sabre virtual payments air 1.0.5 user guide

April, 2016 Confidential and Proprietary Sabre Inc

Sabre Virtual Payments Air 1.0.5

Customer User Guide

April 2016


© 2016, Sabre Inc. All rights reserved. This documentation is the confidential and proprietary intellectual property of Sabre Inc. Any unauthorized use, reproduction, preparation of derivative works, performance, or display of this document, or software represented by this document, without the express written permission of Sabre Inc. is strictly prohibited. Sabre and the Sabre logo design are trademarks and/or service marks of an affiliate of Sabre Inc. All other trademarks, service marks, and trade names are owned by their respective companies.


Index

SABRE VIRTUAL PAYMENTS AIR 1.0.5 USER GUIDE ........................................................ 1

1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 4

2. WORKFLOW - GENERAL ................................................................................................. 4

3. TICKETING: NEW SALE ................................................................................................... 5

4. TICKETING: EXCHANGE/REISSUE – REISSUE NOW ................................................... 9

5. TICKETING: EXCHANGE/REISSUE– REISSUE LATER .............................................. 15

6. TICKETING: VOID A NEW SALE ................................................................................... 17

7. CUSTOM DATA FIELD CONFIGURATION .................................................................... 20

8. ADMINISTRATION .......................................................................................................... 21

6.1 GENERAL OPTIONS ........................................................................................................... 21 6.1.2 Custom Date Formats ............................................................................................. 22 6.1.3 Custom Time Formats ............................................................................................. 23

6.2 CUSTOM DATA FIELDS ................................................................................................. 23 6.3 DISCOUNT CODES ....................................................................................................... 27 6.4 ADVANCED OPTIONS ................................................................................................... 28 6.5 IMPORT ....................................................................................................................... 30 6.6 EXPORT ...................................................................................................................... 31


1. Introduction

Sabre Virtual Payments (SVP) Air is a Sabre Red application developed by Conferma providing Virtual Card Number (VCN) payment services in conjunction with the issuing, voiding, exchanging and refunding of air tickets, sold through the Sabre GDS.

The application builds on a similar product offering the same VCN services in hotel booking functions.

This document represents a user guide and use cases for version 1.0.5 of the SVP Air app.

The SVP functionality operates through a set of Sabre command redirections, which invoke processes that interact with the user, GDS and Conferma API to fulfil ticketing requirements using a virtual credit card number which is assigned during process execution.

It should be noted that command interception will only occur when a user enters the command directly into the Sabre Red workspace through keystrokes or quick key entries.

Commands issued through Scribe scripts or other automation features will NOT be intercepted and will be handled by Sabre normally.

2. Workflow - General

Booking of air travel through Sabre is a multi-step process which generally follows the sequence below:

1. Build a PNR, containing passenger names, contact numbers, standard remarks and data fields, seat assignments etc.

2. Identify the air segments to be booked

3. Book the required air segments through a Sabre sell entry

4. Set a ticketing time limit

5. Price the ticket and store this detail in the PNR

6. Issue/Reissue the ticket

It is only at the point of ticket issue (6) that SVP functions would be invoked.

As such, the app requires any PNR subject to SVP ticketing to already contain all elements required prior to issuing a ticketing command, with the exception of the payment method.

Some agencies may prefer to ticket through future pricing (FP) lines, but the current SVP implementation only permits ticketing from a new sale Price Quote (PQ) and Price Quote Reissue (PQR). Note that PhaseIVs are not supported for New Sale ticketing due to their being sunset late 2015 by Sabre.


3. Ticketing: New Sale

The screenshots below will illustrate the following process that SVP performs to issue a VCN to the flight booking(s):

1. Assign a ticket printer 2. Verify that the PNR has all the required components 3. Display a summary of all booked segments, names and pricing entries in the PNR,

allowing a selection of names and price quote records to be used in the ticketing operation

4. Obtain any additional fields required by the corporate to be logged against the VCN request (which may be extracted from existing PNR data)

5. Display a final confirmation dialog before proceeding with the ticket issue 6. Request a VCN from Conferma with total amount taken from stored pricing 7. Issue the ticket with an explicit form of payment 8. Update the VCN request with success/failure status and additional post ticketing data

such as route, class information and ticket number.

Single and multi-passenger PNRs are supported through SVP, up to a maximum of HK9.

Before the SVP ticketing process is invoked, the agent should already have a PNR with air segments booked and priced ready for ticketing, as displayed opposite.


Use regular pricing entries (e.g. WP, WPNCB, WPNI, JA, and JR) to price the relevant air segments and retain the PQs in the PNR.

NB. Please note that the fare is not guaranteed until the ticketing process has been completed per applicable carrier/fare rules.

Use the TSST command to initiate the issuing of a ticket through SVP.

Alternatively, the commands TSSTICKET and TSSTKT may also be used to initiate the ticket issue process.

At the start of the process SVP verifies that a ticket printer is assigned and that the on-screen PNR has all the required components.

Details of names and price quotes in the PNR are displayed to the user for selection.

Only a single name and a single PQ may be ticketed in one SVP ticketing operation.

For multiple-passenger sales, each passenger will be handled as a separate deployment and


an individual card will be generated for each passenger. This allows for a common initial booking process for all passengers.

A detailed summary of the pending ticket based on the selected name & price quote is displayed, including fare calculations, baggage allowances and total ticket costs, as displayed above. If applicable, there will also be a banner advising the maximum amount of carrier-imposed (OB) card fees that may apply to the sale as shown below.

Select Next to proceed to the next stage or select Cancel to cancel the ticketing process.

SVP then provides agents with the option of overriding the default Baggage Allowance, Commission and any other Custom Modifiers configured for the agent.

In the example opposite the agent is overriding the default baggage allowance and commission to allow three pieces of baggage on each flight leg and charge a 5% commission. An endorsement has also been added to the ticket specifying VALID BA ONLY.

If the default values are correct in the PQ, simply leave the fields blank as required. Blank Ticketing Modifier fields will not overwrite fields in a PQ.

Custom data field values may also be supplied at this stage of the process, such as Cost Centres or Line Managers. Custom data field values are lodged against the virtual card number and will be included in a reconciled statement. Other key values from the Sabre GDS such as record locator and booking agent are automatically lodged against the request.


The agent may choose from a list of custom data field groups, defined by the agency to support the reporting requirements by travel customer/purpose as required. Each custom data field group will contain a number of custom data fields which may be configured to be mandatory or optional and may source data from back office remarks expected in the PNR. Custom data field groups are covered in more detail later in the document.

All custom data fields must pass a validation check before the agent can complete the ticketing operation.

The example opposite illustrates how SVP does not allow a ticket to be processed where the custom data fields do not meet the minimum requirements stipulated in the agency’s setup.

Once the custom data fields have been populated, select Next to proceed to the next step.

SVP displays a confirmation message. The amount shown will include any applicable card OB fees. To complete the ticketing process, select Yes.

Once confirmed, SVP will commence ticketing.

The ticketing command is first validated to ensure that there are no mistakes in the custom baggage allowance or other ticketing modifiers. Then a virtual card number is requested for use in the ticketing command.


The ticket is then issued and the PNR inspected for the new ticket (or multiple tickets where conjunct ticketing is required).

Route and class information are extracted from the PNR for the newly issued ticket and this is passed in an update to Conferma for reporting purposes.

If an error should occur during the ticketing process then it is reported back to the agent and the deployment of the VCN is rolled back.

However a number of tests are performed against the PNR prior to actual ticketing such that if any problems are anticipated the ticketing operation will be blocked. As such, it is unlikely that an error will occur during the final phase of the ticketing process.

Where errors do occur, these will probably be the result of temporary connectivity or timing issues which may be resolved by repeating the process.

4. Ticketing: Exchange/Reissue – Reissue Now

The Sabre ticket exchange process is invoked when a traveller wishes to exchange all or part of an unused ticket for another (new) ticket. This can only be done if the rules applied to the initial ticket allow. The Sabre system supports three types of exchange operation:

Even exchange Where one ticket is exchanged for another of identical value and no monetary transaction is required

Additional collection exchange Where the new ticket is of higher value than the exchanged ticket (or exchanged portion of the ticket) so an additional charge will be required

Refund exchange Where the new ticket is of lower value than the exchanged ticket (or exchanged portion of the ticket) so a refund against the original ticket transaction will be required


Single and multi-passenger PNRs are supported through SVP, up to a maximum of HK9. Where a PNR has been divided after issuing a ticket through SVP, subsequent reissues will capture the new PNR locator and send to Conferma’s SNAP reporting tool.

To perform an exchange operation on a ticket issued using SVP, the process should be initiated through the relevant command prefixed by “TSS” to initiate the ticket exchange, as displayed opposite.

Examples are:

> TSSWFR#N2.1#ABA

> TSSWFR#S4/5

> TSSWFR#J1#H1#N2.1

Note that SVP supports Refunds and Exchanges (QREX) and Automated Exchanges (QREX Plus) where applicable.

Supported WFR transactions:

WFR, WFRN, WFRM, WFRF, WFRS

Unsupported WFR transactions:

WFRE, WFRP, WFRS and WFRT

*use WFRN in place of WFRT, or process outside of SVP where required

*WFRE and WFRP are supported where TJR option CSI (Comparison Summary Inhibitor) is OFF

The agent then selects the deployment or the ticket number that they wish to modify.

Where no ticket number is specified, SVP lists tickets available for exchange in the PNR for selection by the agent, as displayed opposite. Where a ticket number is specified, SVP will automatically select the relevant ticket and populate the Mask details.

If a reissue has been previously through SVP, the PQR will be available to select in the list too.

SVP allows users to select any Discount Codes or Other Modifiers to be used for the exchange. Discount Codes and Other Modifiers for your company can be configured in the


SVP Administration section. For more information please see Section 6.

To manually process the ticket exchange, check the box marked Manual Ticket.

To incorporate a PQ or PhaseIV into a reissue, use regular WFR parameters in Other Modifiers.

Select Continue to proceed with the exchange.

The agent then works through all applicable QREX screens by typing into Sabre until the final comparison screen (30) is reached. During navigation through Sabre’s QREX screens, the SVP dialogue window must remain in order to complete the transaction at a later stage.

After clicking Continue agents cannot return to the screen previously displayed without cancelling the exchange process and starting again.

In the Sabre host, agents should then enter a value for the CHG FEE AMOUNT and select the validating carrier’s method of collecting the change fee. As an example, the diagram opposite shows the fee being collected in the reissue total (both methods are supported through SVP).


Reverting back to the SVP mask, select the Transaction Type from the dropdown. Agents can choose from the following options:

>Exchange-addcoll >Even-exchange >Exchange-refund>Refund-partial >Refund-full

Enter the Change Fee Amount in the field marked Increase By. The New Amount is automatically calculated.

Select Allocate.

Upon Enter, Sabre asks the agent to verify the total amount of the reissue transaction.

In SVP, press Continue to move proceed.

The Virtual Card Number and Expiry Date are automatically populated in screen40 without the agent having to manually rekey the data.

Enter a commission value in the ADD COLL COMM AMT plus any other optional fields necessary for the reissue.

Select the TKT option and press enter.


The revised itinerary and new ticket are now available in the GDS host.

Select Continue in the SVP mask.

When prompted by SVP, select Yes to complete the exchange process.

Upon successful completion SVP displays the Ticket Number and Deployment ID specific to that ticket, as displayed opposite.

NB. Please note that in the case of conjuncted tickets, only the first Ticket Number is dispayed to the agent in the prompt.

Select OK to return to the Sabre Red interface.

NB.

In case of a reissue-refund or reissue-forfeit, funds allocated to a Virtual Card Number will never be reduced to a value smaller than the original ticketed amount, since at this point the ticket has been issued and funds drawn against the VCN

Funds allocated to a VCN may be increased to allow for additional collection amounts

The increased amount should include any change fee to be applied to the VCN


Even where no additional funds are required for a reissue, SVP should still be used to process to ensure that new journey data is captured for reconciliation later.

NB. Please note that whilst custom data fields are requested at the point of ticket issue, there is no requirement to collect this data on a ticket exchange or refund. Therefore no custom field interface will be implemented in the exchange/refund process.

Deployment remarks are also updated to reflect the new Ticket Number with additional lines to record the exchange transaction.

NB. Where a failure occurs and no new ticket is generated, an error message is displayed to the agent detailing the probable cause of the failure. In such cases, SVP will rollback the card increase amount and prompt that this has been successful.


5. Ticketing: Exchange/Reissue– Reissue Later SVP offers an agent the opportunity to retain a reissue to ticket at a later stage. This offers the opportunity to speak with the passenger or validate associated bookings (hotel, car) etc prior to committing to the transaction. It is important to note that delaying a reissue should only be done where permitted by carrier & fare rules, and that reserved space and fares are not guaranteed until ticketed. All time limits should be adhered to. Single and multi-passenger PNRs are supported through SVP, up to a maximum of HK9. Where a PNR has been divided after issuing a ticket through SVP, subsequent reissues will capture the new PNR locator and send to Conferma’s SNAP reporting tool. Workflow – Reissue Later

1. Re-book segments accordingly

2. Identify the ticket number, passenger name items and segments to be included in the reissue

3. Initiate the reissue command TSSWFR

4. Retain the reissue using ‘Retain Now, Reissue Later’ which adds an informational remark to the PNR:

Note: the funds deployed on the card remain unchanged at this point in case the reissue is not processed

5. Initiate the reissue command as normal TSWFR


6. The agent is now prompted with a list of PQRs and Ticket Numbers to choose from. Note that the agent can still begin a new reissue by selecting a ticket number if necessary. Upon selection of a PQR, all fields are restricted except ‘Other Modifiers’, which allows Sabre-supported parameters to still be input where they weren’t in the initial TSSWFR

7. SVP identifies the value and Transaction type required for the selected PQR: Even-exchange (increase=0.00) Addcoll-exchange (increase=85.00)

8. From this point, the process is as it is for ‘Reissue Now’ – Iink


6. Ticketing: Void a New Sale There are scenarios where a ticket is driven, but is no longer required. Following the guidelines of Reporting Entities around the world (BSP, ARC etc.) certain documents can be Voided within a specific timeframe from issuance, and will therefore not be billed. Where a ticket was issued using SVP, it is important to ensure that GDS and Conferma’s reporting tool (SNAP) are kept in synch. To support this, SVP offers the functionality to void a New Sale issued against a VCN. At this time, there is no support for reissues, exchanges and refunds through SVP. Such transactions must be processed outside of SVP (where the carrier and reporting entity supports) and use Conferma’s WebPay to update the deployment manually. Workflow – Void New Sale

1. After validating rules for voiding, the agent wishes to Void

2. Display PNR in which the ticket is present in the ticketing field Note: Void from database is not supported through SVP

3. Instruct SVP entry: TSSV

4. SVP offers a list of tickets associated with a VCN deployment in PNR

5. SVP offers the opportunity to display selected tickets either before clicking Continue or upon clicking Continue to look at the document in question:


The green text above confirms that the document is not the result of a reissue/exchange and can proceed.

6. Click Continue and confirm you wish to continue

7. Upon a successful void response in Sabre, SVP confirms the transaction has been successful, updates PNR remarks and updates Conferma’s reporting tool:


Here are some examples of where a Void is unsuccessful, each accompanied by an informational remark:


7. Custom data field configuration

Attribute Description Usage

Name Recognisable alpha-numeric identifier for the field Standard

MinLength Minimum length of the field value

(may be 0 or blank for optional fields)

Standard

MaxLength Maximum length of the field value

(may be 0 or blank where there is no natural maximum length)

Standard

Format A single letter or string of letters specifying a basic format pattern for the value:

A Alpha/numeric, A-Z, 0-9

L Letter A-Z

N Number

Where the format is a single letter all characters in the value must match the format

Where the format has more than one letter each character in the value must match the format at the corresponding position

Standard

SelectionList A list of predefined values which the field may take.

This will be limited in size to (say) 50 entries to optimise performance and discourage overuse

Standard

Source For pre-population of a field value; a remark prefix denoting the likely position of the pre-existing value of the field within a PNR.

This will generally be populated through an existing agency script of star.

Standard

ReportKey A key value which may be passed to Conferma for reporting purposes

Advanced

FormatRegex A regular expression for advanced field validation

Where present this will be used in preference to the Format attribute to validate field values

Advanced

SourceRegex A regular expression for advanced field pre-population.

Where present this will be used in preference to the Source attribute to pre-populate field values

Advanced

FormatRegex A regular expression for advanced field validation

Where present this will be used in preference to the Format attribute to validate field values

Advanced

Attributes marked for Standard usage will be accessible through a standard field dialog. Those attributes marked as Advanced will only be visible where advanced settings are required and will generally require input from Conferma or Sabre.


8. Administration The administration for SVP Air is managed via the Tools tab. Then select Options. Under Red App Settings, select Travel Settlement Services. Either the Hotel or Air Modules or both can be enabled for SVP by checking the tickboxes marked Enable TSS Hotel Module and Enable TSS Air Module. NB. These should remain checked at all times, however if SVP interception is preventing other agency functions it can be disabled. The specific configuration features are accessible via the buttons displayed opposite. Any changes to these features are not saved until the OK button is clicked. All unsaved changes will be lost if the Cancel button is selected.

6.1 General Options The General options section can be used to configure regional settings, date time formats and failed fax email addresses. The Region dropdown allows you to select from a pre-defined list in order to auto-format dates and times specific to that region. Regions available include:

United Kingdom

United States

Japan

Custom Where a Custom region is selected, date and time formats may be specified individually.


Default date and time formats will be automatically generated based on the Region selected.

Where a custom region is selected, select the date and time formats from the dropdowns or simply type the format that you require into the field(s). Guidance on custom date and time formats are provided below.

6.1.2 Custom Date Formats

Custom date formats should be entered using the following codes: d 1 of 2 digit day of the month dd 2 digit day of the month M 1 or 2 digit month MM 2 digit month yy 2 digit year yyyy 4 digit year Other letters and numbers should be avoided. All other characters are treated as punctuation.


6.1.3 Custom Time Formats

Custom time formats should be entered using the following codes: H 1 or 2 digit hour (24 hour) HH 2 digit hour (24 hour) m 1 or 2 digit minute mm 2 digit minute Other letters and numbers should be avoided. All other characters are treated as punctuation. NB. Please note that 12 hour clock formats are not supported. It is recommended that only the two digit formats are used. Seconds may be specified (ss) but are not relevant to the application.

6.2 Custom Data Fields Zc\xzzxcvbnm,.This section allows you to configure the Custom Data Fields that will be available in your reconciled ticket and transaction data. Select the Custom Data Field Group that you wish to view or edit from the dropdown. SVP will display a list of Data Field Definitions for that group. Within the Custom Data Field Group functionality at the top of the window, the group that you are viewing can be deleted, renamed or copied to a new group.

To create a new Custom Data Field Group, select New and enter the name for the new group. Select OK.


For a new or existing Custom Data Field Group, Data Field Definitions can be created, amended, deleted or rearranged in order. To create a new Data Field Definition, select the New button in the bottom left corner of the window (please note that this is different to the button for creating new Custom Data Field Groups) and enter a label in the field marked Name under Field Properties. NB. Names may only contain letters, numbers, hyphens and spaces. All names must start with a letter. x

Check the box marked Mandatory if the value for that custom data field is required before a Virtual Card Number is allocated to a ticket. Specify the Required Length of the custom data field by entering a minimum and maximum length in characters. A value of 0 or blank in the Minimum or Maximum field indicates that the value is unlimited in this respect. If the value entered does not conform to the required length, SVP will not issue a Virtual Card Number to the ticket for payment. Where a field is not marked at mandatory and no data is entered at the time of ticketing, a VCN will be allocated to the ticket without any further validation.


A format string can be entered in the Format field. The value entered in SVP for the custom data field must conform to this format before a VCN is issued for the ticket. The format strong should be a combination of the letter in the section below. Specify a PNR remark source in the Source field. PNR remarks are scanned at the time of ticketing and used as a source for custom data fields where a source is specified. Where the start of a remark exactly matches the specified source the field will be prepopulated from that remark. Format, length and mandatory restrictions will still apply to the source data and where these are not satisfied, the SVP process will not complete and a VCN will not be generated for the ticket. For instance, a source of UU1- will return the value 123 where a remark is present with the value UU-123. For the Selection List field, a list of values should be specified for selection by the user. Each item should be entered on a separate line. At the time of data entry, the field is presented as dropdown list from which the user may select one item.

The Format string should be a combination of the following letters: L match any letter A match any letter or number (alphanumeric) N match any number Other characters are treated as placeholders and will match any character at that position. For instance, LLNNNN will match AB1234, ZZ9999. Check the Show Advanced


Properties box to view or edit the advanced options for all Data Definition Fields. This will open up further properties such as Report Key, Format Regex and Source Regex. Report Keys are used to perform special reporting functions against the field values. This property should only be modified in accordance with advice provided by a Sabre representative.

For the Format Regex field, specify a regular expression to be used for advanced format validation. A regular expression may be used to validate the entered value where the Format property does not offer the required flexibility. The example illustrated opposite will match a value of one or two upper case letters followed by a period or hyphen followed by one or more digits. For the Source Regex field, specify a regular expression to be used as a PNR remark source for the field. A regular expression may be used to prepopulate the field value from a PNR remark and offers more flexibility than the Source property. The value populated in the field will be the first match group in the regular expression. The example illustrated will match the first 3 letters after the letter ‘A’ in a remark starting with ‘XXX’.


Checking the box marked Allow modification when missing enables modification at the time of data entry. By default, any field with a Source of Source Regex defined will not be available for edit at the time of data entry. The value will be fixed and defined by the corresponding remark, or blank where no matching remark is present. To override this behaviour and allow user modification of the values, this box should be checked.

6.3 Discount Codes If your company has any Discount Codes, these can be set up in the Administration tool. Any existing Discount Codes are displayed for a Customer Account. Customer Accounts for your agency can be selected from the dropdown. To add a Discount Code for a specific Customer Account, simply enter the code on a new line in the free text Discount Codes field. To add Discount Codes for a new Customer Account, select New and enter the name of the account. Then enter any Discount Codes for that account. Agents can also Delete or Rename any Discount Codes for Customer Accounts. Select OK to save any changes made.


6.4 Advanced Options The Advanced Options section provides access to advanced settings for performance fine tuning and debugging options. NB. Advanced options should not be changed unless under the specific direction of a Sabre representative. Select the Protocol Bias to be used in communications with Sabre from the dropdown. This should ALWAYS be set to default or sws (which are equivalent and user Sabre Webservice communications protocol)

Specify the number of times the application should attempt a PNR or profile read before a failure occurs in the Read Attempts field. Specify the number of times the application should scan for changes to a PNR when waiting for segment, remark or other PNR changes in the Scan Attempts field. Specify the number of times the application should scan for changes to a PNR when waiting for segment, remark or other PNR changes under known long running conditions in the End Attempts field.


Specify the Standard Delay (in milliseconds) between attempts when scanning for changes to the PNR. The application uses an iterative approach where the delay may increase on successive iterations by a specified increment amount (Standard Increment). This improves overall performance when network traffic is high. Specify the Standard Increment (in milliseconds) by which the Standard Delay should increase on each attempt when scanning for changes to the PNR.

Specify the Extended Delay (in milliseconds) between attempts when ending the PNR or processing other known long running Sabre entries. The application uses an iterative approach on successive iterations by a specified increment amount (Extended Increment). This improves overall performance when network traffic is high. Specify the Extended Increment (in milliseconds) by which the extended delay (see above) should increase on each attempt.


In the Run Mode field, enter runtime flags to modify application behaviour: Entering /auto-reset reloads all SVP settings each time interception occurs (not recommended). Entering /pghold-never instructs the application never to use PGHOLD when ending a PNR. Entering /phhold-always instructs the application to always issue PGHOLD when ending a PNR without checking for flex edits first. The Fax Options field should be left blank at all times and is intended for testing and demonstration purposes only.

6.5 Import The Import section allows users to import all SVP configuration options including Custom Data Field setups from a file on your local computer or a network share repository. Select the file that you wish to import and click Open. Application settings will be loaded from the specified file. Custom Identifiers exported in a previous version of SVP may be imported and will be converted to this version. Imported settings do not become active and are not saved until the OK button on the main Settings screen is clicked.


6.6 Export The Export section allows users to export the current SVP configuration options onto the local computer or a network share repository. Select the file that you wish to export and click Open. Application settings will then be saved to the specified file.

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