TERM OR ACRONYM | DEFINITION |
Amadeus | A GDS provider, serving over 200 markets around the world. Amadeus serves many different companies, including airlines, travel agents, hotel operators and car rental companies. |
ADS | Alternative Distribution Site. Type of Channel Connectivity / Interface |
Apollo | GDS provider operated by Galileo International. Marketed in Europe, South America, Asia and Africa under the Galileo name and in the United States. Canada, Mexico and Japan as Apollo. |
BAR (Best Available Rate) | The lowest non-restricted rate bookable by all guests |
| Chain Code | Two character code used to identify hotel chain codes within GDS. Chain Codes may vary by GDS. |
Chargeback Authority | Generally used by a Travel Agency when giving a hotel authority to charge a third party corporate credit card. This is usually in the form of a written letter of authority advising payment instructions for a guest's stay. |
City Code | 3-letter IATA code of a location that identifies the city or its' nearest airport. JNB for Johannesburg |
| Commission | A percent of the total reservation cost paid to travel agents. Industry standard for travel agents is 10% |
Consortia | Marketing organizations that link together small to medium sized independent travel agencies to leverage purchasing power and marketing opportunities. |
Corporate Rates (COR) | Corporate Rates are different to Negotiated Rates, Corporate rates are generally accessible by all travel agents using a 'Corporate' search qualifier. Hotels generally offer discounts to corporate guests to get business into their hotel. Usually, some form of identification that the guest is travelling for business is required. These rates need to be loaded with the 'Corporate' indicator in SynXis and NCRS. |
Deposit | Amount specified by the hotel to be paid by agent or guest to guarantee reservation |
Derived Rates | Rate which is linked to base rate. Derives off of the base rate either by amount or percentage |
Galileo | A global distribution system serving users in Europe, South America, Asia and Africa. The Galileo system is managed by Galileo International, a subsidiary of Cendant Corporation, and uses “RoomMaster” for hotel bookings. |
GDS (Global Distribution Systems) | Sabre, Galileo, Amadeus and Worldspan offer a comprehensive travel shopping and reservation platform to travel agents worldwide. Agents use one of these systems to book airline, car, hotel and other travel arrangements for their customers. OTAs also use one or more GDS to power some or all of their content on their site. |
Government Rate (GOV) | Government Rates are different to Negotiated Rates, Government rates are generally accessible by all travel agents using a 'Government' search qualifier. Hotels generally offer discounts to Government and non for profit employees guests to get business into their hotel. Usually, some form of identification that the guest is travelling for these purposes is required. |
Group PCC | Identifier that distinguishes a whole group of agencies. A Pseudo-city code (PCC) is usually a three to five character code (alpha, numeric, or combination) depending upon the GDS. PCCs are necessary when adding negotiated rates, as these rates can be “defined” or secured to an agency by using their PCC. |
Group Rate | Negotiated hotel rate for convention, trade show, meeting, tour or incentive group |
Guarantee | Credit card guarantee is the standard process for most bookings received from Travel Agent systems (GDS). Some properties will allow a Guarantee to be made using an agents IATA Number, however – this is generally not advised unless the property already has a trusted relationship with that agency. The Guarantee is not necessarily the Credit Card being used to pay for booking, but a security of payment for the hotel. |
Guaranteed Reservation | A
hotel reservation secured by a credit card number or Travel agent IATA.
In exchange for card number or IATA, the hotel promises to have a room
for traveller no matter when you show up |
IATA | International
Air Transport Association (IATA) – Geneva-based association of airline
companies that operate international services and establish standard
practices. IATA accredits would-be travel agents throughout the world.
This certification includes issuance of an ID-code, termed an IATA
number. IATA numbers are used as the travel agent identifier in
reservations to allow suppliers, including hotels, to pay commissions. |
Interface | A connection between two networks without intermediary. Most often refers to a connection between a PMS/CRS and a Channel |
Markup | The difference between the hotel’s selling and the merchant’s price offered to the consumer. |
Negotiated Rate (NEG) | A term used in global distribution systems to describe rates negotiated by a hotel company with a specific client. Viewership of these rates in the GDS (by a travel agent or other GDS user) is restricted, and the rate may be booked only after entry of either the agent or client identification code. |
Net Rate | The rate provided to wholesalers and tour operators that can be marked up to sell to the customer. Does not offer commission on this rate. |
Non Guaranteed Reservation | Insures
that the hotel agrees to hold a room for the guest until a stated
reservation cancellation hour (Usually 6 p.m.) on the day of arrival |
No Show | A customer with a reservation who fails to show up and does not cancel. |
Office ID (OID) | See Psuedo City Code |
| Passenger Name Record (PNR) | The GDS file or record that contains information about a passenger’s travel plans, including flight itinerary, hotel booking segments, car rental booking segments, and related details. |
Pegasus | distribution service offers "seamless connectivity" between the GDSs (above) and the hotel central reservations systems through its GDS Seamless Interface. This allows travel agents to "search and shop" for the right hotel room on a real-time basis. |
Property | A hotel, motel, inn, lodge or other accommodation facility. |
Property Code or Hotel Code | Provided when the hotel is setup on the GDS. Each GDS will provide a unique code, which will be provided to agent when searching for the property on the GDS of their choice. This code and chain code can be used to locate the property on the GDS. These codes can be included in your email signature, your website or directly to agent. |
Provisional Reservation | Provisional bookings have a set expiry date (as defined by property's terms and conditions) on the date of expiry the inventory is released and is available to be booked again, unless an extension is requested and granted. |
Pseudo - City Code (PCC) | Identifier that distinguishes one travel agency location from another and can also be referred to as a Subscriber ID. A Pseudo-city code (PCC) is usually a three to five character code (alpha, numeric, or combination) depending upon the GDS. PCCs are necessary when adding negotiated rates, as these rates can be “defined” or secured to an agency by using their PCC. |
Public Rate | are always active and loaded in the pool of available Rates |
Rack Rate | the official or advertised price of a hotel room |
Rate Code | Code provided to a specific rate eg: RACKBB, STO12. This code is created in NCRS and mapped to corresponding code in SynXis. This code is not the same as the Rate Access Code. |
Rate Access Code (RAC) | A unique Rate Plan code used by travel agencies to access a specific corporate rate in the GDS. |
RELOC (Record Locator) | When
a passenger, travel agent or airline employee refers to a record
locator they typically mean a pointer to a specific reservation which is
known as a Passenger Name Record or PNR. |
Request for Proposal (RFP) | RFP
means Request for Proposal. A company’s formal solicitation for bids on
business from suppliers such as travel agencies, hotels or car rental
companies |
ResHub (RH) | Chain Code used by HTI on the GDS. Properties connected to the GDS through HTI will usually be assigned under the RH chain Code |
Sabre | A
GDS offered by Sabre Holdings. Sabre Holdings is a provider of travel
technology services and electronic travel distribution for the travel
and transportation industries. |
Subscriber Indetification (SID) | A unique 3-character code assigned to an agency by Worldspan. Each branch of an agency has its own unique SID. This is the Worldspan term for a Pseudo-City Code (PCC). |
Switch | Moving from one GDS provider to another, involving a change in GDS Chain Code. |
SynXis | SynXis is Sabre Hospitality Solution's industry-leading CRS (Central Reservation System). This Web-based system combines state-of-the-art technology and advanced user features to provide maximum exposure to millions of travelers through all online and offline distribution channels. HTI utilises SynXis connection to GDS. NebulaCRS will connect to SynXis via an ADS interface. Rates and Availability will be sent to SynXis which in turn will be sent to the GDS. Reservations made on GDS will in turn filter down from SynXis to NCRS/eRes and then PMS. |
Travel Agent | An individual who arranges travel for individuals or groups. Travel agents may be generalists or specialists (cruises, adventure travel, conventions and meetings.) The agents typically receive a 10 to 15% commission from accommodations, transportation companies and attractions for coordinating the booking of travel. They typically coordinate travel for their customers at the same or lower cost than if the customer booked the travel on his/her own |
Travelport | Travel Commerce Platform, focused on providing distribution, technology, payment and other solutions for the $7 trillion global travel and tourism industry. It enables travel providers, travel agencies, corporations and developers to search, share, buy and sell travel. Travelport includes Travelport Apollo, Travelport Galileo and Travelport Worldspan, Travelport Digital |
Vouchers | Forms
or coupons provided to a traveler who purchases a tour that indicate
that certain tour components have been prepaid. Vouchers are then
exchanged for tour components like accommodations, meals, sightseeing,
theatre tickets, etc. during the actual trip. |
Wholesaler | Develop
and markets inclusive tours and individual travel programs to the
consumer through travel agents. Wholesalers do not sell directly to the
public, however - may access the GDS to make their bookings. |
Worldspan | Is
a GDS that provides software used by travel agents to book airline
tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, etc. Worldspan was formed in early
1990 when Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, and Trans World Airlines
decided to merge their reservations systems into a single system. It's
parent company is Travelport. |