What I Need to
Know
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, the learner is expected to:
1. understand the rules and principles of airfare calculation;
2. write and read an airline paper and e-ticket; and
3. identify and explain the types of travel documentation.
What is It
Fare Calculations
The amount to be charged for any air journey is dependent on the
type of journey to be undertaken. For example, a passenger who
boards an aircraft at point “A”, flies direct, non-stop to point “B” and
disembarked will be charged the corresponding publisher fare for
the trip. In the Philippines today, most travel agencies rely on four
different ways to calculate airfares. The first and most common are
the rate sheets provided by the respective airline companies
showing the different sectors flown by an airline with corresponding
net airlines. The second source is the passenger air tariff (PAT), a
tow book set which gives the applicable air fares on the various
sectors, regardless of the airlines. The third source is a global
distribution system’s fare quotation display (FQD).
How to read the passenger air tariff (PAT):
The following is an example and should not be used for fair information. In
general, the PAT appears in the following sequence:
1. Headline/sideline cities
2. Fare – one-way fares appear in regular typeface while roundtrip
fares appear in bold typeface
3. Fare type – example: Normal fares: Y for economy class; F for first
class; and J for business class.
Economy class, also called coach class, steerage, or standard class,
(colloquially: Cattle class), is the lowest travel class of seating in air
travel, rail travel, and sometimes ferry or maritime travel.
Historically, this travel class has been called tourist class on ocean
liner and third class, or even fourth class, on railways.
Business class is a travel class available on many commercial airlines
and rail lines, known by brand names which vary by airline or rail
company. In the airline industry, it was originally intended as an
intermediate level of service between the economy class and first
class, but many airlines now offer business class as the highest level
of service, having eliminated first class seating. Business class is
distinguished from other travel classes by the quality of seating,
food, drinks, ground service and other amenities. Full business class
is usually denoted 'J' or 'C' with schedule flexibility, but can be many
other letters depending on the circumstances.
First class is the most luxurious travel class of seats and service on
a train, passenger ship, airplane, or other conveyance. It is usually
much more expensive than the business class and economy class,
and offers the best service and luxurious accommodation
4. Carrier code – indicates which carrier the airfare [Link]
code – it is a two-character IATA-assigned code that identifies
a carrier on arrival / departure signs, baggage tags, Global
Distribution System (GDS), tickets, etc. Usually, it is an alpha code
(such as AI for Air India, EI for Air Lingus, and WN for Southwest
Airlines) but sometimes it is alphanumeric (such as F9 for Frontier
Airlines, 7Z for Laker Airlines, and 5X United Parcel Service). For
more examples of a CC, visit this website:
[Link]
[Link]
5. MPM – is the maximum permitted mileage between the headline city
and sideline city for the global indicator shown.
6. Global indicator – shows
the global routing direction applicable to the fare.
7. Rule – refers to the applicable fare rule. These rules are
contained in the Passenger Air Tariff General Rules
volumes.
8. NUC – is the Neutral Unit of Construction equivalent to the
local currency fare.
9. Local currency – the fares are published in the local
currency of the Headline City.
10. Route reference – the numeric reference to linear
routing published in the routing sections.
Basic Fare Calculation Procedures
To calculate air itineraries that combine a number of sectors, the
ticketing officer is guided by the step-by-step formula for the
calculations used by the airlines’ desks as follows:
1. Establish the type of journey.
One –way (OW)-example: Manila/Hong Kong
Round Trip (RT)-example: Manila/Bangkok/Manila
Circle trip (CT)-example: Manila/Hong
Kong/Bangkok/Singapore/Manila
Round-the-world trip (RW)-example: Manila/Tokyo/San
Francisco/New York/London/Frankfurt/Athens/Bangkok/Manila
Open Jaw (OJ)-example: Manila/Hong Kong/ Macau/Manila
2. Establish the category of air fares published with a rule reference,
i.e., The rule sets out conditions governing the application of the
fare.
3. Fares published with direction codes-global indicators can have
different Maximum Permitted Mileage.
4. If no direct flights exist between points of origin and destination,
fares must be constructed using the mileage system. The correct
steps are:
Establish the Fare Break Point (FBP) for each component.
Establish the Neutral Unit of Construction (NUC) which is
equivalent to the Local Currency fare as shown in no. 8. The global
indicator refers to the routes applicable to the fare. (Note, read and
act on the Conditions (COND) provided in a rule as shown in no. 7.)
Note the Maximum Permitted Mileage (MPM). This refers to the
maximum distance or mileage that may be traveled, between two
points, for a fare component as shown in no. 5.
Add the Ticketed Point Mileage (TMP). This refers to the distance
between pairs of points published in the Ticketing Point Mileage
manual.
To obtain the distance flown on a given journey, the routing points are
listed vertically, and the TPM written next to them, sector by sector.
Example: BUE/MVD/RIO/LIS/GVA/FRA
TPM
Buenos Aries BUE
Montevideo MVD 140
Rio de Janeiro RIO 1133
Lisbon LIS 4796
Geneva GVA 930
Frankfurt FRA 287
7286
Once this is obtained, compare it with the sum of the MPM.
If the total distance of the itinerary does not exceed the MPM, no excess
mileage applies.
If the total TPM exceeds the MPM, check if an Excess Mileage Allowance
(EMA) is permitted. If the EMA is insufficient, establish the
percentage surcharge or EMS. Search for any intermediate point
having a higher fare in NUC or the High Intermediate Point (HIP).
Surcharge the Higher Intermediate Point. Repeat steps 2-9 for each
fare component. The data and formula for the foregoing steps are
shown in the General Rules book of the Passenger Air Tariff.
The application of a mileage deduction will generally reduce the fare so it
is important to consult the tables in the AT and APT whenever the
TPM exceed the MPM.
5. The resulting total of each component is the Construct Fare (CF).
6. Check and apply any minimum-fare rule shown in the General Rules
book of the passenger air tariff.
7. Add the CF of all the components for a Total (TTL).
8. Convert the TTL at the applicable Rate of Exchange (ROE)
currency. And round off the Local Selling Fare (LSF).
9. Complete all the relevant boxes of the ticket with the applicable
taxes.
Airline Ticketing
The air ticket can only be issued by the ticketing office after reservations
have been processed and confirmed and the applicable airfares
calculated.
The issuance of air ticket is the final step in processing a
passenger’s air travel requirements.
It represents a contract between a passenger and a carrier, and
represents also a passenger’s payment to the travel agent.
1. Paper tickets
a. These are now phased out by the airlines worldwide. It is important
to understand the composition, format and content of these to
enable a better understanding of an e-ticket.
b. It contains the original detail of the transaction.
2. Electronic air tickets
a. An e-ticket is a paperless electronic document used for ticketing
passengers.
b. E-ticketing (ET) is the process of simplifying the issuance of
paperless e-tickets, generating electronic reports and monitoring
materialization of booking
c. E-ticketing improves passenger convenience and e-ticketing
reduces cost.
d. It reduces ticket processing charges, eliminates the need for paper
and allows greater flexibility to the passenger and travel agent to
make changes to the itinerary.
Advantages Disadvantages
For Stress free ticketing no Possibility of
customers tickets to lose; no last technology
minute queues crash
For airlines Savings of up to US9 for Less portable
ticket printing and than a paper
processing
For travel Will allow them to Security issues
agent explore greater in self check-in
opportunities to kiosks
manage the corporate
travel experience
Advantages and disadvantages of e-ticketing
Documentation
This refers to the process of legally securing the necessary travel
papers for prospective passengers. It is divided as follows:
documents required for leaving the country of origin;
documents required for transit countries;
documents required for entry to, and exit from the
destination country; and
documents required for every reentry to the country of origin.
Travel information is entered and maintained using one
of the following documents:
Documents Descriptions
Records trip information and
schedules advance checks. This
document is used to request
monies for hotel deposits,
Travel Authorization registration fee advances, and
(TE, TEO, TEC) airline ticket advances. The three
types of Travel Authorization - In-
State (TE), Out-of-State (TEO), and
Foreign (TEC) - will hereafter be
referred to as TE.
Records the expenditure of funds,
calculates the amount due to/from
the employee, and schedules the
reimbursement check to the
Expense Voucher (TP) traveler (if appropriate). This
document reflects the actual costs
of the trip. The Expense Voucher
(TP) is used to record the
expenditure associated with a trip.
This document facilitates the
transfer of funds between internal
buyers and sellers. The buyer is the
traveler, and the sellers are the
Internal Travel Voucher
State Motor Pool and State Parks.
(IIT)
On the seller side, IIT updates the
revenue accounts. On the buyer
side, IIT updates the expense
accounts.
Clears the travel advance, records
reimbursement, or clears the
payable amount due to the
traveler. This document is used
Travel Check (TC)
when either a travel advance or a
reimbursement is manually
produced and the resulting
accounting information.
What’s More
A. IDENTIFICATION. Identify what has been indicated by the numbered
boxes. On a whole sheet of paper write your answer on the
space provided for each item.
1.__________________________ 6.___________________________
2.__________________________ 7.___________________________
3.__________________________ 8.___________________________
4.__________________________ 9.___________________________
5.__________________________ 10.__________________________
What I Have Learned
Direction: Answer the following questions in a clean sheet of paper.
1. What are the five functions of the operations department of a travel
agency?
2. What are the different counter activities?
3. What are the three rules of flight itinerary planning?