Plating Carrier Logic

With the enhanced Validating Carrier logic, processing considers all marketing carriers on the itineraries, and any carriers that they have General Sales Agent (GSA) agreements with, as potential validating carrier candidates. When a validating carrier is not specified by the agency, the pricing and shopping responses will return the lowest fare on any valid validating carrier for that ticketing agency. Although multiple validating carriers will be considered during pricing process, it will be the validating carrier with the lowest base fare (inclusive of YQ and YR fees) that is selected as the validating carrier and returned in the pricing and shopping displays. When there is a combination of private and public fares, plating carrier preference will be given to the fare owning carrier of the private fare, even if it is not the lowest solution.

Processing will initiate checks to ensure the most logical carrier is selected as the validating carrier.

• The validating carrier selected must have electronic ticket agreements with all the carriers on the itinerary.
• If a carrier has a General Sales Agent (GSA)/Sponsoring Carrier (SCT) agreement with other carriers, those carriers will also be included as validating carrier candidates.
• Agencies will also have the option of requesting validation of carrier authorization (AUTH/PAT) or BSP/ARC participation.

Validating carrier processing will assume that an Electronic Ticket will be issued, so any pricing or shopping response requiring a Paper Ticket will no longer be returned unless specifically requested. Customers will continue to be allowed to enter their own validating carrier in a pricing or ticketing entry.

Agencies on all systems have the option of overriding this enhanced Validating Carrier logic.

After the above validating carrier validation checks are completed, processing will then validate the CAT 15 and CAT 35 validating carrier restrictions filed in the fare rules, before selecting the validating carrier for the final pricing solution.

Although multiple validating carriers will be considered during pricing process, it will be the validating carrier with the lowest base fare (inclusive of YQ and YR fees) that is selected as the validating carrier and returned in the pricing and shopping displays. When there is a combination of private and public fares, preference will be given to the fare owning carrier of the private fare. If multiple private fare owning carriers exist for the lowest fare quote, the First International Private Fare Owning carrier will be selected.

Galileo customers that select to override the enhanced Validating Carrier Logic functionality will have plating carrier logic that is similar to the legacy default Plating Carrier PLAT-Y logic. Fare Quotes requiring a Paper Ticket be issued are no longer automatically returned, but can be requested with the Plating Carrier and Paper Ticket modifiers. The legacy default Plating Carrier logic will select one validating carrier based on the journey and Electronic Ticket eligibility that includes validation of Interline Electronic Ticketing agreements, BSP participation, and the carrier authorization check.

If the journey is:

• Wholly within a country, or
• Wholly between Canada and the USA, or
• Wholly within the area comprising Denmark, Norway and Sweden

The plating carrier is the carrier supplying the first sector (first coupon) of transportation, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier.

For all other journeys :

• Where travel involves transport between Area 1 and Area 3 via Area 2

The plating carrier is the carrier that supplies the transatlantic transportation, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier.

• Where travel involves transportation between IATA TC Areas

The plating carrier is the carrier that supplies the first transportation between TC areas, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier.

• Where travel involves transportation wholly within an IATA TC Area

The plating carrier is the carrier that supplies the first transportation between IATA sub areas, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier.

• Where travel involves transportation wholly within a single IATA Sub Area

The plating carrier is the carrier that supplies the first international sector, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier.

Apollo customers that select to override the enhanced Travelport Validating Carrier logic functionality will have the option of the legacy default Plating Carrier logic (PLAT-Y) or the legacy Validating Carrier logic (PLAT-N).

Apollo Legacy PLAT-Y Logic

Apollo customers with the AAT PLAT-Y setting will have default Plating Carrier logic that will select one validating carrier based on the journey and Electronic Ticket eligibility that includes validation of Interline Electronic Ticketing agreements, BSP/ARC participation, and the carrier authorization check.

If the journey is:

• Wholly within a country, or
• Wholly between Canada and the USA, or
• Wholly within the area comprising Denmark, Norway and Sweden

The plating carrier is the carrier supplying the first sector (first coupon) of transportation, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier. If none of the carriers are ET eligible, then the PT eligible carrier is selected as the validating carrier.

For all other journeys :

• Where travel involves transport between Area 1 and Area 3 via Area 2

The plating carrier is the carrier that supplies the transatlantic transportation, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier. If none of the carriers are ET eligible, then the PT eligible carrier is selected as the validating carrier.

• Where travel involves transportation between IATA TC Areas

The plating carrier is the carrier that supplies the first transportation between TC areas, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier. If none of the carriers are ET eligible, then the PT eligible carrier is selected as the validating carrier.

• Where travel involves transportation wholly within an IATA TC Area

The plating carrier is the carrier that supplies the first transportation between IATA sub areas, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier. If none of the carriers are ET eligible, then the PT eligible carrier is selected as the validating carrier.

• Where travel involves transportation wholly within a single IATA Sub Area

The plating carrier is the carrier that supplies the first international sector, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier. If none of the carriers are ET eligible, then the PT eligible carrier is selected as the validating carrier.

Apollo Legacy PLAT-N Logic

Apollo customers with a PLAT-N AAT setting will have the legacy Validating Carrier logic that will identify a validating carrier based only on the geography of the itinerary. No plating carrier validation checks will be done unless the user has appended the Plating Carrier in the input request.

If the journey is:

• Wholly within a country, or
• Wholly between Canada and the USA, or
• Wholly within the area comprising Denmark, Norway and Sweden

The Validating Carrier will be the carrier on the first sector of transportation.

If the journey is not one of the above and

• Involves transportation between IATA Area 1 and Area 3 via Area 2

The Validating carrier is the carrier that performs the transatlantic transportation.

• Involves transportation between IATA Areas

The Validating carrier is the carrier that performs the first transportation between IATA areas (except as noted above).

• Involves transportation wholly within an IATA area

The Validating carrier is the carrier that performs the first transportation between IATA sub areas.

• Involves transportation wholly within a single IATA sub area

Validating carrier is the carrier that performs the first international travel.

Worldspan customers that select to override the enhanced Travelport Validating Carrier logic functionality will have logic that selects one validating carrier based on the journey on the itinerary and Electronic Ticket eligibility. This includes validation of GSA/SCT agreements, Interline Electronic Ticketing Agreements, and the option for carrier authorization (PAT) or BSP/ARC validation.

If the journey is:

• Wholly within a country, or
• Wholly between Canada and the USA, or
• Wholly within the area comprising Denmark, Norway and Sweden

The default validating carrier is the carrier supplying the first sector (first coupon) of transportation

For all other journeys:

• Where travel involves transport between Area 1 and Area 3 via Area 2

The default validating carrier is the carrier that supplies the transatlantic transportation.

• Where travel involves transportation between IATA TC Areas

The default validating carrier is the carrier that supplies the first transportation between TC areas.

• Where travel involves transportation wholly within an IATA TC Area

The default validating carrier is the carrier that supplies the first transportation between IATA sub areas.

• Where travel involves transportation wholly within a single IATA Sub Area

The default validating carrier is the carrier that supplies the first international sector.

If the carrier selected based on the journey fails the Electronic Ticket eligibility checks, then the other carriers on the itinerary including their GSA/SCT carriers are processed against the Electronic Ticket checks. The next carrier that passes the Electronic Ticket validation is then selected as the validating carrier

Automated Plating Carrier Determination (Apollo and Galileo)

Travelport 360 Fares provides functionality that automatically determines the applicable plating carrier for any given itinerary. This logic is based on IATA Resolution 852, and ensures that the selected plating carrier is:

• Valid for use at the ticketing location
• Valid for use with all carriers in the itinerary
• May be used for Electronic or Paper Ticketing as applicable, per the input request
• Ensures the correct application of YQ/YR fees

Per IATA, the applicable plating carrier is selected based on the following criteria:

If the journey is:

• Wholly within a country, or
• Wholly between Canada and the USA, or
• Wholly within the area comprising Denmark, Norway and Sweden

The plating carrier is the carrier supplying the first sector (first coupon) of transportation, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier. If none of the carriers are ET eligible, then the PT eligible carrier is selected as the validating carrier.

For all other journeys :

• Where travel involves transport between Area 1 and Area 3 via Area 2

The plating carrier is the carrier that supplies the transatlantic transportation, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier. If none of the carriers are ET eligible, then the PT eligible carrier is selected as the validating carrier.

• Where travel involves transportation between IATA TC Areas

The plating carrier is the carrier that supplies the first transportation between TC areas, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier. If none of the carriers are ET eligible, then the PT eligible carrier is selected as the validating carrier.

• Where travel involves transportation wholly within an IATA TC Area

The plating carrier is the carrier that supplies the first transportation between IATA sub areas, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier. If none of the carriers are ET eligible, then the PT eligible carrier is selected as the validating carrier.

• Where travel involves transportation wholly within a single IATA Sub Area

The plating carrier is the carrier that supplies the first international sector, provided that carrier is ET eligible. If the selected carrier fails the ET checks, then the other carriers in the itinerary are processed against the ET checks. The carrier that passes the ET checks is then selected as the validating carrier. If none of the carriers are ET eligible, then the PT eligible carrier is selected as the validating carrier. Once the plating carrier is selected, further validation checks are completed to ensure that the agency location can issue a ticket on the selected carrier. Additional itinerary checks are completed to ensure that all applicable interline agreements are in place. Should any of these checks fail, the itinerary is analyzed, and the next valid plating carrier is determined and validated.

Automated Validating Carrier Determination (Worldspan)

Worldspan by Travelport provides functionality that automatically determines the applicable validating carrier for any given itinerary. This logic is based on IATA Resolution 852, and ensures that the selected validatingcarrier is:

• Valid for the itinerary
• Valid for use with all carriers in the itinerary,
• May be used for Electronic or Paper Ticketing as applicable, per the input request,
• Ensures the correct application of YQ/YR fees.

Per IATA, the applicable default validating carrier is selected based on the following criteria:

If the journey is:

• Wholly within a country, or
• Wholly between Canada and the USA, or
• Wholly within the area comprising Denmark, Norway and Sweden

The default validating carrier is the carrier supplying the first sector (first coupon) of transportation

For all other journeys:

• Where travel involves transport between Area 1 and Area 3 via Area 2

The default validating carrier is the carrier that supplies the transatlantic transportation.

• Where travel involves transportation between IATA TC Areas

The default validating carrier is the carrier that supplies the first transportation between TC areas.

• Where travel involves transportation wholly within an IATA TC Area

The default validating carrier is the carrier that supplies the first transportation between IATA sub areas.

• Where travel involves transportation wholly within a single IATA Sub Area

At ticketing, the validating carrier is selected, further validation checks are completed to ensure that the agency location can issue a ticket on the selected carrier. At both Pricing and Ticketing additional itinerary checks are completed to ensure that all applicable interline agreements are in place.

IATA Resolution 852

This failure means the validating carrier is not in the domestic carrier table Travelport maintain.

Domestic Carrier Code Table

Germany, Italy and Venezuela are coded in the Domestic Carrier Code table. It is maintained by Document Production Product Marketing.

Italy:

Domestic tickets are issued by Italian Non IATA agents, recognized by 380. in the IATA field of the AAT. Journey types must be domestic and must contain only certain carriers both in the itinerary and for the plating carrier. These carriers are listed in the Domestic Carrier Code table. If any segment in the itinerary is not flown by any of these carriers or they are not used for plating an error message will output: INVALID CARRIER FOR DOMESTIC TICKETING. Airlines would need to contact their Account Manager to have the table updated.