Decoding fare buckets on the new United

Posted by Seth on October 13, 2011 under frequent flyer, points | 29 Comments to Read

Like nearly everything associated with the merger between Continental and United Airlines there are adjustments being made in the fare buckets that are used for bookings. There are changes from both the legacy Continental and United systems, resulting in an alphabet soup that is pretty convoluted to parse through. Even more confusing is that some of the changes are already creeping into the system while others (namely on the earning rates) are not going to take effect for a few weeks yet. Still, getting to the bottom of the new fare buckets is a useful exercise.

At least I hope it is, because I just did it.

Perhaps the most challenging in all of this will be tweaking all the various award monitoring and alert systems to help ensure that folks looking for award seats are getting the correct information in a timely manner.

Going forward I’ll be maintaining this information in a wiki rather than here as the wiki format is much more conducive to sharing and editing this sort of stuff, but I figured that the initial share wouldn’t hurt in both. You can find the wiki here.

Here’s what the new buckets look like:

Revenue Fare Buckets

Class of Service Purchased Fare Class Award Miles Elite Qualification Miles Elite Qualification Points
First Class (3-cabin)

F, A

250%

150%

1.5
First Class (2-cabin)

F, A

175%

150%

1.5
Full Fare Business Class

J, C, D

175%

150%

1.5
Discounted Business Class

P

150%

150%

1.5
Deep Discounted Business Class*

Z

150%

150%

1.5
Full Fare Economy Class

Y, B

125%

150%

1.5
Discounted Economy Class

M, E, U, H, Q, V, W

100%

100%

1
Deep Discounted Economy Class*

S, T, L, K, G

100%

100%

1

*Most fares in the “Deep Discounted” buckets are ineligible for MileagePlus promotions. They are also not eligible for GPU (formerly known as SWU) upgrades on longhaul routes marketed with a premium cabin.
** The N fare bucket is currently flagged as unused in the system; it is the only letter as yet unused.

Award Fare Buckets

Redeemed Cabin Premier Status SaverPass/Saver Award Bucket EasyPass/Standard Award Bucket
First Class (3-cabin) Premier Platinum/1K/Global Services

ON

FN
First Class (3-cabin) Premier Gold/Silver/Platinum

O

FN
First Class (3-cabin) Chase CC Holder

O

FN
First Class (3-cabin) Non-Elite

O

FN
First Class (2-cabin) Premier Platinum/1K/Global Services

IN

JN
First Class (2-cabin) Premier Gold/Silver/Platinum

I

JN
First Class (2-cabin) Chase CC Holder

I

JN
First Class (2-cabin) Non-Elite

I

ZN
Business Class (3-cabin) Premier Platinum/1K/Global Services

IN

JN
Business Class (3-cabin) Premier Gold/Silver/Platinum

I

JN
Business Class (3-cabin) Chase CC Holder

I

JN
Business Class (3-cabin) Non-Elite

I

ZN
Economy Class Premier Platinum/1K/Global Services

XN

YN
Economy Class Premier Gold/Silver/Platinum

XN

YN
Economy Class Chase CC Holder

X

YN
Economy Class Non-Elite

X

HN

 

Upgrade Fare Buckets

Redeemed Cabin Premier Status Award Bucket
Biz to First (3-cabin) All Passengers

ON
Economy to Business (3-cabin) All Levels

RN
Economy to Business (3-cabin) Non-elite

R
Economy to First (2-cabin)* All Levels

RN
Economy to First (2-cabin) Non-elite

R

*This includes Complimentary Premium Upgrades (CPUs) which were formerly known as UDU or EUA.

Insta-Upgrade Fare Buckets

Redeemed Cabin Award Bucket
Y-Up

JN
B/M-Up

PN

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  1. Darren said,

    Wow, thanks for this. Fantastic resource.

  2. AS said,

    This is a big deal, especially coding domestic F awards as “I” instead of “O”. Makes using a Star-Alliance award with a domestic segment much more affordable eg when using US, BMI, AC miles. I think you have the exclusive scoop on this.

  3. FriendlySkies said,

    Something that used to be so easy (NC, NF, XC, XF, NY, etc) is now much more complicated to keep track of. Where did you find this info posted?

  4. Seth said,

    @FriendlySkies – The letters are still quite easy; they’re just different than what they were. X, I and O are consistent with most Star Alliance partners and nearly every upgrade will clear into R. Add an N to the end if you’re elite. Piece of cake.

    @AS – Yes, being able to redeem those domestic 2-cabin seats as C awards rather than F is, indeed, quite a nice move. It is also consistent with the relatively customer-friendly behavior of Continental prior to the merger. For all the complaining that goes on about the changes the fact is that much of the merger really is moving in a direction that is still quite beneficial to customers.

  5. United/Continental New Fare Buckets and Mileage Earning - View from the Wing said,

    [...] Wandering Aramean put together a chart of the revenue, award, and upgrade fare buckets at the new United (i.e. post- Continental [...]

  6. oliver2002 said,

    Seth,
    re: ‘The N fare bucket is currently flagged as unused in the system; it is the only letter as yet unused.’

    N is generally used by *A for non rev ID/AD travel in coach, I would assume UA will use that bucket as such.

  7. Washington Times - United Admits to StarNet Blocking! - Page 159 - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] Does anyone have an opinion if the newly announced award fare buckets for the combined program makes it more, or less, likely that *net blocking will be applied to the combined programs? Thanks. http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewan…he-new-united/ [...]

  8. bmvaughn said,

    The phrases “SaverPass” and “EasyPass” are quite confusing. Hope UA doesn’t adopt those.

  9. chitownflyer said,

    This is a very useful and informative chart for deciphering fare buckets and award travel on the new United. Thank you very much for publishing it.

  10. Ben said,

    Seth,

    I updated the wiki as Platinum will be given the same access as 1K and GS for IN or ON.

  11. Dan said,

    Premier Platinum will have access to IN/ON inventory.

  12. Seth said,

    Indeed, this chart (http://mileageplusmergerupdates.com/en/mp/MileagePlusin2012/2012MPStatusChart) suggests that Platinums do get that benefit.

    Thanks for the fix, Ben.

  13. Decoding the alphabet soup - New fare buckets for UA - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] be included in the new FAQ but while waiting for that to be guilt I figured I'd share the details. These are all the fares in the new scheme: Revenue buckets (RDM/PQM earnings) F – Full Fare First (250%/150% or 175%/150% for 3/2 cabin) A – [...]

  14. What is fare class PN ? - Page 2 - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] These are all the fares in the new scheme: Revenue buckets (RDM/PQM earnings) F – Full Fare First (250%/150% or 175%/150% for 3/2 cabin) A – Discount First (250%/150% or 175%/150% for 3/2 cabin) J – Full Fare Business (175%/150%) C – Full Fare Business (175%/150%) D – Full Fare Business (175%/150%) P – Discount Business (150%/150%) Z – Deep Discount Business (150%/150%) Y – Full Fare Coach (125%/150%) B – Full Fare Coach (125%/150%) M – Discount Coach (100%/100%) E – Discount Coach (100%/100%) U – Discount Coach (100%/100%) H – Discount Coach (100%/100%) Q – Discount Coach (100%/100%) V – Discount Coach (100%/100%) W – Deep Discount Coach (100%/100%) S – Deep Discount Coach (100%/100%) T – Deep Discount Coach (100%/100%) L – Deep Discount Coach (100%/100%) K – Deep Discount Coach (100%/100%) G – Deep Discount Coach (100%/100%) N – This will be unused (possibly for industry discount tix) SaverPass Award Seats ON – Elite (Plat/1K/GS) SaverPass First Award O – Non-Elite and Low Elite SaverPass First Award IN – Elite (Plat/1K/GS) SaverPass Business Award I – Non-Elite and Low Elite SaverPass Business Award XN – Elite SaverPass Coach Award X – Non-Elite SaverPass Coach Award EasyPass Award Seats FN – EasyPass First Award JN – Elite/CC EasyPass Business Award ZN – Non-Elite EasyPass Business Award (tracks to the Z bucket) YN – Elite/CC EasyPass Coach Award HN – Non-Elite EasyPass Coach Award (tracks to the H bucket) Upgrade Awards ON – C->F on 3-cabin aircraft PN – B/M-Up for Elites (tracks to the P bucket) RN – Elite Upgrade to Business/Domestic F R – Non-Elite Upgrade to Business/Domestic F __________________ Wandering Aramean | Twitter | Lounge Guide | Travel Tools | World Heritage Sites Mo' fun in Mauritius | Morocco 2010/Photos | Northern Lights/YZF 2010 | Trip Reports [...]

  15. Mainland US-Hawaii C award rip-off? - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] FT member sbm12 published on his blog the new United award buckets. According to the info, and how I read it, it should be possible to [...]

  16. Do you buy a higher fare-class (Y, B, U, H, M) solely to increase SWU/CR-1 chances? - Page 3 - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] the buckets will closely match the CO buckets, not the old UA buckets. Might want to read up here http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewan…he-new-united/. I thought sbm12 was planning on updating the FAQ at some point to display the new fare [...]

  17. Reading the tea leaves for MileagePlus partner earning rates - The Wandering Aramean said,

    [...] premium cabin fares see an upgrade to the award miles earning rates, in line with the previously discussed earning rates for United flights. These rates are much higher in most cases than the legacy United or Continental [...]

  18. UA Award Codes (Mar 12) - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] Originally Posted by UA-NYC No – R/RN ON for int'l and 3 class F UA-NYC, Thanks for clarifying. After I posted this I did find this site, which seems go have a very comprehensive explanation of all codes: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewan…he-new-united/ [...]

  19. Learning the new website: How to find upgrade inventory - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] states (among other things) that R=XF. Yes, that listing is out of date. A current list is here: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewan…he-new-united/. [...]

  20. The new united.com primer: How to find upgrade inventory - The Wandering Aramean said,

    [...] are four different types of upgrade space available in the new [...]

  21. John Montgomery said,

    Just to be clear about the new classes, the following fares are eligible for upgrades:

    M, E, U, H, Q, V, W

    (This would include GPU, RPU, CPU, miles, etc)

    By the way, your other Chrome scripting trick for available buckets is simply genius. So awesome. What a great share with the community.

  22. Seth said,

    Those fare classes are some of the SWU-able buckets on premium cabin routes, John. Y and B would also be in there.

    For non-premium cabin routes all fares buckets are eligible for GPU or RPU. And all fares are eligible for miles-supported upgrades, assuming the co-pay is also paid.

  23. ExpertFlyer class confusion - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] I have 2-class upgrades waitlisted (for NF) which are now set to alert on ON. Seems wrong, per this. I know there is a merger thread for SHARES handling of NF but now the confusion seems to have [...]

  24. CDKing said,

    I just did Y-up on a UDU eligible segment and the system assigned a business class seat on international segment when it should have upgraded the SFO-BOS segment. Now it says I have to call reservation. Hopefully my upgrades wont get taken away. I’m not even sure why my trip booked into Y.

  25. GS using SWU on Standard Economy Award from NYC - LHR - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] UA's new fare buckets says the answer is RN has to be open. [...]

  26. Puzzling upgrade status - Page 3 - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] Originally Posted by xianrocker What is the difference between R and RN? I noticed several other fare buckets also have N's following the fare class identifier R = Upgrade from Y to J or J to F (non-elite) RN = Upgrade from Y to J or J to F (elite) See http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewan…he-new-united/ [...]

  27. Premier Instant Upgrade - How does it work? - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] For instant upgrade on a YB fare you want JN>0. For a 1k on M fare, you are looking for PN>0. The agent was correct, the instant upgrade does not pull from F or A. See Decoding fare buckets on the new United [...]

  28. Have a simple question about the consolidated UA/CO? Ask here. - Page 135 - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] discussion on fare buckets here: Decoding the alphabet soup – New fare buckets for UA and here: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewan…he-new-united/. __________________ Wandering Aramean | Twitter | Lounge Guide | Travel Tools | World Heritage [...]

  29. Still using "ON" booking codes. Thought this had stopped - FlyerTalk Forums said,

    [...] to first upgrade is correctly ON. http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewan…he-new-united/ There should be another flag on the PNR to indicate that you should get [...]

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