Cat10 - Combinations

Travelport 360 Fares is complaint with ATPCO Data application and IATA Resolution 017b for Cat10. Travelport do not maintain any Cat10 tables to manage combinations.

As per the IATA Resolution Advisory Working Group (RADWG) combinations template it is the responsibility of the Airline to control Cat10

IATA QUOTE

RADWG Members,

The 2014 Composite meeting agreed, for effective 1 October 2015, to make the Normal Fare Open Jaw less restrictive to allow Origin Open Jaw in different countries. As the change to the normal fare open jaw processing results in making the process the same for both normal fares and special fares, definitions were combined for simplicity and Resolution 017b adjusted accordingly.

It was recognized that the agreed changes will have significant impact on pricing process; however, there are controls in place if the fares are appropriately coded, for example the combination category (cat. 10). To support airlines that need to review their coding to ensure that their fares are auto-priced as intended, a RADWG taskforce lead by ATPCO developed a template as attached that airlines can reference when coding their fares

The IATA Document shows examples and has a lot of detail. To view the IATA RADWG document in full click here

 

Combinations (Category 10) provides automated functionality for carriers to express whether or not their fares are permitted to combine to form specific combination types and any restrictions applicable to those combinations. Combination restrictions are expressed through the use of eight sub-ordinate Record 3s, known as Sub-categories. The Sub-categories are identified as Major or Minor Sub-categories

Combination definitions, assumptions, and applications do not differ for Normal or Special fares.

Travelport 360 Fares allows carriers to control combinations and the creation of open jaw pricing units based on their Category 10 data, as hard-coded restrictions do not allow for flexibility for carriers that want all options available for combinations.

Here are some example where you can control the OJ in the Cat.101

You can control the open segment/surface sector via Mileage Validation:

-TO FORM SINGLE OR DOUBLE OPEN JAWS.

MILEAGE OF THE OPEN SEGMENT MUST BE EQUAL/LESS THAN

MILEAGE OF THE LONGEST FLOWN FARE COMPONENT.

OR

-TO FORM SINGLE OR DOUBLE OPEN JAWS.

MILEAGE OF THE OPEN SEGMENT MUST BE EQUAL/LESS THAN

MILEAGE OF THE SHORTEST FLOWN FARE COMPONENT.

 

You can also control where the surface sector can be taken via the Cat.109

 

-TO FORM SINGLE OR DOUBLE OPEN JAWS THAT CONSIST OF NO

MORE THAN 2 INTERNATIONAL FARE COMPONENTS. ORIGIN OPEN

SEGMENT MUST BE WITHIN ONE COUNTRY.

A MAXIMUM OF 2 INTERNATIONAL FARE COMPONENTS PERMITTED

PROVIDED -

WHEN THE OPEN JAW OCCURS AS FOLLOWS -

THE OPEN SEGMENT MUST BE

-BETWEEN AREA 3 AND AREA 2/BETWEEN AREA 3 AND AREA 1 OR

WITHIN AREA 3-

 

You can also restrict the surface sector to be within one country too.

PROVIDED -

THE OPEN SEGMENT MUST BE

-WITHIN ANY ONE COUNTRY.

Restricting applicable geographies on Open Jaws can also be accomplished with using values S, T, W or X on the Cat.10 scoreboard.

Resolution 012

Travel comprising two international fare components and assessed as a single pricing unit consisting of half round trip fares. Such fares may be subject to more restrictive open jaw provisions if so published within the applicable fares resolution. In this context

a) origin open jaw: the outward point of departure and the inward point of arrival are different

OR

b) turnaround open jaw: the outward point of arrival and the inward point of departure are different

OR

c) double open jaw: the outward point of departure and the inward point of arrival are different (origin open jaw)

AND

the outward point of arrival and the inward point of departure are different (turnaround open jaw)

Gaps

Once Open Jaws are permitted, the assumption is that they are permitted with no restrictions, unless otherwise specified. ATPCO’s definition and assumptions do not restrict:

• Number of fare components (see NOTE)

• Combination of domestic and international fare components

If the intent is to restrict the open jaw to two international fare components, then this can be controlled via the automated data but is not controlled by Travelport

NOTE: While ATPCO data assumes there is no limit on the number of fare components, most systems will not price an Open Jaw with more than two fare components.

 

Resolution 017b - Section D – Open Jaw Fares

1) Normal Fare Open Jaw

a) General

The following conditions apply to the assessment of a normal fare open jaw:

  • i) the fare for a normal fare open jaw pricing unit shall be the sum of half the applicable round trip fares for both international legs of the open jaw; provided that when a fare component terminates in the country of unit origin, the fare applicable from the country of unit origin shall be used
  • ii) Canada, USA shall be considered as one country
  • iii) except for pricing units wholly within Scandinavia, Scandinavia shall be considered as one country
  • iv) Aruba, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba, Curacao, St. Maarten shall be considered as one country
  • v) except for pricing units wholly within Europe, Europe shall be considered as one country
  • b) Origin or Turnaround Open Jaw
  • i) either domestic or international surface break is permitted
  • ii) when the surface sector is an international sector the distance of such surface sector must not be greater than the flown distance of the shorter of the two fare components (measurement of the surface sector shall be in accordance with Resolution 017c, Paragraph 4) c)
  • c) Double Open Jaw
  • i) both domestic and/or international surface breaks are permitted
  • ii) when the surface sector is an international sector the distance of such surface sector must not be greater than the flown distance of the shorter of the two fare components (measurement of the surface sector shall be in accordance with Resolution

2) Special Fare Open Jaw

  • Except as otherwise specified in a fare Resolution, the fare for an open jaw shall be the sum of half the applicable round trip fares for both international legs of the open jaw; provided that when a fare component terminates in the country of unit origin, the fare applicable from the country of unit origin shall be used
  • Exception: for travel originating and terminating in Europe (except for travel wholly within Europe):
  • where an open jaw applies between countries in Europe, the fare component which terminates in Europe shall be assessed in the direction from Europe
  • NOTE: References above to fare directionality for are not combination restrictions; therefore, they are out of scope of this document.

Gap

Once Open Jaws are permitted, the assumption is that they are permitted with no restrictions (e.g. there is no mileage restriction) unless otherwise specified. If the intent is to restrict the mileage on the open segment of an open jaw, then this can be controlled via the automated data solution as defined on the following page.

 

Where you see this coded in a rule Byte 40 is Value I and the itinerary must have at least two international FC's. An itinerary like the example below would fail.

 

No Applicable Category 10 data

When Category 10 data is not present or processing cannot resolve to applicable Category 10 data, the system assumption is that Open Jaws, Round Trips, Circle Trips, and End-on-End combinations are not permitted. Mirror Image combinations are permitted.

Below are the assumptions for each major sub-category:

  • Sub-category 101 Open Jaws: Open Jaw combinations are not permitted.
  • Sub-category 102 Round Trips: Round Trip combinations are not permitted.
  • Mirror Image combinations are permitted.
  • Sub-category 103 Circle Trips: Circle Trip combinations are not permitted.
  • Sub-category 104 End-on-End: End-on-End combinations are not permitted.

Applicable Category 10 data

Once processing resolves to applicable Category 10 data, the Scoreboard will specify whether a combination type is permitted, not permitted, permitted with restrictions (or required, in the case of End on End). If a combination type is permitted, then it is assumed to be permitted with no restrictions unless otherwise specified by data elements in the Scoreboard, major sub-category, and/or minor sub-category.

When data is present for one of the major sub-categories, data may also be present for any/all of the minor sub-categories specifying restrictions applicable to the major sub-category. However, a minor sub-category does not have to be present.

The absence of a minor sub-category invokes the following system assumptions:

  • Sub-category 106: Combinations permitted with fares of any carrier and any geography
  • Sub-category 107: Combinations permitted with fares governed by any public or private tariff and any rule
  • Sub-category 108: Combinations permitted with any round trip or one way fare
  • Sub-category 109: The open segment of the open jaw can be between any two geographic points

Travelport 360 Fares will perform the IATA International Surface Check on all NORMAL fares.

An itinerary such as the below example could fail as shown.

 

The IATA Rule check is defined below

GENERAL RULES ABSTRACT - IATA COMPOSITE MANUAL 2013

=======================================================

SECTION D - OPEN JAW FARES

1) Normal Fare Open Jaw

c) Turnaround Open Jaw

i) both domestic and international surface breaks are permitted

ii) when the surface sector is an international sector the distance of such surface

sector must not be greater than the flown distance of the shorter of the two fare

components (measurement of the surface sector shall be in accordance with

Resolution 017c, Paragraph 4)

Note: This check is not done on SPECIAL fares. Any mileage restrictions must be coded in the CAT10 Scoreboard

When determining the best possible pricing solution for itineraries or portions of itineraries that qualify as an open jaw with at least one special fare included in the mix, Travelport 360 Fares will consider two possible pricing solutions; an open jaw pricing unit, or two one way end-on-end pricing units. Both options will be considered a valid combination for pricing if Category 10 validation passes for all rules in the combination. Carriers should file end-on-end combination restrictions for their special fares one way fares if they don’t want them quoting in these situations. This can be done by restricting the geography allowed for the end-on-end combinations or by restricting end-on combinations to specific tariffs and/or rules. Additionally, open jaw restrictions filed in the Category 10 Record 2 scoreboard can restrict a fare from being used in a one way end-on-end combination. Specific values in the Category 10 Record 2 scoreboard can further control fare combinations and restrict a one way fare that can also be used as half round trip fares (Tag 1) from being used as a one way pricing unit end-on-end when the open jaw pricing unit for the same fare passes validation.

In the Category 10 Record 2 scoreboard for Category 101 (open jaws), “when the Single Open Jaw” field (byte 95) has values S, T, W, or X, the fare being validated may only be returned in an open jaw pricing solution if the itinerary or fares being priced pass the open jaw combination.

Category 10 Combinations is used to control the type of fares that can be issued on a single ticket. With all fares it is imperative that the carrier’s intention regarding what other public and/or private fares may be combined on a ticket be correctly coded in Category 10 Combinations. Travelport do not maintain combinations on an Airlines behalf. Category 10 Combinations includes the flexibility to allow the combination of a fare with “any other fare.” This allows for full-fares to be sold in combination with other fares. It is important to ensure that the restrictions information to be included in Category 10 correctly meets with your intent. In addition, as it is the responsibility of the private fare to state that the fare is not combinable with another carrier’s public fares, Travelport strongly recommends carriers with private data always code plating carrier restrictions. Either Category 15 (Sales Restrictions) “Validity” field (byte 48) or Category 35 (Negotiated Fares) Ticketing field (bytes 98-102) can be coded to ensure that the private fare will not be ticketed on another carrier’s plate or stock.

Travelport strongly recommends that for private fares one of these options is always coded when the fare is intended for an Apollo (1V), Galileo (1G), or Worldspan (1P) supported travel agency.

When researching if either combination and/or ticketing restrictions have been placed on fares, Travelport recommends checking the Category 10, 15, and 35 rules text for all fares involved on the ticket.

When the Highest RT byte is filed it is reasonable to expect that the Highest return fare will be charged when combining two fares.

However if you see that this is not working as expected then you can check the below items.

One thing to check is that there is no CAT35 fare in involved.

eg.

OPEN JAWS

FARES MAY BE COMBINED ON A HALF ROUND TRIP BASIS

-TO FORM SINGLE OPEN JAWS AT THE POINT OF DESTINATION.

CHARGE THE HIGHEST ROUND-TRIP FARE ON THE OPEN JAW.

This can be found in ATPCO

However because there is a CAT35 fare involved the byte is ignored.

Here are the ATPCO data apps

4.1.5 Highest RT (byte 19)

This field specifies that the highest round trip fare of all fare components in the Open Jaw must be charged for the entire Open Jaw. Following is an explanation of applicable values:

Value X: Apply the highest round trip fare. Value X is only applicable when all of the following are true:

  • All fare components on the pricing unit resolve to an applicable Sub-category 101 Record 3 with Highest RT (byte 19) value X.
  • All fare components are in the same Cabin.
    • Cabin determination is based on the fare (fare type code) and not the booked sectors.
    • Only 3 cabins are recognized (first, business, and economy). Fares in premium economy are considered to be economy; premium business are business; and premium first are first.
  • No fare component on the pricing unit is a Category 35 fare. <=============

If one or more of the above are not true, then Value X has no application and processing applies this field as if it contains value Blank. The OJ is still permitted subject to the remainder of the data in the Set (and subject to limitations on combining Category 35 fares on a ticket).

Therefore we process as if it was blank and allow the combination as 1/2RT because the Sub Category 101 Record 3 tables will

Pass combination validation for Open Jaw.

Airlines are not always aware of the definition of OVERWATER when filed in the rule.

The example below shows an International Rule (NYC-AMM) filed with the OVERWATER byte 36

Any Open Jaw pricing would fail Cat10. Here is the ATPCO CAT10 data application

4.6.4 Travel Sectors – Overwater (byte 36)

This field specifies whether the carrier’s fare identified by the data in bytes 17-35 must be an Overwater fare. Determination of an Overwater fare is based upon the Overwater definition in the Glossary of Terms, as follows:

• The fare must be in the ATPCO Domestic Fare Product; and

• One fare break point must be within the Continental US/Canada and the other fare break point must be outside the Continental US/CA; and

• The fare must contain a sector between the following points:

  • Between Continental US/CA and Hawaii; or
  • Between US/CA/Hawaii/Alaska and Puerto Rico/USVirgin Islands; or
  • Between Alaska and Hawaii

OVERWATER value cannot be used for USA-Jordan…and the fare is of course not US domestic. This Cat.10 value should ONLY be used between the following points:

  • Between Continental US/CA and Hawaii; or
  • Between US/CA/Hawaii/Alaska and Puerto Rico/USVirgin Islands; or
  • Between Alaska and Hawaii