What is the class of travel? Guide to reading airfare
Reading an airline ticket is not so simple. Not all travelers know how to decipher its components, although they know [...]
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Reading an airline ticket is not that simple. Not all travelers know how to decipher its components, although people are very familiar with terms such as "First Class," "Economy Class," & co.
On most aircraft, at least when it comes to intercontinental flights, it is possible to fly in:
- First Class, the top of the top, the most comfortable and therefore the most expensive
- Business Class, of high quality and very often chosen by business travelers
- Premium Economy, an Economy class but more comfortable (spaces between rows are larger and sometimes seats are wider)
- Economy Class, the basic, chosen by most leisure travelers
All of these, although they commonly take the name "classes," are actually booths.
What is travel class
La TRAVEL CLASS Is different from the cabin.
Taking your airline ticket, next to the date, you will notice the words "Class" with a letter. That letter, which may or may not be accompanied by the words "Class," determines the class of travel. What does it do? Basically, it says what you can and cannot do with your airline ticket (number of bags, cancellation fee, etc.).
There are travel classes that are the same for almost all airlines:
- Y, Economy ticket at full fare
- J, ticket in Business at full fare
- F, ticket in First at full fare
All the other letters may change depending on which company you are traveling with. Each letter, in addition to indicating the cabin, provides a whole range of other information: it tells you whether you paid for the ticket at full fare or at a discount, it tells you whether the ticket is refundable or not, and most importantly it tells you whether it entitles you to miles.
For that is then, the main sense. The class of travel determines whether the ticket:
- entitles you to an upgrade
- Is subject to specific modification/deletion policies
- allows you to earn miles (and how many)
How to find the travel class before booking
Do you want to know before you buy your ticket what class of travel you will be flying in? There are airlines that provide the information visibly right away. If you search for a flight on the United Airlines website, for example, clicking on the fare you are interested in and then on "Details" you will find a letter in parentheses next to the cabin. That letter is your class of travel.
Screenshots from United
There are, however, companies with which it is not so easy to unearth the class. And it is even more difficult if you book through tour operators such as Expedia or through systems such as Skyscanner.
Coming to your rescue in these cases are some sites, such as ExpertFlyer. When you search for a flight on the site, under the "Available Classes" column you will find all the travel classes for which there are still tickets available. Also Ita, Google software, allows you to locate the class of flight. You just go to the fare you are interested in, click on "Details," and the class appears next to the cabin in parentheses.
Screenshots from Ita
How class affects miles
Not all flight classes allow you to earn the same number of miles (even if they are for the same cabin), which is why we have already advised to consult Where to credit Before booking a paid ticket.
The example above refers to Alitalia's mileage accumulation. Taking only the Economy cabin into consideration and imagining you fly from Milan to the United States booking with travel class R or F, you can accumulate 25% of the miles flown. On the other hand, if you choose M, H, B or Y as your travel class (without changing cabin), you accumulate as much as 150% of the miles flown.
In conclusion
Knowing how to read this data teaches us how to increase the points/miles we accumulate with each flight, at the same time it makes it easier for us to choose between fare Or use miles. Sometimes a 50/100€ difference on the ticket can mean 10k miles earned or lost and when you want to book an award ticket Those missing miles can be a real bummer.
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