Contrary to what one might assume, United Airlines has more classes than just first, business, premium economy and economy. In fact, each of those cabins is divided into multiple fare classes, all designated with a different letter.

While it might seem like alphabet soup, the airline can use fare classes to know how and when you booked your ticket and how to upgrade it — if that’s what you want to do.

Let’s take a look at the United fare class chart, how to find the fare class on your ticket and why it's smart to pay attention to your fare class in the first place.

What is a fare class on United?

All United cabins of service are divided into fare classes — sometimes called fare buckets — to keep track of the number of tickets sold on each flight as well as which seats are still available.

For example, if you’ve ever found a great deal on airfare and then the price went up before you could buy it, it’s likely because that first fare class sold out, even if there are still tickets available in that particular cabin.

Though there are similarities across airlines, each one labels its fare classes slightly differently. Here are United’s fare classes for each class of service on a paid ticket:

First/business class

Full fare: J.

High fare: C, D.

Discounted fare: Z.

Deep-discounted fare: P.

Premium Plus

High fare: O.

Discounted fare: A.

Deep-discounted fare: R.

Economy

Highest full fare: Y.

Full fare: B.

High fare: M, E, H, U.

Discounted fare: Q, V, W.

Deep-discounted fare: L, K, S, T.

Lowest discounted fare: G.

Basic economy: N (on domestic flights).

Note that tickets booked with miles come with their own separate set of fare classes.

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How do I find my fare class on United?

When you’re shopping for a ticket on United, the fare classes are listed under each ticket type.

For example, in the screenshot below, the top flight from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany, has the following fare classes: S in economy, R in premium economy and P in business. The bottom flight has the following fare types: S in economy, A in premium economy and D in business class.

If you’re shopping for a flight on an online travel agency’s website, such as Expedia or Orbitz, you should be able to locate the fare class under “Details” once you select your flights but before you enter your credit card number.

This ticket from Chicago-O'Hare to Frankfurt, Germany, has a fare class of S in the economy cabin.