common iar exchange errors qa(jan18)finaldocx · common iar exchange errors webinar questions and...

CommonIARExchangeErrorsWebinarQuestionsandAnswers

January17,2018

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General Questions Q: WhenthereisanExchangewithanAddCollect,IARreturnstheoriginalformofpayment

eventhoughthecustomermaywanttouseadifferentformofpayment.Isthisabuginthesystemthatwillberesolved?

A: Forexchangetransactions,IARalwaysreturnstheoriginalformofpaymentwhenthevalueinIARreflectsanexchangewithrefundvalue.Thisishowthesystemwasdesigned.AdifferenceinFOPcanoccurwhenthenewdocumentinanexchangeisissuedwithoutapenalty,whenaresidualvalueMCOwasnotproperlylinkedorwhensomeotherGDSformattingissueoccurs.However,aslongastheexchangeisanadditionalcollectionandthecustomerwouldliketouseadifferentFOPfortheAddCollectamount,youshouldbeabletoremoveandaddthenewcreditcardnumberintheExchangeSummaryscreen.BesuretoincludethecreditcardapprovalcodefortheupdatedFOP.

Q: WhenyourefertotheExchangedocument,areyoureferringtotheneworolddocument?A: WhenIsayExchangedocument,Iamreferringtotheolddocument.Q: CanaresidualvaluethatisbeinglostbeaddedtotheIARAdmin/Penaltyfieldinsteadof

theAdjustmentfield?A: WhenissuingtheexchangethroughyourGDS,youcanincreasethepenaltyamountbythe

residualamount.ThisisrecommendedbecausethereisnoGDSentrythatwilllinktotheIARAdjustmentfield.TheIARAdjustmentfieldisanIARonlyfieldthatwasspecificallydesignedasaworkaroundtoaccommodatetheresidualvaluethatisbeinglost.

Q: WhenusingtheIARPartialExchangeWorkaround,willIARpopulatetheHawaiitaxes?A: Yes,whenusingtheIARPartialExchangeWorkaround,IARwillpopulatetheHawaiitaxes

ifapplicable.TheIARworkaroundwillpopulateallapplicabletaxcodesandamountsforOption1andallapplicabletaxcodesforOption2.

Q: Foranexchangetransaction,whenthenewfareislowerthantheoriginalfare,shouldthe

pricebeadjustedtoreflectthecorrectpenaltyamount?A: Whenissuinganexchangetransaction,thetransactionmustbeissuedasdefinedbythe

validatingcarrier.Ifthereisanadministrationpenalty,youmustfollowtherulesoftheairline.Ifnot,thiscanleadtotheissuanceofadebitmemo.


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Q: WilltherebeanEMDwebinar?A: Yes,therewillbeanEMDwebinarthisyear.Q: WhencanthecommissionbemodifiedinIAR?A: WhenatransactionisissuedintheGDS,agentshaveuntilthenextbusinessday,by11:59

PMETtomodifythecommissioninIAR.WhenatransactionismanuallykeyedintoIAR,thecommissioncanbemodifiedby11:59PMET,thesamedaythattransactionwaskeyedintoIAR.

Inadditiontocommission,fourotherfieldsmaybemodifiedinIARonanerror-freeE-

ticket:TourCode,TicketDesignator,CertificateNumberandMiscellaneousSupport/WaiverCode.

Q: Isthereanexchangetrainingcoursethatincludesinternationaltaxes?A: Currently,ARCdoesnotincludeinternationaltaxesinanyofitstraining.International

taxescanbecomeverycomplicatedaseachcountryhastheirowntaxes,rulesandpolicies.Besidesprocessingthetaxesthatareappliedtoatickettransaction,ARCdoesnotgetinvolvedwiththeapplicabletaxesforeachcountry.

AgoodresourcewouldbeIATA.Theymanagethesettlementplansforallcountries

excepttheUnitedStates(whichismanagedbyARC).Theywouldhavedetailedinformationintheapplicabletaxesfortheirsettlementplans.

Q: WhatisARC’sDebitMemoWorkingGroup?A: ARC’sDebitMemoWorkingGroupisagroupstartedbyARCthatconsistsofARC,airlines,

travelagents,GlobalDistributionSystems(GDSs)andindustrypartnerssuchasIATAandATPCO.Thepurposeofthegroupistoworktogetherinunderstandingwhydebitmemosareissued,whatcanbedonetoreducethemandwhatcanbedonetostandardizethedebitmemoprocess.

Thegrouphasmadealotofprogresssinceitsconceptioninlate2012.Asaresult,there

havebeensomeairlinesthathavebeenabletosignificantlyreducethenumberofmemosbeingissued.


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IAR Partial Exchange Workaround Questions Q: CanOption1fortheIARPartialExchangeWorkaroundbeappliedtopartialexchanges

withoutreceivingdebitmemos?A: TheIARPartialExchangeWorkaroundshouldonlybeusedasthelastoptionifyouare

unabletodeterminetheactualunusedvaluesoftheolddocumentthatisbeingexchanged.ARCdevelopedthisworkaroundwiththeguidancefromaspecificairlinetohelpprovideasolutiontomitigatethenumberofpartialexchangeerrorstheywerereceiving.Thisworkaroundusesthe“point-of-origin”exchangerepricinglogicusedbymostGDSautorepricingtoolsinsteadofthe“point-of-interruption”repricinglogicthatrepresentstheactualunusedvaluesofeachcoupon.IARisareportingsystem,notapricingsystem,soIARisunabletodetermineunusedvaluesofindividualcoupons.

Whenimplemented,ARC’sparticipatingairlineswereinformedofthisworkaroundandthepurpose.However,itisuptoeachindividualairlinetodeterminehowtheirexchangetransactionsshouldprocessed.

Q: IARdoesnotautopopulatethetaxcodesforexchangetransactions.A: WhenusingtheIARPartialExchangeWorkaround,youmustenterthetotalamountofthe

originaldocumentthatisbeingexchangedintheIAROldFareandOldTotalfieldsandthenselecttheADDbutton.IARwillthenautofilltheExchangeSupportscreenwithalloftheoriginallyreportedvaluesincludingtheoriginaltaxcodes,taxvaluesandcommission(Option1).WhentheExchangeSupportscreenisauto-filledwiththeoldvalues,youwillseethemessage:IAR separated the old fare/taxes for you based on your -Old Total-

Tobringbackonlythetaxcodes(Option2),youmustenteranamountthatislessthanthetotaloftheoriginaldocumentthatisbeingexchangedintheIAROldFareandOldTotalfield.WhentheExchangeSupportscreenisauto-filledwiththeoldtaxcodes,youwillseethemessage:Please review taxes - Leave -Tax Amt- blank if not required for exchange


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Q: DoestheIARPartialExchangeWorkaroundreturnthecommissionamountinadditionto

thetaxes?A: Yes,whenusingOption1oftheworkaround,IARwillreturnalltheoriginallyreported

values,includingtheoriginalcommissionamount,forthedocumentthatisbeingexchanged.

Q: WhenusingtheIARPartialExchangeWorkaround,canmorethanonecouponnumberbe

enteredintotheexchangecouponfieldontheIARExchangeSupportscreen?A: Yes,intheCouponfield,enterthecouponnumbers.Forexample,when

exchangingCoupons1,2and3,enterjustthosecouponnumbersintheCouponsfield:

Q: Whenperformingapartialexchangetransaction,howdoIgettheunusedtaxesfortheold

documenttopopulateinIAR?A: Whenissuingapartialexchange,itisrecommendedthatyouuseyourGDS’sexchange

repricingtoolsothatyourGDSformatwillsendthecorrectdatatoIAR.YourGDSrepresentativecanprovideyouwithmoreinformationontheirautomatedexchangerepricingfunctionality.

Asalastoption,youcanusetheIARPartialExchangeWorkaround.Thisoptionhowever,

willreturnthefulloriginalvaluesoftheolddocumentthatisbeingexchanged.Q: WhenusingOption1oftheIARPartialExchangeWorkaround,Ithoughtyoucanjustadd

theoriginaltotalamountoftheolddocumenttotheOldTotalfield(nottheOldFarefieldaswell),clicktheNextbuttonandalloftheoriginaltaxeswouldbeadded.

A: Actually,theworkaroundwillbringbacktheoriginaltaxcodesandamountswhenyouenterjustthefulloriginaltotalamountintheOldTotal,butyouwillneedtopressEnteronyourkeyboardinsteadofselectingtheADDbutton.IfyouselecttheADDbutton(insteadofpressingEnter)andhaveonlycompletedtheOldTotalfield,youwillgetanerrormessageindicating,OldFareplusOldTaxesmustequalOldTotal.WhentheExchangeSupportscreenisauto-filledwiththeoriginallyreportedvaluesusingeithermethod,youwillseethemessage:IAR separated the old fare/taxes for you based on your -Old Total-

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Q: WilltheIARPartialExchangeWorkaroundworkforbothdomesticandinternationaltaxes?

A: Yes,theIARPartialExchangeWorkaroundisapplicabletoalltaxes,includingInternationaltaxesthatwereappliedtoatickettransaction.

Companion MCO for Residual Value Questions Q: WhatisanexampleofaMCOnotbeingallowedforresidualvalue?A: Eachindividualairlinedefineswhetheraresidualvaluecanbeapplied(I.e.refunded,

issuedtoaresidualvalueMCO,lost/forfeited).AnairlinemayprohibitaMCObeingusedforresidualvaluebasedonclassofservice.Typically,lowerfareoptionshavethemostrestrictions.Manyairlineshaveapolicythatanyresidualvalueisforfeited(lost).

Q: IfwedonotwanttocreateaMCOforresidualvalue,cantheresidualamountberemoved

fromtheexchangetransaction?A: Yes,iftheresidualvalueisconsideredaforfeited“Lose-it-Amount”,youcanusetheIAR

Adjustmentfieldtoaccommodatetheresidualamount.Remember,youmusthandletheresidualvalueasdefinedbythevalidatingcarrier.Anydeviationcanleadtotheissuanceofadebitmemo.

Q: AreMCO’sstillbeingusedorarehavetheybeenreplacedbyEMDs?A: MCOsarestillusedandwillbethelastremainingpaperdocumentasoftheendofJune

2018.

EMDswilleventuallyreplaceMCOs,howeverwearenotthereyet.TheuseofEMDsarecurrentlydefinedbythefunctionalityofeachindividualairline.Somecarriersdosupportagents’abilitytoissueEMD,includingEMDsforresidualvalue.AtthistimeIARcannotautomaticallylinkaresidualvalueEMDtoitsexchangetransaction.


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Q: WhentryingtolinkacompanionMCOtoanexchangetransaction,IenterFutureAirTransportationintheMCO’sTypeofServicefield.TheMCOdoesnotlinkinIAR.

A: IARcanonlyperformtheautomatedlinkingofaresidualvalueMCOtoitsexchangetransactionwhentheinformationissentfromtheGDStoIAR.IARcanonlyautomaticallylinkaresidualvalueMCOtoitsexchangewhen:1. ThenewMCOincludesthenewexchangedocumentnumberinthe'ISSUEDIN

CONNECTIONWITH'fieldandtheword'RESIDUAL'or‘FUTURE’inthe'TYPEOFSERVICE'field

2. ThenewexchangeticketandtheMCOareissuedonthesamedayAnydeviationsuchasmisspellingofthewordsResidualorFutureorissuingtheMCOonadifferentdate than thenewexchangewill interrupt the linkingprocessand IARcannotperformtheauto-link.Remember, you cannot manually perform the link by typing the word “Future” or“Residual”ontheMCOInformationscreen.Instead,youmustenterthe10-characterMCOdocumentnumberunderthe“Exchanges:NewDocuments”fieldontheFinancialDetailsscreenofthenewexchangedocument.

Q: WhenissuingacompanionMCOforresidualvalue,mustIenterFutureorResidualValue

intheMCO’sTypeofServicefield?InormallyenterCreditandmanuallylinktheMCOtotheexchangeinIAR.

A: TheresidualvalueMCOauto-linkingfeaturewasaddedtoIARtohelpimproveandstreamlinetheexchangereportingprocessforagents.WhenissuingaMCOforresidualvalueinyourGDS,inorderfortheMCOtoautomaticallylinktotheexchangetransactioninIAR,youwillhavetoentereitherFutureorResidualValueintheMCO’sTypeofServicefield.Itisokifyouchoosetoentersomethingelse,butkeepinminddoingsowillcausetheMCOtonotautomaticallylinktotheexchange.YouwillthenhavetomanuallylinktheMCOinIAR.

Q: IsthereamaximumnumberofMCOsthatcanusedforanexchangetransaction?A: Themaximumnumberofnewdocumentsthatcanbeaddedtoanexchangetransactionis

20.ForcompanionMCOsissuedforresidualvalue,unlessinstructedbytheairline,onlyoneMCOshouldbeissuedforthefullamountoftheresidualvalue.Anydeviationandresultinadebitmemo.


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Q: HowdoesanEMDissuedforresidualvaluelinktoanexchangetransaction?A: Currently,thelinkingprocessforEMDsissuedforresidualvalueisnotyetavailable.Ifa

carriersupportsissuanceofanEMDtotransferresidualvalue,youmustmanuallylinkthatEMDtoitsexchangetransactioninIAR.FullEMDfunctionality,includinganEMDInformationscreenandauto-linkingofresidualvalueEMDsisplannedasafuturephaseofIAR.

GDS Questions Q: IARdoesnotautopopulatethetaxcodesforexchangetransactions.A: WhenissuingapartialexchangetransactionthroughyourGDS,IARwillonlypopulatethe

unusedtaxes/taxcodesunderthefollowingsituations:

• GDSRepricingtool–IARwillpopulatetheunusedtaxcodesandtaxvalueswhenyouusethecorrectGDSexchangeauto-repricingformat.

• IARPartialExchangeWorkaround(Option1)-IARwillpopulatetheoriginaltaxes(taxcodesandassociatedamounts)ifyoumanuallyentertheoriginaltotalofthedocumentthatisbeingexchangedintheIAROldFareandOldTotalfieldontheIARExchangeSupportscreen.

• IARPartialExchangeWorkaround(Option2)–IARwillpopulatetheoriginaltaxcodes(nottaxamounts)ofthedocumentbeingexchangedwhenyouenteranamountthatwaslessthantheoriginaltotalinboththeIAROldFareandOldTotalfieldsontheIARExchangeSupportscreen.

Q: WehavehadanissuewithexchangetransactionsbeingvoidedintheGDS.Thevoidstatus

appearsintheGDSandontheairlineside,howeverthevoiddoesnotshowinIAR.Whenthishappens,wehavetorefundthetransactions.

A: IfyouvoidedatickettransactionthroughyourGDS,howeveritdoesnotappearinIAR,theremayhavebeenatransmissionissuewiththeGDS.Whenthisoccurs,youneedtonotifyARC’sCustomerCareCenterimmediately.Theywillbeabletoescalatetheissue.

AbestpracticeistocheckyourIARsalesreportsdailytoidentifyanydiscrepancies.

Whenyoucheckyoursalesreportdaily,youwillbeabletoidentifyanymissingvoidtransactions.ThiswillallowyoutovoidthetransactioninIARsincethetransactionwill


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stillbewithintheIARvoidwindow.Thiscanoccurwhenadocumentisissuedthenexchangedlaterthatsamedayforanewdocumentandthenboththeolddocumentandthenewdocumentarevoided.Whenthevoidfortheolddocumentisreceivedbeforethevoidforthenewdocument,IARrejectsthatvoidbecauseIARshowsthatdocumentstillusedintheexchangeforthenewdocument.

Refundingaticketthatcannolongervoidedcanresultinadebitmemoiftheticketis

non-refundable.Q: WhichGDShasthemostexchangeerrors?A: ExchangeerrorscomeacrossallGDSs.AlloftheGDSsofferarepricingtoolthatcanbe

sendtheunusedvaluesofanolddocumentbeingexchangedtoIAR.However,allagentsdonotusetherepricingtoolsandtheGDSrepricingtoolcannotalwaysbeusedforeveryexchange.

Toprovidesomebackgroundinformation.Eachnight,GDSssendARCatransactionfile

calledtheSystemProviderReportingFile(SPRF)thatcontainsalloftheirdailytransactions.Eachtransactionhasaspecificfilelayoutthatcontainsdifferentrecordsbasedonthetransactiontype.

Inthelate90’swhenARCdevelopedarecordlayouttobeabletoreceivetheunused

valuesforanexchangetransaction,theGDSswerenotabletosupportitbasedonprogramming.Astimewentby,eachGDSdevelopedrepricingtoolproductswhichwouldbeanalternativethatcouldsupporttheircustomerswhenissuingpartialexchanges.

Q: WhatarenumericcodesthatareusedtoidentifyeachGDS?A: TheGDScodesare:

• Amadeus-7906• Apollo-5880• Farelogix–9413• Galileo-7733• Sabre-0011• Worldspan-5235

Q: HowdoIaccesstheGDS’srepricingtool?A: ToaccessyourGDS’srepricingtool,youwillneedtocontactyourGDSrepresentative.


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Q: WheredowefindtheexchangepoliciesintheGDSbesidesintheGDStariffdisplay?A: YourGDSrepresentativecandirectyoutowhereticketingpoliciescanbefoundinyour

GDSsystem. OnARC’scorporatewebsite,includedinourlistofparticipatingairlines,mostairlines

havealsoprovidedalinktotheirindividualpolicies.Dependingontheairline,youmayberequiredtologintoasecurewebportal.ProvidingthislinkwasinaninitiativethatcamefromARC’sDebitMemoWorkingGroupinorderforairlinestobemoretransparentontheirpolicies.

ARC’sParticipatingAirlinesQ: DoesSabrenolongerguaranteeanAutomatedExchange?A: EachGDShastheirownpoliciesregardingtheirrepricingtool.Youwillneedtocheck

withyourGDSrepresentativeaboutanyguaranteeoption.

Airline Questions Q: Whatisthetimeframefortheissuanceofdebitmemosbyairlines?A: Thetimeframeinwhichdebitmemosareissuedvarybyairline.ARC’sDebitMemo

WorkingGroupisworkingtodefineandputintopracticeastandardizedtimeframefortheissuanceofdebitmemos.Thisischallengingbecauseeachairlinehasdifferentprocessesinplacewhichdefineswhenadebitmemoisissued.

For example, when a ticketing violation is identified, an airline may issue a debit memo as soon as the transaction was processed and settled while another airline may wait until after the passenger has used the ticket.