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nameVia Rail Service_20Sept23.pdf

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Overview

The train travel service is integrated with the online travel booking process. It lets you set up spending policies, and guides users to appropriate train optionsYou must configure VIA Rail in Deem if you want users to be able to book trips with VIA Rail.

Note: Rail services must be enabled; see Rail Services Configuration for steps to enable/disable.

Table of Contents

Benefits and Need to Know

VIA Rail services are integrated with Deem’s online travel booking process. You can set up spending policies, take advantage of negotiated rates, and guide users to appropriate train options. Reward membership programs/numbers are applied to rail bookings. Tickets can be picked up at a station kiosk or emailed. 

Table of Contents

Benefits and Need to Know

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Benefits and Need to Know

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Benefits

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  • Rail passive segments can be passed through to the global distribution system (GDS).

    • Note: Amadeus functionality does not currently support GDS write back of rail segments. If rail is enabled on an Amadeus site, the reservation is only viewable online; no GDS PNR is created.

  • If rail is configured on your Template site, the configuration will clone over to all new sites.

    • If the client does not require rail services, you can disable rail by unchecking rail within each Service Rules. Once disabled under Service Rules rail will not be offered to the client and all other configurations will not trigger.

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Need to Know

  • If this is the first time the TMC has programmed Rail, please open a Deem Support Case.  Deem will assist you with programming your site. If there are other scripts you may need please add them to the case.

  • Deem currently cannot support multiple rail services under the same Agency Setting. Meaning you are unable to combine Amtrak and Via Rail under the same configuration. For Via Rail, the Sales Location must be within Canada.

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  • Supported GDS

    • Sabre

    • Galileo (Apollo)

    • Worldspan

    • Amadeus (No passive segment PNR write back).

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Reward membership program/number will be applied to the booking.

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Companies can manage train costs with policies and take advantage of negotiated rates.

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Important: Deem does not support multiple rail services under the same Agency Setting, which means you cannot combine Amtrak and VIA Rail under the same configuration.

Important: You will need to open a Deem Support Case for VIA Rail configuration if any of the following apply:

  • This is the first time this TMC has enabled VIA Rail with Deem. The support case enables Deem to establish your TMC Customer Identification information. Complete the attached template (pending) and add to your Deem Support case.

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Status/SME reply

There was no template attached to this topic - please provide.

Need SME to provide.

  • You want to enable a company site card for use with VIA Rail. Deem will contact SilverRail on your client’s behalf to set up

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  • customer identifiers. (Not required if you are using only individual credit cards; you can use your TMC Customer Identification information.)

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If

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 Areas to Configuration

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Configuring Agency Settings

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you have configured rail services on your template site, those settings clone to all sites you create from your template site. Best practice is to add your TMC Customer Identification information

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in your template site.

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  • If the client does not require rail services, you can disable rail by unchecking rail within each Service Rules. Once disabled under Service Rules rail will not be offered to the client and all other configurations will not trigger.

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You need to change the Customer Identification information

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  • In this instance you will need to open a Deem Support Case. Deem will work with Silver Rail to obtain the client’s Customer Identification information. Deem will then update the case with the information, or you to update the client’s site.

  • See attached template (top of the Wiki Article): You complete and attach to the Deem Support case.

See below instructions on how to configure Agency Settings.

  • On the Services tab, select Travel Agency.

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  • Select Agency Settings.

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  • Select active Agency Setting.

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  • Sales Location: Must be a Canadian airport code for Via Rail services to be offered.

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Channel: 

  • Enter the Deem-supplied Channel code (all capital letters). 

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Agency Identifier:

  • Enter the Deem-supplied Agency Identifier (all capital letters). 

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Customer Identifier:

  • Enter the Deem-supplied Customer Identifier (all capital letters).

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Agency Identifier:

  • Enter the Deem-supplied Customer Identifier (all capital letters).

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Customer Identifier:

  • Enter the Deem-supplied Customer Identifier (all capital letters).

Client ID Number:

in a site cloned from your template only if that site will use site payment cards (see above section for details on opening a support case if so).

Rail passive segments are passed through to your GDS. The following GDSs are supported for VIA Rail:

  • Sabre

  • Galileo (Apollo)

  • Worldspan

  • Amadeus (No passive segment PNR write back; if rail is enabled on an Amadeus site, the reservation is only viewable online and no GDS PNR is created.)

Configuring Deem Settings for VIA Rail

To set up VIA Rail, from your TMC partner dashboard, take the following steps:

  1. Navigate to the Agency Configuration Settings page:

    1. At the top of your Partner Dashboard, click the Services tab.

    2. From the Travel list, click the Travel Agency link.

    3. Click the Agency Settings link.

    4. Click the link for your active agency site.

The Agency Configuration Settings page opens.

  1. In the Host Information section, set the Sales Location per the example below. Important: VIA Rail services require a Canadian airport code here.

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  1. In the Train Support section, complete the following fields using capital letters for all letter entries:

    1. Channel: Enter the Deem-supplied channel code.

    2. Agent Identifier: Enter the Deem-supplied agent identifier code.

    3. Customer Identifier: Enter the Deem-supplied customer code.

    4. Client ID Number: Enter the number to be used when optional reporting is

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    1. needed.

    2. Customer DK Number:

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    1. Enter the number to be used when optional reporting is needed.

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  1. In the VIA Rail Specific Support

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  1. section, complete the following fields:

    1. For Add passive train segment to primary GDS?

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    1. , select either the Yes or No

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A passive segment is a set of trip information entered into the GDS that does not cause a ticket to be issued by the GDS. For example, a user may be taking a train between cities, and although you do not use the GDS to issue the train ticket, you may want all of the trip information to be in one place for the user's benefit, and so that agents can generate itineraries or make notes. 

    1. button. By default, no information is saved in the GDS unless

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    1. Yes is selected.

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  • See below for examples of passive segments.

    1. In the box for Message for Train support procedure and phone numbers

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    1. , enter the message

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    1. that will display for the user on the purchase page and on confirmation messages.

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    1. Do not include HTML tags or use travel lingo.

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    1. If the train support

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    1. number for mobile

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    1. clients is different from other support numbers

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    1. , enter that mobile support number in the field for Train support phone number for mobile client.

  1. Scroll to the bottom of the page and

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  1. click the Save button.

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PNR Mapping

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Clones over from Template site.

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  1. Settings on the following tabs are cloned from your template site; you may want to verify settings in the following places these but no additional configuration should be necessary. The links below provide more information on these settings.

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Rail Private Rates

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  • Clones over from Template site.

  • Click link for further information around Rail Private Rates.

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Travel Policy

  • Clones over from Template site.

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  • Rail Private Rates:Click the Services tab. Under Private Rates, click Train Rates.

  • Service Rules: Click the Rules tab, the Service Rules link, and click Edit in the Travel column for each group to edit.

  • Travel Policy: Click the Services tab and then the Travel Policy link. Important: For Acela to appear you must allow users to book Business Class

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Display Configurations

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Service Rules

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  • Clones over from Template site.

Note: To enable users to book rail, you must enable it within Service Rules.

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Note: You can have all of the above steps completed, but if you do not go to service rules to enable rail the client will not have the ability to search for or book Via Rail.  

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Commit Changes and Test

  • Commit changes.

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  • : Under Travel Policy, click the Policy Sets link, select the policy set to edit, and select the policy name. In the Train Policy section, select Yes for Travelers are permitted to book business class per the example below.

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  1. Commit all changes: At the upper-right of the screen, click the link noting the changes not applied to access the Commit Changes page, and click the Commit button.

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  1. After committing changes, test a booking to ensure you are seeing rail bookings and that they are being processed properly.

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  1.  Be sure to book refundable rates if you intend to complete a test booking.

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Passive Segments

Sabre Passive Segment

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Segment Example

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Breakdown

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0RAL2VGK1NYPBOS19DEC-LV-900A/AR-100P/NA- TRAIN 66/SI-BKD ONLINE/CF-123ABC

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  • 0RAL = constant

  • 2V = Rail code – 2V is Via Rail code

  •  GK1 = Constant

  •  NYP = Departure Station

  •  BOS = Arrival station

  •  19DEC = Travel date

  •  -LV- = Constant

  •  900A = Departure time /DT-=Constant

  •  19DEC = Arrival date

  •  /AR- = Constant

  •  100p = Arrival time

  •  /NA- = Constant

  • Via Rail = Carrier code

  • 66 = Train number

  • SI-BKD ONLINE/CF- = Constant

  • ABCDEF- = Record Locator

Apollo Passive Segment

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Segment Example

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Breakdown

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02V95Y24SEPNYPPHLBK1/1035A1157A

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  • 02V = Constant

  • 95Y = Train number and class

  • 24SEP = Departure Date

  • NYP = Departure Station code

  • PHL = Arrival Station code

  • BK1/ = Constant

  • 1035A = Departure Time

  • 1157A = Arrival Time

Worldspan Passive Segment

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Segment Example

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Breakdown

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TN2VMK1TRN24MAR/CC1-NYP/CC2-WAS/AN-VIA RAIL 1229/TD-1000AM/TA-1130AM/CF-1234234

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TN = Constant

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2V = Carrier Code

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MK1TRN = Constant

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24MAR = Departure Date

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/CC1- = Constant

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NYP = Departure Station code

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/CC2- = Constant

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 WAS = Arrival Station Code

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/AN- = Constant

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VIA 1229 = Carrier Name <sp> Train number

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 /TD- = Constant

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 1000AM = Departure Time

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 /TA- = Constant

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 1130AM = Arrival Time

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 /CF- = Constant

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