Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) booking and ... - Air Canada
Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) booking and ... - Air Canada
Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) booking and ... - Air Canada
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<strong>Computer</strong> <strong>Reservation</strong> <strong>Systems</strong> (<strong>CRS</strong>) <strong>booking</strong> <strong>and</strong> ticketing<br />
procedures<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong>’s policy requires that only one reservation exists per<br />
passenger(s) per itinerary. Please review <strong>and</strong> adhere to this list of<br />
acceptable <strong>booking</strong> practices.<br />
1. If your agency uses more than one <strong>CRS</strong>, you must book <strong>and</strong> ticket within<br />
the same system.<br />
2. You may not duplicate segments by moving segments between <strong>CRS</strong>. <strong>Air</strong><br />
<strong>Canada</strong> will not be held liable for duplicate segment fees incurred by<br />
the movement of segments between <strong>CRS</strong> or associated with the PNRs<br />
involved in travel agency <strong>CRS</strong> systems conversions. <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> Call<br />
Centres will not assist an agency attempting to claim a PNR owned by<br />
another <strong>CRS</strong>.<br />
3. You may not create active or passive duplicate <strong>booking</strong>s this includes<br />
any simultaneous combination of <strong>booking</strong>s for a passenger(s) which<br />
logically cannot be flown.<br />
4. Passive segments are not permitted. On an exceptional basis, AC will<br />
allow the creation of passive segments for group PNRS (10 or more<br />
passengers) originally booked by <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> where interline space is<br />
involved or where an authorization from AC appears on the file. Group<br />
PNRS must only be claimed immediately prior ticketing. You may not<br />
claim a group <strong>booking</strong> more than once from <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong>.<br />
5. Travel agents who ticket <strong>booking</strong>s on behalf of sub-agents must ticket<br />
from the original live <strong>booking</strong> created in the <strong>CRS</strong>.<br />
6. You may not hold inventory for potential future sales. The full name<br />
<strong>and</strong> title of each passenger must be entered at the time of <strong>booking</strong>.<br />
Name changes are not permitted once the PNR has been created. Name<br />
corrections are only permitted if the customer name has been<br />
misspelled or to reflect legal documents.<br />
7. Fictitious or speculative <strong>booking</strong>s, including blocking or holding a<br />
reservation due to expected dem<strong>and</strong> or the customer’s indecision are<br />
not permitted under any circumstances.<br />
8. Whenever possible, limit the use of open segments.<br />
9. All <strong>CRS</strong> <strong>booking</strong>s must be either ticketed as per tariff rules or<br />
cancelled in the <strong>CRS</strong> immediately when not required <strong>and</strong> prior to<br />
departure.<br />
10. Changes to itinerary segment status as a result of schedule<br />
changes, irregular operations, flight firming, flight cancellations<br />
or other extraordinary circumstances will be queued to your <strong>CRS</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
must be actioned at least 24 hours prior to flight departure. This<br />
includes cancelling ticketed or unticketed segments with a status code<br />
of UN, NO, HX, WK, WL, or WN. Also, please action or cancel all<br />
unnecessary segments in your PNRs with the following status codes: UC,<br />
US, <strong>and</strong> DS.<br />
11. Multiple <strong>booking</strong>s <strong>and</strong> cancellations for the purpose of extending<br />
ticket time limits are not permitted.<br />
12. You may not use the AC airline designator with fictitious flight<br />
numbers to store flight information for a carrier not listed in the<br />
<strong>CRS</strong>.<br />
Subject to change without prior notice.<br />
Revised May 31 st , 2007.<br />
1
13. Test or training PNRS must only be built in “ Training mode ” <strong>and</strong><br />
must not affect our seat inventory.<br />
14. <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> reserves the right to issue debit memos or invoices for<br />
situations where passengers no show on agency <strong>CRS</strong> PNRs that do not<br />
have valid ticket numbers on file. Debit memos or invoice penalties<br />
will be on a zone basis for following amounts:<br />
o Travel within North America $250 CA or equivalent local currency<br />
per instance<br />
o International Travel $ 350 CA or equivalent local currency per<br />
instance<br />
15. <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> reserves the right to inhibit access to inventory <strong>and</strong>/or<br />
<strong>booking</strong> capability for any travel agency that has:<br />
o Overdue debit memos or invoices for <strong>booking</strong> infractions more<br />
than 30 days past due<br />
o Engaged in fraudulent <strong>booking</strong> <strong>and</strong> ticketing activities<br />
o 10 or more no-show passengers or a 25% no-show factor in any<br />
given month<br />
16. You must adhere to all terms <strong>and</strong> conditions regarding the use of<br />
Aeroplan Upgrade Certificates when <strong>booking</strong> upgrade space on <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong><br />
flights.<br />
17. <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> requires all e-ticket eligible itineraries be issued as<br />
e-ticket. Paper override for customer preference is no longer<br />
permitted. <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> reserves the right to issue debit memos or<br />
invoices with a penalty of $ 50 CA or equivalent local currency per<br />
instance.<br />
18. All confirmed <strong>and</strong>/or waitlisted space in your computer reservation system (<strong>CRS</strong>) must be<br />
cancelled prior to refunding or voiding a ticket.<br />
Fees <strong>and</strong> Charges<br />
If <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> determines that a <strong>CRS</strong> subscriber has engaged in practices<br />
that conflict with the guidelines listed in this <strong>Computer</strong> <strong>Reservation</strong><br />
System (<strong>CRS</strong>) <strong>booking</strong> & ticketing procedures, <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> will assess the<br />
following penalty from the travel agency:<br />
A charge of $ 20 CA or equivalent local currency per passenger per<br />
segment will apply for each of the above mentioned infractions, with the<br />
exception of the fees associated with no show passengers <strong>and</strong> paper<br />
tickets as noted in paragraph 14 <strong>and</strong> 17.<br />
Frequently Asked Questions<br />
1. What does the <strong>CRS</strong> audit program consist of?<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> first introduced the <strong>CRS</strong> audit policy in 1997. The goal was<br />
to eliminate non- value added expenses resulting from travel agencies<br />
inappropriate <strong>booking</strong> practices <strong>and</strong> to inform travel agencies on <strong>Air</strong><br />
<strong>Canada</strong>’s <strong>booking</strong> <strong>and</strong> ticketing procedures through different <strong>CRS</strong> systems.<br />
2. What happens when a travel agency does not comply with the <strong>CRS</strong> audit<br />
policy?<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> provided travel agencies with extensive communication when we<br />
introduced our <strong>booking</strong> <strong>and</strong> ticketing procedures. <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> now monitors<br />
inappropriate <strong>booking</strong> practices <strong>and</strong> may issue debit memos/invoices upon<br />
initial identification of inappropriate <strong>booking</strong> practices.<br />
Subject to change without prior notice.<br />
Revised May 31 st , 2007.<br />
2
3. Why does <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> feel it is necessary to issue <strong>CRS</strong> guidelines?<br />
The airline industry is continually reviewing distribution costs in<br />
order to reduce expenses that do not add value for our mutual customers.<br />
We believe that some agencies are unaware that certain practices incur<br />
unnecessary costs to the airline industry <strong>and</strong> many times these charges<br />
are not related to the ticketed passenger’s actual revenue. These<br />
guidelines help us educate agencies about <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong>’s <strong>booking</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
ticketing procedures.<br />
4. How will travel agencies know if they are affected?<br />
All agencies are expected to adhere to our <strong>booking</strong> <strong>and</strong> ticketing<br />
procedures. Should an agency not comply, they may receive a debit<br />
memo/invoice with a report detailing anomalies in segments/PNRs created<br />
during a specific period.<br />
5. Can travel agencies book passive segments?<br />
No. Passive segments must not be used for any purposes other than for<br />
group PNRs with OAL segments.<br />
Please contact your <strong>CRS</strong> provider for further information on procedures<br />
to address your specific requirements such as; invoicing <strong>and</strong> back-office<br />
needs.<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> will allow passive <strong>booking</strong>s for group PNRs booked by <strong>Air</strong><br />
<strong>Canada</strong> where there is OAL space in the PNR. These PNRs may not be<br />
claimed using group claim functionality. We require an OSI message with<br />
the ticket numbers <strong>and</strong> the reference to the AC group PNR number.<br />
6. How can a travel agency provide training when they are unable to<br />
create PNRs using the AC designator?<br />
All <strong>CRS</strong>s provide travel agencies with a //test/training// mode for this<br />
purpose.<br />
7. When are multiple <strong>booking</strong>s/cancellations considered inappropriate?<br />
Multiple <strong>booking</strong>s/cancellations are inappropriate when <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong><br />
identifies a pattern of excessive cancellation <strong>and</strong> re<strong>booking</strong> of segments<br />
within the same or different PNRs to extend time limit.<br />
8. How can a travel agency quote an accurate fare including taxes <strong>and</strong><br />
surcharges if they can not<br />
book a PNR?<br />
A PNR does not need to be created in order to provide pricing or<br />
schedule information. An agency can build an itinerary for fare quote<br />
purposes as long as they do not end the file, i.e. ignore PNR instead of<br />
END transaction.<br />
9. What is considered a duplicate <strong>booking</strong>?<br />
Any combination of <strong>booking</strong>s for the same passenger held simultaneously,<br />
which cannot all be flown due to timeline <strong>and</strong>/or illogical itinerary.<br />
This includes instances where there is more than 1 <strong>booking</strong> for the same<br />
passenger in the same or different PNR, with the same or different<br />
travel segments, in the same or different <strong>booking</strong> classes, in the same<br />
or different <strong>CRS</strong> system.<br />
10. How can agencies avoid duplicate segments when customers request<br />
them?<br />
It is the agency’s responsibility to adhere to <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong>’s <strong>booking</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
ticketing procedures. Duplicate segments incur non-value added segment<br />
fees <strong>and</strong> decrement inventory when in fact the client cannot physically<br />
travel all booked segments.<br />
11. Is the travel agency allowed to make a name change?<br />
Subject to change without prior notice.<br />
Revised May 31 st , 2007.<br />
3
No. Name changes are not permitted, however, a name correction is<br />
permitted when a customer’s name has been misspelled or to reflect the<br />
customer’s legal name to match travel documents.<br />
12. Are travel agencies monitored for not cancelling unticketed<br />
<strong>booking</strong>s?<br />
Travel agencies will be monitored for not cancelling unticketed <strong>booking</strong>s<br />
in their respective <strong>CRS</strong> prior to date of flight. Travel agencies are<br />
responsible to cancel any unticketed <strong>booking</strong> in their <strong>CRS</strong> to avoid<br />
blocking space that would otherwise be available for genuine sales.<br />
GROUPS<br />
13. Can travel agencies use passive segments to ticket an AC group PNR<br />
with OAL space?<br />
Yes, <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> will allow passive <strong>booking</strong>s for group PNRs, booked by<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> where there is OAL space in the PNR. These PNRs may not be<br />
claimed using group claim functionality. We require an OSI message with<br />
the ticket numbers <strong>and</strong> the reference to the AC group PNR number.<br />
14. How can agencies avoid multiple PNR claim for group files?<br />
Agencies can only claim the PNR once; therefore it is recommended that<br />
this be done just prior to ticketing.<br />
15. For group <strong>booking</strong>s with deviation, will <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> authorize passive<br />
segments?<br />
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> will not authorize passive segments on group <strong>booking</strong>s with<br />
deviation under any circumstances. In the event of changes, which<br />
require a division from the original group PNR <strong>and</strong> would result in reissuance<br />
of the ticket by the travel agency, <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> will allow the<br />
PNR to be reclaimed to reflect the change.<br />
A Copy of these instructions as well as questions <strong>and</strong> answers can be<br />
found at aircanada.com/agents <strong>and</strong> in CIC*170/49.<br />
Subject to change without prior notice.<br />
Revised May 31 st , 2007.<br />
4