Airline Vendor Preferences

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Last updated: Jun 28, 2023 by Kavita Pillai
6 min read

This topic describes adding or editing a vendor preference on the Add or Edit page.

Overview

You create or edit each preference, and then organize the preferences into sets that can be assigned to groups. You can add the same preference to more than one set.

Navigating to the Add or Edit Page

To add new preferences, or edit (view and change) preferences, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Services tab.
  2. Click the Vendors link. The Vendor Management page appears.
  3. Click Airline Preferences in the Vendor Preferences section. The Airline Preferences page appears.
  4. Click the Add A New Airline Preference link to add a new preference, or click an existing preference name in the Name column to edit that preference. The Add or Edit page appears, showing the sections below (starting with "General Settings").

Tip: You can view and change airline vendor preference sets for a group, and edit existing preferences for a group, by following these steps:

  1. Click the Add/Edit Airline Sets link on the Rules page for the group (as described in Enabling Travel Rules). The Airline Preference Sets page appears.
  2. Choose one of the following:
    • To add a new set, see "Adding a New Preference Set" in this topic for further instructions.
    • To view or edit an existing set, click the set name in the Preference Set Name column. The set's Edit page appears with a list of airline preferences.
  3. Click an existing preference name in the Name column to edit that preference. The preference Edit page appears, showing the sections below (starting with "General Settings").

General Settings

  1. In the General Settings section, click the Activate Preference checkbox to activate the preference.
  2. Enter or edit the name for the airline preference to help recognize the route to which it applies.  An example is "DFW to PHL" to show that this airline preference is for the Dallas to Philadelphia route. 
  3. Preference Start Date: If the preference shouldn't take effect immediately, select the starting Month, Day and Year from the dropdown lists, or click the calendar icon and make the selection on the calendar.
  4. Preference End Date: If the preference has an anticipated end date, select the Month, Day and Year from the dropdown lists, or click the calendar icon and make the selection on the calendar. 

Location Preferences

Choose one of the following location preference settings:

  • Apply globally (regardless of location): Click this radio button if the preference applies to all origination and destination locations.
  • Apply to specific locations: Click this radio button if the preference applies to specified origination and destination locations. Set the locations as follows:
    • From Location:  Choose one of the following:
      • By airport codes: Enter the airport codes separated by semicolons.
      • By states: Choose one or more states from the dropdown list. Hold down Control (CTRL) to make multiple selections.
      • By countries: Choose the one or more countries from the dropdown list. Hold down Control (CTRL) to make multiple selections.
      • Anywhere: From any location.
    • To Location:  Choose one of the following:
      • By airport codes: Enter the airport codes separated by semicolons.
      • By states: Choose one or more states from the dropdown list. Hold down Control (CTRL) to make multiple selections.
      • By countries: Choose the one or more countries from the dropdown list. Hold down Control (CTRL) to make multiple selections.
      • Anywhere: To any location.
    • Bi-Directional:  Choose Yes if the preference will apply to both outbound and return flights, or choose No.
    • Through Location:  Choose one of the following:
      • By airport codes: Enter the airport codes separated by semicolons.
      • By states: Choose one or more states from the dropdown list. Hold down Control (CTRL) to make multiple selections.
      • By countries: Choose the one or more countries from the dropdown list. Hold down Control (CTRL) to make multiple selections.
      • Anywhere: Through any location.

Preferred Airlines

Follow these steps to enter the preferred airlines for the location preference setting:

  1. Most Preferred Airlines: Enter the airline codes separated by commas for most preferred, which appear at the top of the search results page. 
  2. Highly Preferred Airlines: Enter the airline codes separated by commas for highly preferred, which appear under the most preferred airlines at the top of the search results page. 
  3. Preferred Airlines: Enter the airline codes separated by commas for preferred, which appear under the highly preferred airlines at the top of the search results page. 
  4. Flag the Preferred Airlines as Preferred? Choose Yes to display search results as outlined above (most preferred followed by highly preferred and then preferred), but also with a gold icon or medallion with a "P" beside the flight information. The user can hover over the "P" to see the codes "PPP" for most preferred, "PP" for highly preferred, or "P" for preferred.

Restricted Airlines

Follow these steps to enter the restricted airlines for the location preference setting:

  1. Airlines to be excluded: Enter the airline codes separated by commas to be excluded. Excluded airlines don't appear in search results even if they meet the trip search criteria.
  2. Airlines to be displayed last: Enter the airline codes separated by commas for airlines that should appear at the bottom of the search results. These airlines appear last even if they would otherwise appear higher on the list.
  3. Airlines to be displayed after similar airlines: Enter the airline codes separated by commas for airlines that should appear along with other airlines if the results are similar.
  4. Combine these restricted airlines in the right-most column on the matrix: Enter a list of airline codes separated by commas to combine in the right column of the matrix, or click the checkbox for "Or apply to all demoted airlines". These airlines are combined into the right column regardless of where they would normally fall. 
    Note: Airline codes entered in this field must also be listed in either the "Airlines to be displayed after similar airlines" or the "Airlines to be displayed last" fields.
  5. Remove logo of restricted airlines:  Choose Yes to remove the logo of a restricted airline next to the search results for that airline, or No.

Saving the Preference

Click the Save button to save the new airline preference. The Airline Preferences page appears. You can then add another new airline preference by clicking Add a New Airline Preference and following the above steps.

You need to add the preference to a set in order to assign it to a group. To add the preference to an existing set, see "Adding a Preference to an Existing Set" in this topic. To add a new set, see "Adding a New Preference Set".

Tip: For a description of groups, see Groups Tab for Managing Groups.

Adding a Preference to an Existing Set

To add a preference to an existing set, follow these steps:

  1. Click an existing set name in the Preference Set Name column. The Edit page appears. 
  2. Edit the name in the Preference Set Name field. This name should be easily recognizable as a specific preference set. An example is "AA from Boston to Chicago".
  3. Click the Add Preference button. The Search & Add Preference page appears.
  4. Select a preference list to add to the set by clicking its radio button.
  5. Click OK & Add Another to add another list to the set, and repeat the previous step and this step until you've added all of the lists for the set.
  6. After making the final selection, click OK to finish adding to the set.
  7. Click Save to save your changes.

Note: To commit all of your changes after saving them, click the changes not applied link at the top of the page. The Commit Changes page appears. Click the Commit button.

Adding a New Preference Set

If you arrived at the Airline Preferences page by navigating from the Services tab, follow these steps:

  1. Click Back to Vendor Management at the top of the Airline Preferences page. The Vendor Management page appears.
  2. Click the Airline Preference Sets link. The Airline Preference Sets page appears.
  3. Click the Add A New Airline Preference Set link to add a new set. The Add page appears.

If you arrived at the Airline Preferences page by navigating from the Rules tab, Click the Add A New Airline Preference Set link to add a new set. The Add page appears.

Follow these steps to add the new preference set:

  1. Enter a name in the Preference Set Name field. This name should be easily recognizable as a specific preference set. An example is "AA from Boston to Chicago".
  2. Click the Add Preference button. The Search & Add Preference page appears.
  3. Select a preference list to add to the set by clicking its radio button.
  4. Click OK & Add Another to add another list to the set, and repeat the previous step and this step until you've added all of the lists for the set.
  5. After making the final selection, click OK to finish adding to the set.
  6. Click Save to save your changes.

Note: To commit all of your changes after saving them, click the changes not applied link at the top of the page. The Commit Changes page appears. Click the Commit button.