Display Configuration Best Practice

Benefits and Need to Know

Benefits

• Set up multiple configurations, and then organize the configurations into sets that can be assigned to groups

• You can add the same configuration to more than one set

  • For example, if you have a different policy for VIPs than everyone else, and you have two groups of VIPs (US and Canada), you would assign the VIP configuration set to both groups.

Need To Know

• You would typically create a configuration that matches a policy list

• Display Configuration List: Is a list of display decisions

  • In order to have different display configurations for users, you create or edit each display configuration list

• Display Configuration Set: Provides the ability to compartmentalize display configuration to be later add to a group

• Service Rules: Provides you to area to file sets to the appropriate groups

• To know more about Lists, Sets and Rules

Task

Process and Helpful Hint

Edit Display Configuration List

Note: The Display Configuration clones over from your template. which can be edited by taking the following steps

• Click on Settings tab

• Click on Display Configuration

• Click on Display Configuration List

• Click on the policy you would like to edit

• Once configuration has been configured move to the bottom and click Save

• Validate that the display configuration has been added to the display configuration set

Add To Set

Now that you have updated your display configuration, you will need to validate that the list has been added to the correct set. This will allow you to add the display configuration to  the Service rules to each appropriate group.

• Click on Services tab

• Click on Display Configuration link

• Click on Display Configuration Set

• Garbage can with a red X indicates the policy is added to a Service Rule

• All of the sets look to be added to the Service Rules, but you will want to validate you have assigned them to the correct Service Rules

Validate Service Rules

Added/validate all display configuration sets have been added to the Service Rules

• Click on Rules tab

• Click on Service Rules

• Click on Edit to the right of each rule, under the Travel column

• Scroll down to Display Configuration and select configuration for the group

• Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on Save

• Once you have confirmed updates have been made to each group, click on Save Priority Changes

• Click on Changes not applied in the upper right-hand corner of the screen

• Click on Commit

• Yay changes have been successfully committed

• Test

Task

Process and Helpful Hint

Creating new Display Configuration through cloning existing policy

• While the display configuration is cloned over from your template, you can not only easily edit the display configuration (as demonstrated above), but you can also clone an existing policy to create another.

  • Example: Let’s say you have two policies on your temple (Default and VIP).  Default being the most restrictive and VIP which is the least restrictive (typically very limited restrictions). You now need to configure a third policy that allows for business and first class when traveling internationally.

    • First configure the default policy

    • Click on Clone to the far right of the default policy group

    • Change Policy Name

      • In this example changing to Manager Policy

• Enable shopping for First Class Cabin: click on radio button to enable

• Enable shopping for Business Class Cabin: click on radio button to enable

• If these are the only changes move to the bottom of the screen and click on Save

Add To Set

Now that you have updated your display configuration, you will need to validate that the list has been added to the correct set. This will allow you to add the display configuration to  the Service rules to each appropriate group.

• Click on Services tab

• Click on Display Configuration link

• Click on Display Configuration Set

• Click on Add A New Display Configuration Set

• Enter Set Name:  in this example I have entered Manager Display Config

• Click Add Config

• Click radio button to the left of the policy you would like to add

• Click on OK

  • Note: if there is more than one policy to add such as if you have built a domestic and international policy, click on the radio button to the first policy you would like to add and then click on OK & Add Another Policy, you will then be brought back to the same screen to select the next policy for that set.  You would then click on Ok to complete that policy set.

• Click on Save

Add to Service Rules

Added/validate all display configuration sets have been added to the Service Rules

• Click on Rules tab

• Click on Service Rules

• Click on Edit to the right of each rule, under the Travel column

• Scroll down to Display Configuration and select configuration for the group

• Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on Save

• Once you have confirmed updates have been made to each group, click on Save Priority Changes

• Click on Changes not applied in the upper right-hand corner of the screen

• Click on Commit

• Yay changes have been successfully committed

• Test

Task

Process and Helpful Hint

Activate Display Config

• Activate Configuration: Click on radio box to the right to activate

• Evaluate itineraries for compliance with travel policies: Click on Yes

Air Shopping Display Configuration

• What mileage radius should the system use to offer alternate airports and cities when a user searches for a single airport or city?:

  • Recommended: 75 miles

• Select a method for shopping airline itineraries:

  • Recommended:  ITA or the super domain setting (also set to ITA)

• Enabled schedule based shopping for airline itineraries:

• Default search method: Choose By price, By schedule, or Use superdomain setting from the dropdown menu

  • Recommended: We recommend searching by price.  Defaulting to schedule can make the search appear slower since it takes the system much longer to parse in schedule results from the GDS whereas price search is much faster and the results render more quickly.

• Default travel type: Choose Oneway or Roundtrip from dropdown menu

  • Recommended: Roundtrip

• Select the earliest limit of the time range that will be used to search all US domestic and Canadian airline availability based on the user's requested time:

  • Recommended: 2 hours

• Select the latest limit of the time range that will be used to search all US domestic and Canadian airline availability based on the user's requested time:

  • Recommended: 2 hours

• Select the earliest limit of the time range that will be used to search all non-US domestic and non-Canadian airline availability based on the user's requested time:

  • Recommended: 2 hours

• Select the latest limit of the time range that will be used to search all non-US domestic and non-Canadian airline availability based on the user's requested time:

  • Recommended: 12 hours

• Enable shopping for unrestricted fare type:

  • Recommended: Yes

• Enable shopping for refundable fare type:

  • Recommended: Yes

• Select default fare type:

  • Recommended: Lowest Available

• Enable shopping for First Class Cabin:

• Enable shopping for Business Class Cabin:

• Enable shopping for Coach Class Cabin:

• Enable shopping for Premium Coach Cabin

• Select Premium Coach airlines: Appears if Premium Coach Cabin toggled on

  • Recommended: Do not select airlines (Restricts class of service to return only Premium Coach for airline selected)

    • Note: The best practice is to *not* have any airline selected and let the system find the most appropriate flight options based on availability.

    • Not selecting airlines will allow the system to best search for Premium Coach as a preferred cabin class and return if available, otherwise return the next best cabin class.

    • With airlines selected, the search will fail for markets that do not have Premium Coach service or return only a small subset of flight options.

  • Note: click on the radio button to the left of the Use Custom to customize the label for each class of service.

    • Example: In this example changing Coach to Economy

• Enable shopping for disabled cabin classes: Choose Yes or No

  • Recommended: Yes

• Display Nearby Airports by default:

• Expand flight results to include non-stops when available:

  • Recommended: Yes or Use superdomain setting to allow search results to expand to show non-stops when the search criteria would otherwise not have returned them. Choosing No will not expand the search results

• Enable flexible fares search:

  • Recommended: Yes or Use superdomain setting to display the flexible search options.

  • Note: (Sabre only)

• Default the flight results sorting view to:

  • Choose Use superdomain setting, Policy/Preferred, Cost, Departure, Arrival, or Duration from the dropdown menu.

• Enable airline web fare booking capabilities?:

  • Choose Yes to enable web fare booking. Web fares include VMI Baby, Ryan Air, and EasyJet.

  • Choose No to not allow web fare booking.

• Allow flight solutions that require more than one ticket?:

  • Choose Yes to enable split ticketing

    • Please Note:  Please review all custom field configurations regarding DSM, PTA and PNR Edits related to total air fare to ensure correct output.  You can enter a support ticket if you are not familiar with Java Script.  

    • Please Note:  This functionality is limited to Sabre users only and does not apply to multi-city trips. 

    • Please Note:  Split ticket option will only be recommended when the savings is greater than $50 compared to the single ticket option. The threshold is not configurable and defined as a system default.

• Allow anytime search for flights:

  • By default, the air search time is set to be Morning (6am – 12pm) for departures and Evening (6pm – 12am) for return flights 

  • Choose Yes, No, or Use superdomain settings from the dropdown menu

  • Recommended: choose Yes or Use superdomain settings to expand the display of flight search results to all available flights for the day of travel

    • The user can always select specific times from a dropdown menu. Choosing No does not change the default display times

• Default the flight search time to 'Anytime'?:

• Allow Morning, Afternoon and Evening flight searches?:

  • Choose Yes, No, or Use superdomain settings from the dropdown menu

  • Choosing Yes or Use superdomain setting to display options to search by morning, afternoon or evening

  • Choosing No will not display this option

• Allow out of policy trips to be bookable?:

  • Recommended: Yes

Train Shopping Display Configuration

• Select the maximum number of travelers that may be booked on any Train trip:

  • Recommended:  1

• Designate behavior the system should use if the rate confirmed at time of booking varies compared to during shopping:

  • Continue if fare decreases : Choose Yes or No

    • Recommended: Yes

    • If yes, enter maximum allowed variance amount:

  • Continue if fare increases: Choose Yes or No

    • Recommend: Yes

    • If yes, enter maximum allowed variance amount:

• Train service classes (displays in Trip Planner)

  • Enable shopping for First Class Cabin:

    • Recommended: Enable

  • Enable shopping for Business Class Cabin:

    • Recommended: Enable

    • Recommended: Change label to Acela/Regional Business

  • Enable shopping for Coach Class Cabin:

    • Recommended: Enable

    • Recommended: Change label to Regional

Hotel Shopping Display Configuration

• How do you want to display Hotel results to your users?:

  • Recommended: Option 2: Preferred and non-preferred Hotels are displayed together. Users see all the properties at once. Preferred properties are automatically displayed first.

• Select a method for shopping hotel inventory: Choose GDS, Ancillary, Both GDS and Ancillary, or Use super domain setting from the dropdown menu

• Allow a credit card with expiration date before hotel stay to be used as hotel guarantee: 

  • Choose Yes to allow using as a guarantee for late arrival a credit card that has an expiration date before the anticipated hotel stay

  • Choose No stops booking if credit card expired prior to hotel stay

• Designate the mileage radius that the system should use when searching for hotels:

  • Recommended: 60 miles

• Designate the mileage radius that the system should use when searching for reference points:

  • Recommended: 60 miles

• Select default hotel search radius:

  • Recommended: 5 miles

• Display the following message to users when they choose a private rate hotel that can only be booked directly by the travel agency:

  • Recommended: We're sorry, but we cannot automatically confirm your hotel when you purchase this itinerary. Your travel agency will be alerted and handle contacting the hotel directly to book your stay. Your hotel will have a system status as on request.

• Select the maximum number of guests allowed per hotel room booking:

  • Recommended: 1

• Enable Trip Advisor reviews: Choose Yes, No or Use Superdomain settings

• Allow out of policy hotel rooms to be bookable?:

  • Recommended: Yes

Car Shopping Display Configuration

• Restrict car sizes to users:

  • No: Do not restrict car sizes.

  • Yes; Restrict car sizes. For "Do not display these car sizes," select the car sizes in the selection box (such as Luxury). Click the first car size, and then hold down Control (CTRL) and click subsequent car sizes, or hold down the Shift key to select a range of car sizes. These sizes will not appear to users.

• Default car size:

  • Recommended: Set to max car size under travel policy

• Do not display these car types: Select the car types in the selection box

  • Note: Click the first car type (such as 4-5 Door), and then hold down Control (CTRL) and click subsequent car types, or hold down the Shift key to select a range of car types.

  • These car types will not appear to users.

• Hide the car matrix on the search results: Choose Yes or No

• Require form of payment for Rental Car only bookings:  Choose Yes or No

  • Recommended: No

• Restrict users from booking Hybrids: Choose Yes or No

• Allow out of policy rental cars to be bookable?: Choose Yes or No

  • Recommended: Yes

Booking, Change and Cancellation Configuration

• Default search form to include flights: Choose Yes to expand the Flight checkbox when the user starts a travel search

• Default search form to include hotel: Choose Yes to expand the Hotel checkbox when the user starts a travel search

• Default search form to include rental car: Choose Yes to expand the Rental Car checkbox when the user starts a travel search

• Allow users to search and book flights: Choose Yes to allow. Choose No to prevent users from booking flights

• Allow users to search and book hotels: Choose Yes to allow. Choose No to prevent users from booking hotels

• Allow users to search and book rental car: Choose Yes to allow. Choose No to prevent users from booking rental car

• Select the minimum time required before flight time for booking and changing airline flights:

• Select the maximum number of travelers that may be booked on any airline flights:

  • Recommended: 1

• Display the option to add Special Handling text on the Trip Purchase page?: Choose Yes or No 

  • Choose Yes to allow free form text to be entered by the traveler, which can be used to set queue delivery options

• Enable user to change the Traveler Name on the Purchase page?: Choose Yes or No 

  • Recommended: No, if not assigned guest group

  • Recommended: Yes, if assigned to guest group

• Hide the Address field from the Purchase page?: Choose Yes or No

  • Choose Yes to not display the address

  • Choose No to display the travelers address as listed in the profile

• Hide Emergency Contact field on Purchase page?: Choose Yes or No

• Allow Single use credit card on Purchase Page?

  • Choose Yes to allow the user to enter a one-time only form of payment on the Purchase page

  • This card will not be saved to the user’s profile

• Select the system behavior that should apply when a hotel or car booking fails during the purchase process?:

  • Recommended: Complete purchase without hotel or car

• Display the following advisory text when the Trip is booked without requested hotel(s) or car(s):

• Do not apply unused ticket: Choose Yes or No

  • Recommended: No

• Enable users to change or cancel airline flights, trains, hotels, and/or rental cars post booking?:

  • Recommended: Yes

• Limit online cancel to only online booked domestic trips where full fare details are available?: Choose Yes or No

• Automatically void airline tickets when an itinerary is cancelled?: Choose Yes or No

  • Recommended: Yes

• Automatically refund airline tickets when an itinerary is cancelled?: Choose Yes or No

  • Recommended: Yes

• Allow ticket exchanges that result in forfeiture of residual fare?: : Choose Yes or No

  • No: If automated ticket exchange is enabled for this site, the system will recommend that a new ticket is issued as opposed to an exchange.

  • Yes: Enter the "Maximum value that the fare forfeiture will be allowed during an exchange" as a decimal number. If automated ticket exchange is enabled for this site, the system will allow the exchange of a ticket resulting in a forfeiture within the defined threshold.

• Allow online changes to offline originated transactions?: Choose Yes or No

  • Recommended: Yes

• Allow users to Opt in/Opt out of unused ticket?: Choose Yes or No

  • Choose Yes, and automated ticket exchange is enabled for this site, the Remove unused ticket link will appear on the Trip Review page for the user to opt out of applying for the unused ticket. The link appears only if the user is booking a new trip, and unused tickets are available. If the user removes the unused ticket, the Apply unused ticket link appears so that the user can reselect it.

  • Please Note: If the user declines an unused ticket, it is documented in the PNR XML file along with the exchange details for that ticket.

• Do not display unused tickets to users?: Choose Yes or No

• Select the system behavior that should apply when a user requests to change only their return flight(s):

  • Advise user of possible fare increase and continue

  • Require user to contact agency

• Allow users to exchange a non-refundable airline ticket for a refundable ticket: Choose Yes or No

• Allow users to exchange an unused airline e-ticket only if the name on the ticket matches that of the traveler for validated tickets: Choose Yes or No

• Unused airline e-tickets are locked for re-use for two days:

• Select the method that should be used when there are multiple un-used e-tickets on the same carrier:

  • Use e-ticket with the nearest expiration date

  • Use e-ticket with the most applicable value

• Enable users to change hotel reservations that include a non-refundable deposit or are outside of the cancellation period? (applicability based on presence of GDS data):

Tentative Trips Configuration

• Do you permit travelers to hold tentative trips?: Choose Yes or No

  • Recommended: Yes

• What is the minimum time prior to departure required to hold a tentative trip?

  • Recommended: 4 hours

• When a tentative trip is held, the system can remind the traveler that their booking should be purchased or cancelled. When should the system send this email reminder?

  • Recommended: After 6 hours

• Allow reservations to be placed on hold until:

  • Recommended: 24 hours or time limit to most restrictive segment, whichever is earlier

• Override company name on disclaimer:

  • Recommended: Enter Agency name

Dynamic Site Messaging

• Enable dynamic site messaging?: Choose Yes or No

  • Recommended: Yes

Page Messages

• Disregard as no longer relevant, use Dynamic Site Messaging (DSM)

WebFare Source Messages

• Provide a message that will be displayed to the user when they select a web fare option at the Air Search Results page: 

  • Recommended: This flight will be booked directly on the airline website.

• Provide a message that will be displayed to the user at the Terms and Conditions page:

  • Recommended: I acknowledge and agree to the airlines terms and conditions.

• Provide a message that will be displayed to the user at the Trip Confirmation page and the Email Notification:

  • Recommended: This flight has been booked directly on the airline's website.  Their rules indicate changes and cancellations must be made with them directly.

• Provide a message that will be displayed to the user at the Trip Details page:

  • Recommended: This flight has been booked directly on the airline's website.  Their rules indicate changes and cancellations must be made with them directly.