Shorthaul fares product trial - Questions and Answers

What new fares types being introduced?

Hand Baggage Only (HBO) our lowest price for when you want to travel light
Standard our lowest all inclusive price, with everything you would expect when flying with
British Airways
Semi-flex when your travel plans change last minute, our Flex price gives you the option to
change your flight on the day to an earlier or later flight
Fully-flex our fully flexible price gives you complete flexibility and control to change when and
where you fly

Why is British Airways introducing these new fares?

Weve listened to customer feedback and recognise that customers sometimes want more control over
their travel plans. This means giving them greater flexibility to be able to change their booking,
particularly on the day of travel, or giving them a lower price when they dont need to travel with
checked baggage and they know their plans wont change.
Our standard Euro Traveller fares will continue to be available year-round. Existing fare rules apply.

Why are you introducing Hand Baggage Only fares for flights to/from London Heathrow and London
City?
HBO fares have proved very popular with customers on flights to/from London Gatwick. We want to be
able to offer customers on flights to/from London Heathrow and London City. If the trial on the nine
routes is successful, we plan to roll out all the new fares across the short haul network.

When will the new fares be available?

The new fare types will be trialled on nine routes.

London Heathrow to/from: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paris CDG and Paris
ORY, Rome, Rotterdam and Stockholm
London Gatwick to/from: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Rome
London City to/from: Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stockholm

They are available for sale from 11 September for travel from 24 September.

In which booking classes will the fares be available?

EUROPEAN FARE LADDER

London Heathrow/City
Fare
class
J
C
D
R
I
Y
B
H
K
M
L
V
N
Q
O

HBO

Standard

London Gatwick

Semiflex

Fullyflex

Unchanged (Restricted)
Unchanged (Restricted)

Fare
class
J
C
D
R
I
Y
B
H
K
M
L
V
N
Q
O

HBO

Standard

Semiflex

Fully-flex

Unchanged (Restricted)
Unchanged (Restricted)

UK DOMESTIC FARE LADDER

London Heathrow/City
Fare
class
J/Y
C
D
R
I
B
H
K
M
L
V
N
Q
O
S

HBO

Standard

Early/Late

London Gatwick
Semiflex

Fullyflex

Fare
class
J/Y
C
D
R
I
B
H
K
M
L
V
N
Q
O
S

HBO

Standard

Early/late

Semiflex

Fullyflex

How will the new fares be identifiable in the GDS?

New fares and fare bases will be filed in the public tariff and the Hand Baggage Only fare will be filed as a
private fare. The new fare bases will not only identify the fare product but also which London airport it
applies to (please see the tables below). The changes may also affect transfer fare bases as these are
constructed as add-ons to the London fares, though the main benefits only apply to point to point fares.
International Fares

Example

Fare
Class

Season

Day
Restrictions

Adv Purchase /
Min Stay

Product

Airport and
Direction

One
way?

V2

Z0 = Hand
Baggage Only

T = To LON

Blank = No

Blank = No

Restriction

Restriction

W = Weekend

AP = Adv.
Purchase

V1 = Standard

L = From LON

X = Midweek

M3 = 3 Day Min
Stay

V2 = Semi-flex

H = To LHR

M5 = 5 Day Min
Stay

V3 = Fully-flex

R = From LHR

W = To LGW
K = From LGW
C = To LCY
Y = From LCY

Example fare basis: HLV2CO - This would be a one-way H-class, low season, Semi-flex fare to London
City.
Domestic Fares

Example

Fare
Class
V

Season
H

Day
Restrictions
Blank = No

Adv Purchase
/ Min Stay
AP
Blank = No

Product
Z0

Airport and
Direction
R

Z0 = Hand
Baggage Only

L = To/From
LON

Restriction

Restriction

W = Weekend

AP = Adv.
Purchase

V1 = Standard

R = To/From
LHR

X = Midweek

M3 = 3 Day Min
Stay

V2 = Semiflex

K = To/From
LGW

M5 = 5 Day Min
Stay

V3 = Fullyflex

Y = To/From
LCY

One
way?

Example fare basis: VHAPZ0R - This would be a round-trip V-class, high season, Hand Baggage Only fare
to/from London Heathrow which has an advance purchase restriction.
Is it possible to book open jaw tickets?
Yes. However, open jaw tickets will not benefit from the new fare attributes as these apply to point to
point journeys only.
What is the impact on corporate dealt fares?
Corporate dealt fares will need to be re-filed as the fare basis will change. This has been communicated
where appropriate.
Please speak to your account manager for more information on how this will affect you.
Does the UQ fare basis need to be used to identify a corporate deal/Business Bespoke offer?
UQ will continue to be used in the same way that it is used today.
What is the HBO entry for booking via a GDS?
Amadeus
Fare Display
FQDLONAGP/D01FEB/R,U*HBO00
Fare Quote
FXP/R,U*HBO00
Change on day
SK FCOD BA
Galileo
Fare Display
FDLONAGP01FEB/BA-PRI-:HBO00
Fare Quote
FQCBA-:HBO00
Change on day
SI.BA*FCOD.

Worldspan
Fare Display
4FLONAGPSR-BA/@@HBO00.AC/L01FEB
Fare Quote
4PQFSR.SR/@@HBO00.AC
Change on day
3OSI BA FCOD.
Sabre
Fare Display
FQLONAGP01FEB-BAUIHBO00
or FQLONAGP01FEB-BAUAC*HBO00
Fare Quote
WPABAIHBO00XCRQ
Change on day
3OSI BA FCOD.

What are the changes to the HBO fare basis for London Gatwick flights?
The fare bases that were used for the original London Gatwick Hand Baggage only fares contained ZBZ
to identify them. This will change to Z0 (zero) on 10th September 2013 for all London Gatwick HBO
fares.
Previously ticketed fares containing ZBZ will continue to be identified as Hand Baggage only fares but
any new HBO bookings, or changes to existing bookings will be ticketed with the new Z0 fares.
How will customers be able to book these fares?
Travel agents will be able to book the new fares directly via the GDS.
When a customer books via ba.com, they will see options for the Standard economy fare and the Hand
Baggage Only fare. As they go through the booking process the new Semi-flex fare will be offered and
customers can choose to upgrade to this fare before they purchase the ticket.

Why cant the Semi-flex option be selected from the ba.com home page?

We want to be able to offer all customers our lowest available fares on any flight.
Customers can then choose to upgrade to a more flexible fare when they make their booking.
Will customers be able to upgrade to a Semi-flex ticket once they have booked their ticket?
Yes. This can be done via a travel agent or via Manage My Booking on ba.com. A change fee and the
difference in fare will be payable, in line with fare rules for the HBO and Standard fare.
Can customers earn Tier Points on all fares?
Yes. Customers will earn full Avios and Tier Points on the Hand Baggage Only fare and the new Semiflex and Fully-flex tickets.
Are there any changes to Club Europe fares?
Some of the flexible options will be incorporated into the existing Club Europe fully flexible fare basis,
for example, change on the day free of charge.
What are the fare conditions for the free change on the day?

Same day is applied when the customers original flight and the flight that customer wants to
change to are both within 00:00 and 23:59 local time of the departure airport.

Customers will be able to change to an early/later available flight on the departure day of the
original flight for free, providing they give at least one hours notice prior to the scheduled
departure time of the original flight.

Changes are subject to availability on the new flight in the same cabin as the original flight.

British airways will deliver new functionality to enable to you process this type of change.

These attributes will not apply to bookings made in restricted Club Europe booking classes.

What is the process to make changes to bookings on the day?

Changes on the day can be made for customers who have not yet checked in for their flight by following
the process below:

Make a duplicate booking in the same cabin. If the original booking class is not available, book
into Y or C/J class.
Add the appropriate SSR
This will generate automatically a message to the British Airways queue.
British Airways will force book into the original fare class and revalidate the ticket.
Booking status will change to KK.
A message will be generated back to the agent to confirm.

What if a customer has already checked in?

If a customer wishes to make a change on the day after checking in, the agent must enter the
appropriate keyword to offload the customer from the flight.

Once confirmation has been received the customer has been offloaded, the agent can follow the
process above.

Alternatively the customer can make the change at the airport.

If the customer has checked in a bag, the change must be made at the airport.
Will a difference in fare apply when changes are made on the day?
Customers will not pay a change fee or difference in fare unless:

Change made on a flight from/to a different airport

Changed flight to other operating carrier
Changed flight to higher cabin as no availability in the same cabin
Change made on/for a different day

What happens if a customer books a Hand Baggage Only fare and then decides to travel with a
checked bag?
Customers can choose to pay for a bag after buying their HBO fare.
They can choose to pay on ba.com via Manage My Booking to receive the online discount fee of 20/25
Euros for the first bag and 34/43 Euros for subsequent bags or pay 40/50 Euros at the airport on the
day of travel. A trade agent would need to reissue the ticket and collect a change fee and difference in
fare.
Is British Airways becoming a low cost carrier?
No were introducing new options for customers to give them more choice and flexibility.
HBO has proved popular at London Gatwick so we want to be able to offer all our short haul customers
the same option.
We are also introducing the Semi-flex fare, which will give customers all the benefits of a standard fare,
such as generous baggage allowance and food and drinks plus:

No change fee on amendments made to bookings before the day of travel (difference in fare
may apply)
Free booking changes on the day to the same destination
The ability to select a seat for free two days prior to travel
No change fee prior to the day of travel

British Airways continues to offer all the benefits of a full service airline including complimentary drinks
and snacks, a generous baggage allowance and pre-allocated seating for free.
Those who do want to check in a bag still can and take advantage of our usual low fares our Standard
fares wont change.
Will Silver and Gold Executive Club members be given a free bag if they purchase a HBO fare?
Executive Club members also have a zero bag allowance if they purchase a HBO fare. They will continue
to get two bags if they purchase the Standard fare.

Can the new Hand Baggage Only (HBO), Semi Flex fares and corporate net fares be booked throught
on-line booking tools (OBTs) and are the product attributes displayed correctly?
This depends on the functionality of the OBT. We have engaged with OBT companies where we have a
direct relationship to discuss the ability to see and disclose product attributes for HBO and Semi Flex
fares but ultimately this depends on the functionality of the OBT. We suggest you speak directly with
your OBT company, if you need further assistance please contact your local account manager.