Air Merchandising Details

Low Fare Shopping and Air Pricing return basic details of Branded Fares and Upsell Fares. Availability Search can return an indicator that identifies air segments where the provider supports Rich Content and Branding. Air Merchandising Details can be used as a follow-on to view all details of the Branded Fare or Upsell Fare, along with the services that are part of the Branded Fare/Upsell Fare.

Air Merchandising Details can also return rich content for an Optional Service.

Schema

See the following transactions for Air Merchandising Details:

Requests and Responses

The Air Merchandising Details request can be used to:

Branded and Upsell Fare details can be retrieved using the Air Merchandising Details transaction.

Request

  1. Use AirMerchandisingDetailsReq to retrieve all details of a Branded Fare and/or Upsell Fare, and the services that are part of the Branded Fare/Upsell Fare.
  2. Include the following required data taken from the Low Fare Shopping response in the MerchandisingDetails/AirItineraryDetails element:
    • Brand ID of the Branded Fare and/or Upsell Fare.
    • Air Segment details. Either @CabinClass or @ClassOfService must be included or an error or warning is returned.
    • Passenger @Key and @Code.
  3. Optionally, include Fare Details for the Branded/Upsell Fares that are returned in the Low Fare Shopping response. If a private fare has an associated account code, the AirMerchandisingDetails/AccountCode should be included as well.

Brand Attribute Display Order

Air.xsd allows the return of ancillaries that are part of a Brand with a tag indicating the group to which each and every ancillary belongs. The ancillaries are returned in a pre-defined display order in Air Pricing and Air Merchandising Details, with the @DisplayOrder and @Tag attributes in AirMerchandisingDetailsRsp/Brand/OptionalServices/OptionalService.

Within each group, the optional services are returned in the following order:

  • Optional services that are included in the brand.
  • Optional services that are available at a charge.
  • Optional services that are not offered.

The loading of the services is normalized across all 200+ airlines, and for all new airlines coming onboard, ensuring that they are also mandatory services. The already-normalized airlines use the following Universal API attribute values to display their services:

Seven key attributes
  • DisplayOrder 1: Checked baggage = Type ‘Baggage’ / no Secondary Type
  • DisplayOrder 2: Carry on baggage = Type ‘Baggage’ / Secondary Type ‘CY’ or Under seat baggage = Type ‘Baggage’ / Secondary Type ‘SI’
  • DisplayOrder 3: Rebooking = Type ‘RuleOverride’ / Secondary Type ‘31’ or Type ‘Branded Fares’ / Secondary Type ‘VC’
  • DisplayOrder 4: Refunds = Type ‘RuleOverride’ / Secondary Type ‘33’ or Type ‘Branded Fares’ / Secondary Type ‘RF’ or Type ‘Branded Fares’ / Secondary Type ‘VR’
  • DisplayOrder 5: Advance seat reservation = Type ‘PreReservedSeatAssignment’ / no Secondary Type or Type ‘Branded Fares’ / Secondary Type ‘SE’
  • DisplayOrder 6: Meals on board = Type ‘MealOrBeverage’ / No Secondary Type or Secondary Type ‘SN’
  • DisplayOrder 7: Wi-Fi on board = Type ‘InFlightEntertainment’ / Secondary Type ‘IT’
Additional Display Order Attributes

These attributes will only be returned when an airline files them:

  • DisplayOrder 8: Mileage Accrual

  • DisplayOrder 9: Upgrade

  • DisplayOrder 10: Lounge Access

  • DisplayOrder 11: In Flight Entertainment

  • DisplayOrder 12: Onboard Power

  • DisplayOrder 13: Priority Services

  • DisplayOrder 14: Priority CheckIn

  • DisplayOrder 15: Priority Baggage

  • DisplayOrder 16: Priority Security

  • DisplayOrder 17: Priority Boarding

  • DisplayOrder 18: Chauffeur Transfer

  • DisplayOrder 19: Open Seating

  • DisplayOrder 20: Personal Item

Other normalized attributes
  • Priority at the airport (including fast track) = Type ‘TravelServices’ / no Secondary Type or ‘PR’ or ‘PY’ or ‘SY’
  • In flight entertainment = Type ‘InFlightEntertainment’ / no Secondary Type
  • Miles accrual = Type ‘FrequentFlyer’ / Secondary Type ‘MG’
  • Lounge access = Type ‘Lounge’ / no Secondary Type
  • Middle seat free = Type ‘PreReservedSeatAssignment’ / Secondary Type ‘EA’
  • Upgradeable fare = Type ‘Upgrades’ / no Secondary Type or Secondary Type ‘ME’
Baggage

Baggage allowances can be sourced and displayed using the external ‘short’ name where the following details have been added:

  • (1st position = cabin : Y=Economy Cabin / P=Premium / C=Business / F=First
  • 2nd position = number of bags
  • 3rd position = weight of bags in KG
  • 4th position = type of bag : Bag = Checked baggage / CY = Carry on baggage)

Checked baggage:

  • Economy Class 1 bag max 23kg = Y,1,23,Bag
  • Premium Economy Class 2 bags max 23kg each = P,2,23,Bag
  • Business Class 2 bags max 32kg each = C,2,32,Bag
  • First Class 3 bags max 32kg each = F,3,32,Bag

Carry on baggage:

  • Economy Class 1 bag max 8kg = Y,1,8,CY
  • Premium Economy Class 1 bag max 12kg = P,1,12,CY
  • Business Class 2 bags max 8kg each = C,2,8,CY
  • First Class 3 bags max 8kg each = F,3,8,CY

Response

The Air Merchandising Details response returns all details of the Branded Fare and/or Upsell Fare, along with the services that are part of the Branded Fare/Upsell Fare, in the Brand element.

The details can include:

  • Branded Fare Title
  • External Title
  • Short Title
  • Strapline Text
  • Upsell Text
  • Marketing Text for the Agent
  • Marketing Text for the Consumer
  • Upsell Image (URL)
  • Images for the Agent (URL)
  • Images for the Consumer (URL)
  • Brand Rules

Three types of Services can be returned:

  • A service that is not offered.
  • A service that is available for a charge.
  • A service that is included in the brand.

The level of details returned is not always the same and is based on the amount of content filed by the vendor.

The classification of the message depends on the information that was sent in the request. For example:

  • If two branded fares are sent in the request and one has a class of service or cabin class and the other does not, Universal API returns branding for the branded fare with the class of service or cabin class and returns a warning for the other branded fare.
  • If any number of branded fares are sent in the request and none has a class of service or cabin class, no branding information is returned, and the message is classified as an error.

Errors and Warnings

If no details of the Branded Fare/Upsell Fare can be found, a warning is returned in the Air Merchandising Details response:

No match found for Brand ID [Brand ID Number].

If either a Class of Service or Cabin Class are not included in the request an error or warning is returned:

AirSegment @ClassOfService or @CabinClass is Required.

When AirMerchandisingDetailsReq is sent with information in the OptionalServiceModifiers element, rich content for the Optional Service is returned in the OptionalServices element in the Air Merchandising Details response.

Request

  1. Use AirMerchandisingDetailsReq to retrieve rich content for an Optional Service.
  2. Include the following required data in the OptionalServiceModifiers/OptionalServiceModifier element:
    • Departure date of the air segment the optional service is for (Travel Date).
    • Optional Service Type (e.g., PreReservedSeatAssignment).
    • Supplier Code (e.g., KL)
    • Optional Service Service Sub Code (e.g., 0BH).
  3. Optionally, include the OptionalServiceModifier @SecondaryType (e.g., PrePaidExcessBaggage).

    4. Optional Service Type, Service Sub Code, and Secondary Type are returned in the OptionalService element in the Air Pricing, Air Booking, Air Merchandising Offer Availability, Air Merchandising Fulfillment, and Universal Record Retrieve responses.

Response

The Air Merchandising Details response returns the rich content of the Optional Service in the OptionalServices element. This can include:

  • Service Type
  • Service Sub Code
  • External Commercial Name
  • External Short Name
  • Strapline Text
  • Marketing Text for the Agent
  • Marketing Text for the Consumer
  • Images for the Agent (URL)
  • Images for the Consumer (URL)
  • Service Rules

The level of details returned is not always the same and is based on the amount of content filed by the vendor.

The classification of the message depends on the information that was sent in the request. For example:

  • If multiple optional service types are sent in the request and some are correct, Universal API returns rich detail for the correct Optional Services and a warning for the incorrect ones.
  • If all optional service types sent in the request are incorrect, an error message is returned.

Note: With the request Rich Content for Optional Services, the Brand Attribute Display Order returns ancillaries that are part of a Brand with a tag indicating the group to which each and every ancillary belongs.

Errors and Warnings

If no Optional Service content can be found, a warning is returned in the Air Merchandising Details response:

No Branding content found for Optional Service [Service Sub Code] [Type] [Secondary Type].

If invalid data is sent in Optional Service Type, an error or warning is returned:

Some or all Optional Service Type are not valid.

Air Merchandising Details can return Rich Content and Branding information for an air segment returned in the Availability Search response.

Request

  1. Include the required data from the Availability Search response in which an air segment included a fare indicator (AirSegmentList/AirSegment @BrandIndicator="B"):
    • Specify one air segment for which you want to retrieve Rich Content and Branding using MerchandisingAvailabilityDetails/AirItineraryDetails.
    • Within AirItineraryDetails, AirSegmentDetails and PassengerDetails are required.
      Note: One Air Merchandising Details request must be sent for each provider.
    • List classes of service and their counts, separated by a pipe delimiter (|) in MerchandisingAvailabilityDetails/AirItineraryDetails/AirSegmentDetails/BookingCodeList.
  2. Optionally, include MerchandisingAvailabilityDetails/AccountCode to retrieve private fares.

Response

The Air Merchandising Details response returns the details of the Branded Fare, along with the services that are part of the Branded Fare/Upsell Fare, in the Brand element. Within Brand, the ApplicableSegment element identifies the air segment to which the brand information belongs.

The UnassociatedBookingCodeList/ApplicableSegment element lists classes of service by segment sent in the request that are not associated to a brand.

Errors and Warnings

Only air segments for one carrier can be sent in the Air Merchandising Details request. If air segments for multiple carriers are sent, a warning is returned: Mixed carrier itinerary not supported is returned. One Air Merchandising Details request must be sent for each provider if looking for Rich Content and Branding for multiple air segments with different providers.