Can someone enlighten me on air fares?

Just booked an October flight with AA on their web site, BOS to SBA and return. My first attempt was Sat. 10/21 ret. Thur. 10/26. Business class fare came up with about $4,700! When I changed the dates to Sun 10/22 ret. Fri 10/27, the fare became $1,792! Can someone tell me why there would be such a big difference?

Also, what's the difference between "P" and "F"?

Thanks for any information.

Just booked an October flight with AA on their web site, BOS to SBA and return. My first attempt was Sat. 10/21 ret. Thur. 10/26. Business class fare came up with about $4,700! When I changed the dates to Sun 10/22 ret. Fri 10/27, the fare became $1,792! Can someone tell me why there would be such a big difference?

 

Also, what's the difference between "P" and "F"?

 

Thanks for any information.

P=Premium transcontinental on three class flights-also called Flagship Service. There aren't a lot of these three class domestic flights-mostly LAX/JFK, SFO/JFK and California to Miami. This is NOT Flagship Suite service-that is only available in FC overseas on 777 aircraft. I think AA discountinued P class flights out of BOS. Most of the BOS/LAX flights are 757 (two class planes).

P as a fare class is kind of deceiving-AA also sells P LAX/ORD and others. Those flights are on 757 or MD80's (S80), which are not three class planes. If you can make the logistics work, you may want to change your itinerary to BOS/JFK/LAX/SBA. You will be more likely to end up on a three class plane out of JFK and be able to stretch out and really sleep. After all, on the long haul, that is truly what you are paying for (besides a meal and booze). The three class planes out of JFK are AA configuration 762. The 763's are business class seat configuration, with no first class section. I regularly fly LAX/JFK AA flights 10 or 30 on the three class plane. Sometimes we get P (remium) service, sometimes we don't. I tend to believe it depends on how many full fare FC pax there are and how many are upgrades. Only difference is MUCH better champagne, most of the time caviar, slightly better bedding AND lots more pampering. But when you want to sleep, the pampering gets kind of "over the top". How many snacks can you have in 5+ hours???

F=full fare first class on 2 class domestic or international, non restricted, changeable at any time with no fees.

The difference in fare-Most logical explanation-you purchased a restricted, business class fare. The first night you tried, there were no A fares available (restricted, discount first class/business class on two class planes). The second try, the discount fares were available.

What a wealth of information you are! Unfortunately, with my fear of flying, the fewer takeoffs and landings I have to go through, the better. Otherwise I'd follow up on your suggestion of going through JFK. And thanks for the "P"/"F" explanation. I'm sure that's what happened, as the Saturday flight had much fewer seat selections than the Sunday, so all of the "with restrictions" fares had probably been sold.

Thanks again.