Lufthansa Canada Handling of non eticket eligible sales as of 01 st June 2008 Version 1 23MAY2008 1
1 Introduction The purpose of this document is to inform you about the LH policy concerning general ticket processes at LH and to show the possibilities on how you can handle the few remaining paper tickets after 1 June 2008 which result from non eticket eligible sales. As per 1 June 2008, IATA will withdraw all paper ticket stock form the BSPs and the issuance of neutral paper documents will not be available anymore. According to the information received from several GDS s the issuance of paper tickets will be inhibited technically. Airlines will still have the possibility to issue paper documents for those routes/journeys an electronic ticket is not available. Lufthansa and all partner Airlines will continue to implement electronic Interline agreements and/or other functionalities which may not be in place yet or on the 01 st June 2008. Therefore this document does not include any lists of carriers which may have any of the following exceptions, e.g.: not accepting infants in electronic Interlining or not accepting open segments in electronic Interlining or electronic ticket interline agreement is in place or electronic ticket interline agreement is not in place. These lists would be subject to continuous changes and therefore very fast outdated. The GDS s and/or the Airlines do have system-checks in place, which allow or disallow the issuance of an electronic ticket whenever a functionality is not available. 2
2 Documents 2.1 Electronic tickets An electronic ticket is issued whenever technically and procedurally possible. Please check the following special solutions for exceptional cases: - Electronic ticket issuance for groups: instructions for ticketing will be given at time of ticketing deadline in a written form. - Electronic tickets for individual passive segments: As a general rules Lufthansa does not allow the usage of passive segments. In some exceptional cases (consolidators only) it is necessary to issue a ticket via passive segments. In these cases the booking containing passive segments has to mach the active booking record in order to be able to issue an electronic ticket - Open segments: open segments are allowed for nearly all Interline partners. In case the Interline partner does not allow open segment, book Waiting list or any confirmed flight for the ticket issuance and cancel it after the electronic ticket has been issued, - Star Alliance Round the World fares will be reduced to a maximum of 16 Segments as of 1 st May 2008. - Long names: LH allows a maximum of 32 characters (name, surname, title and other characters) in the name field. In the seldom case the passengers name/title does exceed this number, please contact Lufthansa in order to reduce the title/name field. 2.2 Paper Tickets As a general rule, Lufthansa will eliminate all paper ticket related processes and fees: - Prepaid tickets (PTA) will not exist anymore - Lost Document fee will only be charged for lost paper documents issued before 31 st May 08 - Lufthansa will be very close to a 100% electronic ticket. 3
- The few remaining non eticket eligible sales are due to missing functionalities e.g. o missing Interlinings o eventually missing eticket destinations o Interline infant handling - For these remaining cases Lufthansa offers temporary fallback solutions which result in a paper ticket issuance at Lufthansa. 2.3 Other documents: MPD There have been adopted standards for an Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) that will replace all other non-ticket documents. However it is not anticipated that the EMD will be fully available for use until 2009 at the earliest. Following alternative solution is available until the EMD will be implemented: VMPD via BSPlink The BSPlink VMPD is developed by IATA as a substitute for manual MPDs. Basically the VMPD is a document accounted for via BSP. It is submitted to the airlines in form of emails. The VMPD puts a lot of additional manual workload on both, travel agents and the Airline. Therefore Lufthansa will only accept this solution in markets or for travel agents where the BSPlink VMPD is the only available substitute for manual MPDs and no Interim GDS MPD solution is in place. 3 When and how to request a paper ticket at Lufthansa For the following business cases you will need to request the issuance of a paper ticket at your Lufthansa office: missing Interlinings (most GDS s will implement a check at time of itinerary pricing if IET s with all participating carriers are in place) Lufthansa Destinations which may not be eligible for electronic tickets (No E-Indicator is set booking or availability display) Handling of Infants with Interline partners (LH will reject the printing of an electronic ticket if an Interline Partner is involved in the itinerary) In all other cases an electronic ticket is to be issued. 4
3.1 Prepayment in the Travel Agency via VMPD 3.1.1 VMPD via BSPlink: Follow the BSPlink instructions on how to fill in the data. Use the option PTA as reason for issuance code (RFIC). Amadeus file key is a mandatory entry on the VMPD Enter all relevant data e.g. via OSI elements into your booking record follow your GDS descriptions for correct handling. Include complete address where the ticket is to be mailed (Canada only) No PTA fee will be charged by Lufthansa. The former PTA process required a Sponsor information, this information is not necessary anymore, as the RFIC PTA is only used as a temporary request for the issuance of a paper ticket at a Lufthansa office. Form of payment: the former PT identification is not required. Use Standard Forms of payment Infant ticket first issue the adults tickets in the normal way then issue VPMD in order for Lufthansa to issue and mail the paper ticket **********Allow 10 business days for mailing********** 3.1.2 Request Lufthansa to issue Ticket against the prepaid VMPD Please call: 1-800-563-5954 ask to be transferred to FUFI for paper ticket issuance Lufthansa will issue and mail the paper ticket 3.1.3 Deadline for Ticket request Please action your ticket request as per 3.1.2. not later than 10 business days before departure of the passenger 5
4 Other documents (MPD) Lufthansa will allow the issuance of VMPD s for RFIC s e.g. plating fee, name correction fee, Unaccompanied minor fee, PTA and group deposit. Important: Before 01 st of June 2008 the value coupon entitled a passenger to ask for a certain service at the Airline. Once the value coupon was withdrawn the passenger was not entitled anymore for this service. After 01 st of June 2008 as no value coupon is printed it is the travel agents responsibility and duty to ensure that no misuse can be done. Therefore for travel agents and airlines security in order to avoid fraudulent use the VMPD s have to be issued exactly according to the instructions and the travel agent shall inform Lufthansa via an OSI or SSR Element about the issued VMPD. 4.1 Collection of rebooking fee via ticket reissue VMPD may not be used Prepare the reissue of the ticket Enter the rebooking fee as a tax field; use DU or CP as tax code Reissue the ticket 4.2 Collection of name correction/plating fee Contact your local sales office for authorization Issue VMPD via BSPlink according to today s rules Cross reference ticket with VMPD 220.. 4.3 Collection of unaccompanied minor fee No major changes to today s rules: Issue VMPD via BSPlink according to today s rules Enter the relevant information via an OSI or SSR Element into your GDS booking record. e.g. OSI LH UM fee collected on VMPD 220 EUR50.00 LH4321/18AUG Hand out Receipt of the VMPD to the passenger 6
5 Glossary BSP Bank settlement plan BSPlink communication tool between travel agents, Airlines and BSP. EMD Electronic multi purpose document GDS Global distribution System MCO Miscellaneous charge Order for the purpose of this document the terms MCO/MPD and MD50 are used to describe the same functionality and summarized under the term of MPD. MD50 accounting relevant description of an automated MCO or MPD - for the purpose of this document the terms MCO/MPD and MD50 are used to describe the same functionality and summarized under the term of MCO. MPD Multi purpose document for the purpose of this document the terms MCO/MPD and MD50 are used to describe the same functionality. OSI Other Service Information from Travel Agent to Airline or between Airlines PNR Passenger Name record, booking record PTA Prepaid ticket advice used as a RFIC in order to request the issuance of a paper ticket at Lufthansa. Rebooking Penalty to be paid according to the fare rule. fee RFIC Reason for issuance Code SSR Special Service Request from travel agent to Airline or between Airlines UM Unaccompanied minor VMPD Virtual MPD, developed by IATA and BSP s as a substitute for manual MCO s. Issuance is done via BSPlink. XBAG Excess baggage 7