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Sabre Training Manual
Certified Travel Services, Inc. 6444 NW Expressway, Suite 808 Oklahoma City, OK 73132 405-720-6660
CerTravNet Sabre Training Manual by Glenn A. Burroughs, CEO Certified Travel Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved Copyright 2002 By Certified Travel Services, Inc.
Revised February 13, 2003
Contents Introduction
Quick Start Training Program Components Relationships Fees and Commissions Format of Training Program
1 1 1 2 2
Lesson One – Air Travel
Introduction Types of Trips Types of Fares Classes of Service Fares
4 4 5 6 6
Lesson Two – Sabre City Pair Availability
Lesson Three – Selling Air Segments
Lesson Four – Pricing Air Reservations
Introduction Sabre Keyboard Entering Commands in Sabre Sign-In Procedure City Pair Availability Entering Travel Date Entering City Pair Entering Departure Time Availability Displays Additional Availability Limiting Availability Display Return Availability
8 8 8 9 10 10 10 11 11 12 12 12
Sell Entry Action/Status Codes Selling Connecting Flights Direct Selling Specific Flights Entering Arunk/Surface Segments
14 15 15 16 16
Introduction Display Availability Sell From Availability Display Return Availability
17 17 17 18
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Lesson Five – Building the Passenger Name Record
Lesson Six – Web Site Reservations Lesson Six - Continued
Sell From Return Availability Display Itinerary Price Itinerary Bargain Finder Select Option From Bargain Finder Display Itinerary Store Fare Retaining Original Reservation Booking Reservation at Lowest Fare Finding Lowest Fare for Booked Airline Fare Shopper Fare Quotes by Carrier Fare Rules References
18 19 19 20 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 27 27 28
Introduction Agency Information Moving Information from Star Name Field Telephone Numbers Ticketing Instructions Seat Assignments Form of Payment Entry Ticketing Entry Remarks Frequent Flier Number Received From End Record Retrieving PNR Request Ticketing Table of PNR Entries Encode and Decode Formats References
29 29 30 30 31 31 32 34 34 34 35 35 36 36 37 38 40 40
Introduction Accessing Web Fares Through eVoya Accessing Web Fares Directly
41 41 42
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Lesson Seven – Amtrak Reservations
Lesson Eight – Hotel Reservations
Lesson Nine - Car Reservations
Lesson Ten - STARS
Submitting Web Bookings to Headquarters Booking Tools Comparison
42 43
Introduction Decode Amtrak Station Availability Availability Display Codes Equipment Type Codes Train Service Codes Seat Codes Sleeping Car Accommodations Codes Sell From Availability Sell Return Book Lowest Fare Price the Itinerary Display Itinerary and Price End PNR and Move to Sabre Complete PNR in Sabre References
44 44 44 45 45 46 46 46 47 47 48 49 50 50 51 53
Introduction Shop Hotel Availability Look at Hotel Description Check the Hotel Rate Description (HRD) Book the Room Optional Sell Entry Data Fields References
54 54 56 57 58 60 60
Introduction Car Type Codes Display Shopper’s Quote Look at Car Quote Check the Rules Book the Car References
61 61 61 62 63 64 66
Introduction
67
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Lesson Eleven – Format Finder
Levels of Stars Line Types Building a Traveler Star Displaying the Star Moving Profiles into a PNR References
67 68 69 70 72 72
Introduction Downloading Format Finder Launch Format Finder Contents and Hyperlinks Index Search Context Sensitive Help AutoHelp References
73 73 73 74 75 76 77 78 78
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Introduction Congratulations on your decision to become a part of the CerTrav.Net network of independent travel agents. The system provides you with the ability to book travel using the Sabre Global Distribution System (GDS). Quick-Start Training Program The purpose of this training program is to get you “up and running” quickly so that you can begin to use your Sabre system to book air travel, hotel rooms and car rentals for your clients. You will learn the basic entries required to do this and will be given reference material and access to further training programs so that you can learn the more complex entries. However, the entries you learn in the quick-start program will handle 90% of the entries you will need to know. Components As a travel agent you will be primarily interested in booking travel that best meets the needs of your clients, and that have the best fares or rates possible. Using Sabre, you will be able to book: • Air travel • Hotel rooms • Car rentals Consequently, the quick-start program will concentrate on these three areas. Relationships As an independent travel agent you need to understand the new relationships that you will have. •
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Travel Vendors. You will now be dealing directly with the vendors of travel services that you are interested in – the airlines that you use, the hotels from whom you rent rooms and the car rental agencies you use. You will need to understand industry practices and terminology used by each of these travel vendors so you can communicate your needs and concerns to them. Airlines Reporting Corporation. The Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) is an organization established and owned by all of the domestic airlines. ARC approves authorized agency locations for the sale of air tickets and procedures for properly accounting for and remitting funds collected by the agencies on behalf of the airlines. The Industry Agents’ Handbook provides basic ticketing and reporting requirements for over 47,000 ARC-approved travel agency locations to report and settle ticketing transactions with the carrier participants by means of the ARC Standard Ticket and Settlement Plan. ARC accreditation is required before any travel agency may issue airline tickets. Upon receiving accreditation,
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•
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an ARC number is issued to the travel agency. Certified Travel’s ARC number is: 37-707-390 International Airlines Travel Agent Network (IATAN). IATAN appoints agents with ARC approval to act on behalf of foreign airlines. They also issue travel agent identification cards that entitle professional travel agents to reduced travel benefits after a person has met earnings or commission income requirements. Certified Travel Services, Inc. Certified Travel is a fully accredited, full service travel agency with appointments from both ARC and IATAN. Certified owns and manages the Certified Travel Network and performs the following functions for members of the network: o Completes the processing of each reservation made by you, processes your credit card payments for services sold by you, issues air tickets and handles other travel documentation for you. o Files settlement reports as required by ARC including sales made by you. o Aids you in completion of unusual transactions not covered in your training including such items as air ticket refunds and exchanges, Miscellaneous Charges Orders, Tour Orders, Prepaid Ticket Advices and complex travel arrangements. o Accounts for all of your sales and issues sales reports and commission checks to you. o Follows up to be sure we are paid commissions on all of your purchases and rebates your share of commissions to your company. o Many other services as enumerated in our web site.
Fees and Commissions Since airlines, for the most part, no longer pay commissions to travel agents, we charge a fee for each air ticket or change to air ticket that we process for you. This fee should be passed on to your client. We rebate to you 50% of the fee and commissions we earn from the bookings you make. Format of Training Program You will be led through step-by-step procedures to be followed in booking air travel, hotel reservations and car rentals. You will be given the Sabre entries to use as you progress through the lessons. You should be signed in to Sabre before you start the lessons including Sabre instruction. As you read through the material you will be asked to make the entries you learn about in to your Sabre system. Sabre will respond to your entries. Screen shots (pictures of the Sabre work area) are included so you can compare the Sabre responses you get with the screen shots to be sure you are entering information correctly. At the end of most lessons you are given reference material lists that you can refer to for more detailed instruction on the Sabre system. You may also wish to avail yourself of
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Sabre Personal Trainer, an interactive, computer-based learning program that is available through Sabre eservices
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Lesson One Air Travel Introduction Over the past few years the ways of doing business with the airlines have radically changed. Travel agency commissions have been eliminated. Ticketless air travel through the use of electronic tickets has replaced the use of paper tickets. Airlines have installed web sites enabling travelers to book directly with the airline and bypass the travel agent. However, studies have proven that cost savings opportunities on the web are very limited and the majority of web fares found are not lower than those available through the Sabre GDS (Global Distribution System). A comparison of using the web to book air travel versus using the professional Sabre system is included in a later lesson. In order for you to be proficient at providing air transportation for your clients, you need to understand how the air travel system works. You need to know how flights are routed, the different types of fares and classes of service and types of air trips available. You must understand air travel terminology and learn airline codes. Fortunately, the Sabre GDS you will be using handles much of the routing and fare construction automatically. However, you need to know the basics of air transportation. That is the purpose of this lesson. Types of Trips The basic information you need from your client before you can book a flight for him are the city or airport from which he will be traveling (originating city), the city or airport he is going to (destination city), dates he wants to travel and approximate time of departure and arrival he requires. With this information you can begin to search for suitable flights. Your customer will be booked in one of the following types of trips: • One-Way Trip. Travel from an originating city to a destination city without returning. • Round Trip. Travel from an originating city to a destination city and return. Most trips are round trips. • Circle Trip. Travel includes two destination cities and returns to the originating city. For example, your customer wants to leave from Oklahoma City on November 20 and go to New York where he wants to stay until November 25. He then wants to travel to Atlanta, returning back to Oklahoma City on December 1. • Open Jaw Trip. This trip is the same as a circle trip except your customer will not be flying between the two destination cities. Using the example, he will drive from New York to Atlanta instead of flying. Thus, New York to Atlanta is the “open jaw.” • Non-Stop Trip. The plane flies from the originating city to the destination city without stopping.
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• • •
Direct Trip. The plane stops at an intermediate city but your customer does not have to change planes before continuing on the same flight to his destination. Connecting Flight. The plane stops at an intermediate city where your customer must change planes and board a different flight before continuing to his destination. Continuing Flight. Your customer stays in a destination city for a while then continues on to another destination (on a continuing flight) before completing his trip.
Types of Fares There are as many types of fares as there are types of trips – and more. Fare types are continually changing as the airlines try to gain a competitive advantage over each other. However, the following types of fares are generally applicable regardless of what they may be called from time to time. • • •
•
•
•
• • •
Local Fare. The amount charged for travel between two points on one airline. Through Fare. The amount charged for travel between two points on one airline with a connection in an intermediate city. Point-to-Point Fare. The amount charged for travel between two points with a connection at an intermediate city where a through fare is not available. The fare from the originating city to the intermediate city is added to the fare from the intermediate city to the destination city are added together (by Sabre) to get the point-to-point fare. Joint Fare. The fare for travel between two points where a connection at an intermediate city is required and the continuing flight is on a different airline than the flight from the originating city. The fare is a joint fare shared by the two airlines. Excursion Fare. There are many forms of excursion fares and new ones show up every day. Generally, an excursion fare applies only to a round trip; there must be a week-end (Saturday night) stay at the destination city before returning and the ticket must be purchased several days or a week or more in advance of travel. There are penalties for changes or cancellations. Child’s Fare. A child between the ages of two and 12 (inclusive) years old is eligible for a child’s fare on occasion. Children under two (not including two) travel free if they do not occupy a seat (lap child). Unaccompanied children must pay an extra unaccompanied minor fee. Senior Citizen’s Fare. Senior citizens are sometimes entitled to a discount. Promotional Fare. Sometimes an airline will initiate a bargain fare to promote a particular flight. When this is done, it is usually done to promote a flight to a new destination. Military or Government Fare. The government routinely negotiates discounted fares for government employees or military personnel.
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Classes of Service Before deregulation of the airlines in the 1970’s, class of service indicated the compartment of the plane you sat in and the level of service you received. There were two classes of service – first class and coach. Now the class of service indicates not only the compartment you sit in and the service you receive, but also indicates the fare you paid and the restrictions associated with the ticket you bought. To complicate matters further, each airline designates its own class of service codes and they may or may not be the same as their competitors. For example, the classes of service codes for seven different airlines each with three different types of excursion fares are as follows: Class of Service for these Advance Purchase Requirements Airline
Southwest American Delta United Continental Northwest
21 Days
14 days
7 Days
M M L V Q V
Q K K V V Q
B V M Q B H
As you can see, the class of service codes used by the airlines are inconsistent and therefore, for all practical purposes, meaningless. However, Sabre displays seat availability by class of service code. When you talk to an airline reservationist or Certified Travel staff person, class of service used for booking will be discussed. Fares The airlines establish fares for each flight and class of service. In some instances there is more than one fare for a class of service. Each fare is identified by a fare basis code. The first character of the fare basis code is the class of service code described earlier. The remaining characters are airline codes that help define the fare rules. While you do not need to understand the meaning of these codes, sometimes some of the fare rules can be determined from the codes. Following are examples of four actual fare basis codes as designated by United Airlines: QXE7A1N QWTE7A1N VA21ONX VA21PNX The above codes with the class of service Q require an advanced booking of seven days (indicated by the number 7 in the code). QXE7A1N requires departure times of 6:00 am to 7:00 pm. QWTE7A1N requires departure times of 7:00 pm to 6:00 am. The V class basis code requires 21 days advance booking. The first V basis code requires travel on
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Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The other V basis code requires travel on the other days of the week. As mentioned earlier, the purpose of the fare basis code is to define the rules related to booking the class of service that is a part of the code. The rules are defined for each class of service. Rules are stipulated in each of the following areas:
• •
• • •
Booking Code. This is the class of service code and the code used to book the reservation. Reservation/Ticketing. This rule specifies the number of days prior to travel that the ticket must be purchased and the number of days after the reservation is made that the ticket must be prepared. For a seven-day advance purchase ticket the reservation typically must be made seven or more days prior to the travel date and the ticket prepared no later than one day after the reservation is made. Penalties. Penalties for cancellation or changes. Minimum Stay. Time traveler must stay at destination before returning on a round-trip ticket, e. g., until Sunday after midnight Saturda Other Rules. Maximum stay, time of day departure may take place, seasons travel may take place, blackout dates, stopovers allowed, effective and expiration dates of fare, surcharges, discounts allowed, reroutes permitted, combinations permitted (circle trips, open jaws, etc.), co-terminals (lists of airports considered the same for fare purposes).
You should have a general understanding of the rules related to the air tickets you reserve. As you will learn in later lessons, these rules are available in the Sabre system. Fortunately, Sabre will not allow you to make a reservation in a particular class of service unless all of the rules are met.
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Lesson Two Sabre City Pair Availability (CPA) Introduction In this lesson you will be introduced to the Sabre system and learn to display all the available flights from any two cities. Most of this lesson and all subsequent Sabre lessons are related to making Sabre entries and interpreting and acting upon Sabre responses. You should complete all Sabre lessons by actually making the entries in your Sabre system as they are described in the lessons. This hands-on procedure will enable you to quickly learn how to use Sabre. Sabre Keyboard The keyboard on your personal computer can be used to make Sabre entries. However, several keys have been assigned for specific entries applicable to the Sabre system only. When you have signed in to Sabre, these keys can then be used only for their assigned Sabre entries. A diagram of the Sabre keyboard is included at the end of this Training Manual. The following is a list of keys applicable to Sabre entries only showing the label on your PC keyboard and the Sabre entry that will result from depressing that key. Sabre Entry Display Clear Change Return End Item Erase Cross of Loraine Memo
Depress this key = (equal sign) Backspace [ (left bracket) ] (right bracket) \ (back slash) ; (semicolon) ‘ (apostrophe) End
Entering Commands in Sabre A command is an entry that instructs Sabre to perform a particular task. Sabre commands are used to book reservations, request flight information and schedules, and make changes, as well as many other functions. When you sign in to Sabre you are given a work area on your PC monitor. In the work area you gather reservations you have made and all the information pertinent to the traveler, such as name, phone number and the reservations you make for him. All of this information is referred to as the Passenger Name Record (PNR). When all the data has been assembled, you “end the transaction,” and the record is transmitted to Sabre’s permanent storage database. When you are ready to ticket the reservation, you enter a command that instructs Certified Travel headquarters to prepare the electronic ticket for use by your traveler. A Sabre command begins with a field identifier or command code. Every command has a format that must be typed in a particular order. Unless the format is followed exactly,
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Sabre will respond to your request with an error message. After you type a command you must press the Enter key. The illustrations that follow are screen shots of actual Sabre work areas. The Sabre responses are shown in light colored, or grey, type font; the entries you make are shown in black. At this point you should be at your computer so you can actually make the entries being discussed. The notation Make Entry appears each time you should make the entry in your own computer. To begin your Sabre session, click on the Sabre icon on your desktop. Sign-In Procedure At the beginning of each Sabre session you will be presented with a sign-in screen. If you are using a standard PC keyboard, your entry format to sign in is: SI=(your agent sign) The = key in this format is the same as the display key on a Sabre keyboard. Make Entry This should be how your Sabre work area appears:
After each entry you make you must press the Enter key. Next enter the passcode that has been assigned to you. Make Entry
Sabre’s response is the announcement screen showing the day’s news from Sabre:
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You are now ready to make reservations and build a PNR. City Pair Availability Sabre displays a listing of flights and classes of service between any two designated cities. The displaying of flight availability is referred to as City Pair Availability or CPA. The city pair is made up of the three letter codes for the origin and destination cities. To display CPA, two things must be known, the travel date and the city pair. Entering Travel Date Sabre will display only flight scheduled for the current day unless you include the travel date. The date is entered in code, with the day entered as one or two digits and the month as a three-letter abbreviation of the month. For example, the 1st of June would be entered as 1JUN and the 20th of October is entered as 20OCT. Entering City Pair Sabre must have the city pair in order to display availability. Flights from Chicago to Los Angeles are referred to by the city pair CHILAX, using the city code CHI for Chicago and LAX for Los Angeles. Some cities have more than one airport (like Chicago), in which case the city pair availability entry may include either the city code or the airport code. To specify a particular airport in Chicago, use the airport code – ORD for O’Hare airport or MDW for Midway airport. By using the city code, Sabre will show flights from all airports in the city (both O’Hare and Midway in our example). To find the city code for a city, use the following Sabre entry: W/-CC(name of city)
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Make Entry
Entering Departure Time The departure time should be entered at the end of your CPA request. Times are entered as codes. Enter A for a. m. or P for p. m. 9:40 a. m. is entered as 940A, 10:00 p. m. is entered as 1000P, 12 noon is entered as 1200N. Availability Displays The following is the basic command used to request city pair availability: 1(travel date)(city pair)(departure time) Make Entry
The Sabre response shows flights scheduled around the departure time between the two city pairs. Additional flights can be shown by entering 1= (1display). Non-stop flights are displayed first, followed by connecting flights – in this example, lines 1, 2 and 3 are non-stop flights; lines 4 and 5 are two connecting flights with a change in Milwaukee (MKE). The above availability display is interpreted as follows: 12NOV TUE CLE/EST MCO/EST 0 12NOV - Departure date. TUE - Day of week. CLE/EST – Cleveland is in eastern time zone MCO/EST 0 Orlando is in eastern time zone. 0 indicates 0 time difference 1CO 1071 A9 D9 CLEMCO 9 930A 1152A 738 S/S/S 1 - Line number. CO 1071 - Airline and flight number.
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0 DCA
/E
A9 D9 - Seats available in classes A and D. CLEMCO – Origin and destination cities. 9 - Flight dependability code (9 indicates 90% or better on time). 930A 1152P - Departure and arrival times (local times). 738 - Type of aircraft (Boeing 737) F9 E3 Y9 H9 K9 B9 V9 Q9 T9 - Seats available in other classes.
Additional Availability There are several entries that can be made to display additional availability. These entries can be made while the availability display originally requested is still active. Entry 1= 1=(alternate time) 1(alternate date) 1’1 1-3
Results Displays next six flights until Sabre responds **NO MORE** Displays flights departing around alternate time entered. Displays availability on departure date entered. Displays availability on departure date one day later. Displays availability on departure date three days earlier.
Limiting Availability Display
You may limit the flights appearing on the availability display by adding codes to the end of the basic availability entry as follows: Add to basic entry (city code) /D ‘(carrier code) /(time) -(class of service)
Example STL /D ‘AA /10A -V
Results Displays only flights connecting at city specified. Displays only non-stop or direct flights Displays only flights for the carrier specified. Displays flights by arrival time rather than departure time. Displays flights only for class specified.
Return Availability After displaying availability for a departure, you may display flights for a return trip. The following is the format for the entry to request return availability. 1R(return date)(return time) In addition, you may limit the availability display to one carrier by adding cross of loraine and carrier code: 1R(return date)(return time)’(carrier code)
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Make Entry
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Lesson Three Selling Air Segments Sell Entry The Sabre code to sell airline space is the zero (0) key. Seats may be sold for any flight listed in an availability display as long as there is an number higher than zero (0) in the display. Selling from CPA or “selling from availability” is the simplest and fastest way to book airline space. In order for you to sell from CPA you must, of course, be working from an availability display. Your Sabre system is set to “time out” (turn off) after a period of non-use. If your system has timed out, you must sign in again and you should reenter the request for city pair availability: 1(travel date)(city pair)(departure time) Make Entry
Your Sabre response should be similar to the one shown above, except for the “sell” entry and response at the bottom. The sell entry includes the zero (sell segment) key, the number of seats required, along with the class of service and the line number from the CPA. You should use Y class of service – this will be adjusted later to reflect the class of service with the lowest airfare. The response should be similar to the one shown in the above screen shot and is known as an itinerary segment. The term itinerary refers to all of the flights, car reservations and hotel reservations booked for a passenger, including all departing and return flights, as well as any connections. Add the required entry to sell one seat in Y class of service from line 1 of the CPA display.
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The entry is: 0 (number of seats)(class of service)(line number) Make Entry The result of this entry should be similar to the last line of the screen shot shown above. If the trip is a round-trip, you will need to make a similar sell entry after displaying the flight availability for the return flight. Action/Status Codes As shown above, the segment resulting from the sell entry includes the status code “SS1”. Sabre will normally respond with SS if the seats are available. If the number of seats you wish to sell is more than the maximum number of seats shown in the CPA display, Sabre may respond with the action code NN (Need/Need), indicating that the seats are on request. The reservation will not be confirmed until the seats are accepted by the airline. Once they are accepted by the airline, a confirmation message will be generated to you. Selling Connection Flights To sell connecting flights, similar to the ones shown in lines 4 and 5 of the availability display, enter the basic sell entry described earlier followed by the = (display) key entry. The entry for one seat in Y class for lines 4 and 5 would be: 01Y4= You may also sell connecting flights by entering both line numbers as follows: 01Y4Y5 Selling Return Flights If you are booking a roundtrip, you must also sell the return flights. In Lesson 2, you learned that the entry for determining availability return flights is: 1R(return date)(return time)’(carrier code) When this entry is made, an availability display similar to the one shown above for the outbound flights is produced. The sell entry for the return flights is the same as covered for the outbound flights: 0 (number of seats)(class of service)(line number) When you sell the return flights, return flight segments are added to your flight itinerary.
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Direct Selling a Specific Flight If you know the flight number that you want to book for your traveler, you do not need to sell from the availability display. Rather, you can direct sell the flight with the following entry: 0(carrier code)(flight #)(class)(date)(city pair)NN(number of seats) Make Entry
Sabre responds with a sold segment. Since the flight number, class and date are already including in your entry, they are not repeated in the response. Entering Arunk/Surface Segments When travel by transportation other than air between two flights (open jaw), an arunk (arrival unknown) segment entry must be made to maintain continuity. The arunk segment must be entered between the two flight segments. You must enter the number of the segment after which you want the arunk segment entered. The entry is as follows: /(enter after segment number)A /2A
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Lesson Four Pricing Air Reservations Introduction Sabre has the capability of automatically computing the total fare, or ticket price, for almost any itinerary. This automatic fare calculation is referred to as itinerary pricing. There are several procedures available for pricing air reservations in Sabre. The best method uses bargain finder, a Sabre procedure that finds the lowest airfare among all airlines for the itinerary that you have booked. This lesson teaches the use of bargain finder for pricing air reservations. In order to price air reservations you must have already determined availability and “sold” the flights you want to reserve. These procedures were covered in Lessons 2 and 3. If your Sabre system has “timed out” since you completed lessons 2 and 3, you should now repeat the entries you made in Lessons 2 and 3 in order to recreate the itinerary you created in those lessons. The entries you need to make are as follows: 1. Display Availability: 1(travel date)(city pair)(departure time) Make Entry
2. Sell from Availability: 0 (number of seats)(class of service)(line number)
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Make Entry
3. Display Return Itinerary: 1R(return date)(return time)’(carrier code) Make Entry
4. Sell from Return Availability: 0 (number of seats)(class of service)(line number)
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Make Entry
5. Display Itinerary Now that you have completed your reservations, you should first display the itinerary to make sure you have reserved the proper flights. To display an itinerary, press the display key (= on your keyboard) followed by the letter I: =I Make Entry
6. Price Itinerary The next entry prices the itinerary at the lowest available airfare for the itinerary and books it in the classes of service that provide the lowest fares. The entry is: WPNCB
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Make Entry
Sabre responds with the lowest available price for the itinerary – note that classes of service are changed if a lower fare was available. 7. Bargain Finder Next, to find the lowest fare among all the airlines flying the same itinerary, from Cleveland to Orlando and return, the bargain finder entry is used. The Sabre response to this entry will be several screens containing a number of lower-priced options of available seats on other airlines that fly the same itinerary. To move to the next screen to see additional options, make the entry MD (Move Down). To return to the first screen, make the entry MT (Move Top). It may be that there will be additional changes of planes on the other flights, but the savings can be substantial. The basic bargain finder entry is WPNI. To limit the number of plane changes to one on each leg, add /K1. The entry to use is: WPNI/K1
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Make Entry
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8. Select Option from Bargain Finder After you decide which of the options you want to book, cancel the old itinerary and replace it with the itinerary from the selected option. The entry to cancel the old itinerary is XI - Cancel itinerary The entry to replace the old itinerary with the itinerary from the selected option (option 5 in the example) is: WC’ (option number selected) Make Both Entries
9. Display Itinerary Next, display the itinerary to confirm that you have booked the flights you want to book. Entry: =I Make Entry
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10. Store Fare Finally, you must store the fare in Sabre. The entry is WS Make Entry
Sabre has now stored the fare away. Note that you are given the date by which you must request ticketing from headquarters. Through use of fare finder, you have save $528.00 from the least expensive fare on the itinerary originally booked. This completes the lesson on use of bargain finder to find the least expensive fare. To complete your reservation, go to Lesson 5 to build a PNR. Retaining Original Reservation If you must use the original reservation (the Continental flights in our example), skip the bargain finder entries (steps 7, 8 and 9). At this point, clear you Sabre work area of all entries. Do this by entering “I” (ignore). The following screen shot is an example of an itinerary booked in “Y” (full coach) class of service. Make Entries Make necessary entries by following Steps 1 through 5 to book one roundtrip in “Y” class. Use any city pair and any dates. You will need to display availability and sell from availability for both outgoing and return flights. After you have booked the roundtrip, display the itinerary. Your response should be similar to the following screen shot.
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Booking Reservation at Lowest Fare Next, book these flights at the lowest fare. Make Entry
The Sabre response shows the lowest fare available as booked. Finding Lowest Fare for Booked Airline If you must book flights on the selected airline (rather than using bargain finder), use the entry (WPNCS) shown in the next screen shot. Make Entry
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The Sabre response shows the lowest fare possible for the airline (Continental) between the city pair and on the date specified. It also shows the booking class of service that must be used on the three segments to secure the lowest fare possible. Using this information, you may now display availability for Continental flights between the city pair and on the date specified to see if any flights have availability in the booking class shown (“B” class of service in the example). The WPNCS entry is useful only if the traveler insists on a particular airline – it can be used to determine if savings would be possible by shifting to another flight at a different time on the same day. If you have the flexibility of using any airline, then the bargain finder procedure should be used. To complete your reservation, go to Lesson 5 to build a PNR. Fare Shopper Sabre is able to display a comparison of fares between all airlines for a specific market (city pair). This is helpful in determining which airlines have the least expensive fares. The display arranges fares from lowest to highest cost for all carriers servicing a particular route. The entry for the fare shopper display is: FS(city pair)(travel date)(fare type) Make Entry
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The display shows the fare basis code, the one-way or roundtrip fare, the airlines offering the fare, the effective date and expiration date of the fare and the last day it may be ticketed. The screen shot shows only the first page of the display – use MD to move down to additional pages. Fare Quotes by Carrier Sabre is able to quote fares for specific airlines. To request a fare quote, use the following entry: FQ(city pair)(travel date)-(airline) Make Entry
The display lists all of the fares for the carrier grouped by fare basis code. Additional pages are available by entering MD. Fare Rules While the Fare Quote display is up, the rules for any of the fare basis codes can be displayed by making this entry: RD(line number from FQ display)
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Make Entry
The Sabre display shows all the rules for the fare basis code requested. The first several lines summarize the rules – 14 day advance required, roundtrip purchase required, nonrefundable, instant purchase required, change fee required, etc. The detail rules are then listed. There are several pages to the rules display. Use MD to see more rules. References For further information regarding fares and pricing, several detailed student guides are available. These may be downloaded from the Sabre eservices and printed. To secure these student guides, follow this procedure: • • • •
Using your internet browser, go to eservices.sabre.com (no www required). Log in with your agent sine and password and pseudo city code (0XQ0). Click on “Training.” Click on “Training Workbooks.” From the Training Workbooks list, select the following and print each: Fares and Pricing Fares and Pricing Basics Fares - Beyond the Basics International Fares Complete this pre-work prior to your International Fares training session Pricing - Beyond the Basics
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Lesson Five Building the PNR Introduction The Passenger Name Record, or PNR, is simply a reservation created with an airline, car rental company, hotel or other travel industry vendor on behalf of your traveler. The PNR is a record of the transactions booked for a particular traveler. Every PNR has five mandatory parts: P R I N T
Phone – Phone number of the traveler. Received – Person providing information for the reservation. Itinerary – Travel segments booked – air, car, hotel, etc. Name – Name of traveler(s) Ticketing – Date to be ticketed.
In addition, there are a number of optional parts that may be included in the PNR such as messages or memos related to the PNR, frequent flier numbers, ticketing instructions, credit card numbers, etc. Agency Information First level Stars are Sabre records that contain your agency information applicable to all of your clients. Second level stars can be set up to include information regarding individual cleints that would apply to any PNR you prepared for the clients. You may want to set up second level stars for your frequent travelers. More information regarding stars is included in a separate lesson. Stars are not required to build a PNR However, using stars allows for automatic entry of the constant information regarding your agency and your clients, thus simplifying the preparation of PNRs and increasing accuracy. For purposes of training, it is assumed that a first level star (called “TRAINING”) has been established and that all information regarding the individual traveler must be entered manually. To display the contents of the first level company star the entry is: N=(your agency’s star name) Your agency’s star name is assigned by headquarters and is normally the name of your agency. For training purposes use company name: “TRAINING.”
Make Entry
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The lines with the letter “A” added are the lines that will be moved from the star to the PNR. Other lines are for information only. The information that will be transferred includes: • • • • • • • •
5/ entries – Your agency name and address 9 entries - Certified Travel telephone numbers 9 entries -Your agency telephone numbers W entry - Address of Certified Travel 5.*OA9999 entry – Your agent sign. 5.S entry – Your telephone number for record identification purposes. 5 entries – Information that will be printed on invoices we prepare for you. PE entry – Your email address.
Moving Information from Star The entry for moving the information from the company star to the PNR is: NM
Make Entry
The agency information has now been placed in the PNR. The asterisk indicates the information has been accepted. Name Field
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The name must be entered for each air ticket you book in the PNR. The name entry is always preceded by a – (dash on your keyboard). The following are acceptable name entries: One ticket Multiple tickets, different last names Multiple tickets, same last name
-(last name)/(first name) Sample: -Grayson/Tommy As above, use separate entries for each -(number of tickets)(last name)/(first name)/(first name) Sample: -2Grayson/Tommy/Debbie
Enter a single name for your PNR. Make Entry
The asterisk after the entry indicates the name was added to your PNR. Telephone Numbers A phone field is mandatory on every PNR. In our training session, much of the phone information was transferred from the company star. Individual traveler information must be entered manually, unless you have client (second level) stars set up. The 9 key is the identifier for the phone field. The phone entry is as follows: 9(area code)-(phone number)-(phone identifier) MAKE ENTRY
Ticketing Instructions Ticketing instructions is mandatory. The 7TAW/ entry means ticket immediately. Initials indicating the person requesting ticketing follow this. The ticketing entry is as follows: 7TAW/(initials of person requesting ticketing)
Make Entry
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Seat Assignments Seats should always be assigned in advance. You may request either aisle (NA) or window (NW) seats. The entry is: 4GA/N(A or W) Make Entry
Seat Maps To select a specific seat for your traveler, you may access a seat map for the flight segment you are interested in. The following shows the formats for displaying seat maps and making seat assignments from seat maps. No practice entries should be made, since you have already assigned seats for your practice problem with the 4GA/NA entry.
If the screen shown above is the itinerary and you want to see a seat map for the first segment, use the display seat map entry: 4G(segment number) Using this entry to display the seat map for segment number 1, the following seat map would be displayed:
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Letters across the top, A-J, are the alpha seat number; numbers down the sides are the numeric seat number. An asterisk (*) indicates the seat is available. A period (.) indicates the seat has been assigned. Other symbols are explained in the display. To assign a seat from the seat map, the entry is: 4G(segment number)/(seat number)
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The entry to reserve seat 34B from the above display would be 4G1/34B Form of Payment Entry Your form of payment will normally be credit card. To enter the credit card number use the 5-= entry. The 5-= entry is followed by the cross of loraine and expiration date. Use one of the following for credit card code: Visa Master Card Discover American Express Diners Club
VI CA DS AX DC
5-=(credit card code)(credit card number)’(expiration month)/(expiration date) Make Entry
If the credit card is accepted, Sabre will respond with an *. If not, the message shown in the screen shot will appear. In this case, you will need to reenter the credit card number or use another credit card number. Ticketing Entry The 5T entry is used to specify type of ticket needed (e ticket or paper). This will usually be e ticket. Remember, there is an extra charge for paper tickets. The entry is: 5T’(e ticket or paper ticket) Make Entry
Remarks The 5H- entry is used to enter any remarks you care to make regarding the PNR. Use this entry to send instructions to headquarters – headquarters always reads your remarks. You 34
may also use remarks to document any information you care to retain in the record regarding entries you have made, instructions you have received, conversations you have had, etc, so that you will have a record in the event questions later come up about the reservation. The format is: 5H-(free flow text) Make Entry
Frequent Flier Number You will always want to enter the frequent flier number of the traveler for the airline being flown. This causes the mileage flown to be added to the frequent flier account of the traveler. The format is: FF(airline)(frequent flier number) Make Entry
Received From A required entry is the received from entry. This shows the person that gave the information to you regarding the reservations needed. The entry format is: Make Entry
6(name of person giving you the information)/(your initials)
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End Record After all the information is entered, entering the letter “E” ends the PNR. This causes the record to be transferred to the Sabre database and the reservations to be made. In the event that there are messages from the airlines regarding the reservations, they appear after you enter the E. You should enter =IM to display the messages, then, after reviewing the messages, another E to end the record. The Sabre response should be as shown on the last line of the screen shot. “OK” confirms that the record has been accepted by Sabre. This is followed by the time (military time) and the record locator number. You should make a note of the record locator number. Make Entries
Retrieving the PNR The PNR may be retrieved by pressing the display (=) key and entering the locator code.
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Make Entry
If you forget the locator code, you may also retrieve the PNR by pressing the display key (=), followed by a dash (-) and the name of the traveler. The complete entry is: =-(last name)/(initial) After retrieving the PNR, if headquarters has not ticketed the PNR, you may make changes. If your traveler requires a hotel reservation and/or car rental, you should add these to the PNR (see Lessons 8 and 9). If you make changes, you must enter a received from (6) entry showing the person that requested the change – 6(person requesting change) followed by E. to end the record. If you make no changes, enter an “I” (ignore) to clear the record from your computer. You must always end or ignore the record before proceeding with another PNR. Request Ticketing To have tickets prepared by headquarters, you must place the PNR on queue 99. Ending the record by itself will not result in preparation of an eticket. To place the PNR on queue 99, make this entry: QP/99/136 Note: Since you do not want your practice PNR’s ticketed, you should not make this entry for practice PNR’s. Also, since you have made reservations from live seat inventory, you should cancel all practice reservations after completing this lesson. To 37
cancel reservations, retrieve the PNR and enter XI, followed by the received from (6) entry and the end item entry (E). The entries are: =(locator code) XI 6(your name) E Make Entries Table of PNR Entries Below is a list of commonly used PNR entries, including those discussed earlier. Examples use key entries made from a standard PC keyboard and will appear in the Sabre work area as the equivalent Sabre symbol. For example, the = on a standard keyboard appears as a * (display) in the Sabre work area. City Pair Availability 1(travel date)(departure city)(arrival city) (arrival city)(departure time) 123JUNSFOLAX9A Request additional flight availability 1= Redisplay last availability 1=R Redisplay original availability 1=OA Add days to availability date 1’(number of days) 1’2 Subtract days from availability date 1-(number of days) 1-2 Request return availability 1R(return date)(departure time) 1R22NOV10A Sell a Flight Segment Sell specified number of seats, in a 0(number of seats)(class of service) requested class, for the requested CPA (CPA line number) line number. 01Y1 Sell specified number of seats, in a 0(number of seats)(class of service0 requested class, for the requested CPA (CPA line number) line number and the connecting flights. 01Y1* Long sell entry 0(carrier and flight number)(class of service)(travel date)(city pair)NN(number of seats) 0AA48C29MARDFWCDGNN1 Cancel a PNR Itinerary Segment Do not use these entries after reservation has been ticketed!!! Cancel a specific itinerary segment X(segment number) X2 Cancel multiple segments X(segment number)/(segment number) X1/3 Cancel a range of itinerary segments X(segment number)-(segment number) X1-3 Cancel entire itinerary XI Request CPA
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Passenger Name Field -1(last name)/(first name) -1GRAYSON/TOMMY Enter names for more than one person -(number in party)(last name)/(first with the same last name name)/(first name) -2GRAYSON/TOMMY/DEBBIE Delete a name field (where only one -[ name) Delete a name field -(name field number)[ -2[ Delete a name from a multiple passenger -(name field number)[ name field -(2.1)[ Phone Field Enter phone field 9(area code)-(prefix)-(number)Identifier: A= Agency, B=Business, (identifier) F=FAX, H=Home, C=Cell 9808-555-1234-B Enter phone field with extension 9(area code)-(prefix)-(number)X (extension)-(identifier) 9213-555-2123X8971-B Delete a phone number 9(item number)[ 92[ Ticketing Field Place PNR on Queue 9 for immediate 7TAW/(agent initials) ticketing 7TAW/DG Form of Payment Check form of payment 5-CHECK Credit card form of payment 5-=(two-letter credit card code)(credit card number)’(expiration date month/year) 5-=AX371409203591005’5/04 Remarks Add general information 5(free text) 5DEPOSIT IS DUE ON MARCH 1 Add information to be retained in history 5H-(free text) 5H-FARE CONFIRMED BY AGENT SINE LMKZ. Delete a remarks line 5(item number)’ 51’ Itinerary Remarks Itinerary remarks print on itinerary 5’(remarks) 5’REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR PASSPORT Passenger email Address Enter the passenger email field PE’(email address)’ PE’
[email protected]’ Frequent Traveler Numbers Transmit frequent traveler number (name FF(airline code)(number)-(name field select not required for PNRs with one number) passenger only. FFAA1234567-1.1 Display the entire list of carriers PT= participating in FF Frequent Flyer Exchange/Partnership Agreements Display list of carriers participating in a PT=(carrier code) specific carrier’s Frequent Flyer PT=DL Exchange/Partnership agreements Enter passenger name
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Received From Field 6(name) 6TOMMY GRAYSON End Transaction/Ignore PNR End PNR and store in Sabre database E End and re-display PNR ER Ignore – returns unchanged PNR to I database Ignore and redisplay PNR IR Display PNR Display PNR by locator number =-(locator number) =-RDSQVA Display PNR by passenger last name =-(passenger last name) =-GRAYSON Display PNR by passenger last name and =-(passenger last name)/(first initial) first initial =-GRAYSON/T Enter the received from feld
Encode and Decode Formats Description Airline City Airport Aircraft Car Rental Chain Hotel Chain
Encode Format W/-(airline name) W/-DELTA W/-CC(city name) W/-CCHARTFORD W/-AP(airport name) W/-OHARE W/EQ-(manufacturer) W/EQ-BOEING W/-CR(car company name) W/-CRHERTZ W/-HL(hotel chain name) W/-HLHYATT
Decode Format W/=(airline code) W/=DL W/=(city code) W/=BDL W/-(airport code) W/-ORD W/EQ=(model code) W/EQ=(777) W/CR=(car company code) W/CR=ZD W/HL=(hotel chain code) W/HL=HY
References For further information regarding PNR’s, two detailed student guides are available. These may be downloaded from the Sabre eservices and printed. To secure these student guides, follow this procedure: • • • •
Using your internet browser, go to eservices.sabre.com (no www required). Log in with your agent sine and password and pseudo city code (OXQO). Click on “Training.” Click on “Training Workbooks.” From the Training Workbooks list, select the following and print each: Passenger Name Records (PNRs) PNR - Basics PNR - Advanced
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Lesson Six Web Site Reservations Introduction Recently, the airlines have established web sites that encourage travelers to book air tickets directly with the airlines. By accepting bookings through their web sites, the airlines believe they can cut their distribution costs by eliminating the fees they pay to the GDS companies (including Sabre). As an incentive, these web sites may offer fares only available on the web site (web-only fares). In addition to the airlines’ own web sites, several sites have been established that claim to search among all the airlines to find the best fares. The more prominent of these include • • • •
Orbitz Expedia Travelocity FareChase
Orbitz is owned by a joint venture among several of the major airlines. Virtually all airlines provide their fares to Orbitz. A notable exception is Southwest Airlines, which refuses to make their fares available to Orbitz. Expedia was started by Microsoft and has since been spun off. Travelocity is owned by Sabre and uses the Sabre database as a primary source for its fares. Web fares may not be booked through Sabre. Rather, you must access one of the web sites and book through the web site. The fact that you do not book through Sabre causes significant loss of control over your bookings. There are many other problems related to web site bookings, summarized in a later section of this lesson. In spite of the problems, there may be times that the savings are so significant that it makes economic sense to book through an airline or independent web site. This lesson covers procedures for booking travel through these web sites. Accessing Web Fares Through Sabre eVoya. Sabre has provided a system, called Web Fares by FareChase, for determining whether any fares available through airline web sites are less expensive than fares available through the Sabre GDS. Web Fares by FareChase is accessed through Sabre eVoya at evoya.sabre.com (no www required). To use the system, enter the origin and destination city codes and travel dates and up to 10 airline web sites you want the system to search. Not all airlines are represented, including Southwest. The system then determines the best available Sabre fare and searches the designated web sites to find if any are better than the available Sabre fare. If a better web fare is found, the airline offering the fare and the flights and schedules are
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listed. At this point, you are given the opportunity to book the flight through the airline’s web site. If you decide to book the flight, the airline web site is displayed with the flights that you booked. You then complete the booking by entering the information called for in the airline web site. There is a $10.00 fee from Sabre for booking in this manner. The $10.00 fee can be avoided by going directly to the airline web site to book the flights. To get a better understanding of the system, it is suggested that you go to Sabre eVoya and enter a hypothetical flight request. In most instances, a better price than offered by the Sabre GDS will not be found. Requesting oversees schedules will normally produce more web fares that are better than Sabre. Accessing Web Fares Directly Web fares may be accessed directly from the airlines’ web sites or through one of the web sites that search airline web sites. Theoretically, if you look for web fares through Orbitz, you will find most of the web fares available on the airlines’ web sites (except Southwest). While Web Fares by FareChase, discussed earlier, gives you the best Sabre fare so you will have a basis for comparison to see if any web fares are better, when you go directly to Orbitz or one of the airlines’ web sites, you must also find the best fare available in Sabre for comparative purposes. When a web fare is found you may book the web fare through the web site. Submitting Web Bookings to Headquarters A major disadvantage of booking outside of the Sabre GDS is that a record of the booking is not automatically transferred in to and made a part of your travel information database that is maintained for you at headquarters. For this reason, you must submit all web bookings to headquarters by using the Direct Travel Booking Record that is in the Resource Center of the CerTrav.net web site. Complete this form by entering the following information: • • • • • • • •
Your agency name Your phone number Your fax number Click on “web booking” Airline name in the “Vendor Name” space Passenger names Itinerery for “web booking” Payment information including commission to be added
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When the eForm is receive at headquarters, the details of your web booking will be entered into your database. Booking Tools Comparison The following is a comparison of using the web to book air travel versus using the professional Sabre system: The Web
Professional Sabre
The flights may be at any time of day, during inconvenient times. You may not see the actual flight times until time of purchase.
The system searches only for flights near the times your traveler is available and won't display inconvenient flights.
The listed fares are usually "from" prices that may change by the time you purchase the flight. In addition, these fares are only available for specific flights and if anything changes to the schedule the fare may change, as these are typically nonrefundable tickets.
The fares listed are the true price you will pay when you purchase them. The tickets can be normally refunded and/or exchanged through the Corporate Travel Link support desk.
The web site is searching a database of fares, not the current availability. By the time you actually purchase the flight you may find it is actually unavailable or the price is different.
Professional Sabre is searching live inventory to display only those flights that are currently available at the price shown.
Special web fares may be available but they are most likely distressed inventory fares that are undesirable to travelers because of seat location, flight times, or connections or there are restrictions on length of stay, required Saturday stay, or travel between certain dates only.
All available inventory is displayed.
Changes to web-booked flights, even in the event of a flight cancellation, must usually be made through the site or possibly the airline with representatives who do not know you or your company preferences or requirements. Most airlines will not support or help with web-booked flights.
Sabre bookings have 24/7 support through a toll-free telephone to Corporate Travel Link agents who have available all information regarding the booking as made and the requirements and preferences related to the change. Our relationship with the airlines provides the quickest, easiest, and most personal method to modify your itinerary. Standing in line at an overcrowded airline ticket counter is replaced by a simple cell phone call.
Web fare bookings cannot be tracked by your travel arranger to accumulate travel credits toward maintaining existing and negotiating for increased corporate discounts.
All bookings count toward improving your relationship with the airline and negotiating increased discounts.
Web fares often limit the ability to upgrade, obtain refunds, and reuse or change the tickets in any manner - you are locked into what you purchased.
The full services of your corporate travel arranger backed up by the experts at Corporate Travel Link headquarters are available to support all bookings made through Sabre.
During times of crisis, bookings made over a variety of web tools inhibit the ability of the travel department to know where or how to contact the travelers since the web bookings are private and inaccessible to the corporate travel arranger.
Complete information is available for all bookings made through Sabre. Full crisis or emergency management can therefore be provided.
No special requests can be made to the web supplier.
Your corporate travel arranger can handle special requests since she has all the information regarding your flight plans available to her.
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Lesson Seven Amtrak Reservations Introduction Amtrak reservations may be booked on your Sabre GDS. Many of the entries are similar to those used to book air tickets. This lesson covers the basics of booking Amtrak reservations. However, you must access the Amtrak reservations system first. The entry for accessing Amtrak is: [[AMK (Change key, Change key AMK) After entering the Amtrak system, to return to the regular Sabre GDS, enter: QUIT Decode Amtrak Station After accessing the Amtrak system, to determine an Amtrak city or station code, the entry is: ZZRM=OC(two letter state code)/(city name) MAKE ENTRY
Availability The entry for determining availability for a date and city pair is: 1(date)(city pair)(departure time)
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MAKE ENTRY
The above availability display is interpreted as follows: 1 2V
30
FS0 DS4
CLEWAS
240A
16NOV
155O
1 – Line number. 2V – Carrier. 30 – Train number. FS0, DS4 – Accommodation/inventory codes and number available CLEWAS – Origin and destination cities. 240A 16NOV – Departure time and date. 155P – Arrival time. MLB – Train service code. TSL – Equipment type. 7 – Number of stops.
Availability Display Codes Display more availability Redisplay current availability Display return availability Display quick date change
1= (1 display key) ZZA 1R(date)(time) 1R25NOV2P ZZAF=(date) ZZAF=26NOV
Equipment Type Codes Conventional train Metroliner Train with Sleepers Auto train High speed train (Acela) Bus Ferry/ship
TRN MTL TSL TAT THS BUS LCH
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MLB TSL
7
Train Service Codes Meal Service Lounge Checked baggage Entertainment Non smoking train Experimental train
M L B Q N E
Seat Codes Metroliner Business Class Reserved Discount Conventional/Auto Train Discount Amtrak Explore America AD75, USA Rail Pass, Misc. Unreserved Coach Metroliner First Class Discount Acela Express Business Class Discount Business Class Reserved Discount Business Class Unreserved Lower Level Superliner Discount
CM CR, CS Y YA,YB,YD,YG YE YF U P/PM PR, PS J I, Z JY JA, JB, JD, JE, JF, JG JU LY LA, LB, LD, LE, LF, LG
Sleeping Car Accommodation Codes Code ES EA,EB,EC,ED FS
Accommodations Standard Bedding Superior Discount Codes Family Bedroom Superliner
DS
Deluxe Bedroom Superliner, Viewliner Discount Codes Standard Bedroom Viewliner Discount Codes Roomette Heritage (No meals) Discount Codes Bedroom Heritage (No meals) Discount Codes
DA,DB,DC,DD VS VA,VB,VC,VD RS RA,RB BS BA,BB
Bedding 1 Upper 1 Lower 1 Upper 1 Lower 1 Upper 1 Lower
Toilet/Sink No
Shower No
Capacity 1-2 Adults
No
No
Yes
Yes
2 Adults 2 Children 1-2 Adults
1 Upper 1 Lower
Yes
No
1-2 Adults
1 Lower
Yes
No
1 Adult
1 Upper 1 Lower
Yes
No
2 Adults or 1 Adult w/2 children
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Sell from Availability The Amtrak sell entry is the same as the entry for selling air segments. However, with Amtrak, you must sell each line of a connection separately. Thus, for our practice availability, two sell entries will be required, one for the first line of the availability display and one for the second. 0(number of seats or sleeper accommodations)(inventory class) (line number)
make entry 1
make entry 2
Display Return Availability and Sell Return If a roundtrip ticket is required, the next step is to display the return availability and sell from the return availability. The entry for displaying the return availability is the same as for air: 1R(date)(time) (line number)
make entry
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To sell from the return availability, use the same entries as you used to sell from the outgoing availability display: 0(number of seats or sleeper accommodations)(inventory class) (line number)
make entry 1
make entry 2
Display Itinerary Next, to make sure you have booked the train accommodations correctly, display the itinerary:
Book in Lowest Fare To rebook your reservation in the lowest fare in Amtrak you must know the passenger type code for the traveler. Following are the passenger type codes used in Amtrak:
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Adult Child (2-15) Unaccompanied Child (8-11) AAA Member, Adult AAA Member, Auto Train, Adult AAA Member, Child (2-15) AAA Member, Auto Train, Child Senior Citizen (62+) Disabled Adult Disabled Child (2-15) Military Adult Military Child (2-15) Travel Agent – AD 75 Student Advantage Auto Train VIP
F H U SA SF SB SH E W V M MC Q TS VP
To rebook the itinerary to the lowest fare, the entry is: B’(cross of loraine key)RB/(quantity)(passenger type),(quantity)(passenger type) If there is only one passenger, or one passenger type, then the second quantity and passenger type shown in the entry is omitted.
make entry
Price the Itinerary The entry to price the itinerary is: ZZ3IP(quantity)(passenger type)
make entry
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Display the Itinerary and Price The entry is: =A
make entry
End PNR and Move to Sabre This entry will end the Amtrak portion of the PNR and move it to Sabre for completion of the PNR: E
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make entry
Complete PNR in Sabre When you entered the end item entry, you quit the Amtrak system and all of the Amtrak information was moved to Sabre. You are now ready to complete the PNR using Sabre entries covered in Lesson 5. 1. Display Company Star
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2. Move Company Information
3. Enter Traveler Name
4. Enter Traveler Phone Number
5. Enter Received From Information
6. End Transaction
7. Retrieve Transaction
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8. Request Ticketing To have tickets prepared by headquarters, you must place the PNR on queue 99. Ending the record by itself will not result in preparation of an eticket. To place the PNR on queue 99, make this entry: QP/99/136 Note: Since you do not want your practice PNR’s ticketed, you should not make this entry for practice PNR’s. Also, since you have made reservations from live seat inventory, you should cancel all practice reservations after completing this lesson. To cancel reservations, retrieve the PNR and enter XI, followed by the received from (6) entry and the end item entry (E). The entries are: =(locator code) XI 6(your name) E References For further information regarding Amtrak entries, a detailed student is available. This guide may be downloaded from the Sabre eservices and printed. To secure this student guide, follow this procedure: • • • •
Using your internet browser, go to eservices.sabre.com (no www required). Log in with your agent sine and password and pseudo city code (0XQ0). Click on “Training.” Click on “Training Workbooks.” From the Training Workbooks list, select the following and print each: Amtrak Amtrak
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Lesson Eight Hotel Reservations Introduction The Sabre hotel reservations system provides access to the room inventories and rates for most hotels and hotel chains throughout the United States and the world. The system enables you to book rooms at any of these hotels for your clients. Rooms may be booked from an air travel itinerary or independently of the air itinerary. When booked from the air itinerary, the dates rooms are required and location are taken from the air itinerary; when booked independently, dates and city codes must be included as a part of the hotel entry. This lesson covers the procedures and entries to be used to reserve hotel rooms. The basic procedure is a 4 step process. Step 1 - Shop Hotel Availability Hotel availability may be displayed with or without a PNR present. Do not make the entry shown – the practice entries will assume no PNR is available. However, if an air itinerary is available, the basic entry you would use would be: HOT(segment number)/(number of nights)NT(number of adults) The segment number is the number of the segment that will precede the hotel segment and will be the check-in date for the hotel reservation. Thus, if an air segment is for an arrival in Cleveland on June 22, the entry will request hotel availability in Cleveland with a check-in date of June 22. If the hotel availability entry is made with no PNR present, the basic entry is: HOT(city)/(check-in date)-(check-out date)(number of adults) To limit the availability response to those that meet your traveler’s needs, a number of qualifiers may be added to the basic entry: Chain code (maximum 20) - Displays only hotel chain(s) specified. Hotel name. City or area. Airport transportation: Y = transportation available
/(chain code),(chain code) /HH,MC /N-(hotel name) /N-PLAZA /(state)-(city or area) /CA-LAKEWOOD /AT-(Y or H) /AT-H
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H = hotel courtesy car/van. Location: C =City A=Airport Maximum rate.
S=Suburban R=Resort
Minimum rate. Rate range. Special Qualities (maximum 3): BCTR=business center FITN=fitness center POOL=swimming pool MEET=meeting room CSNO=casino PETS=accepts pets
/(C, S, A, or R) /C /R-(maximum rate) /R-100 /R(cross of loraine)(minimum rate) /R’50 /R(cross of loraine)(minimum rate)/(R100) /R’50/R-100 /SQ-(special quality code) /SQ-POOL,CSNO
Qualifiers may be combined. An example of a basic entry with several qualifiers indicating the need for a Hilton Hotel in Miami between March 21 and March 29 for 2 people with rates under $150 would be: HOTCLE/25MAR-29MAR2/HH/R-150 MAKE ENTRY
To display more availability the entry is: HOT= (= is display key)
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Step 2 - Look at Hotel Description The hotel description displays the rate for each rate category and room type. In addition, it contains pertihnent information about the hotel, such as extra fees, location, facilities, services, nearby attractions, various policies, and much more. The entry is: HOD=(line number from availability display) The Sabre response will include a number of information screens. Use MD to display additional screens. The examples that follow include the first three screens.
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To display guarantee information, the entry is: HOD=G Step 3 – Check the Hotel Rate Description (HRD) The hotel rate description provides complete details about a particular rate, such as any amenities included, as well as any special requirements or restrictions governing the use of the rate. The entry is: 57
HRD=(line number of selected rate in hotel description) MAKE ENTRY
Step 4 – Book the Room Before you can book the room, the passenger name field and agency address must be present. The entries required as covered in Lesson 5 are: N=(your company’s star name)
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NM
-(last name)/(first name) MAKE ENTRIES
After making these entries, you can go ahead and book the room. The entry to make, including the credit card guarantee, is: 0H(number of rooms)(cross of loraine)(line number)/G(credit card code)(credit card number)EXP(space)(expiration month)(space)(expiration year)-(cardholders’s last name) MAKE ENTRY
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At this point, if you have not completed the PNR, you need to do so and end the record. Refer to Lesson 5 for instructions on completing the PNR. If you need to book air and/or a car rental, you should do so before ending the record. Optional Sell Entry Data Fields You may wish to supply the hotel with additional information about the hotel information. This information is supplied by appending the information to the sell entry 0H(number of rooms)(cross of loraine)(line number from HOD or HRD) example: 0H1’4 The following may be appended to the sell entry: Corporate ID number Frequent guest number Airline frequent traveler number Extra person Rollaway Crib Supplementary/special information
/CD-9828433 /ID-MC3456789 /FT-UA123456789 /EX-1 /RA-1 /CR-1 /SI-PREF POOL VIEW
References For further information regarding hotel reservations, several detailed student guides are available. These may be downloaded from the Sabre eservices and printed. To secure these student guides, follow this procedure: • • • •
Using your internet browser, go to eservices.sabre.com (no www required). Log in with your agent sine and password and pseudo city code (OXQO). Click on “Training.” Click on “Training Workbooks.” From the Training Workbooks list, select the following and print each: Hotels Reservations Hotels - Basics Hotels - Advanced Sabre Exclusives Hotels
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Lesson Nine Car Reservations Introduction The Sabre car reservations system provides access to car rental rates and availabilities for most car rental companies throughout the United States and the world. The system enables you to book cars at any of these car rental locations for your travelers. Cars may be booked from an air travel itinerary or independently of the air itinerary. When booked from the air itinerary, the dates and location are taken from the air itinerary; when booked independently, dates and city codes must be included as a part of the car entry. This lesson covers the procedures and entries to be used to reserve car rentals. The basic procedure is a 4-step process. Car Type Codes You must understand car type codes to book the type of car your traveler requests. The car type codes are as follows: M E C I S F P L X
Class Mini Economy Compact Intermediate Standard Full Size Premium Luxury Special
C B D L R T S F X P J W V T
Type Car 2-Door Car 4-Door Car Limo Recreation Vehicle Convertible Sports Car 4-Wheel Drive Car Special Pickup All-Terrain Vehicle Wagon Van Truck
A M
Transmission Automatic Manual
Air Conditioning Yes R No N
1. Display Car Shopper’s Quote The Car Shopper’s Quote displays all of the car rental companies at a particular location and their lowest rates. A quote may be displayed with or without a PNR present. The entry to display quotes with a PNR present will use the arrival time and date and the departure time and date from the air segments as the pick-up and return times and dates. The entry to use when a PNR is present and if you want the pick-up and return times and dates to correspond with the flight itinerary is as follows: CF(arrival segment number)/(departure segment number)/(car type)
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An example of this entry using an intermediate car with automatic transmission and air conditioning would be: CF1/2/ICAR The entry where a PNR is not present, or where you want pick-up and delivery times that do not correspond with the air itinerary is as follows: CF(pick-up city)/(pick-up date)-(return date)/(pick-up time)(return time)/(car type) MAKE ENTRY
The Sabre response, for each car company shows the daily rate and the approximate total including taxes for the time rented. The display should look like this:
2. Look at the Car Quote (optional) If you have displayed a Shopper’s Quote and then determined that you need additional information about the rates for a selected car company, you may display a Car Quote. The Car Quote displays more detailed information about the rates for a specific car company. Multiple rates and rules may be associated with the same car type.
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The entry to display the Car Quote is: CF=(Shopper’s Quote line number) MAKE ENTRY
3. Check the Rules Shopper’s and Car Quote entries access rate rules and display only applicable rates, but it is recommended that you check the rules display for miscellaneous items.
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The entry is: CF=R(Shopper’s Quote line number) MAKE ENTRY
4. Book the Car Before booking the car, it is a good idea to redisplay the Shopper’s Quote. The entry for this is: CF=
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MAKE ENTRY
There must be a name in the PNR in order to book a car. The entry is: -(last name)/(first name) MAKE ENTRY
To book the car you have selected, the entry is: 0C(Shopper’s quote line number) MAKE ENTRY
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You have now booked the car. Next you need to complete the PNR as covered in Lesson 5. References For further information regarding fares and pricing, several detailed student guides are available. These may be downloaded from the Sabre eservices and printed. To secure these student guides, follow this procedure: • • • •
Using your internet browser, go to eservices.sabre.com (no www required). Log in with your agent sine and password and pseudo city code (OXQO). Click on “Training.” Click on “Training Workbooks.” From the Training Workbooks list, select the following and print each: Cars Reservations Cars
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Lesson Ten Stars Profiles Introduction Star profiles are used to store a variety of office and traveler information. The information set up in a Star may be moved to a PNR, providing an excellent shortcut in PNR building and increasing accuracy substantially. Once the information is placed in a star, it never has to be reentered when building a PNR. Levels of Stars There are three levels of Stars available in the Sabre system. Level 0 is not used. Levels 1 and 2 are used as follows: Level 1
2
Description Contains your company information such as company name, address and phone, remarks, accounting information, Certified Travel agency information, etc. Your company Star is set up for you by headquarters. Contains specific traveler information such as passenger name, home phone, frequent flyer numbers, seating and special meal preferences, etc. Level two profiles are automatically attached to level one profiles.
Display Format N=(your company name)
N=TRAINING N=(your company name)-(traveler name) N=TRAININGGRAYSON
To display your company star, use the level 1 display format shown above. Make Entry
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To display the Star for one of your travelers, use the level 2 display format shown above. Make Entry
Line Types A line type identifies each entry in a Star. The line types in the preceding screen shots are the alphabetical characters that are at the beginning of each line. Line types are as follows: Code S
Line Type Subject line
A
Always move data
O
Optional move data
N
Never move data
Description This line is used to describe the profile. It can be the name or title of the profile. There must be one subject line in each profile. This data applies to each trip your traveler takes and is always moved into a PNR The information must be in valid PNR formats. This data applies to some of your traveler’s trips. You have the option of moving the information with each PNR. The information must be in valid PNR formats. Helpful information that is for viewing purposes only. It is never moved to a PNR.
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Building a Traveler Star You may want to build a Traveler (second level) Star for each of your clients who travel frequently. Have these clients complete a Profile Form – these forms can be secured from headquarters. All of the information you need should be in this form. Follow these steps to build a traveler star: 1. Transfer company information from your company star and begin building traveler Star. The entry is: NB(company name)-(traveler last name) 2. Give your Star a subject line – normally you would use the name of your traveler for the subject line. The entry is: NAS(traveler name) 3. Enter the “A” (always move) lines. Be sure you use valid Sabre formats on these lines. When you move always move lines from the Star, you do not need to enter them individually in your traveler’s PNR. In the training example, below, the following lines have been entered: a. NAA5- Traveler’s credit card number Sabre entry b. NAA5H lines – Hotel request and hotel frequent guest number. c. NAA5C line – Car request. d. NAA5S line – Airline seating preference. e. NAA9 line – Traveler’s cell phone number. f. NAAFF line – Traveler’s frequent flier number. 4. Enter the “O” (optional move) lines. Be sure you use valid Sabre formats on these lines. Remember, these lines will need to be moved only when required by a particular PNR. When you move optional move lines from the Star, you do not need to enter them individually in your traveler’s PNR. In the training example, below, the following lines have been entered: a. NAO5- line – Traveler’s credit card used for personal travel. 5. Enter “N” (never move) lines. These lines are for “your eyes only” and are for information that will be helpful to you in arranging travel for the traveler. After the NAN entry, use free text. 6. Enter email line – This line is an always move line that causes a copy of the PNR to be emailed to the traveler. You may use this entry for each person that you want to have receive an email containing the traveler’s PNR. The entry is: NAAPE(cross of loraine key)(email address)(cross of loraine key) 7. End the record. You must always end the record for the Star to be stored away in the Sabre database. Make Entries – Now, make all the entries required to build a traveler’s (second level) star under your company’s (first level) star. You may use any entries that you care 69
to so long as they follow the always move and optional move lines are valid Sabre formats. Your entries should be similar to those shown below:
Displaying the Star The entry for displaying the Star is: N=(company Star name)-(traveler name)
Make Entry
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Moving Profiles into a PNR After displaying a Star, your should use one of the following entries to move information into a PNR: Description Move all the “A” lines. Move all the “A” lines except a specific line. Move all the “A” lines and specified “O” lines. Move all “A” lines and range of “O” lines. Move specified line only. Move range of specified lines.
Format Example NM NMX(line number) NMX3 NM(line number) NM14 NM(line number)-(line number) NM14-20 NMO18 NMO(line number)-(line number) NMO18-22
References For further information regarding Stars, a detailed student guide is available. This guide may be downloaded from the Sabre eservices and printed. To secure this student guide, follow this procedure: • • • •
Using your internet browser, go to eservices.sabre.com (no www required). Log in with your agent sine and password and pseudo city code (0XQ0). Click on “Training.” Click on “Training Workbooks.” From the Training Workbooks list, select the following and print each: Stars Customer Profiles Stars Customer Profiles
.
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Lesson Eleven Format Finder Introduction The Format Finder help system is designed to provide quick access to Sabre formats and descriptions while also providing more detailed procedural information. You will use this system to quickly find appropriate formats for entries you want to make. The system is especially useful while you are still new to the Sabre system and have not memorized the basic entries learned in this training course. It also gives you access to the formats that you may need that haven’t been covered. Format Finder is available either through eVoya Webtop, which is accessed through the Internet, or directly from Sabre for Windows, the software that you will be using. This lesson teaches the use of Format Finder available to you from Sabre for Windows. Downloading Format Finder If you have not done so, you must first download Format Finder to your computer. To determine if the system has been downloaded to your computer, after you have logged in to Sabre, click on the Help menu and then on Format Finder Help System. If Format Finder cannot be found in the Help menu or does not come up when you click on Format Finder Help System, you need to download the system. To download, follow these steps: 1. Go the Sabre eVoya web site at www.sabre.com. 2. Click on Log In from the upper right corner of the web page. 3. Click Travel Agency to display the login instruction screen and click the appropriate travel agency location. 4. Complete the log in process. 5. Select Support, then click Downloads. 6. Click Format Finder Downloads. 7. Locate the box labeled Automated Download and Installation. 8. Follow the download and installation instructions. Launch Format Finder To launch Format Finder use the entry press the Ctrl key and the Z key simultaneously. Ctrl+Z
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Make Entry
The right panel of the window is the information display. This area contains the request ed topic information. The left panel of the window contains four tabs: Contents, Index, Search and Favorites. Each is discussed later. Contents and Hyperlinks The Table of Contents lists Sabre system categories alphabetically. Using the Table of Contents is the fastest way to locate desired information if you know the category you need. Click on the Contents tab, use the scroll bar to locate the desired category and click on the desired category. This opens the category and a list of topics is displayed Continue to click the topics until you find the desired topics. When you find the desired topic, click on it and the topic information and formats will appear in the right panel of the help window.
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Make Entry Make entries necessary to find a format you need and display it. The result should be similar to this:
You can now click on one of the hyperlinks (underlined topics) in the right panel to get information about the topic you have selected and to find proper formats to use. You may continue to click the hyperlinks until you find what you are looking for. Use the “Back” and “Forward” buttons to navigate between displays. Index The Index lists help topics and keywords alphabetically without sorting them by category. Using the Index in Format Finder is the fastest way to locate desired information if you know the topic you need, but do not want to limit the search to a specific category. To search for a specific topic using the Index, click on the Index tab. Next, start typing the full topic name in the search field at the top of the Index screen. Locate the desired topic and click on the topic name to display the relevant Sabre formats.
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Make Entries Make entries necessary to locate at format using the search feature of the Index display.
To find the format, you may need to scroll down the display. The example shows how an ARNK segment appears in the itinerary; the entry itself is found by scrolling down. Search The search feature enables you to type a word or phrase in the entry field of the search too. Format Finder then displays all the topics that contain that word (or phrase). You then click on the topic you need. The sample entry, below, shows how you would find the entry for return availability by entering the search term “availability,” selecting “return availability” from the list, then scrolling down in the display to find the correct entry, 1(display key)R.
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Make Entries
Context Sensitive Help If you forget a complete entry, but know a part of it, Context Sensitive Help can help you find the entry you are looking for. After entering the part of the entry you know, you can click on CTRL+Z to bring up the format finder menu. You can then find the topic that will tell you the entry to make and click on “Go To” to find the entry. Make Entry – Make a partial Sabre entry, then click on CTRL+Z to find the correct entry. In the example, the first character of the availability entry is entered before pressing CTRL+Z to find the complete availability entry.
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AutoHelp The AutoHelp feature automatically launches the help system anytime you make an error within the Sabre system. When you type an entry with an erroneous format, the Format Finder help screen appears so that you can search for the correct entry. In the example the city pair was entered before the date (a common mistake). This caused the Format Finder Help System to be launched automatically. Make Entry Make an erroneous Sabre entry.
To turn off the AutoHelp feature, type an incorrect format to make Format Finder automatically display a list of relevant topics and remove the check mark from “Launch Format Finder on Sabre Entry” by clicking on the check mark, then click on “Close.” References For further information regarding online help, two detailed student guides are available. These may be downloaded from the Sabre eservices and printed. To secure these student guides, follow this procedure: • • • •
Using your internet browser, go to eservices.sabre.com (no www required). Log in with your agent sine and password and pseudo city code (OXQO). Click on “Training.” Click on “Training Workbooks.” From the Training Workbooks list, select the following and print each:
Online Help Format Finder Online Help Reference Tools and Online Help
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