Fares & pricing Travel technology glossary

Branded faresBranded fares (fare families)

Also called fare familiesfare brandsATPCO Branded Faresfare bundles

Definition

Branded fares are airline fares grouped into named products, often called fare families, that each bundle a defined set of services such as checked baggage, seat selection, changes or refunds. Typical names include Light, Classic and Flex, and customers choose a brand rather than a single price.

What Branded fares means

Before fare families, a traveller compared mostly prices and had to read fare rules to understand what was included. Branded fares package those differences into clear tiers. ATPCO describes a branded fare as an airfare bundled with extras such as refundability, miles accrual, a pre-reserved seat, baggage or a meal.

Each brand sits on top of fares and booking classes the airline already files. The airline maps fares to brands and describes which services are included, chargeable or not offered. Through ATPCO's Branded Fares product, this data can be filed once and used by GDSs, online agencies and other channels to show the same tiers side by side.

Branded fares are tied closely to ancillaries. A lower brand might exclude a checked bag, which the traveller can then buy separately, while a higher brand includes it. This lets airlines compete on a low entry price while upselling travellers to fuller bundles. In NDC channels the airline can present brands with richer descriptions and images, but the concept is the same.

How Branded fares works

Branded fares link existing fares to product definitions that every channel can display.

  1. Design the brandsThe airline defines its families, for example Light, Classic and Flex, and the services each includes.
  2. Map fares to brandsFares are assigned to brands, often by fare basis or booking class, so each priced fare belongs to one family.
  3. File brand dataBrand names and service attributes are filed, for example through ATPCO Branded Fares, alongside the fares themselves.
  4. Shop and displayBooking tools retrieve all brands for a flight and show them in columns so the agent or traveller can compare.
  5. Upsell and ticketThe traveller picks a brand, and the ticket is issued at that brand's fare with its included services.

Branded fares in practice

Verified airline example. On European routes, Lufthansa sells Economy in four brands. Economy Light includes an 8 kg carry-on bag but charges for checked bags and seat selection and allows no rebooking or refund. Economy Classic adds a 23 kg checked bag and seat reservation, with rebooking for a fee. Economy Green adds included rebooking. Economy Flex adds a refund for a fee.

Illustrative. An agent searching Frankfurt to Rome sees four prices for the same flight, each in its own column. The customer travels with luggage, so the agent compares the Light fare plus a paid bag against the Classic fare.

Who uses it

Travel agenciesAgents compare brands to recommend the best value for each traveller, not just the lowest price.
AirlinesAirlines use brands to differentiate products, protect higher fares and upsell services.
Corporate travel managersBuyers write policy by brand, for example allowing Classic but not Flex for short trips.
Booking engine developersDevelopers display brand columns and attributes and keep the chosen brand through pricing, ticketing and changes.

Advantages and limitations

Advantages

  • Travellers can compare what is included without reading full fare rules.
  • Airlines gain upsell opportunities from a low entry price to fuller bundles.
  • Standard brand data lets agencies show the same choices as the airline's own website.

Limitations

  • Brand names and contents differ between airlines, which makes cross-carrier comparison harder.
  • Some channels do not show every brand or attribute, so agents may miss details.
  • Interline and multi-carrier itineraries can mix brands with different inclusions.

Frequently asked questions about Branded fares

What is the difference between a branded fare and a fare family?

In practice they mean the same thing. A fare family is the group of fares an airline sells under one product name, and branded fare is the industry term for that product, especially in ATPCO filing.

Are branded fares available through GDSs?

Yes, where the airline files brand data and the GDS or booking tool supports it, agents can shop and compare brands. The level of detail shown, such as images or full attribute lists, depends on the system and the channel.

Why does the Light fare cost more after adding a bag?

Light brands remove services to reach a lower entry price. If a traveller then buys a checked bag or seat separately, the total can exceed the next brand, which already includes them. Comparing the full cost of each brand avoids this.

Can an agency change a ticket from one fare brand to another?

Usually yes, through a reissue to a higher brand, paying any fare difference and fees under the original fare's change rules. Moving to a lower brand is often more restricted.

Run your agency on one booking platform

ReservationHub's Subscription Cloud Edition gives agencies GDS, NDC and low-cost content, B2B and B2C sales, and back office in one hosted platform.

See the SaaS platform

Sources and further reading

  1. ATPCO — Airline buzz word decoded: what is a branded fare?
  2. ATPCO — Branded Fares
  3. Lufthansa — Our Europe fares (Economy)