Airline fare, or airfare, is the fee a passenger pays for air travel. It covers the cost of the flight itself and may include additional services like extra baggage, seat selection, and in-flight meals. Airlines determine fares based on various factors, such as demand, route, competition, and class of service.
There are different types of airline fares, including
- base fares (excluding taxes, fees, or other surcharges);
- public fares (visible to the public and are available for purchase);
- negotiated or private fares (not publicly available fares that consolidators get from airlines and sell to retailers).
Each seat class (e.g., economy, business, and first) has its fare rules regarding cancelations, refunds, and changes.
Airlines use fare buckets to group airfares from the same class into different pricing categories. As cheaper fare buckets sell out, the airline inventory system (AIS) opens higher-priced ones with more services included.
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