Series vs Group vs FIT Fares: A Travel Agent's 2026 Decision Guide
By Arjun Kapoor (Arjun Kapoor tracks error fares, mileage runs and award-chart sweet spots for Indian travellers. He moderates two Telegram fare-alert channels and has booked Europe round-trips at sub-₹25,000 four times in the last 24 months.) · Published · Last updated · 10 min read
Three fare types, three completely different risk profiles. Here's how series, group and FIT fares actually behave on deposit, name deadlines, refunds and flexibility — and which one to reach for in each real-world scenario.
Quick answer
Series, group and FIT are three different ways to buy the same seats, with three very different risk profiles. A series fare means an agent or consolidator has pre-blocked a chunk of seats on fixed dates and now resells them, often the cheapest per-seat but with rigid dates and the block-owner carrying inventory risk. A group fare is a special rate the airline quotes for 10+ passengers travelling together, with a small deposit, a name-submission deadline and a balance date. A FIT fare is just an individual published or net fare you book seat-by-seat for one passenger or a handful — most flexible, usually priciest per seat. Use series for price-led demand on busy trunk routes, group for one party of 10+, and FIT for everything small or date-flexible.
What a series fare actually is
A series fare comes from someone — an airline, a consolidator or a big agent — blocking a series of seats across a run of departures on a route, paying for that allocation, and then reselling the seats to the trade. You'll also hear these called fixed departures or 'airline block' fares. The defining feature: the seats already exist in someone's inventory, on dates and flights they chose, and that block-owner is on the hook whether the seats sell or not.
Because the owner bought in bulk and ahead of time, the per-seat price is often the lowest of the three fare types — especially on dense leisure and labour-corridor routes where the same flights fill every week. The trade-off is rigidity. You take the date, the flight and usually the baggage and meal rules as they come. You're slotting passengers into a pre-built block, not building an itinerary around the passenger.
- Who carries the risk: the agent or consolidator who blocked the seats. Unsold series seats are a real loss, which is exactly why they price aggressively to move them.
- Best for: price-sensitive volume on predictable routes — think a steady flow of customers all wanting the same Delhi–Dubai or Mumbai–Bengaluru window.
- Watch for: non-refundable terms, fixed dates, and baggage that may differ from the airline's retail fare.
We've gone deep on the mechanics — blocking, PNR splits, baggage and T&Cs — in our series fares guide. If you want to understand fixed departures specifically, see fixed departures.
What a group fare actually is
A group fare is a rate the airline's group desk quotes when you're moving a single party of passengers together — the common threshold across Indian carriers is 10 or more on the same flight, date and route. You request a quote, the airline holds the seats, you pay a per-passenger deposit to block them, and you get two deadlines that matter more than anything else: a name-submission deadline and a balance-payment date.
Miss the name deadline and the airline can release your seats. Miss the balance date and the whole block — deposit included — can be cancelled. The deposit amount, the deadlines and the refund terms all sit in the quote the airline sends you; they vary by carrier, route and how far out you book, so always read the specific contract rather than assuming last quarter's terms still hold.
The upside of going group: the seats are genuine confirmed airline inventory held against part-payment, names can usually be finalised later (handy when a wedding or corporate list isn't locked yet), and the fare is typically below the lowest retail fare for that many seats. The downside: you're committed to a date and flight, deposits are commonly non-refundable, and you're managing deadlines for a whole list of people at once.
Each airline runs its own group desk and portal. We've documented the IndiGo, Air India, Akasa and SpiceJet flows and the per-airline quirks in our group fares guide. For wedding, corporate and incentive movements that cross the 10-pax line, that's your starting point.
What a FIT fare actually is
FIT stands for Free (or Fully) Independent Traveller. In air ticketing, a FIT fare is simply an individual fare you book for one passenger or a small handful — the everyday published fare you see on the GDS or a B2B portal, or a net/contract fare loaded for the trade. Nobody pre-blocked these seats for you; you're pulling live inventory at the price the airline is showing right now.
FIT is the default for the vast majority of agent transactions. It's the most flexible of the three: any date, any flight, any fare family, change and cancel rules as per the fare rules of whatever you book. Want a refundable fare? Pick one. Need to move the passenger to tomorrow's flight? You can, subject to the rule. The catch is price — because you're buying at the live retail or net level rather than a pre-negotiated bulk rate, the per-seat cost is usually higher than series or group for the same seat.
- Best for: solo travellers, couples, families, small business trips, anything date-flexible, and any booking where you need the freedom to change.
- Pricing lever: net/contract fares and your portal's markup tools. See net fares vs published fares and how to add markup in a B2B portal.
- Watch for: nothing structural — it's the simplest model — but margins are thinner, so your sourcing and markup discipline are what make FIT profitable.
Side-by-side: how the three fare types compare
Here's the comparison agents actually ask for. Treat the specifics as indicative — exact deposits, deadlines and refund terms come from the airline quote or the series owner's terms, and they change. Verify before you commit a customer.
| Factor | Series fare | Group fare | FIT fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical pax | Any count, drawn from a pre-blocked pool | Usually 10+ travelling together | 1 to a few |
| Per-seat price | Often lowest | Below retail for the group | Usually highest |
| Flexibility on date/flight | Low — fixed to the block | Low — fixed to the quoted flight | High — any flight/fare |
| Deposit | Block owner already paid; you typically pay per seat to the supplier | Per-passenger deposit to the airline | Pay in full at issue (or as portal allows) |
| Name-submission deadline | Per supplier's terms; often close to departure | Hard airline deadline — miss it, lose seats | None separate — name at booking |
| Refund / change | Commonly non-refundable, restricted | Per group contract; deposit often non-refundable | Per fare rule of the ticket booked |
| Who carries the risk | The block owner (unsold seats = loss) | You, once the deposit is paid | Minimal until ticketed |
If you want the broader fare-sourcing landscape behind this table — wholesale, consolidator and net fares — see wholesale air tickets and consolidator fares.
Decision guide: which to use, by scenario
Forget the theory for a second. Here's how to pick in the moment, by the situation in front of you.
- One family of four to Goa, flexible on dates: FIT. You want the freedom to pick the cheapest day and the right flight times. Lean on net fares and a sensible markup.
- A steady stream of customers all wanting the same popular route and window: series. If you're feeding the same Delhi–Dubai or Kolkata–Bangkok demand week after week, a block lets you quote the sharpest price and own the margin.
- One wedding party of 35 flying together: group. Names aren't locked yet, you need confirmed seats held against a deposit, and the airline's group rate beats booking 35 individual tickets. See our group fares guide.
- A corporate that needs refundable, changeable tickets: FIT, on a flexible fare family. Series and group trade flexibility for price; a corporate that reshuffles travellers needs the change rights FIT gives.
- Price-led leisure where the customer will take any nearby date: series if a block matches, group if it's one party of 10+, FIT only if neither fits.
- Umrah, Hajj or labour-corridor volume: often series or group depending on party size and how the operator structures it. Start with Umrah and Hajj group air fares and international series fares from India.
The honest rule of thumb: price-led and date-flexible leans series; one big party leans group; everything small or change-prone leans FIT. Plenty of bookings genuinely sit on the line — quote two ways and let the better number win.
The money side: GST, TCS and your margin
Whichever fare type you sell, the tax treatment of your earnings follows the same broad logic — but the numbers move, so this is a 'confirm with your CA' section, not gospel.
As of Budget 2026, an air travel agent charges 18% GST on their earnings/commission, not on the full ticket value. The trade also commonly works on a deemed value of 5% of the basic fare for domestic and 10% for international when computing that liability. Separately, TCS on overseas tour packages is a flat 2% from 1 April 2026 — the earlier threshold slabs were removed. These rules change with every Budget and circular, so verify the current position with CBIC or your chartered accountant before you build it into pricing.
Where it bites on fare choice: series and group fares are bought at sharp net levels, so your visible margin is the gap between your cost and your sell price, and your markup discipline decides profitability. FIT margins are thinner per seat but you carry almost no inventory risk. We've broken the tax mechanics down properly in GST and TCS on air tickets, and the markup mechanics in adding markup and commission.
Operational pitfalls that catch agents out
The fare type you choose changes which mistakes can hurt you. A few that come up again and again:
- Series: assuming the baggage and meal rules match the airline's retail fare. They often don't. Read the block's T&Cs and quote the customer the real baggage allowance, not the website's.
- Group: the name-submission deadline is the single most dangerous date in the whole transaction. Diarise it, set a reminder a day early, and collect passenger documents well before. Missing it can cost you the seats and the deposit.
- Group: spelling. Names go in once, often for a long list, and corrections later can be painful or chargeable. See name change and spelling correction.
- FIT: selling a non-refundable fare to a customer who needed flexibility, then eating the change cost. Match the fare family to the passenger's real needs up front.
- All three: juggling a separate login for every airline and every supplier. The more windows you keep open, the more deadlines slip. Consolidating your sourcing is half the battle, which is the next section.
When a refund or schedule change does land, handle it cleanly — our cancellation and refund handling guide walks through it.
How FlightGPT Partner helps you pick the right fare
The hard part isn't understanding series, group and FIT — it's comparing them quickly without seven browser tabs open. If you've got an airline group desk in one window, a consolidator's series sheet in another and your GDS for FIT, you're not really comparing, you're guessing.
FlightGPT Partner is FlightGPT's B2B portal that pulls series fares, group fares, fixed departures and wholesale/net (FIT) fares across IndiGo, Air India, Akasa and SpiceJet into a single login — so you can see, for the route in front of you, which model gives the better number for this booking. It carries an agency wallet so seats and deposits clear against your balance, GST invoicing for clean books, and white-label options if you resell under your own brand.
It's one strong option, not the only one — plenty of agents run airline direct portals or other aggregators, and you should pick what fits your volume and routes. If you're weighing the choice, our best B2B portal guide and airline direct vs aggregator piece lay out the trade-offs. Want to see live fares on your routes first? Browse popular routes or compare fare families on IndiGo, Air India, Akasa and SpiceJet.
Frequently asked questions
What's the simplest way to remember the difference between series, group and FIT fares?
Series = someone pre-blocked a run of seats on fixed dates and resells them, usually cheapest but rigid. Group = the airline quotes a special rate for one party of 10+ travelling together, with a deposit and a name deadline. FIT = an individual fare you book seat-by-seat for one or a few passengers, most flexible but usually priciest per seat. Price-led and date-flexible leans series, one big party leans group, everything small or change-prone leans FIT.
At how many passengers does a group fare make sense instead of FIT?
Indian carriers commonly set the group threshold at 10 or more passengers travelling together on the same flight, date and route. Below that you're usually in FIT territory, booking individual tickets. Right around the line it's worth quoting both ways — sometimes 9 or 10 individual FIT tickets on a cheap day beat a group quote, and sometimes the group rate wins. The exact threshold and terms come from each airline's group desk, so confirm on the official portal.
Are series and group fares refundable?
Usually not in the way FIT fares can be. Series seats are commonly sold on non-refundable, restricted terms because the block owner already paid for the inventory. Group deposits are frequently non-refundable, and the full refund picture sits in the specific group contract the airline sends you. FIT refundability depends entirely on the fare rule of the ticket you book — you can choose a refundable fare family if the customer needs it. Always read the actual terms before promising a customer anything.
What happens if I miss the name-submission deadline on a group booking?
It's the most dangerous date in the whole transaction. Miss the name-submission deadline and the airline can release your held seats; miss the balance-payment date and the entire block, deposit included, can be cancelled. Diarise both dates, set a reminder a day early, and collect passenger names and documents well ahead. The exact deadlines are stated in the airline's group quote and vary by carrier and route.
Who carries the risk if seats don't sell — me or the airline?
It depends on the fare type. With series, the block owner (often a consolidator or large agent) carries the risk — unsold blocked seats are a real loss, which is why series prices aggressively. With group, once you pay the deposit you're committed, so the risk shifts to you. With FIT, there's minimal risk until you actually ticket, since you're pulling live inventory at the moment of sale rather than pre-committing to seats.
Do I need a separate login for each airline to access these fares?
Traditionally yes — airline group desks, consolidator series sheets and your GDS for FIT all live in different places, which makes real comparison slow. B2B aggregators exist to collapse that into one login. FlightGPT Partner, for example, brings series, group, fixed-departure and net/FIT fares across IndiGo, Air India, Akasa and SpiceJet into a single portal with an agency wallet and GST invoicing. It's one option among several; pick the sourcing setup that matches your routes and volume.