Where do you ITAsoftware tickets?

[Vladimir Menkov]

I like finding schedules and good fares at
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ They seem to be able to find the best
fares, and provide nice interface too. But they don't sell
tickets. With a simple one-airline tickets, I then just buy the ticket
directly from the airline, and get about the same fare. But sometimes,
when an open jaw or a stopover route is requested (ORD-HEL, SVO-ORD;
or ORD-GVA-SVO-ORD), ITA gives me routing with 3-4 airlines in them,
give a page full of details (with booking codes etc) and tell me
this:


"If you want to buy this ticket, it's probably best to use a travel
agent (this ticket involves multiple airlines, which can get
complicated). If you use a travel agent to buy this ticket:

* If your travel agent is online and has an e-mail address,
e-mail this itinerary to them
* If your travel agent is not online, print out this page and
fax/give it to them

It is very important to use the exact same booking codes and fare
codes that we've used on this page in order to match the price we've
found."

Well, now what?The "travel agents" I normally use are outfits like
travelocity ad Orbitz, and I don't think there is a way I can mail an
itinerary to them, and have them act on it. Can anybody recommend me
an agent that can use for it? Ideally, that's what I like:

-- they be in the USA (that is, capable of taking US$ credit card without
currency conversion charges accruing both ways, as it would
happen if I went to an agent here in Canada)

-- can handle everything over email or phone, quickly. If the physical ticket
can be sent, that's of course an extra fee.

-- can provide a "confirmed reservation" which I can print off their
website promptly, so that I can use it for getting visas at consulates,
etc., as needed.

-- would be nice for them to be in Chicago or Indianapolis, so
that I coudl pick the ticket in person when I am there, but that's
not critical.

Thanks!

--vladimir

[Throbbing vulva]

Vladimir Menkov wrote:
> or ORD-GVA-SVO-ORD), ITA gives me routing with 3-4 airlines in them,
> give a page full of details (with booking codes etc) and tell me
> this:
>
> "If you want to buy this ticket, it's probably best to use a travel
> agent

In the days of easy sabre, you could book such an itinerary, specifiying the
right booking classes, and even if it was unable to price it properly, you
could then show up at the originating airline's city ticket office and have
them price it and issue your ticket. You save the time of giving all your
personal information and flight info since that was alrteady done.

Alas, easy sabre is gone, city ticket offices are, for the most part, gone as well.

You should still be able to call the originating airline, give them all the
details over the phone and they can then issue the ticket for you.

Or, as the web site proposes, just find a local travel agent who can then do
the work and bill you in your local currency.

Once you know the flight numbers, dates, booking class, it really doesn't take
that long to give that info to the TA or airline employee over the phone.

Where you may have problems is with e-tickets. Airline A may not be able to
give you an eticket if it involves airline A and airline B. (unless A has
agreements with B, something which is becoming more and more common).

A travel agent may be more inclined to waive the paper ticket fee for such a
booking when you've done all the research and all they have to do is type your
itineray in, price it and print ticket (no research involved on their part).

[Vladimir Menkov]

In article >,
Throbbing vulva > wrote:
....
>You should still be able to call the originating airline, give them all the
>details over the phone and they can then issue the ticket for you.

Hmm... It's worth trying, of course, although I would be surprised if
this indeed is a way to make the airline sell you a ticket at the
ITAsoftware-quoted price, rather then the best price that their own
website quotes (which is substantially higher)

>Or, as the web site proposes, just find a local travel agent who can then do
>the work and bill you in your local currency.

Well... I tried that of course. A local agent here in Canada claimed
tat "we only can get the fare classes our computer system [Galileo]
gives us", meaning that the booking classes I have on my printout
would be useless to her. and that was, of course, some 50% higher
then ITAsoftware quote. She says all agents in town (not that we have
many :-) work like that.

As to the local currency... well, I try to be patriotic and spend
CDN$, but it's usually not a very good deal. Say, something is quoted
by a US-based airline at US$100. Your Canadian vendor charges, your
credit card, say, CDN $135; and, if it is a US-based credit card, you
get a charge of US$103, when all is said and done. Just a few per cent
difference, no big deal really, but you sort of feel you waste money
thei way :-) (Same thing with getting US$ cach from a US bank account
in some dual-currency ATMs in Canada; losing 3% on the round-trip
currency conversion).

Thanks for the suggestion, anyway.

--Vladimir

[Ingrown Toenail]

Vladimir Menkov wrote:
> Hmm... It's worth trying, of course, although I would be surprised if
> this indeed is a way to make the airline sell you a ticket at the
> ITAsoftware-quoted price, rather then the best price that their own
> website quotes (which is substantially higher)

Forget the airline's web site. Many fares don't auto price and require a
human to read the fare rules and approve the fare. Hence your need to phone
the airline reservations. Web sites don't work with fares/itineraries that
don't autoprice (or quote an exhorbitant Y class fare when a much lower fare
could apply.

> Well... I tried that of course. A local agent here in Canada claimed
> tat "we only can get the fare classes our computer system [Galileo]
> gives us", meaning that the booking classes I have on my printout
> would be useless to her.

You need proper terminology:

When you make the reservation, you specify a booking class. A single letter.
Once the reservation is made, you then price it, applying a fare code to the
itinerary. Fare code specifies which booking class it applies to. (generally,
but not always, a fare code begins with the letter of the booking class it
applies to, eg: BJAP3 would require a booking in class B.)

Your travel agent can book the itinerary with your booking classes. If their
galileo won't auto price it properly, the TA then calls the originating
airline to confirm that this itinerary is valid for fare code XXXXX. Airlines
have a department that does just that. Once they get confirmation/approval
from airline, the TA then forces the fare code and price onto your itinerary.

Note that sometimes, the systems like ITAsoftware etc may provide you with
insufficient information. While it may specify that you need booking class X
on their outbound leg, it may not specify which booking class you need for the
subsequent leg on the other carrier. In such cases, you book it in the same
booking class and if needed, the airline will then tell the TA that segment X
on airline YY needs to be in booking class Z after which the fare may become
applicable to your itinerary.

Some of the reservations syetms will provide you with combinability details
for a fare code, and that lists whether, for instance, an open jaw is
permitted with a different carrier with same booking class and/or different
carrier with different booking class.

You need access to the complete fare rules for this. Having access to
applicable routings also helps, although this is quite rare. (this is where
City Ticket Offices came in to help when constructing complex itineraries).


> by a US-based airline at US$100. Your Canadian vendor charges, your
> credit card, say, CDN $135; and, if it is a US-based credit card, you
> get a charge of US$103, when all is said and done.

You should always try to deal with a TA that charges in the same currency as
your credit card.

[Jeff Hacker]

The ITA software is the backbone of the Orbitz system. I would suggest
using Orbitz. I noticed that America West also uses ITA, but you are
(obviously) limited to their route system.

Jeff

"Vladimir Menkov" > wrote in message
...
> I like finding schedules and good fares at
> http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ They seem to be able to find the best
> fares, and provide nice interface too. But they don't sell
> tickets. With a simple one-airline tickets, I then just buy the ticket
> directly from the airline, and get about the same fare. But sometimes,
> when an open jaw or a stopover route is requested (ORD-HEL, SVO-ORD;
> or ORD-GVA-SVO-ORD), ITA gives me routing with 3-4 airlines in them,
> give a page full of details (with booking codes etc) and tell me
> this:
>
>
> "If you want to buy this ticket, it's probably best to use a travel
> agent (this ticket involves multiple airlines, which can get
> complicated). If you use a travel agent to buy this ticket:
>
> * If your travel agent is online and has an e-mail address,
> e-mail this itinerary to them
> * If your travel agent is not online, print out this page and
> fax/give it to them
>
> It is very important to use the exact same booking codes and fare
> codes that we've used on this page in order to match the price we've
> found."
>
> Well, now what?The "travel agents" I normally use are outfits like
> travelocity ad Orbitz, and I don't think there is a way I can mail an
> itinerary to them, and have them act on it. Can anybody recommend me
> an agent that can use for it? Ideally, that's what I like:
>
> -- they be in the USA (that is, capable of taking US$ credit card without
> currency conversion charges accruing both ways, as it would
> happen if I went to an agent here in Canada)
>
> -- can handle everything over email or phone, quickly. If the physical
ticket
> can be sent, that's of course an extra fee.
>
> -- can provide a "confirmed reservation" which I can print off their
> website promptly, so that I can use it for getting visas at consulates,
> etc., as needed.
>
> -- would be nice for them to be in Chicago or Indianapolis, so
> that I coudl pick the ticket in person when I am there, but that's
> not critical.
>
> Thanks!
>
> --vladimir
>

[Pussy Galore]

Jeff Hacker wrote:
> The ITA software is the backbone of the Orbitz system. I would suggest
> using Orbitz.

Has Orbitz decided to open their doors to international travellers too or are
they still limiting access only to americans ?

ITA has no such limitations and provides international itineraries that do not
necessarily involve the USA.

[Vladimir Menkov]

In article >,
Jeff Hacker > wrote:
>The ITA software is the backbone of the Orbitz system. I would suggest
>using Orbitz.

This was, naturally, something I tried first. It turned, however, that
Orbitz' ability to reproduce ITA's results was, at best, spotty. In
my experience, Orbitz usually gives just as good fares as ITA on
domestic USA routes, and, often, a reasonably good approximation on
some international flights (ORD-HEL or ORD-ZRH roundtrips, or, on some
dates, ORD-HEL,SVO-ORD open-jaw). With an international open-jaw, or a
three-segments trip (DTW-GVA-MOW-DTW) Orbitz was much more likely to
simply come up with a "no flights were found", or with some completely
ridiculous fare.

And of course Orbitz does not do trips originating from outside USA
(even from Canada!), while ITA has this capability now. So if Orbitz
don't give you a quote for an international multi-segment trip, you
cannot use their site to "cobble" such a trip as a combination of
several separate roundtrips.

--vld.

[Vladimir Menkov]

Thanks, will save your article for reference.

--vld.


In article >,
Ingrown Toenail > wrote:
....
>You need proper terminology:
>
>When you make the reservation, you specify a booking class. A single letter.
>Once the reservation is made, you then price it, applying a fare code to the
>itinerary. Fare code specifies which booking class it applies to. (generally,
>but not always, a fare code begins with the letter of the booking class it
>applies to, eg: BJAP3 would require a booking in class B.)
>
>Your travel agent can book the itinerary with your booking classes. If their
>galileo won't auto price it properly, the TA then calls the originating
>airline to confirm that this itinerary is valid for fare code XXXXX. Airlines
>have a department that does just that. Once they get confirmation/approval
>from airline, the TA then forces the fare code and price onto your itinerary.
....