GLOSSARY
January 25, 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A ................................................................................................................................................ 3
B ................................................................................................................................................ 4
C ................................................................................................................................................ 5
D ................................................................................................................................................ 6
E ................................................................................................................................................ 7
F ................................................................................................................................................ 7
G ................................................................................................................................................ 8
H ................................................................................................................................................ 8
I ................................................................................................................................................. 9
K ................................................................................................................................................ 9
L ................................................................................................................................................ 9
M ............................................................................................................................................. 10
N .............................................................................................................................................. 10
O .............................................................................................................................................. 11
P .............................................................................................................................................. 11
Q .............................................................................................................................................. 12
R .............................................................................................................................................. 13
S .............................................................................................................................................. 14
T .............................................................................................................................................. 14
U .............................................................................................................................................. 15
V .............................................................................................................................................. 15
W ............................................................................................................................................. 16
X .............................................................................................................................................. 16
Y .............................................................................................................................................. 16
Z .............................................................................................................................................. 16
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A
Advance Purchase
This refers to how far in advance of travel a traveler purchased a ticket. If a traveler purchased a ticket on March
1 and travel on his first segment initiates March 8, then the advance purchase is calculated by taking March 8 and
subtracting March 1 equaling 7 days in advance.
Air Leg
The path between the departure and destination cities for a traveler. ex: DFW-ATL-JFK
Air Segment
The path between 2 places where an aircraft takes off and lands (i.e. between 2 airports). ex: DFW-ATL
Aircraft code
Abbreviated code given to each type of aircraft. Each aircraft has a different seat configuration.
Airline Code
Unique 2 letter code given to each airline. Example: DL is the code for Delta
Airport/City Code
Unique 3 letter code that denotes a specific airport or city. Example: ATL is the code for Atlanta.
ARC
Airline Reporting Corporation - An organization created by a consortia of all scheduled airlines. ARC issues ticket
stock, handles ticket monies, maintains records for all tickets issued, and pays commissions against tickets
issued. ARC also collects monies due to the industry from travel retailers.
ARC Report
A report sent to the Airline Reporting Corporation each week. The report is a list of every ticket issued in a travel
agency. It also lists the amount and invoice number for each ticket.
ATP or Average Ticket Price
This is derived by taking the Fare Paid and dividing it by a ticket count.
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B
Back Office
Post-ticketing processing departments that includes ARC, Exception Ticketing, Exception Refunds, BOSA and
Distribution.
Baggage Allowance
The number of pieces of luggage (or total weight of luggage), permitted by the airline free of charge.
Base Fare
A fare prior to adding any taxes or security fees.
Batch
To submit a job in batch or use batch processing is to use a mode of computer operation in which the computer
reads a file and serially executes the commands without any interaction with a user. This is a very efficient way to
use computer resources at off-peak times, but only if user intervention is not required to handle unexpected
results.
Best Case
The greatest number of passengers a company could give to an airline.
Blackout Dates
Certain dates or periods when travel on specific discounted fares is not permitted (i.e., heavily traveled holidays).
Boarding Pass
Card or form given to passengers indicating their seat assignment.
Booking
Reservation or confirmation of airline, car, and/or hotel reservation.
Booking Code
Code that indicates the class of service and number of seats available on a flight.
BSP (Business Settlement Plan)
This is a clearing house for airlines that belong to this entity. All airline documents are issued and must be
accounted for via this entity. In the US, this entity is referred to as ARC (Airline Reporting Corporation), but BSP
is the more global term. All the major carriers belong to ARC. Examples of these airlines include: American,
Delta, Continental, USAir, etc.).
Branch Code
Unique client identifier within a GDS.
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C
Carrier Code
This is the airline that has been booked for a specific segment of a flight.
CD Number
Corporate discount number.
Circle Trip
An itinerary which allows a customer to originate in one city then continues to two or more other cities (for more
than just stopovers) and returns to the originating city.
City Pair
Two cities: an origin and a destination designating an itinerary; the airport codes for the departure and the arrival
airports.
City/Airport Code
Unique 3 letter code that denotes a specific airport or city.
Class of Service
Category type for which the traveler has been booked - typically people think of this as business, coach or first.
Letters, which are derived from the fare basis, can be used to represent these various categories.
Coach Cabin
Non-first or business class section of a plane
Coach Class
A class of service in the coach cabin. Also referred to as economy class.
Code Sharing
An agreement between two airlines allowing the first carrier to use the airline designation code on a flight
operated by the second carrier, and vice versa. (A system in which smaller airlines use the codes of a major
airline in flight schedule listings.)
Commuter Flight
A propeller or small jet aircraft used in a route where there is a low passenger demand.
Confirmation
Certification that the passenger is holding a seat, car, room, or other travel space.
Confirmation Number
A number/code given when a passenger’s seat, car, room, or other travel space are confirmed in the GDS or the
vendors computer system.
Connection
A flight requiring a change of plane in transit between 2 cities.
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Consolidator
A travel agency which buys flights in bulk at discounted fares and resells them to other travel agencies at a
marked up price. These are non-published fares; individual consolidators have to be called to get their quote on a
cost and the conditions of the fares they have available for resale
Corporate Rate
A special discounted rate offered to business clientele.
Coupon
The part of an airline ticket that is surrendered by the passenger to the airline for service.
CRS (Computer Reservations System)
This is a computer program that allows travel agents to access information, check availability, book, and issue
tickets for flights, cars, hotels, rail, and cruise. This system allows travel agents to search for the best itineraries
and lowest fares quickly and efficiently. (See also GDS)
D
Destination City (FirstClsSgmtDtl)
Termination point of a segment of travel but not necessarily the final destination of the traveler. If a traveler is, for
example, flying from Atlanta, connecting through Dallas to ultimately arrive at San Francisco then this routing
would have two destination cities: Dallas and San Francisco.
Direct Flight
A flight that makes an intermediate stop between the originating city and the destination city without a change of
planes. There will be only 1 flight number.
Discount Fare
A dollar amount off the base ticket amount or a percentage off.
DK / Client Code
A subset of the Branch Code; unique account code.
Domain
The last part of an Internet address (i.e., .com, .org, .net).
Domestic
A segment or ticket is considered domestic if the cities traveled to/from within the segment or ticket are US cities.
Domestic Airline
Airline carrier providing service within its own country.
Double Booking
The practice of confirming two or more reservations when only one will be used.
Double Occupancy
A hotel rate for two persons sharing the same room.
Drop-Off Charges
Fees added when a vehicle is not returned to the original renting location.
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E
Encryption
Encoded data for security uses.
E-Ticket
A paperless ticket.
ETR (Electronic Ticketing Record)
This is a separate record that is kept in the GDS for each electronic ticket. This term may be used when someone
prints out the “paper coupons”.
Exception Codes
Reasons that an option in the reservation process was refused by the traveler or the travel manager.
Exchange
When one ticket is used as partial (or full) payment toward the purchase of another ticket.
Expense (Hotel)
Calculation that equals the rate per night multiplied by the room nights (number of rooms x number of nights).
F
Fair Market Share
A fraction or percentage representing the expected share a carrier will receive in a particular market. The market
includes bi-directional travel between two airports. Each airline that provides service in the markets has an FMS
and the sum of all FMS in a unique market is equal to 1.
Fares (Air Fares)
The price of a flight quoted by an airline.
Fare Basis
This is an airline driven coding used to identify inventory on a given flight.
Fare Basis Code
The letter, letters, or combination of letters and numbers assigned to a specific fare, as an identification number
so the GDS/CRS knows what fare to apply to a booked itinerary (flights).
Fare Paid (or Ticket Amount)
This is the amount paid for a transaction. When this is used in reference to air/rail transaction, this amount is
inclusive of fees and taxes.
Field
The physical unit of data in a record.
File
Any collection of data treated as a single unit.
Fire Wall
Security barrier on the Internet.
Flight
A flight is one segment of an air itinerary.
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Format
The arrangement by which data are store or displayed.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
A semi-private method by which to download software using the Internet as a vehicle to access the file.
G
Gateway
An interface from a company’s network to the GDS.
GDS (Global Distribution System)
This is a computer program that allows travel agents to access information, check availability, book, and issue
tickets for flights, cars, hotels, rail, and cruise. This system allows travel agents to search for the best itineraries
and lowest fares quickly and efficiently. (See also CRS)
Guarantee Hotel
Using the traveler’s credit card, the hotel guarantees that you will have a room if you arrive after a certain time. If
you do not guarantee the room, the hotel has the right to give your reserved room to another traveler if you do not
arrive by that time. In addition, if you do not cancel your reservation for the room, your credit card will be charged
for the room. The arrival times and charges vary by hotel.
H
Help Desk
A group of specialists responsible for answering questions, handling escalated calls and issues, and identifying
training needs or system or procedural issues.
Hotel Chain
This identifies the chain to which a property belongs. For example, Marriott would be the hotel chain for the hotel
named Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
Hotel Parent
Chains may belong to a larger Parent (or entity). For example, the Marriott, Fairfield and Courtyard chains all
belong to the Parent, Marriott International.
Hotel Property Name
The actual name of the hotel. The hotel property name can be listed differently depending on the system you’re
booking/searching in.
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I
IATA Number (International Air Transport Association)
Each agency is given an ARC assigned IATA number. The IATA number is used to designate what agency
booked a reservation, and what agency issued a ticket. See: http://www.iata.org/about/index
ID Number
Individual Identification Number.
In Terminal
A car rental office located within the airport terminal.
International
A ticket is considered international if at least one of the cities in the itinerary or ticket is a non-US city.
Itinerary
Travel plan for a passenger giving the departure city, location, time, vendor name, arrival city, time and price for
air, car, hotel, cruise, and/or rail.
K
None
L
Loss
This is a calculation that takes the Fare Paid and subtracts the Low Fare
Low Fare
This is a lower fare that has been identified and offered to a traveler for that traveler's trip. Typically a company
establishes specific guidelines that a lower fare must meet before it can be considered a viable alternative.
Low Season
Time period when fares and/or passenger traffic is lowest
Lost Ticket Application (LTA)
A form filled out by a customer or TRX when the customer’s airline ticket is lost.
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M
Market
This is the origin and destination of a trip reflected alphabetically.
MCO (Miscellaneous Charge Order)
This is issued when standard ticket stock cannot be used. It is usually used for the residual value of a ticket. It is
sometimes referred to as MPD (Miscellaneous Purchase Document).
Meal Codes
Unique codes used to identify meal service on an airline flight.
B=Breakfast, J=Brunch, L=Lunch, D=Dinner, S=Snack
MIDT
A data file which contains booking transaction data for bookings that are made through the Global Distribution
Systems (GDS). It contains valuable information on each booking such as point of sale, class of service, booking
date and segment detail.
Minimum Connecting Time
A pre-established minimum amount of time that is required to connect to another flight in a particular airport.
These times are designed to allow passengers to physically be able to catch their connecting flight, and for the
airline to transfer the baggage to the connecting flight.
MIR line (Mini Interface Record)
It is a GDS line of code linking the back office application to the front office systems. If the line of code is correct
or valid, it allows transmittal of data. If it isn’t valid, the information cannot be sent.
N
Negotiated Rate
A special discounted rate available directly from a vendor, requiring special processing by a travel agent.
Net Spend
This includes all transaction types: tickets, refunds (full & partial) and exchanges. If you are summing the Net
Spend then tickets/exchanges will have a debit amount and refunds will have a credit amount.
Net Tickets
This includes all transaction types: tickets, refunds (full & partial) and exchanges. Typically reports use the True
Ticket Count when providing Net Ticket count. True ticket count accounts for transactions in the following
manner: ticket (1), Full Refund (-1). Partial Refund (0) and Exchange (0).
Non BSP
Some airlines do not utilize BSP. They operate independently and are not required to report through the
Business Settlement Plan. Typically these are the low cost carriers such as Jet Blue, AirTran and Southwest
Airlines
Non-Refundable
Money which cannot be refunded; usually used in reference to an airline ticket that cannot be refunded.
Non-Stop Flight
An airline flight made without a stop.
No-Show
A passenger not arriving for services and failing to cancel the reservation.
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O
Off Airport
A car rental office located outside the airport, usually requiring a shuttle-bus.
On Airport
A car rental office located within the airport, but not necessarily in the terminal.
Online Connection
A flight that stops and requires a change of planes (on the same airline carrier) before arriving at the passenger’s
destination city.
On-Time Percentage
The percent the flight has been on time in the past. Example: 5=50% on time.
Opaque Fare
Discounted wholesale tickets that conceal the airline's identity and flight times until they are purchased.
Open Jaw Trip
Involves a total of 3 cities where transportation between one city pair is by means other than air. Most open-jaw
trips have an origin city and 2 destination cities. Sometimes, a passenger will have one destination, but will return
to a city other than the origin city. The non-air transportation leg is called a surface segment (ARNK).
Origin City (FirstClsSgmtDtl)
This is the initiation point of a segment of travel.
Outbound
The portion of the trip involved when leaving the origin city and going to the destination.
P
Parsing
The process of taking unstructured GDS data (screen scraped) and turning it into a more machine readable
(structured) format.
Passenger Name Record (PNR)
A passenger’s reservation and all reservation information that was booked in a GDS. See also PNR.
Peak Season
High Season. Season when travel traffic is heavy or busy, rates are normally high during this period.
PED (Period Ending Date)
The ARC week runs from Monday to Sunday at midnight. Sunday at midnight is the period ending date.
Penalty (Fare)
An amount charged by an airline if the passenger changes or cancels a restricted fare or reservation.
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PNR (Passenger Name Record)
A record of a customer’s reservation in an airline system. A PNR is the computer’s record of a reservation and is
a storage area for all passenger names, flights, phone numbers, and other travel related information.
Each PNR has 4 mandatory fields:
 Phone field- This field generally includes the agency’s phone number, and the customer’s home and or
business phone number.
 Itinerary- This field includes any flight, car, and/or hotel reservation. (Can also include a tour or a cruise.)
 Name- This would include all passenger names. The names are always entered in as LAST/FIRST. One
PNR can have multiple names.
 Ticketing- The information in this field changes based on the state the reservation is in. If the ticket is
being purchased, the travel agent adds information to this field showing the date the ticket is supposed to
be issued, and who will be doing the ticketing. Once the ticket is issued, this field reflects the date and
time the ticket was issued, who issued the ticket, the ticket number, and the invoice number.
Preferred Vendor
A company’s or traveler’s favored air, car or hotel vendors.
Prepaid Ticket
An authorization that permits issuance of a ticket at a point other than the point of payment. (PTA)
Prepaid Ticket Advice (PTA)
Airline form used when a person in one city wants to buy an airline ticket to be issued at the airport in another city.
It can be issued in the same city if departure is within 24 hours.
Promotion ID
Identification number associated with a certain promotion.
Promotions/Redemptions
Special offer honored by certain airlines.
Proof of Citizenship
Documents such as a passport, birth certificate, or a voter registration card that certify citizenship. Proof of
citizenship requirements may vary for each country.
Pseudo City Code (PCC)
The GDS identification number given to a specific travel agency. See SID.
Q
Queue
Electronic file drawers where PNRs are placed for appropriate action. A folder or set of folders that contain
messages that have been sorted by content, responder or subject line.
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R
Rack Rate
The normal published rate without any discounts applied.
Reason Code
Code entered into a PNR by the booking or ticketing agent that will identify what type of fare a traveler selected.
Codes are specific to each company and normally denote whether a fare is within policy or not. If the fare was
out of policy, this code can provide further explanation as to why the traveler selected the fare they chose.
Record
A group of related fields storing data about a subject. This term is also used to refer to a PNR.
Record Key
This is an identifier in the database that uniquely identifies a transaction. It is created within the TRAVELTRAX
system.
Record Locator
A code consisting of unique letters and numbers assigned to a passenger’s reservation; usually 6 characters.
Refund
If a transaction or a part of a transaction is no longer required then, if the rules that apply to that transaction allow,
the transaction can be returned for a credit. For example, if a traveler has booked a round trip flight between
LaGuardia and Boston and no longer needs to make this trip, if the rules that apply to the fare used to book the
ticket allow, then the ticket can be refunded and the traveler is credited all or part of the original fare.
REN (Refund Exchange Notice)
This is a form designed to simplify and support the processing of exchanges and refunds.
Reservation
See PNR.
Room Nights
This is a calculation that takes the number of rooms x number of nights
Run of the House (ROH)
Receiving the best available rate on hotel room in a particular room category. Sometimes, ROH rooms are
upgraded upon arrival at no additional charge.
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S
Segment
A single part or portion of a trip; sometimes called leg.
Segment Flight Time
Segment arrival time less the Segment departure time.
Segment Value
This is the fare that is applied to specific segments of a complete trip. The segment value does not include taxes
and fees (though the Fare Paid does).
Server
A computer that distributes information or files automatically in response to specific requests.
Service Date
This is the departure date of the first segment of travel on a ticket
Shoulder Season
Between the high and low seasons of rates or traffic.
SID
A unique security and identifying code in a GDS for each travel agency. See also Pseudo City Code (PCC).
SSR (Special Services Request)
A unique passenger request generated to the airline for items such Vegetarian meals, wheelchairs, and
supplemental oxygen. An SSR usually requires an action by the airline.
Stopover
A planned interruption/stop of an airline trip.
Surcharge
An additional cost for a specific situation, such as traveling on a Friday or Sunday.
T
TAW Line
Line of information in Worldspan (a GDS) where ticketing instructions can be verified.
Ticketing Deadline
The date which the airline requires the ticket to be printed in order to guarantee the airfare.
Time Window
The time range acceptable for the flight departure. For example, you wish to travel at 8:00AM, but to find a flight
to your destination; you may have to travel at 6:45AM or 9:10AM. In this case, you would have a time window of
2 hours, so the system would expand its search 2 hours before and 2 hours after the desired travel time.
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U
UATP (Universal Air Travel Plan)
Also known as an Air Travel Card. An airline sponsored credit card for airline ticket purchases and accepted by
many airlines. Card users do not benefit from protections of U.S. Consumer Credit Protection Act regarding billing
disputes or claims against card issuers.
UDID (User Defined Interface Data)
Fields of the PNR used for customized information.
V
Val Carrier Code
Validating ('Val') Carrier Code is the 2 letter code that identifies an airline. This coding is typically determined by
IATA
Val Carrier Name
This is the translation of the Validating Carrier Code. For example, the Validating Carrier Code of AA is American
and DL is Delta.
Value Season
Season when traffic or rates are lower. Opposite of peak season; aka low season.
Variable Cost
A unit cost which depends on total volume.
Visa
A stamp or endorsement placed in a passport by a consulate allowing a person to enter a country for a period of
time, and usually for a stated purpose.
Void
This is the term used for a document that has been issued and then, for various reasons, is canceled. This if
different from a refund, a credit is not issued to offset the original debit. It is as if the transaction never took place.
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W
Wait List
List established when there are no available airplane seats. Waitlisted passengers will be boarded if confirmed
passengers do not use their assigned seats.
Worst Case
The least number of passengers a company could give to an airline.
X
None
Y
Yield Management
Airline pricing according to the expected revenue on a seat over a certain route. This is what will determine how
many seats can be sold for each fare.
Z
None
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