Expert: Matthew Smith - 6/13/2008

Question
What is the sunday rule in Tariff

Answer
Ana,

Each airline has different rules and tariffs that are associated with each "fare basis code."  The fare basis code is usually about a 5-7 character code that determines how the seats are inventoried and what rules go with the seat that has been sold and allotted to you.

In the case of a Sunday Rule, it means that a passenger must stay at the destination on a Sunday in order to take advantage of that particular fare.  For example, a fare basis code might be VN7N2, which says that the person is in the "V" inventory buck, there is "N" No fuel surcharge, it was purchased at least 7 days in advance, N2 is another category with certain rules (tariffs).  Now the Sunday Rule might be shown like VN7N2S, with the "S" denoting that this ticket obliges the flier to stay over at her destination on a Sunday night.  There may well be a difference in the price of the ticket.  The non-Sunday Rule ticket may be $349 roundtrip, while the Sunday Rule ticket is $309, because the non-Sunday Rule is aimed at business travellers, while the Sunday Rule is aimed at the more price-sensitive leisure traveller.  So the leisure traveler trades a little control over their time table in exchange for a cheaper ticket.

There's a lot more that goes into tariffs than just this.  I recall that when I was at the airline, we had people whose job was to sit there and code fare basis codes with the tariff restriction all day.