Promote Preferred Fares Simulator

You can simulate how a potential Promote Preferred Fares (PPF) rule filters out offers from search results. It shows, in a graphical way, which of the offers are allowed and which are removed after PPF applies the rules, so you can understand better why and how PPF filters are applied to the offers. To use the Promote Preferred Fares Simulator tool:

1. Select the Open Simulator button next to the Exit button in the header of the Promote Preferred Fares rule.
   

2. Familiarize yourself with the blank Simulator form.
   

3. Open and log into Smartpoint Cloud with a PCC that is provisioned for both NDC and the PPF rule. Working with Smartpoint Cloud will culminate into extracting the JSON-formatted Search results.
   

4. In the Smartpoint Cloud interface, press F12 to launch the browsers Developer Tools. Ensure the Network tab is selected.
   
   

5. Make sure All tab is selected.
   

6. In the Filter textbox, enter legsearch. This limits the data shown to just the Search response.
   

7. Perform a one-way or round-trip search in Smartpoint Cloud, and view the results.
   

   When the Search button is clicked, the request information displays in the Network tab of the Developer Tools window.

8. In the Developer Tools window, select the firstlegSearch file to open the JSON formatted file of the search results.
   

9. Click the response data and press CTRL-A to select all the response code, and then press CTRL-C to copy the JSON code data.
   

10. Switch back to the PPF Simulator screen. Click the area that displays Paste SPC JSON response here...
    

11. Press CTRL-V to paste the JSON code. The Simulator displays the search results from Smartpoint Cloud.
    

12. Select one of the offers, or brand options, to use as a benchmark for a PPF rule, i.e., an offer to target, meaning, an offer to be removed by PPF.
    

    When that offer is selected, the Simulator displays a series of self-generated potential rules. Each row represents a possible set of thresholds that match with the selected option and remove it from the search result once you perform a search with the rule enabled.
    

13. Select a rule:

    • Selecting one of these rules shows how the rule would be applied to the Search just performed in Smartpoint Cloud.

    • The following rule will delete any B6 offers that are $145 less or $10 more and that depart 235 minutes before or 10 minutes after any UA offer.

      

    • The Simulator shows the results of applying the selected rule. The offers shown in orange will be targeted for removal if the PPF rule is built using the parameters shown.

    • For the following example, offers for two different B6 flights have been targeted for removal once the rule is activated. This means that when a search is performed again through Smartpoint Cloud, those options will no longer display in the results:

      

    • Selecting one of the highlighted offers shows why it was targeted for removal. Selecting the B6 $196.61 offers shows that it was targeted for removal after meeting the criteria when it was compared to a UA $287.60 offer.

    • The fare difference of $70.99 ($267.60 - $196.61) and departure time difference 3:45 (13:00 – 9:15) both fall within the rule’s parameters.

    • On the left it shows how these values could be entered into a PPF rule.

      

    • If you switch screens back to Smartpoint Cloud, you can see the same United Airlines offer in the results list. Click the View more brands for this flight button to see all available brands (the same ones displayed in the Simulator tool).

      

14. Activate the rule. After the rule is enabled, you can perform the search again through Smartpoint Cloud and review the search results to corroborate the rule is working as designed.

15. Close the Promote Preferred Fares Simulator by selecting the large X button in the upper right corner.

Round Trip PPF Simulator notes

For round trips, the process is similar to a one way, except when pasting the JSON code into the Simulator tool and target an offer to be removed, the Simulator tool will not provide a list of rule options to select from. Due to the complexity of removing options for round trips, Simulator tool will suggest only one rule that will remove the targeted option and its data will be automatically populated in the “Rule Settings” section.

A round trip is more complex because of the combinability code logic. The concept of the combinability code is that outbound offers are combinable with inbound ones through a “combinability code”. PPF Simulator can remove offers only when the rule matches on both legs. Inbound offers are present in the search result but are not shown in Smartpoint Cloud results until the customer selects an outbound option.

Combinability code information is shown in the Simulator tool for information purposes only. It can be found below the “Preferred vs Non-Preferred” table:

The background color depends on the matching status. Inbound options are shown at the right column while outbound options are at the left. The two products shown in the image above are combinable by the “j39” combinability code.

Click on any of the options shown in the “combinability code diagram” to see details about why those matched. The information displays in a table below the diagram:

Inbound options are only compared against other inbound options.

• There’s a possibility that an option is not removable because there are no competitors to compare against, or, because more than 5 carriers are needed (and PPF only permits 5 to be used).

• In either case, the following message displays when you target a non-removable option: