travel: alternate gds bookings€¦ · global distribution systems. section 3: how it works gds pnr...

Travel: Alternate GDS Bookings

Travel Service Guide

Last Revised: December 3, 2020

Applies to SAP Concur Travel:

Professional/Premium edition

TMC Partners Direct Customers

Standard edition TMC Partners

Direct Customers

Travel: Alternate GDS Bookings Travel Service Guide i Last Revised: December 3, 2020

© 2004 - 2020 SAP Concur All rights reserved.

Contents

Alternate GDS Bookings ...............................................................................................1

Section 1: IMPORTANT – About this Guide ...................................................................1

Section 2: Overview......................................................................................................1

Professional and Standard Travel .............................................................................. 1

Benefits ................................................................................................................ 1

Primary GDS .......................................................................................................... 2

Alternate GDS ........................................................................................................ 2

TMC Support .......................................................................................................... 2

Section 3: How It Works ...............................................................................................2

GDS PNR Creation and Content Management ............................................................. 2

Sample PNRs ......................................................................................................... 3 Amadeus PNR (Primary GDS) ............................................................................... 3 Apollo PNR (Secondary GDS)................................................................................ 3

Section 4: What the User Sees ......................................................................................4

Search by Price ...................................................................................................... 4

Search by Schedule ................................................................................................ 5

Itinerary ................................................................................................................ 6

Car/Hotel .............................................................................................................. 7

Section 5: Supported Scenarios ....................................................................................8

Section 6: Unsupported Features/Settings ...................................................................9

Trip Approval ......................................................................................................... 9

Multiple Booking Sources ......................................................................................... 9

System-Wide Discounts ......................................................................................... 11

Pre- and Post-Ticket Change .................................................................................. 11

Section 7: Configuration ............................................................................................. 12

Section 8: FAQ ............................................................................................................ 16

Questions ............................................................................................................ 16

ii Travel: Alternate GDS Bookings Travel Service Guide Last Revised: December 3, 2020


Revision History Date Revision Notes/Comments

December 3, 2020 Update supported scenarios

July 6, 2020 Updated supported scenarios

June 15, 2020 Updated Unsupported Features/Settings section

May 27, 2020 Updated supported scenarios

May 15, 2020 Updated supported scenarios

April 7, 2020 Updated supported scenarios

February 14, 2020 Updated the copyright; no other changes; cover date not updated

June 19, 2019 Removed "Concur" from the cover; no other changes; cover date not updated

April 15, 2019 Added information about supported and unsupported scenarios

March 10, 2019 Updated the copyright; no other changes; cover date not updated

October 17, 2018 Added a note that approval – either passive and require – is not supported for

alternate GDS.

October 4, 2018 Updated screenshots

September 6, 2018 Updated What the User Sees

January 2, 2018 Updated the copyright; no other changes; cover date not updated

July 26, 2017 General updates; initial publication in the new format

Travel: Alternate GDS Bookings Travel Service Guide 1 Last Revised: December 3, 2020


Alternate GDS Bookings

Section 1: IMPORTANT – About this Guide

Be aware of the following:

• Infinite variables: Certain scenarios have an infinite number of variables or

extremely unusual circumstances, like rare cancellation or refund situations. Not all scenarios can be presented in this guide. Also, certain processes may be influenced by third- or fourth-party providers. In some cases, you must contact the provider directly.

• User interface, fees, rates, schedules: When other providers change their

user interface (for example, web site) or their fees/rates/schedules, they are under no obligation to make SAP Concur aware of those changes. If a screen sample in this guide is outdated because of a change made by a provider, we

will update that screen sample when we become aware of the change and at our earliest convenience.

• Permissions: A company's admin may or may not have the correct

permissions to manage the feature described in this guide. If an admin needs to manage this feature and does not have the proper permissions, they should contact the company's SAP Concur administrator.

Also, the admin should be aware that some of the tasks described in this

guide cannot be completed by the company. In this case, the client must contact their TMC (if a TMC provides their support) or SAP Concur (if SAP Concur provides their support).

Section 2: Overview

SAP Concur provides an alternate air connector switch available through Concur Travel to facilitate booking segments in one itinerary from multiple reservation systems. Air travel can be managed concurrently through separate GDSs under one corporate configuration.

Professional and Standard Travel

This feature applies only to Professional Travel.

Benefits

While this feature was originally developed to source Southwest Airlines content from

the supported GDS, it can be used to source any airline content. Not all airlines participate in all GDS. In some cases, the airline may only be available in one GDS.

Alternate GDS allows a customer to stay on their primary GDS for most bookings and

source the alternate GDS for the airline that doesn’t participate in the primary GDS.

2 Travel: Alternate GDS Bookings Travel Service Guide Last Revised: December 3, 2020


While this feature works in theory for any scenario, each use case could have unique needs and should therefore be tested before rolling out.

Primary GDS

Each Concur Travel site is assigned a primary GDS or reservation system. This is defined during the implementation process in accordance with the requirements of the fulfillment TMC. The primary GDS is used for PNR and profile management, with

selections from the alternate GDS being stored as passive segments in the primary GDS.

Alternate GDS

Concur Travel can be configured to display airfares from an alternative GDS for a specific carrier. When a traveler selects a flight from the alternate source, the

purchase transaction occurs in that alternate GDS reservation system. A passive segment is created in the primary GDS for tracking purposes.

TMC Support

Before enabling, customers should discuss with their TMC. Not all TMCs support all Global Distribution Systems.

Section 3: How It Works

GDS PNR Creation and Content Management

In this example, the primary GDS is Amadeus and an American Airlines fare is being purchased on Apollo.

1. Create a PNR in Apollo, sell the live American Airlines segments, and store the fare.

2. Create a PNR in Amadeus, sell the same American Airlines segments as passive content, and create a manual fare store. This allows the agency fulfillment partner to see the American Airlines flights in the same PNR with any car, hotel, or other segments that may be booked at the same time.

3. Write remarks into the Amadeus PNR to indicate to the traveler and agent that the live PNR lives is available under a specific PCC/record locator.

4. Write remarks into the Apollo PNR indicating which Amadeus PNR it

corresponds to:

THIS PNR IS LIVE AIR SEGMENTS FOR PNR ABC123 ON AMADEUS

DCA1S216O

Where:



ABC123 is the record locator

– and -

DCA1S216O is the Amadeus Office ID (OID/PCC) where the main booking

resides

There will also be the remark: CONCUR TRAVEL MULTI GDS BOOKING in both the main and alternate Apollo PNR.

! IMPORTANT: The remark mentioned above is currently being validated.

Sample PNRs

Amadeus PNR (Primary GDS)

/$--- TC-BIZ RLP RY SFP ---

RP/DCA1S216O/DCA1S216O WS/SU 26JUL17/0207Z JCZQSO

1.NEVER/WILLIAM KATIEAMA

2 AA1974 Q 16OCT 1 CLTSEA GK1 925A1202P 16OCT E PASSIVE

3 AA1998 Q 19OCT 4 SEACLT GK1 105P 907P 19OCT E PASSIVE

4 AP DCA703-837-6100-A

5 AP /7037008000-B

6 AP /7035558989-H

7 AP /3013334444-C

8 AP 703-837-6100-A-B

9 AP 703-837-6106-FAX-703-837-6106-FAX

10 AP 571-338-5995-CELL CONTACT TROY DAVIS

11 TK TL26JUL/1800/DCA1S216O

12 RM CB/TRIPLOC/CQ-GR9-E7NF0-4EN

13 RM NOTIFY PASSENGER PRIOR TO TICKET PURCHASE & CHECK-IN:

FEDERAL LAWS FORBID THE CARRIAGE OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS -

GGAMAUSHAZ/S2-3

14 RM CB/BIC/AA-1974-Q

15 RM CB/BIC/AA-1998-Q

16 RM CB/FOPADR/STR-1919 GALLOWS RD.

17 RM CB/FOPADR/CITY-VIENNA/STATE-VA/PC-22182

18 RM CB/FCA/0/

19 RM CB/FARETYPE/MAIN CABIN

20 RM CB/ALT/FLIGHT CHANGES MUST BE MADE

21 RM CB/ALT/ON APOLLO/13H1 TO PNR JM99DG

22 RMR FARE-USD426.9

23 RMX [email protected]

24 FP CCVIXXXXXXXXXXXX1111/0422

25 AM CY-CONCUR/NA-TROY DAVIS/A1-1919 GALLOWS RD STE 800/

ZP-22182/CI-VIENNA/ST-VA/CO-US

Apollo PNR (Secondary GDS)

[Screen 1]

*** SEE TRAVELER INSTRUCTIONS BELOW***

JM99DG/OT QSBOT DEK2OT AG 49640150 25JUL



1.1NEVER/WILLIAM KATIEAMA

1 AA1974Q 16OCT CLTSEA HK1 925A 1202P * MO E

2 AA1998Q 19OCT SEACLT HK1 105P 907P * TH E

3 TUR ZZ BK1 WAS 19APR-**AIRFARE IS $426.90.**

*** PROFILE ASSOCIATIONS EXIST *** ]*PA;

*** SEAT DATA EXISTS *** ]9D;

FONE-DCAAS/703-837-6100

WAS703-837-6100-A

DCAB/7037008000

DCAR/7035558989

DCAAS/703-837-6100

DCAE/KSKIRVING//PROFCTE.COM

ADRS-CONCUR"1919 GALLOWS RD STE 800"VIENNA VA Z/22182

FOP:-VI4111111111111111/D0422

TKTG-TAU/26JUL

*** LINEAR FARE DATA EXISTS *** ]*LF;

ATFQ-REPR/$B-*13H1/CAA/ET

FQ-USD 372.09/USD 27.91US/USD 26.90XT/USD 426.90 - 25JUL *ADT-Q

VDWZNN1.QVDWZNN1

GFAX-SSRDOCSAAHK1/////10APR78/F//NEVER/WILLIAM/KATIEAMA-1NEVER/W

ILLIAM KATIEAMA

RMKS-CB/TRIPLOC/CQ-GR9-E7NF0-4EN

CB/FCN/CLT AA SEA 186.05QVDWZNN1 AA CLT 186.04QVDWZNN1 USD3

CB/FCN/2.09END

CB/FSC/BFQ/G-1V/C-AA/D-.13H1/R-0/P-ADT.1.1.1/S-1.1...13H1/S

CB/FSC2.2...13H1

CB/FARETYPE/Main Cabin

CB/FARETYPE/Main Cabin

CONCUR TRAVEL MULTI GDS BOOKING

THIS PNR IS LIVE AIR SEGMENTS FOR PNR JCZQSO ON AMADEUS DCA1S216O

CB/PAX/DEMO. TEST TRIP. DO NOT BOOK. DO NOT CANCEL UNTIL AF

TER

CB/PAX/JUL 26 1AM

CB/TRP/TRIP FROM CHARLOTTE TO SEATTLE

CB FIN PNR FINISHING COMPLETE 7 25 2017 10 08 55 PM

CB/QUE/QUE FOR TICKET 13H1-66 AP ON 26JUL 0209Z

TRMK-CA ACCT-55"15LEI

ACKN-AA HGJHSO 26JUL 0207

Section 4: What the User Sees

There are no significant differences to what the user sees during the booking process.

Search by Price

The user can see the source, which is viewable when the user expands the sliver to view the fare matrix. In the example below, the source is Amadeus for Alaska Airlines.



Search by Schedule

Like searching by price, the source is shown when doing a schedule search.



Itinerary

Upon completion, the itinerary shows the airline confirmation code as well as the status as having been booked in the alternate GDS.



Car/Hotel

On the itinerary, the user sees the primary GDS record locator and the alternate GDS locator as well.

The user can book car or hotel as usual, and these segments will be booked in the primary GDS, alongside the passive segments, if being added.

In the example below, the airfare is booked via the alternate GDS (Amadeus), but the car is booked in Sabre.



Section 5: Supported Scenarios

Below are the primary/alternate GDS scenarios that have been verified.

Supported scenarios

Primary GDS Alternate GDS

Scenario 1 Sabre Worldspan

Scenario 2 Sabre Apollo

Scenario 3 Sabre Galileo

Scenario 4 Sabre Amadeus

Scenario 5 Amadeus Worldspan

Scenario 6 Amadeus Apollo

Scenario 7 Amadeus Galileo



NOTE: These scenarios have only been verified with airlines listed. It is strongly recommended that any other airlines are tested to ensure no vendor specific differences exist before enabling for a live customer configuration.

Section 6: Unsupported Features/Settings

Trip Approval

Approval – either passive or required – is not supported for alternate GDS. The approval email and process will simply be ignored.

Multiple Booking Sources

Ensure that the Enable multiple booking sources capability setting is disabled (Travel System Admin > Air Search Options).



Once disabled, when a user performs a search by schedule and selects a flight operated by an airline in the alternate GDS, all flights sourced from the primary GDS are disabled. The user can only select flights sourced from the alternate GDS.



System-Wide Discounts

Ensure that there are no system-wide discounts entered for the airline sourced from the alternate GDS. They can exist for airlines sourced from the primary GDS without

issue.

Pre- and Post-Ticket Change

Bookings made via Alternate GDSs cannot be changed in Concur Travel, regardless of ticketing status. Users will be shown a Why can’t I change this flight? link instead of a “Change” link:



Section 7: Configuration

Any user with Travel System Admin permission can perform the following steps.

To enable in the travel configuration:

1. Click Administration > Travel (on the sub-menu) > Travel System Admin

and access the company's travel configuration.

NOTE: Depending on your permissions, the page may appear immediately after you click Administration or Travel.

2. In the Air Connectors section of the travel configuration page, click the Add a new connector link.



3. The Connector Configuration window appears.

Set values as desired. The following items should always be completed, as best practice:

Connector Configuration Name

Agency Booking Config

BAR

Finishing Configuration file

4. Save changes to the alternate connector.

5. Save your changes to the travel configuration; redisplay it. The newly created alternate GDS connector is now available in the Air/Rail Connector Switch section.



6. Click the Carriers box, add the desired carrier to the newly created connector via the carrier popup that is displayed, and click Done.

7. If you do not want passive segments created in the primary GDS for the alternate GDS content, list the carrier in the suppress passive field.



If you choose to suppress passive segments for the alt GDS content in the primary GDS, consider whether you want a primary GDS PNR at all. If you do, make sure the Create a GDS PNR setting is enabled. In this case, only the following content would appear in the primary GDS PNR:

Retention line

Car/hotel/air content booked in primary GDS

Historical remarks about the alternate GDS PNR (indicating an alt GDS

PNR exists)

If you don't enable Create a GDS PNR setting, then no PNR will be created in the primary GDS when the only content booked is via the alternate GDS. If the user adds to this reservation after the initial creation, then a PNR would

be created in the primary GDS.

NOTE: Please review this step with your TMC before deciding to not create a PNR in the primary GDS.

8. Save the travel configuration again.



Section 8: FAQ

Questions

Q. Where are car and hotel reservations made?

A. Car, hotel, and all other reservations, including air segments from carriers

not selected for alternate GDS purchasing, will be made in the primary GDS.

Q. Does the Concur Travel itinerary include confirmation numbers from multiple GDSs?

A. Yes, the Concur Travel itinerary and underlying PNR include all information pertaining to flights purchased on multiple GDSs and reservation systems.

Q. What carriers are available through alternate GDS connectors?

A. There are no restrictions around which airlines can be sourced from an alternate connector.

Q. How do I implement an alternate GDS?

A. Please work with your fulfillment travel agency to configure the alternate GDS. The TMC will need to support ticketing in both the primary and alternate

GDS.

Q. Can reservations be serviced on multiple GDSs concurrently?

A. Yes, travel fulfillment agencies may service segments on different GDSs; however, please note that SAP Concur reporting must be enabled for changes to reservations to be reflected in Concur Travel after the initial purchase.

All changes to the alternate GDS PNR must be sent to the reporting queue for

Concur to receive the update and properly reflect to the user in SAP Concur Travel.

travel: alternate gds bookings€¦ · global distribution systems. section 3: how it works gds pnr...

Documents