What are Optional Services?

Optional Services allows carriers/vendors to reduce costs by automating existing services, establishing pricing consistency for existing non-automated service fees, and generating new revenue streams. This application provides an industry standard system used by pricing systems to deliver consistent pricing across all delivery channels. The application addresses all requirements necessary to support the full life cycle of these transactions from display and pricing through to ticketing and revenue accounting.

Carriers will define their optional service as one of ten distinct types of service, as follows:

Flight Related	This is a service that must be associated to specific flights on a passenger’s ticket. For example, meal service or advance seat assignment. Flight Related services may be offered by any operating carrier of the passenger’s ticket. Additionally, these services may be offered by any marketing carrier of the passenger’s ticket provided concurrence is granted by the operating carrier.
Ticket Related	This is a service that is only applicable if the passenger is holding a ticket. The service must reference a passenger’s ticket, but is not associated to specific flights. For example, lounge facility. Ticket Related services may be offered by the operating, marketing, or validating carrier of the passenger’s ticket.
Reissue/Refund	This is a service that allows the customer to pre-purchase the opportunity to change or refund the ticketed itinerary. A Reissue/Refund service overrides the reissue and/or refund conditions of a fare and must reference a passenger’s ticket. For example, the ability to purchase the right to change a fare that does not usually permit changes. This service may only be offered by a fare owner on the passenger’s ticket provided the following conditions apply: All secondary marketing carriers on the fare component concur to the fare owner’s service. All other fare owners on the ticket concur to the service. The same Reissue/Refund service is applied for the entire ticket.
Merchandise	The airline service offering the customer the choice to purchase any type of merchandise, irrelative of whether a passenger’s ticket exists. For example, online stores that sell logo merchandise. Merchandise services may be offered by any carrier or vendor.
Baggage Allowance	This service defines the baggage that a passenger can check for free. Baggage Allowance is identified on a passenger ticket and/or applies at time of passenger check-in to see if the passenger is checking excess baggage.
Baggage Charges	Baggage Charges define any fees applicable for baggage that exceeds the free baggage allowance.
Carry-on Allowance	This service defines the carry-on baggage that a passenger may carry on (not check) for free.
Embargoes	Baggage Embargoes define what the passenger cannot bring as checked items due to operational considerations. Baggage Embargoes are filed by the operating carriers and are used with Baggage Allowance and Charges to identify limitations to what might typically be allowed within the allowance or charges.
Branded Fares	Branded Fares define any services that are used in the ATPCO Branded Fares product only. These services are defined in the Services Record, but are not shown in the Provisions Record.

Optional Service Records

Services

The Services Record provides basic information about the Optional Service or Baggage in terms of who owns it, what it is, and how it may be offered. This record defines the service associated to a specific sub code by identifying the attributes: high-level group code as well as a specific sub group and/or descriptions that further classify the service. The attributes allow systems to pinpoint the type of service applicable to a sub code and to compare/identify like services. The sub code will be further classified as industry defined or carrier defined.

Carriers must identify whether the service applicable for a sub code must be associated with a flight or a ticket, is a Reissue/Refund service, is Merchandise for sale (not required to be associated to a flight or ticket), is a Baggage Allowance, is a Baggage Charge, or is for Branded Fares. It is possible the same service (same sub code) may vary its designation by Flight Related, Ticket Related, Merchandise, or Baggage Charges. For example, ”lounge service” may vary in price or application depending upon whether it is purchased in conjunction with a flight, with a ticket or if it is not associated with any travel. In this instance, ATPCO would create a single sub code for ”lounge service” and three service records will be created, one for ”lounge service” associated to a flight coupon, one for ”lounge service” associated to a ticket, and one for ”lounge service” that is Merchandise.

A Reissue/Refund service can only be designated as Reissue/Refund (reissue/refund override) and will not vary its designation.

A Branded Fares service can only be designated as Branded Fares and will not vary its designation.

Baggage Allowance can only be designated as Baggage Allowance with generic sub code 0DF and will not vary its designation.

Concurrence is required for certain types of services and any concurrence requirements will be specified in the services record. Additionally, the services record may specify any associated Special Service Request (SSR) code, standard Schedules Information Manual (SSIM) code, commercial name, or text as well as Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) requirements.

Concurrence

The Concurrence Record specifies any concurrence agreements for Flight Related and Reissue/Refund services. This record has no application for Ticket Related, Merchandise, Baggage Allowance, Baggage Charges, Carry-on Allowance, Embargoes, or Branded Fares and is not interrogated for such services.

It is assumed all carriers non-concur to another carrier’s Flight Related or Reissue/Refund service. Concurrence can only be granted for industry defined sub codes. For Flight Related and Reissue/Refund Services, the Concurrence record is processed to ascertain one operating or marketing carrier’s concurrence to another operating and/or marketing carrier’s Optional Service, as described below:

Flight Related Concurrence

For Flight Related services, the carrier whose service is being assessed may be any marketing or operating carrier within the portion of travel being priced on the ticket. Concurrence is required in the following circumstances:

To assess a single operating carrier’s service across a portion of travel consisting of multiple operating carriers. In this case, concurrence is required from the other operating carriers on the portion of travel.
To assess a marketing carrier’s service, concurrence is required from all operating carriers involved in the travel.

Concurrence is not required to assess an operating carrier’s service across a portion of travel on which they are the sole operating carrier. Additionally, concurrence is never required from any marketing carrier.

Reissue/Refund Concurrence

For Reissue/Refund services, the carrier whose service is being assessed must be a fare owner of a fare component on the ticket. Concurrence is required as follows:

All secondary marketing carriers on the fare component must concur to the fare owner whose Reissue/Refund service is being assessed.
All other fare owning carriers on the ticket must concur to the fare owner whose Reissue/Refund service is being assessed.

Concurrence is never required from any operating carrier.

Baggage

For Baggage Provisions (Allowance, Charges, Carry-on Allowance, and Embargoes), there is no concurrence for the first phase. The carrier whose baggage allowance and charges apply is determined by standard default logic based on IATA Resolution 302 and government reservations to the resolution. This carrier may be the operating carrier or the marketing carrier depending on the itinerary. A carrier will have the option of deferring to a marketing/operating carrier’s baggage rules. This option is located on the Provisions record in the Free/Not Available field.

Provisions (Not applicable for any sub code with the Branded Fares service type.)

The Provisions Record specifies the travel, passenger, geographic, carrier, flight, fare, and sales requirements for each specific service as well as any fees and applicable rule validation (e.g., for Reissue/Refund Services) associated to the service.

Once the service is identified in the Services Record and any concurrence is verified in the Concurrence Record, processing will proceed to the Provisions Record and attempt to apply the service and assess any applicable fees. The carrier whose service is identified in the Provisions Record can designate the data in the record as either public or private.