
DJ         SYD     AKL       321   USD        ***       360  FZDSVA
DJ         SYD     AKL       321   USD        ***       360  RZDSVA
DJ         SYD     AKL       361   USD        ***       360  XZDSVA
DJ         SYD     AKL       361   USD        ***       360  XZDSVA
DJ         SYD     AKL       407   USD        ***       360  UZDSVA
DJ         SYD     AKL       407   USD        ***       360  UZDSVA
DJ         SYD     AKL       475   USD        ***       360  AZDSVA
DJ         SYD     AKL       475   USD        ***       360  AZDSVA
DJ         SYD     AKL       550   USD        ***       360  TZDSVA
DJ         SYD     AKL       550   USD        ***       360  TZDSVA
DJ         SYD     AKL       674   USD        ***       360  MZDFLA
DJ         SYD     AKL       674   USD        ***       360  MZDFLA
DJ         SYD     AKL       738   USD        ***       360  SZDSVA
DJ         SYD     AKL       738   USD        ***       360  SZDSVA
DJ         SYD     AKL       863   USD        ***       360  BZDFLA
DJ         SYD     AKL       863   USD        ***       360  BZDFLA
DJ         SYD     AKL      1101   USD        ***       360  NZDFLA
DJ         SYD     AKL      1101   USD        ***       360  NZDFLA
YY         SYD     AKL      1375   USD        ***            YIF
YY         SYD     AKL      1375   USD        ***            YIF
DJ         SYD     AKL      1383   USD        ***       360  YZDFLA
DJ         SYD     AKL      1383   USD        ***       360  YZDFLA
DJ         SYD     AKL      1508   USD        ***       360  WZDPEA
DJ         SYD     AKL      1508   USD        ***       360  WZDPEA
YY         SYD     AKL      2601   USD        ***            CIF
YY         SYD     AKL      2601   USD        ***            CIF

 

[KVS]

Once we've collected enough evidence that we're pretty sure of these codes I think we should let EF and KVS know and hopefully, if they agree, they will update their classes list for the benefit of all.

That would certainly be most welcome -- so far, we have added the Business Award Booking Class (H) to http://Help.KVSTool.com/#DJ

 

[Moopere]

Beginning of April Update:

From Virgins Site:

S, T, A, U, X, R, F = Discount Economy (probably in revenue order, so, S most expensive, F cheapest)
Y, N, B, M = Full Fare Economy (Flexi)
W = Premium Economy (Possibly Long Haul International PE translates into W for Domestic or Short Haul ... W seems to come from Business Class stock)
J = Business


AFF deduction, certainly open to review:

O = Discount Business

H = Velocity rewards Business

I = Economy (?? probably) reward or other non earning fare (Really unsure, some sort of Y fare that involves airline goodwill or last minute changes????)

D = Might be Government contract Economy, probably non earning - need more data

L = Economy (?? probably) reward or other non earning fare

P = Discount Economy Flex, most likely rewards or non earning related (or it would be in the discount economy listing from DJ)

C = Discount Y, codeshare bucket. Listed by DL and SQ as 50% earning Discount Y

E = Listed by DL and SQ as 50% earning Discount Y ... more data required .. if it were standard cash discount Y then it should be in DJ's list of discount Y. If it were straight rewards its unlikely to generate earn via partners.

Q = Points Upgrade or Comp (status) upgrade to Business

R = Deep Discount Economy. Often used for promotional seats - Amex and probably Virgin Flyer/High Flyer Credit Card fares. Promotional fares don't earn, deep discount revenue fare probably does.

T = Another discount economy fare which also appears to be used for promotional purposes. Looks like Amex Premium cards with free flights might book into T

 

[Moopere]

It seems a reasonable supposition that the order the classes are listed in, on EF, is likely the revenue order as well, from highest price to lowest. For example:

A random pick of a flight listed on EF: J5 W5 O5 H3 Y7 I7 D7 N7 B7 M7 S7 T7 A7 U7 X7 R7 L7 P7 C7 E7 F7

The codes we want to know about, probably in order of recenue: O, H, I, D, L, P, C, E

Q as always is suspiciously missing from domestic EF listings. Good data to suggest its an upgrade to Business from other classes using points or status, but I can't imagine why its never listed.

I'd personally assume it would be placed at the very end, after F, the deep discount Economy fare ... because Q appears to earn no cash whatsoever, being a points or status based upgrade.

 

[wafliron]

Q as always is suspiciously missing from domestic EF listings. Good data to suggest its an upgrade to Business from other classes using points or status, but I can't imagine why its never listed.

I'd personally assume it would be placed at the very end, after F, the deep discount Economy fare ... because Q appears to earn no cash whatsoever, being a points or status based upgrade.

When I was able to get EF to show Q (for short-haul international - see http://www.australianfrequentflyer....-booking-codes-for-dj-35665-3.html#post569476) it did appear at the very end. Not sure you can trust the data though.

 

[Moopere]

Anyone know if a Flexi upgrade to J is H? Perhaps its O or even the elusive Q??

I rang VFF this evening to clarify a few things and in amongst the conversation I was assured that so long as upgrade seats were available I'd get one should I book Flexi and apply for a J upgrade. Silly me forgot at the time to ask the pertinent question ... what "upgrade seats" (buckets) would that be? When I called back I was informed by a robot that operating hours were 8am-8pm M-F SYD time, please call later....

Theres a heads-up for me. Don't try to do the flexi upgrade thing on a weekend or after hours as I might miss out on the upgrade if the seats disappear during a weekend web-based booking.

 

[Bofter]

My points upgrades from flexi to business all show Q class when I use the method described earlier in the thread to see the HTML code on the bookings page.

I wish that Q class showed up in Expertflyer, KVS or some other tool, as it would save a call to the call centre during business hours.

 

[Moopere]

My points upgrades from flexi to business all show Q class when I use the method described earlier in the thread to see the HTML code on the bookings page.

I wish that Q class showed up in Expertflyer, KVS or some other tool, as it would save a call to the call centre during business hours.

Ah, yes, thanks - you posted this a little while ago, my apologies. I'll update the table.

Agree with the q class and not showing in EF or KVS .. what a pain.

 

[serfty]

H is reward Business/premium, Q is upgrade from Flexi Business/Premium - see post #107

 

[medhead]

I just upgraded a flexi to business. Expert flyer went from J7 W7 O7 H1 to J6 W6 O6 H0. However, the View Source method is showing a fare family of Q.

 

[serfty]

Just because you used Q class availability does not mean other fare buckets won't change as well.

Business class = H = Q = J.

This is a classic case, without being able to see Q before and after I would guess there were seven physical Business seats available for sale and it was J7 W7 O7 H1 Q1 - i.e. Only prepared to do one for award/upgrade. (Probably one was already sold.)

You 'puchased' one of these 7 seats with the upgrade, so only six seats left and the entire availability changes (J6 W6 O6 H0 Q0) with no more currently available for award/upgrade.

 

[medhead]

Just because you used Q class availability does not mean other fare buckets won't change as well.

Business class = H = Q = J.

This is a classic case, without being able to see Q before and after I would guess there were seven physical Business seats available for sale and it was J7 W7 O7 H1 Q1 - i.e. Only prepared to do one for award/upgrade. (Probably one was already sold.)

You 'puchased' one of these 7 seats with the upgrade, so only six seats left and the entire availability changes (J6 W6 O6 H0 Q0) with no more currently available for award/upgrade.

I only mentioned the 7 to 6 as extra information. More interesting was the change to H, suggesting that it could be a useful surrogate for upgrade availability, even if Q is not visible.

 

[serfty]

I only mentioned the 7 to 6 as extra information. More interesting was the change to H, suggesting that it could be a useful surrogate for upgrade availability, even if Q is not visible.

Fair enough.

FWIW, I have been able to upgrade into Q on flights that were showing H0, so in that respect J>W>O>Q>H ...

 

[Moopere]

I only mentioned the 7 to 6 as extra information. More interesting was the change to H, suggesting that it could be a useful surrogate for upgrade availability, even if Q is not visible.

Yes, I think this seems fair, given we can't see Q, H availability might indicate Q availability .... Its certainly a useful guide in the absence of Q reporting. If desperate, one can always call to see what Q stock is left even if H shows zero

FWIW, I have been able to upgrade into Q on flights that were showing H0, so in that respect J>W>O>Q>H ...

Seems a reasonable assumption. However, I'm not sure I've ever seen J or W or even O vary from one another, so maybe its J=W=O>Q>H

Although its also possible that that J=W=O=Q>H

 

[Moopere]

Mid April Update:

From Virgins Site:

S, T, A, U, X, R, F = Discount Economy (probably in revenue order, so, S most expensive, F cheapest)
Y, N, B, M = Full Fare Economy (Flexi)
W = Premium Economy (Possibly Long Haul International PE translates into W for Domestic or Short Haul ... W seems to come from Business Class stock)
J = Business


AFF deduction, certainly open to review:

O = Discount Business

H = Velocity rewards Business (might also be indicative of Q availability - see Q at the bottom of the list)

I = Economy (?? probably) reward or other non earning fare (Really unsure, some sort of Y fare that involves airline goodwill or last minute changes????)

D = Might be Government contract Economy, probably non earning - need more data

L = Economy (?? probably) reward or other non earning fare

P = Discount Economy Flex, most likely rewards or non earning related (or it would be in the discount economy listing from DJ)

C = Discount Y, codeshare bucket. Listed by DL and SQ as 50% earning Discount Y

E = Listed by DL and SQ as 50% earning Discount Y ... more data required .. if it were standard cash discount Y then it should be in DJ's list of discount Y. If it were straight rewards its unlikely to generate earn via partners.

Q = Points Upgrade or Comp (status) upgrade to Business (so, Economy Flexi full paid fare to Business, via points upgrade or via Platinum complimentary upgrade)

R = Deep Discount Economy. Often used for promotional seats - Amex and probably Virgin Flyer/High Flyer Credit Card fares. Promotional fares don't earn, deep discount revenue fare probably does.

T = Another discount economy fare which also appears to be used for promotional purposes. Looks like Amex Premium cards with free flights might book into T

 

[Moopere]

Mid April Update #2:

From Virgins Site:

S, T, A, U, X, R, F = Discount Economy (probably in revenue order, so, S most expensive, F cheapest)
Y, N, B, M = Full Fare Economy (Flexi)
W = Premium Economy (Possibly Long Haul International PE translates into W for Domestic or Short Haul ... W seems to come from Business Class stock)
J = Business


AFF deduction, certainly open to review:

O = Discount Business

H = Velocity rewards Business (might also be indicative of Q availability - see Q at the bottom of the list)

I = Economy (?? probably) reward or other non earning fare (Really unsure, some sort of Y fare that involves airline goodwill or last minute changes????)

D = Whole of Australian Government (WOAG) contract fare. Economy, Flexi (food+bags) + lounge access + Priority Checkin. Earns SC but not FF points

L = Economy (?? probably) reward or other non earning fare

P = Discount Economy Flex, most likely rewards or non earning related (or it would be in the discount economy listing from DJ at the top of this post)

C = Discount Y, codeshare bucket. Listed by DL and SQ as 50% earning Discount Y

E = Listed by DL and SQ as 50% earning Discount Y ... more data required .. if it were standard cash discount Y then it should be in DJ's list of discount Y. If it were straight rewards its unlikely to generate earn via partners.

Q = Points Upgrade or Comp (status) upgrade to Business (so, Economy Flexi full paid fare to Business, via points upgrade or via Platinum complimentary upgrade)

R = Deep Discount Economy. Often used for promotional seats - Amex and probably Virgin Flyer/High Flyer Credit Card fares. Promotional fares don't earn, deep discount revenue fare probably does.

T = Another discount economy fare which also appears to be used for promotional purposes. Looks like Amex Premium cards with free flights might book into T