Selling Flights from Air Availability

Direct Payment Carriers

Direct Payment Carriers, which use an API connection, are transacted through the Travelport Aggregated Shopping (TAS) system, which can display Pricing Options for both Direct Payment Carriers and traditional Network (GDS) Carriers in the same response.

Note that Air Availability and Pricing with Direct Payment Carriers have several requirements that are different from availability and pricing with Network (GDS) Carriers:

  • Direct Payment Carriers typically require paid seats and other ancillary services to be added before the PNR/Booking File is end transacted.
  • Direct Payment Carriers have different requirements for Customer Information than Network Carriers. Some carriers may also have specific requirements, such as the traveler's citizenship or specific payment information.
  1. Create PNR information. At minimum, you must create passenger names before booking flights.
  2. Note that Direct Payment Carriers have different requirements for Customer Information than Network Carriers. Some carriers may also have specific requirements, such as the traveler's citizenship or specific payment information.
  3. Be sure to include loyalty memberships, which may affect fares and ancillary service prices.
  4. Search for Air Availability. A colon sign : indicates a Direct Payment Carrier.
  5. If available, view seat maps.
  6. Book flights for unbranded or branded fares. Note that prices for branded fares are estimated only until they are priced in the following step.
  7. Repeat the Air Availability search for any additional flights in the itinerary. As you select flights, the booked segments are displayed in the PNR view.
  8. When the itinerary is complete, enter 4P or another pricing command to price the booked flights.
  9. Optional. Click Rules in the fare quote to view the Fare Rules and Price Details for your selected segments.
  10. Finalize required PNR information.
  11. If applicable, view seat maps to select free or paid seats or to request airline-assigned seats.
  12. If applicable, select ancillary services, such as paid baggage, meals, or lounge access. Some branded fares include ancillary services in the base price, but may allow additional ancillary services to be purchased separately.
  13. If you selected paid seats and/or additional ancillary services, price flights again to include any paid seats and ancillary services in the total price.
  14. Review the Terms and Conditions for the booking. Direct Payment Carriers also typically include a link to the Terms and Conditions pages on their web sites.
  15. Pay for and complete the booking.
  16. End Transact (ET or ER) to update the PNR. Note that Direct Payment Carriers typically fulfill at the time of booking.

Detailed Steps

The following steps show the minimum tasks required to search for search for and sell flights from Air Availability.

To book flights on a Direct Payment Carrier:
  1. Create PNR information. At minimum, you must create passenger names before booking flights.
  2. Note that Direct Payment Carriers have different requirements for Customer Information than Network Carriers. Some carriers may also have specific requirements, such as the traveler's citizenship or specific payment information.
  3. Be sure to include loyalty memberships, which may affect fares and ancillary service prices.
  4. Create an Air Availability search.

  1. If available, view seat maps.
  2. Click the class of service to book passengers on the flight.

  • Note that three classes of service for this carrier are available: W, B, and Y. However, Direct Payment Carriers may not display the numeric availability status for each class of service, even if the class of service is available.
  • A seat map is not currently available for this carrier.
  1. Repeat the Air Availability search for any additional flights in the itinerary. As you select flights, the booked segments are displayed in the PNR view.

  • A colon sign : indicates a Direct Payment Carrier.
  • A ZK segment status indicates a passive segment in the Worldspan system for the booking made with the Direct Payment carrier. The active segment resides with the Direct Payment Carrier. ZK segments are used only for Direct Payment Carriers and cannot be added manually.
  1. When the itinerary is complete, enter 4P to price the itinerary as booked or enter another pricing command. See KB0014477 in the Travelport Knowledge Base for pricing modifiers and additional information.

The fare quote is displayed. This initial Fare Quote sample is a Branded Fare for two passengers.

OptSvcs is 0.00 because no paid seats or additional ancillaries (optional services) have been added. Any ancillary services that are part of the selected branded fare are considered part of the baseline fare total and are not included in the OptSvics total.

  1. Optional. Click Rules in the fare quote to view the Fare Rules and Price Details for your selected segments. These rules frequently contain a link to the carrier's web site for full rule details.

Fare rules for the first segment are displayed.

Click 4PR*S02 to view fares rules and price details for the second segment in the PNR/Booking File.

Click 4P* or 4P#CU2 to see price details for this segment.

  1. Finalize any required PNR information.

Specific carriers may also have additional booking requirements. See Booking Requirements for each Direct Payment Carrier for more information about required Customer Information for each carrier.

At a minimum, you must enter passenger names so that a Fare Quote can be completed in Step 6. However, you can also add the other PNR information required for Direct Payment Carriers at any time before end transacting the itinerary.

Because Direct Payment Carriers typically fulfill bookings at the time of purchase, certain information in the PNR is required before a booking can be end transacted. This information includes a Form of Payment, which is required to finalize the booking.

  1. Optional. Click the class of service to view seat maps and select seat assignments. See Supported Functionality for each Direct Payment Carrier for more information about carriers that support seat maps.

  1. Optional. Click the Shopping Cart icon Shop to add ancillary services (optional services). Available ancillary services vary by carrier and flight.

The following example shows ancillary services for a Branded Fare that are not included in the baseline fare brand. Branded Fares typically include ancillary services as part of the fare brand. However, additional ancillaries that are not part of the baseline fare brand may be available for an additional fee.

See Adding Ancillary Services for more information about selecting ancillaries for both branded and unbranded fares.

  1. If you added ancillaries or paid seat assignments in the previous steps, enter 4P to price the itinerary again with any ancillary service and paid seat costs included in the fare totals and breakdowns. See KB0014477 in the Travelport Knowledge Base for pricing modifiers and additional information.

In this example, the fare quote indicates two passengers who have selected a branded fare. In addition to any ancillaries that are available as part of the fare brand, the passengers have selected:

  1. Special baggage for sports equipment, checked-in baggage at different weights for each segment, and meals.
  2. Paid seat upgrades for selected seats.
  1. OptSvcs indicates the total amount of ancillary services for each passenger.
  2. For each passenger, an Optional Services Amount indicates the subtotal of ancillary services for that passenger. The specific ancillary services selected for each passenger are not listed in the fare quote.
  3. Taxes for ancillary services may or may not be returned in the pricing response.
  1. Pay for and complete the booking.
  • To use the current form of payment (FOP) listed in the PNR information, enter Z5$*CXX, where XX is airline code.
  • To override the existing form of payment, add another form of payment to the command. For example: Z5$#CU2#CC#VI4444333322221111#D1215#S123.

  1. Review the Terms and Conditions for the booking. Direct Payment Carriers also typically include a link to the Terms and Conditions pages on their web sites.

  1. Enter ER to End Transact and redisplay the itinerary.

 

 

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