Fare Rules

Fare rules are the conditions and restrictions that apply to any booking based on its fare type. These determine the price of the fare. Generally, less expensive fares have more restrictions and more expensive fares have fewer restrictions. Fare rules can include blackout dates, advanced reservation requirements, minimum and maximum stay requirements, and cancellation and change penalties.

AirPrice does not return fare rules by default but you can request their return in any price response.

In this topic:

Fare Rule Format
Fare Rules in AirPrice Response

Fare Rule Formats

The JSON APIs return fare rules as distributed through their ATPCO filing. ATPCO fare rules use the following formats:

Long rules: The detailed fare rule text. Not yet supported by most NDC carriers.
Short rules: Abbreviated fare rules that summarize each rule category. These are usually high-level conditions better suited for use by experienced travel agents.
Structured rules: Structured rules allow you to limit the rules returned to the following categories: advance reservation/ticketing requirements, minimum/maximum stay, stopovers, penalties, voluntary exchanges and refunds.

The tables below note which types of rules are available in the JSON APIs for GDS and NDC.

GDS Fare Rule Support

Rule Type	v6
Short Text Fare Rules	Yes
Long Text Fare Rules	Yes
Structured Fare Rules	No

NDC Fare Rule Support

Rule Type	v6
Short Text Fare Rules	Yes
Long Text Fare Rules	Yes for QF only; not supported on other NDC carriers
Structured Fare Rules	No

Fare Rules in Price Response

To request fare rules, include fareRuleType in the top level object of the request message payload (see the AirPrice API Reference) with one of the following values:

TextShort: Short format of the rule returned from the carrier is returned.
TextLong: Long format of the rule returned from the carrier is returned.
Structured: Structured fare rules are not supported for AirPrice v6.

Fare rules are returned in TermsAndConditionsFull/FareRuleInfo.

Show Example Request with Fare Rules from AirSearch for GDS

The following example sends identifiers from the AirSearch response and requests the return of long fare rules.

{
  "CatalogOfferingsQueryBuildOptionsFromCatalogOfferings": {
    "fareRuleType": "LongText",
    "lowFareFinderInd": "false",
    "BuildFromCatalogOfferingsRequest": {
      "@type": "BuildFromCatalogOfferingsRequestAir",
      "CatalogOfferingsIdentifier": {
        "Identifier": {
          "value": "be39a33e-ad6b-44e3-bf6d-cd52628a04d8"
        }
      },
      "CatalogOfferingIdentifier": {
        "Identifier": {
          "value": "o0.0"
        }
      },
      "ProductIdentifier": [
        {
          "Identifier": {
            "value": "p0"
          }
        },
        {
          "Identifier": {
            "value": "p3"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Show Example Long Format Response for GDS

The example below is an excerpt from the FareRuleInfo object returning several instances of fare rules.

      "FareRuleInfo": [
       {
        "@type": "FareRuleInfoText",
        "flightRefs": [
         "s3",
         "s4"
        ],
        "ruleNumber": "CA06",
        "tariffNumber": "0003",
        "FareRuleText": [
         {
          "value": "SEASONS\nFOR SHOULDER SEASON FARES\nPERMITTED 06JUN THROUGH 21JUN OR 04JUL THROUGH 18AUG 
OR\n05OCT THROUGH 20OCT OR 01DEC THROUGH 10DEC OR 24DEC\nTHROUGH 29DEC ON THE OUTBOUND TRANSPACIFIC SECTOR."
         },
         {
          "name": "AdvanceReservations/Ticketing",
          "value": "ADVANCE RES/TKTG\nFOR  FC TYPE FARES\nRESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR ALL SECTORS."
         },
         {
          "name": "Stopovers",
          "value": "STOPOVERS\nUNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED\nUNLIMITED FREE STOPOVERS PERMITTED ON THE PRICING 
UNIT IN\nCAN/WUH/YVR/LAX/SFO/NYC/YTO."
         },
         {
          "value": "TRANSFERS\nUNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED\nUNLIMITED TRANSFERS PERMITTED ON THE PRICING 
UNIT\nFARE BREAK AND EMBEDDED SURFACE SECTORS NOT PERMITTED\nON\nTHE FARE COMPONENT."
         },
         {
          "value": "COMBINABILITY\nUNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED\nFARES MAY BE COMBINED ON A HALF ROUND TRIP 
BASIS WITH\nANY\nFARE FOR ANY CARRIER IN ANY RULE AND TARIFF TO FORM\nROUND\nTRIPS/CIRCLE TRIPS.\nAPPLICABLE 
ADD-ON CONSTRUCTION IS ADDRESSED IN\nMISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS - CATEGORY 23.\nEND-ON-END\nEND-ON-END COMBINATIONS
 PERMITTED. VALIDATE ALL FARE\nCOMPONENTS. SIDE TRIPS PERMITTED.\nEND-ON-END NOTE -\nTHE MOST RESTRICTED RULE 
WILL BE APPLIED WHEN\nFARES COMBINED.\nOPEN JAWS\nFARES MAY BE COMBINED ON A HALF ROUND TRIP BASIS\n-TO FORM 
SINGLE OR DOUBLE OPEN JAWS.\nPROVIDED -\nTHE OPEN SEGMENT MUST BE\nWITHIN\n-WITHIN AREA 1 OR WITHIN EUROPE OR 
WITHIN MIDDLE EAST\nOR WITHIN AFRICA OR WITHIN JAPAN/KOREA, REP. OF/\nKOREA, DEM. PEOPLE'S REP. OF OR WITHIN 
SOUTH ASIAN\nSUBCONTINENT OR WITHIN S.W. PACIFIC.\n-WITHIN ANY ONE COUNTRY.\n-BETWEEN POINTS IN ANY TWO OF THE 
FOLLOWING LOCALES-\nHONG KONG, SAR, CHINA/MACAU SAR/TAIWAN, PROVINCE OF/\nBRUNEI DARUSSALAM/CAMBODIA/INDONESIA/
LAOS,PEOPLE'S\nDEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF/MALAYSIA/MONGOLIA/MYANMAR/\nPHILIPPINES/SINGAPORE/THAILAND/TIMOR LESTE/
VIET NAM\nOR BETWEEN KAZAKHSTAN/KYRGYZSTAN/TURKMENISTAN/\nUZBEKISTAN/TAJIKISTAN/PAKISTAN/AZERBAIJAN/GEORGIA/
\nTURKEY.\nCOMBINATIONS ARE WITH ANY FARE FOR ANY CARRIER IN\nANY\nRULE AND TARIFF."
         },
         {
          "value": "SALE RESTRICTION\nUNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED\nTICKETS MUST BE ISSUED ON CZ AND MAY NOT BE 
SOLD IN\nNIGERIA AND MAY ONLY BE SOLD IN AREA 1/AREA 2/AREA 3"
         },
         {
          "name": "Penalties",
          "value": "PENALTIES\nFARE RULES TEXT\nFOR E- TYPE FARES\nCHANGES\nANY TIME\nCHARGE CAD 50.00.\nNOTE 
-\nA CHANGE IS A ROUTING/DATE/BOOKING CLASS/FLIGHT\nMODIFICATION. WHEN MORE THAN ONE FARE COMPONENT\nIS BEING 
CHANGED THE HIGHEST PENALTY OF ALL\nCHANGED FARE COMPONENTS WILL APPLY.\nBEFORE DEPARTURE OF JOURNEY\nIF CHANGE 
DOES NOT OCCUR ON THE FIRST FARE\nCOMPONENT OF THE JOURNEY NEW FARE WILL BE\nRECALCULATED USING FARES IN EFFECT 
WHEN TKT WAS\nISSUED.\nWHEN CHANGE OCCURS ON THE FIRST FARE COMPONENT OF\nTHE JOURNEY ONLY OR ON THE FIRST FARE
 COMPONENT\nAND OTHER FARE COMPONENT OF THE JOURNEY NEW FARE\nWILL BE RECALCULATED USING FARES IN EFFECT ON\nDATE
 OF REISSUE.\nAFTER DEPARTURE OF JOURNEY\nNEW FARE WILL BE RECALCULATED USING FARES IN\nEFFECT WHEN TKT WAS 
ISSUED.\nTHE NEW TICKET FARE AMOUNT MUST BE EQUAL TO OR\nHIGHER THAN THE PREVIOUS TICKET FARE AMOUNT.\nCHARGE 
DIFFERENCE IN FARE PLUS CHANGE FEE IF ANY\nIF THE NEW FARE AMOUNT IS LOWER THAN THE PREVIOUS\nFARE AMOUNT IGNORE
 ANY RESIDUAL AMOUNT AND NO\nREFUND PERMITTED. CHARGE CHANGE FEE IF ANY\nAPPLY THE HIGHEST CHANGE FEE OF ALL 
CHANGED FARE\nCOMPONENTS WITHIN THE JOURNEY. CHANGE FEE IS\nSUBJECT TO EACH CHANGE TRANSACTION.\nCHANGES MUST BE
 WITHIN TICKET VALIDITY.\nCANCELLATIONS\nANY TIME\nCHARGE CAD 150.00 FOR CANCEL/REFUND.\nNOTE -\nIF PASSENGER 
FLOWN ONLY ON CODE-SHAREDFLIGHT\nWITHIN NORTH AMERICA.THE FARE OF FLOWN SECTOR\nWILL BE THE HIGHEST FARE LEVEL 
OF\nFIRST/BUSINESS/ECONOMY CLASS SERVICE OF OPERATING\nCARRIER.\nNOTE -\nCUSTOMERS WHO PURCHASE A TICKET FOR 
TRAVEL ON CZ\nVIA CZ CHANNELS MAY CANCEL RESERVATIONS/REFUND\nTICKET WITHOUT PENALTY WITHIN 24HRS OF 
PURCHASE\nIF TICKET IS PURCHASED AT LEAST 1 WEEK PRIOR TO\nFLIGHT DEPARTURE IF THE JOURNEY INVOLVES ANY\nPOINT 
IN THE USA.\nNOTE -\nCHILD 2-11 AND INFANT UNDER 2 WITH A SEAT\nCHANGE/CANCELLATION/NOSHOW\nANY TIME\nSAME 
CHARGE WITH ADULT.\nINFANT UNDER 2 WITHOUT A SEAT\nCHANGE/CANCELLATION/NOSHOW\nANY TIME\nPERMITTED WITH NO CHARGE.
\nGENERAL RULES TEXT\nUNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED\nNOTE -\nCANCELLATIONS\nTHE MOST RESTRICTED RULE WILL BE APPLIED 
WHEN\nFARES COMBINED.\nAND\nFOR REFUNDABLE FARES/TICKETS\nREFUND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FARE PAID AND\nTHE 
APPLICABLE FARE FOR THE TRANSPORTATION USE.\nAND\nFOR NON REFUNDABLE FARES/TICKETS\nTHE INTERNATIONAL/DOMESTIC 
SURCHARGES OF\nYQ/CARRIER IMPOSED MISC FEE AND YR/FUEL SERVICE\nFEE WILL NOT BE REFUNDED."
         },
         {
          "value": "APPLICATION RULE\nUNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED\nPUBLIC FARES\nAPPLICATION\nAREA\nTHESE FARES 
APPLY\nBETWEEN CANADA AND AREA 2/AREA 3.\nCLASS OF SERVICE\nTHESE FARES APPLY FOR ECONOMY CLASS SERVICE.\nTYPES 
OF TRANSPORTATION\nFARES GOVERNED BY THIS RULE CAN BE USED TO CREATE\nONE-WAY/ROUND-TRIP/OPEN-JAW JOURNEYS."
         }
        ]