Originally Posted by Darren

Thats not really what I mean. I mean that from my understanding the agent must enter a date into the computer that is valid so that the computer knows its a valid flight. Heres an example. Without entering anything, I could ask for an open segment from Philadelphia to Vancouver because I have not been there and would like to have a Tim Horton Donut. If there was no validation, the computer enters the ticket and voila. I have a PHL-YVR segment. Then I ask for a reservation to be made, and there will be no flight. With the validation, the agent has to enter a validation date which tells the computer that a flight exists and that its okay to ticket the segment. In this case, the computer will only come up with connections and the agent will know not to try and ticket PHL-YVR. In the end, no donut. Maybe it works this way, maybe not, but this is how it was explained to me.

And for what its worth, CX does the same thing. There was one flight that I had them book that wasnt beginning until several months after the ticketing. When she went to ticket it without me in the office, she couldnt find the flihgt. When I returned, I told her to try a date several months away and boom. 20 mins later I walked out with a ticket.