|
When I
go into my Sabre ticket reservation system I enter
one of the following codes:
| 112SEPRDUZRH |
1-means
I'm looking for flights...12SEP is the date-Raleigh-Durham
to Zurich is the itinerary |
| or |
|
| 112SEPRDUZRH*AA |
Same
as above but *AA means I'm looking for American
Airlines flights |
| or |
|
| 112SEPRDUZRH-N*AA |
Same
as above but the -N means I'm looking for tickets
in N Class which is the Net class for American
tickets.(Net is not always "N", it can
be "Q", 'L", "U" etc....depending
on the airline and the year. |
To find
the American/Swiss Codeshare I type in the following
code.
112SEPRDUZRH-N*AA
This will get me the info on the American flights
which looks like this...
| Airline/Fl
# |
Class |
Itinerary |
Time
of departure/arrival |
| 7AA*4562 |
N7 |
RDUBOS |
220P
410P |
| 8AA*6213 |
N7 |
ZRH |
655P
815A‡1 |
| 9AA*4710 |
N7 |
RDUJFK |
110P
240P |
| 10AA
64 |
N7 |
ZRH |
900P
1045A‡ |
| 11AA*4730 |
N7 |
RDULGA |
158P
330P |
| 12AA*6203 |
N0 |
JFKZRH |
625P
815A |
I choose
flights 7 & 8 which get me into Zurich through
Boston the following morning(815A+1)
Then I
put in the following code which is leaving Zurich
for the Athens the following day.
113SEPRDUZRH-N*LX
(if
I wanted to find a flight leaving after 9am I would
put the following code(112SEPRDUZRH9A-N*AA),
but since I'm pretty familiar with the schedule I
don't need to specify the time since all 4 flights
will show up.
| Airline/Fl
# |
Class |
Itinerary |
Time
of departure/arrival |
| LX1830 |
N0 |
ZRHATH |
950A
125P |
| 7LX1842 |
N9 |
ZRHATH |
825P
1155P |
| 8LX2804 |
N9 |
ZRHGVA |
1130A
305P |
| 9LX1822 |
N9 |
ATH |
1130A
305P |
As you
can see, there are no seats in "N" class
on Flight #LX(LX is the code for Swiss)1830. This
is a great connection, but since it's not available
then we have to make the choice: Do we wnat a 12 hour
layover in Zurich or should we look for other flights.
Some people like the 12 hour layover as it gives them
some time to explore Zurich. Others say "what
the hell", let's stay there overnight(which costs
about $100 more plus hotel and expenses), while others
say "Let's see what else is available".
I then can check other dates or other airlines.a
If you're
wondering about the third option(Swiss #2804 through
Geneva to Swiss #1822- that is not an option because
the rules of American's codeshares are that you can't
have the two flights through Switzerland just a direct
flight to Athens).
There is
another set of options on AA/Swiss for that day. I
can book the flights through Geneva the same way I
did for Zurich. To do this I have to start the whole
process over again. It's a lot of work to find the
flights, which is why Expedia, Travelocity and the
others don't even look!
It is at
this point I usually raise my hands in frustration,
look up towards the sky and ask the power(s) that
be "How can there be no seats on a Sept 13
flight?". This is not the middle of the summer,
how many Swiss could possibly fleeing their country
after the end of the peak season in Greece(and the
end of the stiffling hot weather and sun that will
toast the unweary sunbathers a bright lobster red!)
Final
Page:
Find Out How it CAN
be!
|
