Flight Shopping

Flight Shopping Search

Flight Shopping enables you to search for pricing and itinerary options for unbooked itineraries.

Flight Shopping supports the following modifiers:

  • One-way and round-trip itineraries.
  • Number of passengers.
  • Cabin class (booking code).
  • One specified airline.
  • Specified currency.

To include additional availability or fare modifiers in the Fare Shopping request, use Smartpanel or Fare Shopping with Terminal Formats.

Please note that this feature is distinct from the Flight Search, which returns both NDC and traditional fares.

Accessing the Flight Shopping Search Screen

There are several ways to access the Flight Shopping Search screen:

  • Flex Windows. Click the Search icon to select Flight Shopping Search.

  • From the Calendar, right-click on a date range and select Shopping.

Using the Flight Shopping Search Screen

Note: This example shows a Search screen in Flex Windows. Classic Windows has a different layout, but displays the same fields.

In Flex Windows, the Search screen is displayed as a side panel in the Travelport Smartpoint screen. You can choose to pin the side panel so that you can simultaneously view the PNR window.

By default the side panel is unpinned and collapses automatically if you click a location outside of the side panel. However, you can click the Pin icon to retain the side panel if you work in other locations in the Travelport Smartpoint screen.

You can also click the Collapse arrow at any time to close the pinned or unpinned side panel.

  1. Select the trip type: Round Trip for a round-trip itinerary or One Way for a one-way trip.

Tip! If you want to book circle trips, open-jaw trips, or other itineraries with multiple destinations, you can use Smartpanel or Focalpoint Shopping.

  1. In Origin, enter the airport code, airport name, city code, or city name for the departure location.

As you enter the code or name, possible matches are displayed. In the following example, all locations associated with the city name Manchester are displayed. Note that rail and bus stations may also be displayed.

You can either:

  • Use the arrow keys to select a location, then press ENTER.
  • Use the mouse to select a location, then click to confirm your selection.
  • Use the mouse or arrow keys to select a location, then press TAB to confirm the option and move the cursor to the next field.
  1. Optional. Select Multiple Airports if you want to include all airports in the metropolitan (metro) area of the Origin or Destination. See City/Airport Logic for a description of the response if the Multiple Airports option is not selected.

For the origin or destination, if the code is:

  • Both a city code and an airport code, but has a different metro code, Smartpoint searches by the airport code. For example: SNA, EWR,BUR.
  • A city/airport code and also metro code, Smartpoint searches by the city code. For example: LAX, HOU.
  • A city code, Smartpoint searches by the city code. For example: LON, NYC.

If the Multiple Airport option is selected for either or both a city code or airport code, Smartpoint searches by the both city code and airport code, with the city code preferred. For example: JFK, BUR, SNA.

Terminal Equivalents

Format

 Description

Example

++/RMA

Disables multi-airport processing.

FSLAX12JANATL++/RMA

++/M

Multiple airport for both origin and destination.

FSLAX12JANATL++/M

++/M[CODE]

Multiple airport only for specified airport.

FSLAX12JANEWR++/MLAX

Multiple airport only for the origin airport (LAX).

For the origin or destination, if the code is:

  • Both a city code and an airport code, Smartpoint searches by the airport code. For example: LAX, EWR, HOU.
  • A city code, Smartpoint searches by the airport code. For example: LON, CHI, NYC.

If the Multiple Airport option is selected for either or both a city code or airport code, Smartpoint searches by the both city code and airport code, with the city code preferred. For example: LAX, JFK, LHR, WAW.

Terminal Equivalents

Format

 Description

Example

/RMA

Disables multi-airport processing.

FSLAX12JANATL//RMA

//M

Multiple airport for both origin and destination.

FSLAX12JANATL//M

//M[CODE]

Multiple airport only for specified airport.

FSLAX12JANEWR//MLAX

Multiple airport only for the origin airport (LAX).
  1. In Destination, enter the airport code, airport name, city code, or city name for the arrival location.
  2. Optional. Select Multiple Airports if you want to include all airports in the metropolitan (metro) area of the Destination. See City/Airport Logic for a description of the response if the Multiple Airports option is not selected.
  3. In Departure date, enter the departure date or click the Calendar icon to select a date from the drop-down calendar. Smartpoint supports dates 364 days in advance of the current date. However, some carriers may support earlier date limits.

The current date is highlighted in green.

You can either:

  • Use the mouse to select a date that is highlighted in blue, then click to confirm your selection.
  • Use the arrow keys to select a date that is highlighted in gray, then press ENTER.
  • Use the arrow keys to select a date that is highlighted in gray, then press TAB to confirm your selection and move the cursor to the next field.
  1. In Departure time, enter the departure time or click the Calendar icon to select a time from the drop-down list.

You can enter any time format accepted by Travelport+ (1G)or Apollo (1V), including formats such as 1A, 1P, 13, and 1300.

You can either:

  • Use the mouse to select a date that is highlighted in blue, then click to confirm your selection.
  • Use the arrow keys to select a date that is highlighted in gray, then press ENTER.
  • Use the arrow keys to select a date that is highlighted in gray, then press TAB to confirm your selection and move the cursor to the next field.
Tip! In Smartpoint 9.1 and later, you can search and book on the previous two days, if an earlier date is valid in the time zone of the itinerary city or location.

As of Smartpoint 9.1, you can use follow the sun functionality to create or change bookings that occur one or two days before the current date in your agency's time zone. These updates apply calendars and date fields in Search menus, Tools menus, Smartpanel, and Sell menus.

For example:

On November 20 at 05:00, an agent in Dubai (UTC+4) needs to rebook a flight from Honolulu (UTC-10) to Los Angeles. Because the flight pair occurs on the other side of the International Dateline, the time Honolulu is 15:00 on November 19. The agent in Dubai can successfully enter November 19 for a search or sell because November 19 is currently a valid date in Honolulu.

Some location pairs in the Pacific have a two-day time difference. The biggest time difference between two places on Earth is 26 hours between:

  • The Howland Islands, which are the farthest west and use a time zone of -12 hours UTC.

  • The Line Islands in the Republic of Kiribati, which are the farthest east and use time zone of +14 hours UTC.

  1. In Arrival date, enter the arrival date or click the Calendar icon to select a date from the drop-down calendar.
  2. In Arrival time, enter the departure time or click the Calendar icon to select a time from the drop-down list.
  3. Optional. In Airline, enter the two-character airline code, alliance code, or airline name.

To add a maximum of five preferred airlines or to add alliances, click the Add icon.

  • Both Travelport+ (1G)and Apollo (1V) supports alliance codes, which can be combined with preferred airlines.
  • Travelport+ (1G)supports more than one alliance code per request.
  • Apollo (1V) supports only one alliance code per request.
  • Some combinations of alliances and non-participant airlines may not be permitted in the same search and may return an error message: [AIRLINE CODE] IS A NON-PARTICIPANT-ENTRY IS INVALID. This message displays next to the first specified airline, regardless of whether that airline is the non-participant airline.

As you enter the code or name, possible matches are displayed. In the following example, all airlines that contain South are displayed.

You can either:

  • Use the arrow keys to select an airline, then press ENTER.
  • Use the mouse to select an airline, then click to confirm your selection.
  • Use the mouse or arrow keys to select an airline, then press TAB to confirm the option and move the cursor to the next field.
  1. Optional. For any airlines listed in Step 10, you can indicate the display preference. This selection applies to all listed airlines for all segments in the trip.

  • Include to return the listed airlines as preferred. Additional airlines may also be returned.

  • Exclude to remove airlines from the response.

  • Include Only to return only the listed airlines.

The following availability formats use "BA" as the carrier code.

Modifier Format Example

Include

FSFAR12MARATL++/DL

Exclude

FSFAR12MARLON++/BA-

Include Only

FSFAR12MARLON++/BA#

Modifier Format Example

Include

FSFRA12MARATL//+LH

Exclude

FSFRA17MARATL//-LH

Include Only

FSFRA29MARATL//#LH
or
FSFRA29MARATL//++LH
  1. In Passengers, select the number of passengers for this itinerary. Flight Shopping supports a maximum of nine passengers in a single PNR/Booking File.
  2. Optional. In Cabin, select a cabin class (booking code).
  3. Optional. In Currency Override, enter the three-letter currency code or currency name. If you do not specify a currency, the response returns fares in the default currency provisioned for the PCC.

As you enter the code or name, possible matches are displayed. In the following example, currency codes, currency names, and country names that contain the letters ANG are displayed.

You can either:

  • Use the arrow keys to select a currency, then press ENTER.
  • Use the mouse to select a currency, then click to confirm your selection.
  1. Click SEARCH to display the Flight Shopping response. See Fare Shopping Results for detailed information about working with Fare Shopping responses.

Example of a Completed Screen

The following example shows:

  • A round-trip itinerary from LHR (airport code) to AMS (city/airport code).
  • The multiple airport option is selected for the departure city, so departures from all airports associated to the London metropolitan area will be displayed.
  • From October 14 to October 18 with a specified departure time of 2:00 PM and a default return time of 12:00 AM.
  • For two passengers.
  • Three airlines set to Include Only: British Airways, KLM, and Lufthansa. Only these three airlines are included in the responses.
  • A Business booking code (cabin type) is specified.
  • The currency override returns the fares in Euros rather than the agency's default currency.

The following results display for Flight Shopping search for fares from London to Amsterdam. The first four options are available on British Airways (BA), but KLM and Lufthansa may also be returned.

Tip! By default, 16 results are returned in the Flight Shopping display. However, you can use Search Settings to change the number of results returned in the display.

See Selling Flights from Fare Shopping: Direct Payment Carriers for additional details.