Preferences

Profile preferences were created to provide the greatest of flexibility; therefore, most attributes are optional. Preferences can be defined for air, vehicle, rail, hotel, and other.
Note: "Other" preferences are used to define criteria that does not fit into any of the other travel categories.

In the attributes for each preference type there is a reference to LoyaltyProgramEnrollment and FormOfPayment that will have a unique ID stored in the preference that maps to the data for each loyalty or payment to is setup for a preference on the product type.

Common Preferences

GeoPoliticalArea

The following rules apply to the GeoPoliticalArea attributes:

• If the GeoPoliticalAreaType is sent in the request, then the GeoPoliticalAreaCode is required.

• The GeoPoliticalAreaCode must be valid for the GeoPoliticalAreaType provided.

• If the GeoPoliticalAreaType is defined as World, the GeoPoliticalAreaCode is automatically populated with WorldW, as World only has one available code.

Find Codes

The Util schema contains a ReferenceDataRetrieve request that allows users to specify a type code, such as Country, City, or Airport. The response contains a list of all values and associated codes. For example, if the user wants to specify a DepartureGeoPoliticalAreaType of country but does not know the country code, the user can first send the ReferenceDataRetrieveReq with TypeCode=Country. The response would contain a list of all countries and their associated codes.

The ReferenceDataRetrieve request can be applied to the following Preference attributes:

• DepartureGeoPoliticalAreaCode and Type
• ConnectionGeoPoliticalAreaCode and Type
• ArrivalGeoPoliticalAreaCode and Type

The following TypeCodes apply to GeoPoliticalAreas:

• Country

  When a list of countries is returned, the countries display in alphabetical order by country code. The country name is also returned. The AdditionalInfo attribute contains the continent code, continent group, and global area, if the information exists for a specific country. If no additional data exists, the AdditionalInfo attribute will be empty.

• StateProvince
• City
• Airport
• CityAirport

Currency and Money

The following attributes are of data type Money: MaxAirFareAmt, MaxFareAmt, BenchMarkAmt, MaxRoomRateAmt.

• When a Money data type attribute is in the request, do not include a currency code in the same request because the currency code that is included in the Money data type is stored.

• If multiple Money attributes are sent in the same instance of a preference, the same currency code must be used. However, different preference instances can use different currency codes. For example, one hotel preference might specify British Pounds, while another specifies Euros.

Preferred Payment Method

The AirPreference, HotelPreference, VehiclePreference, RailPreference, and OtherPreference elements contain a PreferencePaymentMethod attribute. The PreferencePaymentMethod attribute values are the same codes used for the FormOfPayment Type attribute.

Travel Preference Codes

Within the Utility service, the Reference Data Retrieve request can be used to return codes required in many profile preference attributes. Send the ReferenceDataRetrieveReq with the TypeCode attribute set to one of the following:

• AirAndRailMiscType returns information that can be used in a profile's AirPreference and RailPreference elements for attributes CabinTypeMiscTravel, CabinTypeRefCategory, SeatTypeMiscTravel, SeatTypeRefCategory, and some SSR Codes.
• AirAndRailSupplierType returns a list of air and rail supplier codes and names. This information can be used in the Supplier attribute for a profile's AirPreference and RailPreference elements.
• RailCabinType returns codes for rail cabins. The Description value returned in the response can be used in the CabinType attribute associated with a profile's RailPreference element.
• HotelMiscType returns codes hotel bed codes and special requests. Codes can be used in the attributes BedTypeMiscTravel, BedTypeRefCategory, SpecialRequestMiscTravel, and SpecialRequestRefCategory associated with a profile's HotelPreference element.
• HotelSupplierType returns codes for available hotel suppliers. Codes returned can be used in the Supplier attribute associated with a profile's HotelPreference element.
• VehicleMiscType returns codes for vehicle types. Codes returned can be used in the attributes SpecialEquipmentMiscTravel, SpecialEquipmentRefCategory, SpecialRequestMiscTravel, SpecialRequestRefCategory, VehicleTypeMiscTravel, and VehicleTypeRefCategory associated with a profile's VehiclePreference element.
• VehicleSupplierType returns codes for available vehicle suppliers. Codes returned can be used in the Supplier attribute associated with a profile's VehiclePreference element.
• For AirMiscType, the type code, description, and category are returned. The category is returned in the AdditionalInfo attribute.

Air Preferences

The following rules apply to air preferences:

• If CabinTypeMiscTravel is sent in the request, then CabinTypeMiscRefCategory is required. If the client does not send a value in CabinTypeMiscRefCategory, the service uses ACS.

• If SeatTypeMiscTravel is sent in the request, then SeatTypeMiscCategory is required. If the client does not send a value in SeatTypeRefCategory, the service uses ASS.

• If MealTypeSSR is sent in the request, then MealTypeCRS is required. If the client does not send a value in MealTypeCRS, the service uses 1G.

Hotel Preferences

The following rules apply to hotel preferences:

• If BedTypeMiscTravel is sent in the request, then BedTypeRefCategory is required. If the client does not send a value in BedTypeRefCategory, the service uses HRM.

Vehicle Preferences

The following rules apply to vehicle preferences:

• If VehicleTypeMiscTravel is sent in the request, then VehicleTypeRefCategory is required. If the client does not send a value in VehicleTypeRefCategory, the service uses CTP.

• If SpecialEquipMiscTravel is sent in the request, then SpecialEquipRefCategory is required. If the client does not send a value in SpecialEquipRefCategory, the service uses CEQ.

Rail Preferences

The following rules apply to rail preferences:

• If SeatPositionMiscTravel is sent in the request, then SeatPositionRefCategory is required. If the client does not send a value in SeatPositionRefCategory, the service uses ASS.