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.
  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.
  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.
  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.
  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.

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.
  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.

  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.

  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.
  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.