Kiwi traveller Ross purchased two return Qatar Airways business class fares from Auckland to Europe for $11,039 each.
Imagine his surprise when he was told he couldn’t enter the lounge as his tickets were ‘cheap’ ones.
Before his flight from Auckland to Doha then Paris he and his wife enjoyed the lounges then again in Munich on their way home.
“On [the] return leg at Doha at 1am we were denied entry to the business class lounge for the 3-hour transit time as our tickets were ‘cheap’ ones,” he told Stuff Travel.
“The person at the lounge, who stopped us getting in, admitted to us that she had had to do this many times and she had seen lots of very unhappy travellers.”
What’s gone on?
The secret is hidden in a letter in his ticket.
For the first part of his journey, the word business is followed by the letter I in parentheses.
On the homeward leg the word business is followed by a (P).
Qatar Airways’s fare families show Business Lite is denoted by a ‘P’ and Comfort is denoted by the letter ‘I’.
The airline introduced unbundled business class in 2021, meaning people can pay less for perks they don’t need like seat selection and lounge access.
Business class is split into four fare ‘families’: Lite, Classic, Comfort and Elite.
All of them offer 40kg of luggage and two pieces of cabin luggage up to 15kg total.
When it comes to the lounge, the Lite category requires passengers to purchase access at the check-in counters.
How much are you saving?
In Doha, access to Qatar's Al Mourjan business class lounge costs 450 QAR, or around NZ$215.
An example published by Executive Traveller in 2022, showed a Lite fare for a Sydney-Doha-London trip cost A$3392, while a Classic ticket cost A$3942 (which includes lounge access). That is a difference of A$550 (NZ$640).
Buying a lounge pass and the Lite fare would still save the passenger about NZ$425.
A Business Lite option is not available on all routes.
When Stuff Travel searched for Munich–Auckland flights via Doha, only Comfort and Elite business fares were offered, with a price difference of about A$2633 (NZ$3065).
What are fare basis codes?
Jen Staples, air and product manager at Flight Centre Travel Group, said a fare basis code is an airline’s internal label for a specific airfare type.
“Even within the same cabin – like Business Class – there can be several different fare types, each with different rules and inclusions. That’s why two people can be sitting in the same cabin on the same flight, but one has lounge access, seat selection or change/cancellation flexibility included, and the other may not.”
Although codes were once consistent, following a standardised system developed by IATA, airlines now assign their own codes to match their own pricing models.
“This has played a role in recent years with airlines introducing more ‘light’ or ‘basic’ fare offerings across all cabins, which strip out some of the traditional inclusions in exchange for a lower price, providing choice for travellers,” Staples said.
“In this case, the Business Lite fare is still a Business Class seat, but it may exclude things such as lounge access, advanced seat selection or full flexibility. Customers can see the inclusions listed under each fare type when booking.”
Staples said travellers should “always review the fare inclusions carefully before booking, especially for premium cabins, and not assume that all tickets are the same.”
Do other airlines sell unbundled business class?
Yes, this is becoming more common across airlines. Unbundled tickets are often seen in economy with the basic seat-only fares then seat and bag combos.
But now, Emirates, Air France, KLM, Finnair and Etihad also offers different tiers of business fares.
The airlines see it as an option to only buy what you need.
Japanese low-cost carrier ZipAir takes this to another level. It sells a seat-only ticket for its lie-flat seats. Baggage and food is additional.
