Air India has been working hard behind the scenes to transition to new(er) reservation practices, sometimes just playing catch up to the market. Towards this intention, they moved to Amadeus as their reservation systems backbone in May 2022. The transition is now starting to bear fruit.

Air India rolls out new fare families.

Air India has moved to introduce a new method of selling fares, which will make the facilities provided to the passenger by the airline in line with the fare paid. There will be the option of buying a very restricted ticket, for instance, which does not allow you access to the lounge, compared to purchasing a much more expensive flexible ticket which should allow you to freely change it if your plans change.

For reference, the earlier fare brands/families were:

• Economy
  • Web Special
  • Super Value
  • Flexible Saver
  • Flexible Economy
• Premium Economy
  • Super Value
  • Flexible
• Business
  • Super Value
  • Flexible
• First
  • Flexible

These new fare families have been rolled out across the various platforms as of July 17, 2023. Currently, these only reflect for domestic ticketing rather than international routes. Again, eight fare families have been introduced, including 3 in Economy, 2 in Premium Economy, 2 in Business Class and 1 in First Class. The various fare families are differentiated based on the changeability and refundability of a ticket, mileage accrual, upgrade eligibility, priority check-in and lounge access.

Here is how all the fares are being classified as of July 17, 2023:

• Economy Comfort (S, T, U, L fare classes):
  • Non-refundable tickets but changeable against INR 3,000 fee
  • 20kg baggage allowance (compared to 25 kg earlier)
  • 40% miles of distance flown on Flying Returns (compared to 29% on S, 33% on T, 50% on U, and 54% on L Fare RBDs earlier)
  • Chargeable seats
• Economy Comfort Plus (G, W, V, Q, K fare classes):
  • Free changes beyond 72 hours, INR 3000 within 72 hours of travel
  • Cancellation Fee INR 2,500 beyond 72 hours of travel and INR 3,500 within 72 hours of travel
  • 25kg baggage allowance
  • 70% miles of distance flown on Flying Returns (compared to 58% on G, 62% on W, 75% on W, 79% on Q, and 83% on K Fare RBDs earlier)
  • Chargeable seats
• Economy Flex (H, M, B, Y fare classes):
  • Free changes
  • Free Cancellation beyond 72 hours of travel and INR 2,500 within 72 hours of travel
  • 25kg baggage allowance
  • 100% miles of distance flown on Flying Returns (compared to 87% on H, 100% on M, 110% on B, and 120% on Y RBDs earlier)
  • Chargeable seats
• Premium Economy Comfort Plus (N fare class):
  • Free changes beyond 72 hours, INR 3000 within 72 hours of travel
  • Cancellation Fee INR 2,500 beyond 72 hours of travel and INR 3,500 within 72 hours of travel
  • 30kg baggage allowance
  • 120% miles of distance flown on Flying Returns
  • Seat Allocation Included
• Premium Economy Flex (A, R fare classes):
  • Free changes
  • Free Cancellation beyond 48 hours of travel and INR 2,500 within 48 hours of travel
  • 35kg baggage allowance
  • 135% miles of distance flown on Flying Returns
  • Seat Allocation Included
• Business Comfort Plus (Z, J fare class):
  • INR 2,500 change fee
  • INR 3,500 cancellation fee
  • 35kg baggage allowance
  • 150% miles of distance flown on Flying Returns (compared to 115% for Z, 150% for J RBDs earlier)
  • Seat Allocation Included
• Business Flex (D, C fare classes):
  • Free changes
  • Free Cancellation beyond 24 hours of travel and INR 2,400 within 48 hours of travel
  • 40kg baggage allowance
  • 200% miles of distance flown on Flying Returns (compared to 175% for D, 200% for C RBDs earlier)
  • Seat Allocation Included
• First Flex (F fare classes):
  • Free changes
  • Free Cancellation beyond 24 hours of travel and INR 2,400 within 48 hours of travel
  • 40kg baggage allowance
  • 300% miles of distance flown on Flying Returns (compared to 300% for F earlier)
  • Seat Allocation Included

Here is a compact chart Air India put out to show how the Fare Brands will work for the reference of their travel agents:

These changes allow for a couple of things. First, it will enable Air India to participate in the market where no-frill airlines dictate headline pricing and pull people into the Air India fold. Due to the low fares, they may only be looking at an IndiGo or Akasa earlier. It also allows them to cut back on some of the benefits offered, which were generous for a long time (such as the 25-kilo baggage allowance).

Also, it allows them to account for their next generation of fare management, where they will have a merged Vistara in their organisation (with Premium Economy). Also, it has their wide bodies fly domestically for tag flights sometimes during the day (such as on BOM-DEL), and these have their premium F cabin or Premium Economy fitted in as well.

Older tickets issued before July 17, 2023, will be valid on the old terms.

Bottomline

Air India has launched new fare families, which were rolled on domestic routes on July 17, 2023. These fare families will offer lower baggage allowance on many inflexible fares in Economy but will add perks on the higher fares such as cheaper cancellation and change fees.

What do you think of the new fare families rolled out by Air India?

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