EFFECTIVE October 31,
2018, Iata will rescind the
once-popular, super flexible
and very expensive YY fares.
YY fares, first established in
1945, were Iata multilateral
interline-able fares. They
allowed passengers to buy
a ticket in a single currency
and travel around the world
on different airlines with
luggage checked to their
final destination. In essence,
they were full-fare, fully
flexible fares that, in theory,
allowed passengers to freely
interchange between all
airlines that offered the fare,
depending on the market.
Over the years, as consumer
demands changed, YY
fares became less popular,
says Katherine Kaczynska,
spokesperson of Iata.
She says deregulation,
market requirements,
competition, and requirement
for more timely delivery of
competitive fares to the market
(YY fares are updated only
once a year), led to the decline
in sales of the fares. Today, YY
fares only make up 0,03% of
global ticket sales.
Industry players aren’t fazed
by the change. Ros Chimes,
owner of Ros-4-Travel, says she
has not sold a YY fare. Other
agents say they’ve never even
heard of YY fares.
Lufthansa has not accepted
YY fares since 2007. British
Airways spokesperson, William
Smook, says the retiring of the
YY fares should not have any
impact on BA business.
Iata retires YY fares
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