Enhanced Exchanges: Early Adopter Release

Enhanced Exchanges (formerly Automated Exchanges for Smartpoint Cloud) is currently available only to agencies that are activated for Early Adopter testing. If your agency would like more information about being part of our pre-release testing, please contact your Travelport representative.

Enhanced Exchange

Hold Tickets (BSP and ARC)

Enhanced Exchange is available for Travelport+ itineraries. To modify an NDC itinerary, refer to Modify an NDC booking.

With Enhanced Exchange, you can hold an exchanged booking before ticketing, if permitted by the carrier. The time limit for the hold varies based on the carrier and the fare rules for the itinerary.

Note: This example show the workflow for an add collect exchange settled using BSP. However, the hold process is similar for ARC settlements, as well as even and refund/residual exchanges.

To exchange and hold tickets:

  1. Retrieve the Booking File.

    A message indicates if the ticket is eligible for exchanging with Enhanced Exchange, and indicates any exchange fees.

    In this example, a EUR70.00 change fee is associated with this fare. Note that fare differences and credit card fees are not included in the initial validation.

  2. Select Continue to display the Air search (Change trip) pane.

    Tip! Click the Pin icon to keep the pane open to make multiple searches. If unpinned , the panel may not display if you move to another screen.

  3. Select the Edit icon to modify search criteria for a flight.

    Tip! If your itinerary has multiple flights, you must click the Edit icon for each flight. If you do not click the Edit icon for a flight, then Enhanced Exchange knows to retain the existing inventory for that flight.

  4. Modify the itinerary.

    You can make changes to origins, destinations, dates, and/or times for the request.

    1. In From, enter the departure (origin) city/airport name or code in the origin and destination (O & D) pair. As you type name or code, a list of similar names is displayed.

    2. In To, enter the destination city/airport name or code.

    Note:

    • The origin and destination can be changed to new routes, but you cannot added stops or increase/decrease the number of segments.

    • If an itinerary is partially flown, any segments that have already been flown are shaded and edits are disabled.

    The departure date is displayed in DD MMM format. For example, September 14 is 14 Sep.

    You can also enter the date as Sep14 (MMMDD) or 09/14 (MM/DD).

    The departure time is displayed in HH:mm format on a 24-hour clock. You can also enter the time on a 12-hour clock. For example, 6P converts to 18:00.

    Flights searches display within a window of 3 hours before and 3 hours after the specified time.

    • The ± 3-hour time window applies only to the specified departure date. The window is shortened if the time range includes part of the previous day or next day. For example, a time request of 23:00 returns flights in a range from 20:00 to 23:59.

    • If no flights are available within the time window, the results are NOT relaxed to include flights outside of the window. Click RESET to request different departure times.

    Note: The Time field must have an entry. A search request with a blank Time field returns an error, NOT a default Travelport+ (1G) departure time.

    All itinerary modifiers are optional.

    For each traveler, you can click the arrow to change the PTC (passenger type code) for that traveler. Changes in the PTC may affect the available fares.

    Optional. Select Return fares for these passengers only to limit responses only to the selected PTCs. If this option is not selected, fares for additional PTCs may be returned.

    Note: You cannot add or delete travelers using Enhanced Exchanges.

    If no fare type is selected, the fare type defaults to Public and any private fares.

    For fare types other than Public fares only, the Private Fare Codes fields are enabled. If the original booking includes a private fare, that account code is automatically displayed.

    To add or change a Private Fare Code:

    1. Click the Airline arrow to select the applicable airline.

    2. In the corresponding Code, enter the private or net fare code.

    1. Optional. Click the Add + icon to add additional Private Fare Codes fields to a maximum of five fare codes.

    Select this option to ensure that the fares in the response match the fare brand from the original ticket. If this option is not selected, other brands may be returned.

    Note: This modifier applies only to itineraries with a single fare brand. If the original fare includes multiple brands, this option is unavailable and the following message is displayed.

    The cabin class (class of service) modifier is not available for this release. This placeholder will be implemented in a future release of Smartpoint Cloud.

    Excludes basic fares, also known as economy unbundled fares, from the search request.

    The intent of these fare type codes is to allow airlines to distribute lower-priced fares that:

    • Do not include additional services, such as advance seat assignment or inclusive baggage.
    • May have restrictions on other fare-related data, such as change and cancellation policies.

    This option is selected by default because basic fares often dominate search results that display from lowest to highest price.

    Terminal Equivalent: /FXD

    In this example, the departure dates for each segment are changed.

  5. Select Search to display the Air search results screen with a maximum of 25 itinerary options.

    In the Air search results screen, each option includes flight information, flight details with connection information, and any additional cost or refund/residual value, and fare type information. This example displays add collect fares (positive amounts). Fares that result in refunds/residual values display as negative amounts.

    All fares listed are guaranteed to be exchangeable. The icon indicates that the fare is covered under the Travelport Fare Guarantee Policy.

    • The combined cost of the fare, exchanges fees, and taxes is listed for each option:

      • 0.00 indicates an even exchange with the cost of the new fare the same as the original fare.

      • A positive amount indicates that the total new fare is higher than the original the original fare, and an additional collection (add collect) is required.

      • A negative amount indicates that the total new fare is lower than the original fare, and a residual value (retain or refund) is available.

        • A green icon displays when the refund method is an MCO or original form of payment.

        • A gray Refund permitted icon displays when the refund form is unknown. A note indicates that the airline must be contacted to provide the refund details.

  6. Optional. For each option, click View pricing details to display the complete fare and tax breakdown per passenger. Select Go Back to return to the previous screen.

  7. Select the new itinerary by clicking the Select button for a flight option. The Review and confirm changes panel displays the new flight and fare information.

  8. In the Ticketing details section, add commission information, endorsements, IT/BT modifiers, and tour codes.

    All ticketing details are required only as applicable for a specific fare.

    If present in the booking file, the commission is automatically displayed. Pre-populated commission information can be changed.

    To add or change commissions:

    1. Click the Commission arrow to select from either:

      • Base fare percent (%) to enter a percentage commission.

      • Base fare amount to enter a flat commission amount.

    2. Enter the percentage or flat amount of the commission.

      • For percentages, be sure to enter a 0 before the decimal point. For example: 0.3.

      • For amounts, do not enter the currency code. The amount is automatically added in the currency of the base fare.

    Note: The Commission fields display for all tickets, even if the fare type does not support commissions.

    To add or change endorsements:

    • Enter the endorsement information as free text.

    • A maximum of 6 endorsement lines are displayed.

      • A maximum of 3 lines are reserved for airline endorsements.

      • A maximum of 3 lines are available for agency endorsements.

      • If present in the booking file, endorsements are automatically displayed, but all lines can be edited.

      • In this example, one automated airline endorsement is displayed, one agency endorsement was manually added, and two additional lines are available for agency endorsements.

    • Each line supports a maximum of 29 characters, for a maximum of 174 characters total.

    • If an automated endorsement exceeds 29 characters, it is split into separate lines using a forward slash /.

    If the IT/BT indicator is not automatically displayed with the fare, it can be added. This indicator be also used in conjunction with a Tour Code and other modifiers.

    To add or change the fare type:

    Click the arrow to select if the fare is an Inclusive Tour (IT) or Bulk Tour (BT).

    Tip! See E-ticketing functionality information for all participating Travelport Airlines in the Travelport Knowledge Base to determine if a carrier supports BT and/or IT ticketing.

    Inclusive Tour fares include charges in addition to the airfare, such as accommodations or ground transportation as part of a "package".

    • Inclusive Tour (IT) suppresses the fare and does not print the fare construction on the passenger receipt.

    • Inclusive Tour (IT*PC) suppresses the fare and prints the fare construction on the passenger receipt.

    Bulk Tour fares are usually given to agencies who book a high volume of seats such as a consolidator or wholesaler. However, typically accommodations or other package items are not required for this fare.

    • Bulk Tour (BT) suppresses the fare and does not print the fare construction on the passenger receipt.

    • Bulk Tour (BT*PC) suppresses the fare and prints the fare construction on the passenger receipt.

    A tour code is issued by an airline to identify a tour deal. The tour code must be entered into the fare as a ticket modifier so that both the airline and the settlement plan (BSP or ARC) know the source of the fare and the agency's authorization to use the fare.

    The tour code can be:

    • A maximum of 14 alphanumeric characters.

    • Used in combination with an Inclusive Tour or Bulk Tour indicator.

  9. In the Payments section, review or select the payment options for add collect, refunds, or residuals.

    Note: In the Payments section, the functionality to update the Form of Payment (FOP) is not yet supported in this release. Currently, the new FOP is ignored, and the original FOP is stored in the new Filed Fare.

    In the Payments section, either the original form of payment, an EMD (BSP), or an MCO (ARC) is used for refunds or residual values.

    • For this release, check and non-refundable are not supported as forms of payment for refunds.

    • For ARC markets, any residual amount is not saved is not saved in the Hold booking.

    • If permitted by the carrier, the refund or residual value may be returned as an automatically generated MCO or EMD. Click the Information icon to see form of payment used. In the following example, an MCO is issued.

  10. Select Confirm and hold to display the confirmation screen with the updated itinerary and price. The time limit for the hold varies based on the carrier and the fare rules for this itinerary.

  11. Optional. Select View Booking File to display the updated record. The exchanged flights have an HK (Hold Confirmed) status .

    The Booking File is also updated to reflect the exchange.

  12. Before the hold expires, you can either:

    • Issue new tickets the booking using Travelport+ (1G) formats.

    • Cancel or change the booking using Travelport+ (1G) formats.