Fare Quote (Pricing)

IATA split the world into three Traffic Conferences (TC1/2/3)

Fare Selection Logic

Fare Quote is based on IATA Fare Selection Logic.

Fare selection is based upon the origin/destination of each fare component and the carrier performing service on a specific portion of the component.

When the fare component is between Area 1 and Area 2, the fares of the carrier performing service on the sector crossing from one area to another will be used.

 

Fare Selection Criteria

Fare Selection Criteria

We will consider up to two potential carrier’s fares for a fare component. The carrier’s fare that will be selected for the fare component will be the lower of the two fares based on a comparison between Options 1 and 2 below, assuming each fare passes all rules.

 

Option 1 for fare selection: Most significant carrier (carrier used in the current fare selection process).

1. The first sector crossing from one Area to another Area, if none then

2. The first sector crossing from one sub-area to another, if none then

3. The first international sector (except Europe)

Within Europe: select the lower of the fares applicable for the carrier performing carriage on the first international sector, and the carrier performing the greatest part of the journey measured by TPM. Compare the fares of the two carriers, and apply the lower.

 

Travel within Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden and Denmark) is considered international for this rule

Domestic Fares except Within USA/Canada: When a domestic fare component involves two carriers (generally there will not be more than two carriers involved in a domestic fare), compare the fares of the two carriers, and apply the lower.

Domestic Fares within USA/Canada (ONE COUNTRY): for fare components within US/CA, select the fare for the carrier performing the service on the first sector.

 

Option 2 for fare selection: The carrier that provides air travel for the longest measured TPMs (Ticketed Point Miles)

1. The longest international sector, OR

2. The longest consecutive international sectors, OR

3. The longest consecutive international and domestic sectors.

Travelport 360 Fares looks to quote the lowest fare for an itinerary. If the fare for a selected passenger description is not the best fare, then the system defaults to the lowest adult fare.

To ensure that the system quotes the appropriate fare for the passenger description you have selected (even if it is not the lowest fare), then include a second asterisk before the passenger description, e.g Formats Galileo: FQ**YTH, FQ**SRC

Apolllo: $B**SRC

Worldspan: 4P*PSRC#@@PTC

Here is an example- In this case the ITX fare is higher than the ADT fare

In order to price the ITX fare you would have to use **ITX if you used *ITX the lower ADT fare would be priced.

Passenger Types in Category 35

For published fares, when using a passenger type in Category 35 to associate security and/or other Category 35 features such as tour code to certain passenger types, all applicable passenger types must also be coded in the Record1 of the published fare. If ADT applies, include ADT as the last passenger type in the Record 1. If the passenger type field in Record 1 is left blank and all the records in Category 35 have passenger types coded, the desired result will not be achieved.

Blended PTCs

You can tell the system to apply the fare of any airline in the itinerary to override the default IATA Fare Selection Policy.

With this modifier you will override the Pricing Logic Carrier and substitute with carrier XX:

Galileo >FQOCXX

Apollo

Worldspan >4P*#CAA

You can find more formats to override fare selection Logic Format Assistance.htm

Note: Using this modifier will result in an M status fare which is not covered by the Travelport Fare Guarantee Policy and therefore not eligible for ADM review.

When a carrier is selected to be the fare owning carrier for the fare component, that carrier is then considered to be “primary” carrier on the Fare Component for the purposes of RBD (Reservation Booking Designators) and Transfers – Category 9.

The fare for the carrier selected to be used on the Fare Component must pass all fare rules (e.g. routing/mileage, stopovers, transfers, surcharges, combinations, RBDs, etc.).

Fare Rules an be viewed from Fare Display or Fare Quote see Format Assistance.htm

After pricing the itinerary, we will be able to determine the carrier that was selected to be the fare owning carrier on each fare component using a follow-on entry:

Format Galileo / Apollo Follow-On entry after FQ / $B >FQL

Format Worldspan Follow-On entry after

When there are multiple fare components included in the fare quote, the fare owning carrier is displayed with each associated fare component with the Follow-On entry:

Format: FQP

Support: H/FQP

Fare Quote Planner (FQP) allows you to obtain one or more fare quote(s) for a proposed itinerary without booking flights.

Fare Quote Planner includes Fare Quote Quick (FQQ), which uses the same formats but returns only the lowest fare for a proposed itinerary.

Fare Quote Planner (FQP) is an optional fare shopping tool that can be used by 360º Fares users. Fare Quote Planner generates a range of price options without the presence of a booked itinerary and without checking flight availability. The user supplies the city pairs, carriers, booking class, travel dates, etc. within the FQP format. 360º Fares will then return a range of fares that may be available based on the input criteria. Without a booked itinerary, a series of generic rules have been created that govern FQP and are defined below.

1. FQP will accommodate itineraries up to 15 segments.

2. All cities are validated as stopovers unless a connection is added, or the same date of travel is used within the input string.

3. Basic input for North American itineraries includes the origin, destination, carrier, and date.

4. Basic input for International itineraries includes the origin and destination, carrier, and date.

5. When more than 9 city/airport codes are used within the input string, booking codes are required.

6. Current FQP fare selection logic selects the lowest eligible fare for each of up to 10 fare types, the lowest fare for each fare type will include eligible private fares.

Assumptions

FQP was designed with the following basic assumptions unless overridden by modifier(s).

1. If city codes are input (vs. airport codes), city fares will be used in the quote with a message output that airport fares also exist.

2. The travel date, booking code and carrier modifiers can be input in random order between a city pair.

3. If no date is input, the default date is the current date. If a date is input for any one sector, it is maintained for each subsequent sector until another new date is input.

4. Each city is validated as a stopover unless the same date is manually input by the agent.

5. Selling and ticketing city is the location of the CRT.

6. All segments are assumed flown.

    

FQP defaults are similar in functionality to those used in fare display and fare quote:

1. FQP will consider all applicable public fares, airline private fares, and Travelport Agency Private Fares unless one type is specifically requested with /:N, /:P, /:C , /:A, or /:G.

2. Private fares will be indicated with a hyphen (-) preceding the fare basis code and an agent alert in the response.

3. Applicable net fares will only be returned when /:C is included in the request.

4. As with fare display and fare quote, account codes are limited to 20 characters and the first character must not be numeric.

5. The private fares provider PCC (Pseudo City Code) or the override PCC entered in the FQP request will be returned with the response.

6. Past dates must include a two-digit year.

7. Historical fare information is available for the past 365 days.

8. Input of multiple account codes at a journey level in a single request will not be supported.

9. When used for the entire journey, the Fare Basis (FIC) modifier must be placed at the end of the entered request.

 

Follow On Entries

FQP* Redisplay summary

FQP*2 Display the fare on line 2 in linear format

FQL3 Display the fare on line 3 in ladder format

FQN2 Display the Fare components for the fare on line 2. The rule (FN1) and route (FR2) display are follow-ons to the FQN.

The booking date modifier (.B) cannot be a future date and must be equal to or prior to today’s date.

BOOKING DATE MODIFIED will be a warning message displayed on the response when the booking date modifier .B is used in a quote request.

 

Historical Pricing with FQP

Fare Quote Planner FQP and FQQ can price historical fares and current day taxes (.H). The processing will continue to apply any ROE, fees, BSR/ICER rates from the historical date and will validate advance purchase requirements and first/last reservation dates based on the booking date input (.B).

>FQPCDG08JAN21.MLHR19JAN21.YCDG+BA/CBA.H08JAN21

 

Fare Quote Alternatives

Format: FQA

Support: H/FQA

FQA quotes a maximum of four alternative fares applicable for a booked itinerary.

This functionality may be used in the following situations:

An itinerary involving an airline which uses the same booking class code for different fare types.

An itinerary for a passenger who does not want the lowest (most restrictive) fare for a journey.

An itinerary with a fare component involving mixed classes of service.

Note: FQA is not applicable for itineraries falling entirely within the USA, Canada, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

The required fare must be manually filed in the Booking File. Entry to file: >FF2 (If FF2 is the desired one)

Format: FQBB

Support: H/FQBB

Worldspan – 4PLFB

Apollo - $BB

FQBB quotes the lowest economy fare for which seats are available for the booked itinerary. There are two possible responses to a Best Buy fare request:

Flight segments must be rebooked in a different booking class code to obtain the Best Buy fare (and for this, FQBBK entry will be used)

Booking class codes have been used correctly to obtain the Best Buy fare and no rebook is required.

Note: FQBB can only be requested for an itinerary with a maximum of 8 segments, and all must be confirmed.

 

Best Buy by cabin

Quotes the lowest fare in the cabin class booked for the corresponding class of service.

For example: outbound in Business class and inbound in Economy class

 

Best Buy Comparison (FQBC)

Fare Quote Best Buy Comparison works in a similar way to Fare Quote Best Buy. If the system gives a lower fare which requires a rebooking, a comparison is made between the fare obtained from a standard fare quote (FQ) and that obtained from a Best Buy input (FQBB). The difference is shown in the response as a saving.

There are two possible responses to a Best Buy fare request:

Flight segments must be rebooked in a different booking class code to obtain the Best Buy fare.

Booking class codes have been used correctly to obtain the Best Buy fare and no rebooking is required.

Note: Fare Quote Best Buy Comparison can only be requested for an itinerary with a maximum of 8 segments, and all must be confirmed.

 

Best Buy Lowest Available Regardless of Seat Availability

FQBA may be used for information purposes and quotes the lowest fare for an itinerary regardless of seat availability. If a lower fare is available, the itinerary must be rebooked using different flights or dates.

Note: FQBA can only be requested for an itinerary with a maximum of 8 segments, and all must be confirmed.

You can find additional formats Format Assistance.htm

Historical pricing entry returning either current or historical taxes

When pricing a historical fare make sure you determine first whether historical or current taxes should be applied.

FQ.H10MAR21 will price a historical fare (e.g. fare in effect on 10MAR21) with current taxes (the taxes in effect at the day of pricing)

FQ.T10MAR21 will price a historical fare (e.g. fare in effect on 10MAR21) with historical taxes (the taxes in effect at the historical date entered in the pricing command)

Airlines may file fares that apply to a specific passenger type based on geographical conditions. A new personal geography modifier gives you the ability to validate fares that have been filed to include specific geographic locations where the passenger might reside or work. The new modifier is identified by an L and is used to specify the location in which the passenger resides or works. It is used to quote fares that have specific location restrictions, e.g. a government employee, and must be used with a valid passenger type code.

The personal geography modifier may be any of the following:

Country code - DE (Germany)

City code - CHI (Chicago)

US state code - USCO (Colorado)

Canadian province code - CAQC (Quebec)

The personal geography modifier follows the passenger type code in the input.

Airlines can add a residency restriction to a fare. The GDS fares system validates these restrictions and fares may not quote unless qualifying residency information is added to the FQ request.

Note: View the fare rules text to check if information should be added to a fare quote entry. It is common practice to sell a VUSA fare (visit USA) in conjunction with transatlantic travel.

For example, to quote a VUSA fare for a resident of Switzerland:

Formats Galileo : FQ**VACLCH

Apollo: $B**VACLCH

Worldspan: 4PVAC#LRCH

Airlines may file CAT35 net fares with a tour code and/or specific Passenger Type Codes.

If you have different passenger types in your Booking File, e.g. adult and child, you will get this error response when you attempt to quote a fare for both passengers in one entry.

You cannot file multiple tour codes in one filed fare or different Passenger Types, and you must quote each fare separately.

For example, enter:

FQP1/CBA: P**ITX for the adult

FQP2**I09/ACCITX/CBA for the child

For additional formats, please visit the Format Knowledge Base Format Assistance.htm

Note: You can fare quote maximum 6 types of different passengers (PTCs) in the same transaction.

1) Use the OC modifier (As explained in this document under Override Fare Selection Logic)

2) Fare fails the Advance Purchase rule:

Therefore, the itinerary will not price if you exceed the time limit placed by the airline on that fare.

3)When an itinerary will not price as expected the first thing to do is determine which rule it is failing. To do so you need to tell the system the Fare Basis that you are trying to price.

by using a @farebasis modifier

 

Galileo : FQ@MLRTKR

Apollo : $B@MLRTKR

Worldspan : 4P--MLRTKR

 

THE FOLLOWING RULES FOR FARE BASIS MLRTKR

STOPOVERS

THE FOLLOWING RULES FOR FARE BASIS MLRTKR

-RULES VALIDATION MET

 

This tells you the Category of failure, in this case Stopovers, and the Fare Component that failed, In this case FC1, The response of -RULES VALIDATION MET shows that Fare Component 2 passed validation.

Whereas the outbound journey failed due to the stopover rule

:P used in FD and FQ/FS entries would display only the private/negotiated fares filed as Selling (public fares and fares filed as Net are not considered). These include the fares filed by the airline and the ones filed via APF and/or redistributed via NFM/SFM.

:C used in FD and FQ/FS entries would display and price the fares filed as Net (public fares and fares filed as Selling are not considered).

:E used in FQ and FS entries (not supported in FD) would display all fares (public, private/negotiated fares filed as Selling as well as the fares filed as Net).

:A used in FD and FQ/FS entries would display the airline private/negotiated fares filed as Selling.

:G used in FD and FQ/FS entries would display the agency private/negotiated fares filed as Selling (APF fares only). NFM/SFM fares would display in FD only with this modifier.