The Header

The top of the page displays in large letters the city pairs you have chosen. Below the city pairs is the date you have selected and the price for the given segment. This part gets a little tricky, but that is the nature of the travel industry.

Your Flight Options

Although there is a legend at the top of this page for quick reference, let's run through exactly what it is you are looking at when the flights pop up. First in the box is the airline. Just to the right is the flight number. Right of that are the city pairs. For direct flights, the departure city will be first and the destination second. For connecting flights the departure city will be first and the connecting city second. The next flight segment underneath will continue from the connecting city onward. You will notice that the city pairs on the top line are in hypertext. You can find important information on each city here, with tourist information on the cities yet to come. At the far right of the top line are the flight times. These are given in twenty-four hour time. If the flight continues past midnight, the time will be followed by the phrase (Next Day).

The next line contains the actual seat availability display. The novice mode displays general availability and the expert mode breaks down each class of service. A novice availability display looks either like this:

1st Y, Biz WL, Coach Y

or like this...

F Y, B WL, C Y

Depending on whether your browser supports forms or not. The classes here are first, business, and coach. If there is a WL showing, it means that that class of service is waitlisted (all seats are sold, you would be on a waiting list). These are general indications of availability only.

An airline availability display in expert mode will display down something like this:

F9 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 V9

Each letter corresponds to a different fare class. The first class or two are generally first class. Typical letters for first class fares are F, P, A, & R. Next is business (predominantly available ouside the United States). Business Classes are generally C and J. Coach occupies the remainder of the fare classes. Fares sell out from right to left. The further left you go, the higher the fare. Fare classes have nothing to do with position in the plane, except for the fact that First and Business class seats tend to be in the front of the aircraft. A 'Q' fare is not further back than a 'B' fare, for instance. The fare classes serve as a way to place value on the remaining seats in a plane. The fewer seats available, the more classes will be sold out, and the more expensive the remaining seats will be.

Keep in mind that the number of seats in any class will never read more than 9 and sometimes, on International flights, won't read above 4. Obviously many of these planes have 300 or more seats on them, so what gives? The display exists in this form for historical reasons. A travel agent doesn't have to know exactly how many seats are available. He or she only has to know that there are enough seats to accommodate a few more passengers. Since the information on this system is what was traditionally available only to agents, the same limitations apply.

The reason the expert mode exists is to give the experienced traveler a better idea of the availability and fare basis for remaining seats on a flight. Upgrades, discounts, fare changes, and a myriad of other things are directly tied to the availability of a certain class of fare.

To the right of the availability line is the percentage of time that flight operates on time. This is an important bit of info in commuter markets where there are many flights to choose from and time is of the essence.

To the right of the On-Time performance is the type of aircraft. Next to that is the number of stops this flight makes enroute. There is a difference between non-stop and direct flights. Non-stop flights make no stops. Direct flights require no change of plane but may stop briefly at an airport along the way. Connecting flights are always represented by two separate flight segments positioned right next to each other.

Understanding the Pricing

If you ask for a flight from Los Angeles to New York 30 days down the road, the price display will show half of the best fare if the best fare is a round trip fare. If the best fare is a one way fare, that particular fare will be displayed. That doesn't happen very often on transcontinental flights. If in fact you are traveling one way and you get half of a round trip fare, do not despair. Continue with the booking process and the actual one way fare will be displayed at the next level. If you are traveling round trip, select the best out bound flight for you and scroll down to the return or continuation flights. Select the rest of your flights, keeping in mind the hints for lower fares.

When no Fare Appears

When no fare appears on the top of the availability box, one of several things may have happened. First, the flight might be completely sold out. This is often the source of the missing price. Second, the flight may have already departed if you are looking at current days flights. Third, you will sometimes see international carriers pop up in domestic markets. This does not mean they are bookable. These are en route stops for an international departure. They are not allowed to sell seats in the domestic U.S. market.

International fares will not display until after you have selected a flight and asked for pricing.

If it is not one of those reasons, let us know!

Selecting a Flight

To actually select a flight, click your mouse on the select button on the far left of the screen. Each flight will have a button next to it. You do not need to know the class of service in which a flight should be booked. We automatically search for the best coach fare and rebook your reservation in the appropriate class of service. Once you have selected all the flights you need, scroll to the bottom of the page where you will find a button that prompts I'll wait while you price my selected itinerary.