branded fares

Booking Branded Fares from Fare Shopping

Depending on the airline and route, some Fare Shopping results may return Branded Fares. Branded Fares may be returned for both Network (GDS) and Direct Payment Carrier segments.

With Smartpoint, you can view Branded Fares to display the associated Fare Families and Ancillary Services for a selected fare option.

Viewing Branded Fares

Branded Fares are displayed with a blue fare total, while unbranded fares are displayed in plain text. (The color of the unbranded fare varies depending on your selected color scheme.)

Some Fare Shopping results may contain both Network (GDS) and Direct Payment Carrier fare options. However, Network and Direct Payment Carrier segments are never combined within the same Branded Fares option.

  1. Make a Fare Shopping search using either the ePricing script or a cryptic entry.

Tip! If you add supported pricing modifiers, these modifiers are retained throughout the shopping and booking process for the branded fare.

The following pricing modifiers are supported for branded fares. Additional modifiers will be added in future releases of Travelport Smartpoint.

  • PTC Select
  • Currency override
  • Segment Select
  • Penalty modifiers
  • Account code
  • Fare type
  • Tax exempt modifier, tax exempt with specific tax code
  • Discount pricing modifiers
  • Plating carrier
  • Fare family/Brand ID
  • Exclude economy unbundled fares

Excluding economy unbundled fares removes the fare type codes EOU (Economy Unbundled One-Way) and ERU (Economy Unbundled Round-Trip) from the search response. Because these unbundled fares do not include ancillaries or other additional services, they are typically the lowest fares available for a fare search response. However, because the unbundled fares can be restrictive, they may not be the desired fare result for all customers.

The cryptic entry equivalent is #FXD. For example: $P18OCTCVGBOS/R#/ADL*#FXD.

  1. For Network (GDS) carriers, add passenger names and corresponding Passenger Type Codes (PTC) to the itinerary. You can view branded fares without passenger names, however, you cannot complete the fare quote/air pricing without adding names. Passenger names are not required for fare quote/air pricing for Direct Payment Carriers.
  2. For the selected Pricing Option, click the blue fare.

The Brands and Ancillaries screen is displayed for the first segment in the itinerary.

The brand for your Pricing Option is selected in the Fare Family list on the left pane of the window. The brand's fare, description, and available ancillaries (optional services), and the price of the branded fare (including taxes) are also displayed.

Information in the Brands and Ancillaries window may vary depending on the type of fare.

  • Private Fares are indicated by a Lock icon to the left of the fare.

A Private Fare can be an Airline Private Fare, Agency Private Fare, Net Fare, any other loaded Private Fare.

If fares that cannot be combined are selected, such as a Private Fare for an outbound flight and a Public Fare for an inbound flight, a warning message is displayed

  • If a promotional code is sent in the Fare Shopping request, applicable branded fares are indicated with Promo Fare.

  1. Optional. Select another brand option from the Fare Family list.
  • The additional upsell fee is listed below each brand, and added to the estimated fare when selected.
  • The description of the brand in the center pane and the available ancillaries in the right pane change to reflect your selected brand.

Tip! Hover over the class of service to see the fare basis code, brand modifier, and ticket designator (if present). The brand modifier indicates the tier level within branded fare family.

For Direct Payment Carriers, the cost of the upsell to a more expensive brand is indicated. The fare and fees are estimated. A FEES PENDING FARE QUOTE message indicates that fees cannot be finalized until the first fare quote/air pricing is made after branded fares and ancillaries are selected.

  1. Optional. In Ancillaries, click on an ancillary icon to view details about that service. See Ancillary Services for more information about selecting ancillaries for both branded and unbranded fares.
  • For Network (GDS) Carriers, ancillaries are typically added after booking.
  • For Direct Payment Carriers, ancillaries typically added before booking. For Direct Payment Carriers, prices are displayed in the point-of-sale currency. If this currency is different from the airline's currency, amounts are approximate because fluctuations in currency.

  1. Optional. Select the MATRIX tab to view a comparison of the available Fare Families in a table format.

Icon

 Description

The feature or ancillary service is not available for the brand.

The feature or ancillary service is available included in the brand.

The feature or ancillary service is available not included in the brand, but is available for an additional charge. The currency code displayed is based on the point of sale.
  • Hover over each icon a the top of the matrix to view a description of that item.

Note that the same icon may display more than once for related information. For example, Rebooking and Refunds use the same icon.

  • Click the DETAIL tab to return to Branding Information.
  1. If applicable, select the tabs for additional segments in the itinerary and select a fare brand. As best practice, the same brand should be selected for all segments, if possible.

Note: If segments have the same fare basis code because they are stops or connections in the same flight, you cannot select a different brand for each segment.

The fare information changes to reflect the additional selections.

  1. After your selections are complete, click FARE QUOTE to display the Summary window. Scroll through the Summary to view the details for your selected brands. A Price has been updated message indicates that the fare has changed since the initial estimate.

Network (GDS) Carriers and Direct Payment Carriers vary with booking requirements and handle fare breakdowns differently.

Network Carriers typically include certain fees in the baseline fare and provide a separate amount for taxes.

If present, OB Fees (Carrier Ticketing Fees), which are added at ticketing, are displayed as a separate subtotal item in the Branded Fares screen for Fare Shopping.

Direct Payment Carriers typically separate fees from the baseline fare. In this example, FEES PENDING FARE QUOTE indicates that fees cannot be determined until the first fare quote after brands and ancillaries are selected.

The message Additional fees may apply, is noted because there may be other fees, including OB Fees, that are not part of the fare may not be returned until ticketing.

  1. Click CONFIRM to approve the brand selections and fare information. The air segments and associated fare quote/pricing are added to the itinerary.
  2. Price the fare. The base entry is 4P.
    This step is required for Direct Payment Carriers to confirm the initial fare. However, pricing is also recommended as best practice for all carriers to confirm the fare.

Tip! You can also upsell the price by entering a specific brand level or viewing the brand levels.

  1. Optional. Enter *TR to view the ticketing record.

Tips!

  • You can have more than one stored fare in the ticketing record. When you are ready to ticket, you can refer to the ticketing record to select the desired stored fare.
  • From each ticketing record, you can click View Brand Details to redisplay the Brands and Ancillaries screen for that fare.

See Selling Flights from Fare Shopping: Network Carriers or Selling Flights from Fare Shopping: Direct Payment Carriers or more information to complete the booking process for each type of carrier.