Airlines manage their flights, reservations, yields and many other aspects of the flights they operate on a GDS (Global Distribution System) which is sometimes also called a CRS (Central Reservations System). Travel Agents use the same GDS system to book flights and manage flight reservations for their customers.
There are 4 main GDS globally:
- Amadeus
- Galileo
- Sabre
- Worldspan
When you become a member of TPC, you will have access to all 4 of these which will particularly benefit those that have worked in travel before. We can also arrange training for you on any of the 4 main GDS platforms.
The history and evolution of the GDS
Those of us who are old enough to remember air travel in the 1970s will recall that travel agents had card imprinters (similar to the credit card imprinters that shops used at that time). They would place a gold coloured metal airline card (known as a plate) under a blank ticket and then swipe across. They would then fill in the flight details and pricing on the ticket by hand and then tear out various carbon copy coupons. They would phone the airline and tell the airline that they had issued a ticket, and they would give the airline the ticket number that was pre-printed on the ticket. The airline would load this information into the GDS. At the time of travel the check in clerk would match the details from the GDS to the ticket presented to them for travel. Every month, the travel agent would complete a BSP return and submit the audit coupons of every ticket to IATA so that they could be billed for all the tickets they had issued.
Of course for all this to work, the travel agents had to first call the airline and make the reservation. They would not be liable to pay for the reservation until the ticket was issued and the ticket number was stored with the reservation or, as it is known in the industry, the Passenger Name Record (PNR). The reservation could not be cancelled by the airline, because the travel agent would need time to issue the ticket. So the airline would set a ticketing time limit (TTL). If the ticket was not issued within the time limit, the airline would then cancel the PNR.
Things had to change!
This very long and convoluted process had to change and in the mid 1980s as the price of computers reduced, travel agents gained their own access to the GDS. Using dial up modems connected to the telephone line, travel agents were perhaps one of the first industries in the world to make the technological leap globally connected computer networks!
Once connected to the GDS, the travel agent would follow the same process as they did in the old days. They would first make the reservation and create the PNR. They would then use their ticket printer to issue the ticket. The time in between would be the period prior to the TTL.
That process that applied in the 1970s remains the same today. Travel agents first make a reservation in the GDS. The GDS will then set a TTL (usually 72 hours) within which tickets must be issued or the PNR will be auto cancelled.
Holding tickets for longer than 72 hours
Some contracted Seat Only (SO) and IT fares do not have to be issued until 30 days prior to the flight. During this time, the fare quoted at the time the booking was made remains valid but no cancellation charges apply if the ticket is cancelled.
For example, I make a booking using an IT fare to Johannesburg travelling in 10 months time. The fare is £500. In 9 months time, I have to issue the ticket. At that point the cheapest fare available on the same flight is now £1,100. I would still only pay £500. If I decide that I no longer want to travel, I just cancel the PNR and don’t loose ANY money.
The benefits of holding tickets
- The price could go down further or there could be a sale within the next 9 months that I could take advantage of.
Example: I book in July for travel next May. In January most airlines have sales. In the same, the price for my flight goes down to £300. I simply cancel my previous booking and re-book at the lower fare. If we are a family of 4, I save £800
- I am unsure about my travel plans
I am thinking of travelling to South Africa but have also through about Kenya. I don’t want to risk the air fares going up, so I book both destinations now and cancel the one that I don’t need later without any penalties.
- I want to wait for other people or other items to confirm
I am waiting for my partner to confirm they can get time off work, or I am waiting to see if I can get tickets to the event we are going for. There are so many contingencies involved when we travel and being able to hold a flight reservation and guarantee the price removes one of the stresses involved!
Providing a service that the internet wont
If you are joining the club to sell travel then the ability to hold tickets is something which sets you apart from the internet. You are able to offer a service that websites either cant or will charge a premium for. This is a USP that you can promote on social media and amongst your networks. Many travel agents still sell a lot of tickets simply because they offer the flexibility to hold confirmed reservations without having to pay for the ticket.
