Are TA's penalised if ticketd itin is invalid?
 

Hi there,

I'm just trying to get my head around why the TA's are so variable in their interpretation of the xONEx rules.

Is there a special OneWorld validator they have access to on their computers that spits the dummy on invalid itins? On what basis do they declare itins invalid - their interpretation of the rules?

More to the point, what actually happens when an invalid itin is ticketed - does their pay get docked, lose their commission or what? Or is the pax denied boarding when the CSA checking them in discovers the mistake?

If there is no substantial deterrent (e.g. losing their commission) then why the big fuss in rejecting itins, why not just ticket it and let the pax deal with it?

(I am referring to EUR-ASIA(transit)-SWP-ASIA-NAM, which I and others think is well within the rules, but TA says no, backtracking!)

The TA will receive a "debit memo" (basically, a bill) for the difference between the ticketed price and the price the issuing airline (usually the airline of the first segment) says the total pricing should have been.

The travel agent does not interpret the rules. The airline does. Whatever the agent does, he/she still has to send the whole itinerary to the airline's rate desk which they are issuing the ticket on (usually the first carrier outbound) for approval. The airline rate desk will calculate the fare, the taxes and anything else to the agent. Who in turn will eventually be the one issuing the ticket... according to what they have been given.

So if the airline says no... then it's no. The TA must adhere to whatever the airline approves before the ticket is issued. So yes, it still boils down to whoever is pricing the ticket AND the interpretation of the rules.

Yes if it's a Oneworld ticket, say, that one may issue the ticket on whatever airline ticket stock. But then again, if you are departing from say SYD and your first outbound is QF... and you would prefer to have your ticket issued on AA... the TA can only do that if AA priced the itinerary.

AA can refuse to do so because there isn't any AA international flight segment on the itinerary, or if they are not the first outbound carrier, or because they just don't feel like it, (and they have refused to do so in the past), and even though the interpretation of the rules is to your advantage, the agent must adhere to whoever will price the fare and give the ok to issue on their ticketing stock.

I won't go into the horror stories that I have witnessed in the past when one TA issued a ticket on BA ticket document based on a fare priced by AA's rate desk because he preferred AA's interpretation of the rules and fares than BA's. Now that wasn't very professional of that TA to begin with! Because when the passenger tried to reissue the ticket, nothing matched on the ticket with the respective rate desks' quotes.

Aha! That's all a bit clearer now! So while the TA insists that the routing is invalid, I should just stick to my guns and ask them to send it to the airline for pricing! Thanks very much!

Yes. Not all TAs know the rules at the top of their head. I learn new things everyday too. The airlines will have the correct information.

Back to the specific question in the topic, no matter what the rate desk does the agent can force issue the ticket with manually built pricing at the risk of a huge debit memo. I can't blame a TA who is erring on the side of extreme caution based upon a career of improperly-issued debit memos by the airlines.

I'd ask the TA to ask the issuing carrier for pricing assistance, and the TA should take comfort in the airline-stored fare. If the TA refuses a courteous request, it is time to walk down the street.