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September 2003

Galileo Preferred Fares Select

We know nothing is more important to you than being able to provide your customers with the lowest fares….except maybe for being able to access them easily. Preferred Fares Select provides you with the most integrated access to all published and web fares - these include ALL fares these carriers distribute through any GDS, third-party website, their own websites, or their own reservation offices. Galileo is proving you with the lowest possible fares from three carriers - Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines, and US Airways.

The Benefits:

• Cost Savings/Efficiency - you can now access all of these carriers’ publicly available fares and web fares via the Apollo desktop, with seamless integration from your front to back office
  
  
• Competitive Edge - you can provide the lowest fares for your customers that they can find anywhere
  
  
• Profits - you get productivity/FA credit for all fares booked through Preferred Fares Select
  
  
• Security - 3-year contracts between Galileo and our suppliers ensure that you will receive this content, regardless of changes to CRS rules
  

What do you have to do to get these fares?
Nothing. You just get them. There are no new formats on the desktop. There are no fees, opt-in requirements or contracts for you to sign. Just provide your agents with the specifications document below so that they can start accessing these fares today. And stay tuned for more airlines joining the Preferred Fares Select program.

Displaying Preferred Fares Select Content
To access these fares, simply include the date in your tariff display, as many of these fares have very limited travel dates. For example: $DBOSNAS6SEP‡US

The Preferred Fares appear as Private Fares because the airlines file them as Private Fares and provide access to all Galileo-connected US subscribers.

Each carrier participating in Preferred Fares Select files their fares and rules via ATPCO just as they do all normal published fares. Currently US, CO and NW have filed preferred fares as:

• Normal Adult Fare Types
• Private Fares

This means that no special format or PTC is required when displaying a tariff or pricing an itinerary. Preferred Fares are included in the standard $D and $B entries. Because Preferred Fares are filed as Airline Private Fares, they can be easily identified in a tariff by the dash (-) preceding the carrier code and most will include a ticket designator on the second line of the fare display. Even though Preferred Fares are filed as Private Fares, they have no associated Account Code and will therefore appear in a standard tariff display or will price with a standard $B entry.

On line 1 of the tariff, note the dash (-) preceding the NW carrier code and TD:PE500 beneath the carrier code.

For Corporate Account Negotiated Private Fare Contracts
Apollo will always price a PNR at the least expensive fare for which it qualifies and there may be situations where a corporation’s negotiated Private Fare is not the least expensive in every market. Therefore, as you know, when an itinerary is priced with $B-XXX (XXX is the corporate Account Code) Apollo will select a standard published fare if it proves to be less expensive than the corporate negotiated fare. Now that Preferred Fares are also available in Apollo, they too will be considered in $B-XXX entries and will be selected if they prove to be the least expensive.

As pointed out in the tariff and fare quote entries above, using the :P modifier in conjunction with a corporate Account Code will not prevent Apollo from displaying or quoting Preferred Fares if they are the least expensive. Therefore, if Apollo is quoting a Preferred Fare and you wish to price and ticket at the corporate Private Fare instead, you will need to manually select that fare basis by using T:$B-XXX€QE7NR/:P. In that case, be certain to verify the itinerary definitely qualifies for the fare basis selected. You can do that by moving down to the bottom of the fare quote display. Apollo will indicate either "Rules Validation Met" or will tell you which rule categories failed validation.

Questions and Answers

For identification purposes in a tariff display, will a carrier always use the same ticket designator for all Preferred Fares in all markets?
All aspects of Preferred Fares including fare amounts, rules and ticket designators are managed directly by the filing carrier. Some may opt to consistently use one or two-ticket designators system wide while others may vary market to market. However since all are filed as Private Fares you will be able to identify them in a tariff by the dash (-) preceding the carrier code. Here’s another tip…..in many cases you can distinguish them from your own corporate account negotiated Private Fares because they do not have an associated Account Code.

How far in advance of travel dates will carriers file Preferred Fares in Apollo?
That will vary carrier by carrier and could possibly vary market by market. If you visit any of the carrier web sites you will see that each is different. Some carriers post specials 3-4 weeks in advance while others post specials on Tuesday or Wednesday for travel the following weekend only.

Are Preferred Fares available in all markets?
Carriers can be totally discretionary about the markets (city pairs) they select for special discounts.

Are Preferred Fares available through my customer’s self-booking tools?
Yes. Preferred Fares require no special formats and therefore should display automatically in Apollo-powered self-booking tools. Each of the self-booking tools is unique so you should direct any questions of this nature to the self-booking tool provider.