FAQs: Apollo and Worldspan

NDC content is available to Apollo (1V) and Worldspan (1P) customers through the Flight Search via Smartpoint. These frequently asked questions are specific to Apollo and Worldspan NDC content.

Only American Airlines and United Airlines NDC content is available to Apollo and Worldspan customers.

Refer to the other FAQ topics for information about getting started, shopping and booking, seats, servicing, and reporting/MBOS for NDC content.

Question

Answer

Will Smartpoint Cloud be supported for 1V and 1P?

No, Smartpoint Cloud is only supported on the Travelport+ platform which is the 1G core.

Will UA NDC content be available through Apollo and Worldspan?

UA NDC content is now available in Apollo and Worldspan for some markets.

Which countries will AA and UA content be available to book?

AA and UA NDC content is available in a host of countries. Refer to the NDC country list for countries supported by each airline.

How will the agents shop and book the NDC content in Apollo and Worldspan?

Shopping and booking NDC content on 1V/1P is available through the Travelport JSON API and Smartpoint Flight Search only.

Do I have to register with American and United Airlines NDC channel?

American Airlines have designated Travelport with a trusted partner status and therefore all Travelport customers using Smartpoint v10.0 and above and JSON API have access to American Airlines NDC content without additional airline registration requirements. 10.0 refers to 1G1V today. As Smartpoint 1P is web-based, content will be automatically available when released.

Travelport and United Airlines maintain a whitelist of agencies that can access the UA NDC content. Travelport sends regular updates to UA to capture added, modified, and deleted agencies.

Whitelist criteria:

• Auth = UA

• PCC Type = Agency

• Must have a valid IATA

All agency PCCs that meet the criteria will have access with no further registration required.

Private Fares: If you currently have any negotiated or private fares with American or United Airlines, please contact your American or United Airlines sales representative to access it via NDC.

What Passenger Type Codes are supported?

American Airlines and United Airlines support a multitude of common passenger type codes. Refer to the carrier-specific knowledge base articles for further information.

How do agencies access the NDC content via Smartpoint?

For Smartpoint, we aim to bulk provision AA and UA NDC for all 1G/1V/1P clients so that agencies do not need to contact the account team to gain access. We integrated this plugin as part of the Smartpoint installation starting with v10.0 for 1G1V. For previous versions, customers must upgrade to the latest Desktop version to benefit from Flight Search. NDC content is accessible from v10.0 and higher. Please check back as this process may change.

Refer to Access NDC for steps to access NDC content through the plugin.

Which forms of payment are accepted for NDC bookings?

The accepted forms of payment are controlled by the airline.

Our current participating NDC airlines accept credit cards, debit cards, and cash for BSP and ARC payments. The type of credit card accepted will vary by carrier and will be displayed in the Form of Payment tab of the plugin. Cash payments are allowed for agencies set up for BSP and ARC WebLink Pay with carriers. Transaction details will appear on your BSP and ARC monthly report.

Will NDC recognize all our different contracts and fares?

If you currently have any negotiated or private fares with AA or UA, contact your sales representative to access it via NDC. Note: Net fares are not supported by AA or UA.

Will I be able to search for more than one NDC airline at a time?

For Travelport+ users, yes. If no carrier is specified, the system will look for content for all available carriers.

For 1V/1P users, only AA and UA are available. Apollo and Worldspan users can search for both AA and UA if neither airline is specified in the shop request or drop-down box in Smartpoint.

How will booking data appear in the passive PNR? Will the pricing information be stored in the PNR?

Bookings created will show the flight data as a passive segment and status code ZK. The fare and tax breakdown, flight details, payment, etc. are stored in the DI lines (Travelport+), Ticketing Remark lines (1V), or Remark lines (1P).

Refer to the MIR examples (1V) and TAIR examples (1P) to see how the NDC booking flows through to these applications.

Does 1P World File End Edits work with the NDC PNRs?

You would need to use the override entry prior to using the NDC search tool. The agency might need to modify some settings to allow the override entry acceptance.

Is it possible to modify the NDC app for 1V users to inhibit the ISSUE TKT button? For some agencies workflows, they need to use only BOOK AND HOLD option.

This is not supported. You cannot modify when the HOLD and ISSUE TICKET buttons will be enabled or disabled for 1V users. For 1P users, the ticketing script will also not be supported.

How will I be advised of a schedule change?

The schedule change will fall into the agent's queues as it does today in Smartpoint for ATPCO bookings. As the plugin and Smartpoint sync in the same session, there is no specific queue for the plugin.

  • For Travelport+, it is queue 11.

  • For Apollo, it is queue 22.

  • For Worldspan, it is queue 7.

Refer to Schedule Changes for more information and screen examples.

The American Airlines schedule changes process is as follows:

  1. American Airlines books the customer on the next best flights and reissues the ticket(s).

  2. The schedule change falls into the agent's queue.

  3. If the customer is not happy with schedule change, call American Airlines to obtain a waiver code that you can use to modify the flights within the plugin. Refer to Apply waiver code for more information.

  4. If American Airlines is called and a change goes through this process, this will break the connection and information will not be returned into the NDC PNR in Travelport. AA should not charge a fee if the customer calls direct.

  5. The schedule change information will show up in the DI lines (Travelport+), Ticketing Remark lines (1V), or Remark lines (1P).

  6. If AA needs to issue tickets, they do the reissue, and the new ticket number will show up in the DI, Ticketing Remark, or Remark lines.

Will a PNR be created in 1P/1V if the refund request is initiated after the reservation is canceled and past travel date (not in the original PNR)?

No this is not supported. Once the order is canceled, it is then purged from the system. We will ask carriers if this is a future roadmap item.

How many reissues are supported by AA and UA?

American Airlines and United Airlines have advised that they now support unlimited changes to a ticketed booking.

AA service fee

If I call AA Sales support to make a change to the booking will I be charged a handling fee?

When a travel professional calls the Electronic Support Desk (ESD) to modify a booking, the following fees apply.

  • NOGO reset assistance – When the passenger does not show up for their ticketed flight and the ticket gets suspended, ESD will open the ticket back to “OK” status so the ticket can be reissued for a different date. The processing fee for this service is $100 USD.

  • Duplicate ticket waiver – When the travel professional is unable to process this service in Saleslink, ESD will grant a waiver for the travel professional to refund the duplicated ticket via their GDS. No charge for this service.

  • Missing the allowed ticket VOID time window (1 day only) – ESD provides a refund waiver for $100 USD.

  • Fare calculation typos/errors – $50 USD.

  • Ticket exchange errors – The travel professional must show proof of how the transaction is recorded in ARC to reset the incorrect exchange. The processing fee is $100 USD.

  • Name change waiver associated with any of the above scenarios – $100 USD.

  • Change form of payment for future travel tickets – $100 USD.

AA Sales Support Contact Center

  • Operational hours: 24/7

  • Email: american.support@aa.com

  • Phone: 800-621-8489 (covered accounts)

  • Phone: 817-786-0852 (non-covered accounts)

  • Be prepared to enter your 7-digit IATA number, or the 6-digit CART number for your contracted corporate account.

If an agent calls Reservations, they will be charged a processing fee, as Reservation services are intended for the traveler vs an agent. All travelers booked on 3rd party bookings, such as Travelport, who then call Reservations, are instructed to contact their agency. This is to ensure that the agency keeps control of the ticket and can continue to service the booking. If the traveler insists that they want Reservations to assist, then they will be charged the $50 fee. Now there are some cases where reservations will assist the traveler, such as IROPS situations, where the $50 is waived.

The following scenarios describe when fees are charged.

Scenario

Fee applied?

What happens

Customer calls AA and AA changes flights, pre-ticket or post ticket and hold (not ticket issuance)

Yes

Updates will not flow through to the passive segment but AA does not take ownership of the PNR – agency retains control although PNR is out of sync.

Customer calls AA. AA change flights and AA issues or reissues ticket.

Yes

Updates will not flow through to the passive segment but AA now takes ownership of the PNR. PNR is out of sync.

Customer makes changes on AA.com – i.e., add or change seats

No

Updates will not flow through to the passive segment; agency retains control although PNR is out of sync.

Customer calls AA to change a name or other passenger details

Yes

Updates will not flow through to the passive segment but AA does not take ownership of the PNR. Agency retains control although PNR is out of sync.

UA service fee

If I call UA Sales support to make a change to the booking will I be charged a handling fee?

United Airlines do not charge a service fee.

If updates are made outside of Travelport, the PNR remains in agency control but may be out of sync.

We hear Saleslink is free to use. Is that correct and can any agency regardless of how big or how small register for SalesLink?

Yes, if the agency are an ARC/IATA accredited agency, they can register.

Sales Link is a portal that allows agents to self-service and there isn’t a fee associated to using this portal (never has been). Here are the services that sales link provides: https://saleslink.aa.com/en-US/resources/html/saleslink-services.html