Boarding Group 5 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Boarding Group 5 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Boarding Group 5 Eligibility SSR CLID Requirements Frequent Traveler Other Miscellaneous Flight Booking Policies Terms & Conditions American Airlines boarding process provides an opportunity to assign all corporate travelers to Boarding Group 5 unless they are eligible for a higher boarding group priority based on their AAdvantage elite status, or fare purchased. To help in your understanding of the Boarding Group 5 requirements and eligibility we have created the below Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document for your review. Boarding Group 5 Eligibility 1- How do I know if the corporate traveler qualifies for Boarding Group 5 benefits? Customer only qualifies if traveling on company business for an employer with an active American Airlines Corporate Travel Agreement at the time of ticketing and travel. The reservation must be booked and ticketed by the corporation s authorized Agency of Record (AOR) to be eligible for this travel benefit. Additionally, we require the corporate traveler s reservation to indicate the corporate identifier (i.e. CART number) and Authorization Number (AN), as well as the customer s AAdvantage frequent flyer number to be eligible for Boarding Group 5. 2- Who is responsible for entering the CART and AN numbers in the corporate traveler s reservation? In order to identify which corporate travelers qualify based on their CART and AN numbers, we now require the AOR s to enter the CART and AN numbers in the SSR CLID field located in the customer s PNR. 3- Do Business Extra or On Business program travelers qualify for Boarding Group 5 benefits? Customers purchasing tickets and traveling as part of the Business Extra or On Business programs are not eligible for Boarding Group 5 benefits. 4- If the corporate traveler elects to purchase a Basic Economy fare will they qualify for Boarding Group 5 benefits? Travelers purchasing Basic Economy do not qualify. Please note elite status corporate travelers ticketed on Basic Economy fares are eligible for priority boarding based on the boarding group assigned to the elite membership level. 5- Do corporate travelers qualify for Boarding Group 5 benefits when traveling on company business but ticketed on published, non-discount corporate fares? Yes, corporate travelers are eligible for Boarding Group 5 benefits when traveling on company business and ticketed on published, non-discount corporate fares. Only reservations booked and ticketed by the corporation s authorized Agency of Record (AOR) are eligible for this travel benefit. Additionally, we require the corporate traveler s reservation to indicate the corporate identifier (i.e. CART number) and Authorization Number (AN), as well as the customer s AAdvantage frequent flyer number to be eligible for Group 5 Boarding. 1

SSR CLID Requirements 6- What is an SSR? SSR stands for Special Service Request (SSR) and is used by airport personnel to identify customers who require special needs. 7- What does the CLID mean? The CLID is a 4-letter reason code which follows the SSR entry to help identify a specific need. We require entering the Corporate CART and AN numbers in the SSR CLID field in the PNR so our check-in systems identify which corporate travelers qualify for Boarding Group 5. 8- Is it possible to enter an SSR CLID when the flight segment status is desired (DS), waitlisted (LL/HL), or no segment (NO)? Sabre moved the CLID verification to the end transaction process to allow Sabre agents to use customer profiles/level 1 Stars to move-in CLID information prior to booking the itinerary when the carrier code specific entries are used. If at end transaction, there is no corresponding airline, the CLID will be removed from the PNR If at end transaction there is no valid segment status for any participating carriers (DS, LL/HL, etc.) then they will receive an error message such as:.seg NOT CONFIRMED.NOT ENT BGNG WITH 9- What are the GDS formats for an SSR CLID input? GDS Sabre, Abacus, Infini, & AA s direct connect AA Prime and AA Marketed (AA*/OA) A= AN number 0= 6 alphanumeric 4CLID/C000000A000000 AA Prime flights + BA/IB Prime A= AN number 0= 6 alphanumeric 4CLID/C000000A000000 3CLIDBA/C000000A00000 3CLIDIB/C000000A000000 Multiple formats may be required for mixed itineraries. Only carrier specific entries shown above will work with a Level 1 star. 3CLID/C000000A000000 (no carrier code) is still a valid format however it requires flight segments to be sold (SS) or confirmed (HK) status before entering and therefore should not be used in a Level 1 Star. Amadeus SR CLID HK/C000000A000000 SR CLID HK/C000000A000000 Apollo :3SSRCLIDAAHK1/C000000A000000 :3SSRCLIDAAHK1/C000000A000000 :3SSRCLIDBAHK1/C000000A000000 or :3SSRCLIDAAHK1/C000000A000000 :3SSRCLIDIBHK1/C000000A000000 2

Galileo GDS Worldspan AA Prime and AA Marketed (AA*/OA) A= AN number 0= 6 alphanumeric SI.SSRCLIDAAHK1/C000000A000000 3SSR CLID AA HK/C000000A000000 AA Prime flights + BA/IB Prime A= AN number 0= 6 alphanumeric SI.SSRCLIDAAHK1/C000000A000000 SI.SSRCLIDBAHK1/C000000A000000 or SI.SSRCLIDAAHK1/C000000A000000 SI.SSRCLIDIBHK1/C000000A000000 3SSR CLID AA HK/C000000A000000 3SSR CLID BA HK/C000000A000000 or 3SSR CLID AA HK/C000000A000000 3SSR CLID IB HK/C000000A000000 Apollo, Galileo & Worldspan require an SSR CLID input per operating carrier in the record locator (see above combinations) 10- Is it possible to enter 3CLID for all customer flight bookings? Unfortunately, Sabre requires entering the 4CLID format when the flight segments are identified as AA prime and AA marketed flights. 11- What does the sample format C000000A000000 represent? The six digits following the C represents the Corporate CART Number (six numerical digits e.g. C123456 ), and the six characters following the A represents the Authorization Number or AN (six alphanumerical characters e.g. A12X3YZ ). Any CART or AN number identified in this document are for example purposes only. 12- Can you provide an example of CLID numbers entered and appearing correctly in Sabre? 4CLID AA Operated and Marketed 3

3CLID AA Prime to BA Prime 13- Does entering the SSR CLID ( C000000A000000 ) change the Tour Code requirements? There are no changes to the Tour Code entries required by your contract terms. The SSR CLID entry is independent of the Tour Code requirements. 14- What other joint alliance partners are included in this SSR CLID input? British Airways (BA) and Iberia (IB) are the only joint alliance partners requiring SSR CLID entries as shown in the above GDS format instructions (listed in the far right column of the GDS formats table). 15- Does Boarding Group 5 also apply to flights operated by joint airline partners? Boarding Group 5 only applies to the boarding process for flights operated by American Airlines. 16- I used to receive an error message when I tried to move in (NM) the CLID formats when using Level 1 Stars. What changed? Sabre has moved the CLID verification to the end transaction process to allow Sabre agents to use Level 1 Stars and move-in CLID information prior to booking the itinerary. 17- Does entering the SSR CLID formats impact the boarding priority for elite status members? Elite status corporate travelers receive a higher boarding priority when compared to non-elite status corporate travelers, as boarding groups are based on their elite membership level. Please refer to Boarding Process for more details. 4

Frequent Traveler 18- What if the corporate traveler has no AAdvantage frequent traveler number? Can they enter their oneworld frequent traveler number instead? Corporate travelers are required to add their AAdvantage frequent traveler number to their reservation to qualify for Boarding Group 5 during flight check-in. Click here to enroll your traveler in the AAdvantage program. 19- Will elite status corporate travelers ticketed on Basic Economy fares that have an SSR CLID entered receive the higher boarding group or will they receive the Group 9 for Basic Economy fares? Elite members are eligible to board with their respective boarding groups. For more detail, please refer to Boarding Process. 20- Will corporate travelers who are members of the AirPass program receive Boarding Group 5 when traveling on AirPass fares? AirPass customers are eligible to board with their respective boarding group. For more detail, please refer to Boarding Process. 21- Will corporate travelers who are also Citi / AAdvantage Executive card members, receive Boarding Group 5 benefits? Citi / AAdvantage Executive cardmembers are eligible to board with their respective boarding group. For more detail, please refer to Boarding Process. Other Miscellaneous Flight Booking Policies 22- I added the SSR CLID to a reservation with travel within 24 hours. Why did Group 5 boarding no appear on the customer s boarding pass when the customer checked in for the flight? The SSR CLID message is sent through our databases for verification. It may take up to two hours after making the entry for Group 5 to be approved. The customer can go on aa.com and check their boarding pass even after to check in to confirm Group 5 has been approved closer to departure time. 23- Is there a requirement to reenter the SSR CLID when the corporate traveler reservation is altered due to Irregular Operations (IROPS), schedule changes, Same-Day Confirmed Flight Change or Same-day Standby? If the flights rebooked remain in the original PNR there s no need to reenter the SSR CLID to ensure the travelers is assigned Boarding Group 5.. 24- Can we just enter the SSR CLID field for any one of our travelers who are regular members of the AAdvantage frequent traveler program so they will receive complimentary Boarding Group 5? The SSR CLID input should only be added for eligible corporate travelers with valid Corporate CART and AN numbers. 25- Most of our corporate travelers will be assigned to Boarding Groups 1-5, so do we still need to add the SSR CLID field? Yes, we are requesting to please enter the SSR CLID field as this information is used to identify corporate travelers and may be used for other purposes in the future. 26- What happens to corporate traveler reservations created prior to the implementation of Boarding Group 5 and travel hasn t started? 5

Unless the SSR CLID input is present in the eligible corporate traveler s PNR at the time of check-in, the traveler will not receive Boarding Group 5. 27- Should the travel manager go back and add the SSR CLID field for all of the AA bookings traveling on/after March 1, 2017 to obtain Boarding Group 5 for non-elite customers? To ensure all non-elite eligible corporate travelers receive Boarding Group 5 for travel on/after March 1, 2017, the SSR CLID input should be added to all PNRs for eligible corporate travelers. Terms & Conditions 28- What are the legal terms and conditions affiliated with eligible corporate travelers? Eligible corporate traveler applies to a customer traveling on company business for an employer with an active American Airlines Corporate Travel Agreement at the time of ticketing and travel. Only tickets that are booked and purchased via an authorized Agency of Record for the company, and reflect the corporate identifier (i.e. CART number) and Authorization Number (AN) are eligible. Customer must include an active AAdvantage number in their reservation prior to check-in to receive Boarding Group 5 benefits. Corporate travelers ticketed on Basic Economy (B) fares are ineligible for Boarding Group 5 benefits. Corporate travelers will receive the higher boarding priority based on fare ticketed or based on their elite status membership. Updated: July 2018 6