flyermanES

For good measure, could you send me a PM with the details too.

Many thanks,

flyermanES

hypervoyage

Could you PM me as well?

thanks!

KVS

It certainly appears to be the case -- every couple of months a similar thread gets started on one of the FT forums.

First of all, so as to avoid further "PM me too" requests in this thread, I thought I would post a direct link to the section of the Sabre website that deals with access for individual users (other GDS providers offer similar plans/pricing):

• http://www.sabre-holdings.com/forms/connected/host.html

Some of the issues that one has to consider are:

• Is it cost-effective?
  Access cost is $45 USD/month (540 USD/year), not including any ticketing fees that you will have to pay to your "sponsoring" travel agency (see below).
  
  
  
• Are you a masochist?
  Are you enjoying typing commands like "112SEPSLCJFK‡DL«" and reading screens like this?
  
  Code:

  12SEP MON SLC/MDT JFK/EDT‡2
  1DL 1862 F0 A0 SLCJFK 4 955A 427P 757 L/R 0 MS DCA /E
  Y0 B0 M0 H0 Q0 K0 L0 U0 T0

  Compare this to:
  
  Code:

  Carrier   Flight From Depart    To   Arrive    A/C  St Availability
  --------- ------ ---- --------- ---- --------- ---- -- --------------------------------
  DL        1862   SLC  09:55     JFK  16:27     757  0  F0 A0 Y7 B7 M7 H6 Q2 K0 L0 U0 T0

• You will not be able to issue any tickets on your own
  You will have to route all of your ticketing requests (including those that involve eTickets) to a properly-licensed and equipped travel agency and pay them for their services.
  
  
  

Rejuvenated

That's why I'm always hearing that the computer is a dumb human! Does all sorts of crazy things with the different combos input and mixed around.

tvl4free

Well, IMHO this post was definately MRF material. In fact, I think that the OP's idea of placing it there was perfectly planned. I see no reason why one CAN'T discuss the 'HOW TOs' of BETTER MR BOOKINGS in the MRF - especially since SEGMENT BOOKING TOOLS are sooooo specific to the MRF.

But anyway, we'll chat here...

I have one of the systems that you guys are drooling over. It's called WorldSpan Go. I've had it for over 18 years. AND IT IS FABULOUS! I would rather have this than a LEXUS. It is my single bestest toy and friend! Ok... so I'm sic. But I travel a lot... and I used to post a lot in the MRF...ie to help with MR quesions, etc., so I needed access to fare info and routings quickly. I use WS almost everyday. And I can use it anywhere in the world. Because it's internet based, of course.

With WS... 8 segs, 10 segs, 12 segments.... and poof, a bookings done! And I mean POOF! Booked. Not this time consuming BS that one has to go thru online. I just don't know how you guys stand it - this archaic online booking game. I simply don't have the patience for that! With WS I select from the buffet that WS offers me - or I tell WS to build an Itinerary LIKE I WANT IT! WS's just perrrrrrrrrrfecct for MR's. I can kick out a 10 segs run in flash - if there's availability. It prices pretty well up to about 12-14 segments. After that it kind of peters out... cos with all the new taxes that we now have the fare ladder gets too long for the ticket.

As has been mentioned, for ticketing purposes one needs a sponsoring travel agency. My sponsoring agency is local (US) and I can be in HKG and press a few buttons... and voila... an e-ticket will be issued.

In years past, I have tried quietly to tell you guys that your travel agent is your absolute best friend. But that advise that consistently been rejected by most here in favor of a 500 mile online booking bonus... or to avoid a $20 fee. My agency gives me sooooo much 4free it's unbelievable. Sometimes airlines drop UPG's by the agency. Guess who get's first crack at em? FWIW my WS is 4free! Doesn't cost me a dime. They pay for it. (I doubt that a non-industry newbie would be able to get it 4free now, tho). They just hope that I sometime I issue a ticket that is commissionable to them. Sadly, those fares are now few and far between.

Will you be able to get it? Mebbe. If someone sponsors you. Will you be able to ticket... like I do? Highly unlikely. There is just too much liabilty for the agency to bear. For example, overnite or over a weekend you could issue $20K or more in non-refundable tickets and then just walk away. So if you do find an agency that will sponsor you, the ticketing function will likely be suppressed. And probably will be for a long while. But you could book and price stuff... and then call in for the ticketing. And that is really all that one needs.

If what you want to do is RTW's, many GDS's will not price these if they are huge itineraries. If there are too many segments (ie. the system gets confused w backhauls, etc) manual pricing will be required. And that THAT'S a whole other training class beyond just the basics...Rate Desk Pricing. So in all likelyhood, you will need someone to price 'those lengthy ones' for ya, anyway.

Normally, WS basic training is about 3-4 weeks... eight hours a day. But that's the full blown training that a res agent would get. One can learn the basics pretty quickly. Seanthepilot was getting pretty good at it... just by sitting next to me for 3 hours one afternoon in an Internet Cafe on Kho San Road in BKK. An organized 8 hour affair - at say a MR seminar - would certainly give ya enuf knowledge to do simple bookings and pricing.

So find ya a good agency and buddy up with em. Find out what systems they have. Buy a few tickets from em. Buy a pricey ticket or two to get their attention. Then ask. The ideal would be to find a mentor that might help you when you start and when you stumble. That's the way I did it. And it has certainly worked for me. And I just love queueing a booking to my favorite consolidator for non-published additional discount ticketing...

WOOHOO! (sorry, that was a 4free kind of thing )

I get withdrawal shakes if I'm away from maaa WorldSpan baby - for more than a day or two. In fact, I'm getting shaky now. Mebbe I better go price somethin'.

See ya up front - and lets compare ticket prices. Betcha I win - cos I got the tools!

T4F

MapleLeaf

I used to be home-based Sabre but had to queue elsewhere for ticketing. It was only $25 a month for access. When I travelled weekly, it was definitely worth it... plus I helped out a few others by doing their ticketing.

Now that I travel strictly for leisure - not worth the hassle or expense. It truly is another language and one misplaced character - bam, time to start all over again.

kanebear

Well that was fast. I'm already up and running and ready to ticket. Now I just have to learn HOW. I went through a host agent called Nexion. It's $50 a month for GDS access and support. They give you Worldspan, Amadeus, Apollo and Sabre acces. You also get consolidator access, Agent59 (commissionable Site59 sales) and cruise booking ability. As I'm AA loyal I plan to set about learning Sabre as quickly as possible. The commission split is 90/10. I'm not in it for that but hey, a little extra never hurt.

They have a proprietary software package called InternetView that's quite helpful for noobs like me. LOTS of online reference materials, macros, keyboard conversions (Try finding a Cross of Loraine on the standard 101 key keyboard... AIN'T happ'nin) and even a syntax convertor that will translate for you if you need another GDS and don't speak the language. So if you speak Worldspan and need Sabre, it'll convert for you (I believe).

I gotta say this, TVL4FREE is ABSOFREAKINLUTELY right. Once you learn the commands it's SO MUCH FASTER to do just about anything. F'rinstance, it took me about 90 seconds to check C class availability on AA for four different city pairs. Expertflyer rocks but it's nowhere NEAR that fast. Basically once you get it down you'll never ever ever want to touch a website again. I can see how whipping up even a quite complex itinerary on this thing is beyond fast. You can even create macros for the things you do often if you don't want to remember the commands.

Another massive advantage... EASY access to complete fare rules... you can even look at your own PNR to doublecheck for mistakes (although you can't see the comments... I already tried.)

Yet another... the ability to display and select flights by alliance. Wanna fly JFK-NRT and only want *A options? No problem. Want Skyteam? Done. OneWorld, that too.

Online GDS courses are available and I plan to take one. They ain't cheap but I want to be able to know it all and do it all. Make no mistake, this isn't for the faint of heart... if you're the type of computer user who drops to a command prompt at the first opportunity, if you like *NIX, and if you learn quickly, this is right up your alley.

It's all about having the fine control to do *exactly* what you want with your travel. Most people don't care, just as thousands of folks out there are happily (if unproductively) still running Windows ME.

IceTrojan

I'd love to, but I don't want to spend $50/mo... takes away from the bottom line $/Miles ratio ;D

Good ole' (and free) ITA, AA.com, and web services for me! ^

kanebear

Ever heard the term penny wise, pound foolish? Ok, so I can't say that yet... but once I have concrete evidence of what I suspect (A. being able to find better fares, B. being able to build better itineraries for the same money E.G. more miles/$ and/or C. having access to fares I wouldn't otherwise), THEN I'll say that and give examples.

IceTrojan

then you'll have a believer and a convert.


but until then....

Globaliser

Once upon a time, in land far far away, there was a free Internet service called easySabre, that did most of this ...

DoubleJ

The memories of easySabre bring a tear to my eye...

spotwelder

Hi,

I travel a lot. Up to 600,000 miles a year. Therefore, the cost benefit for me is easy. Worst month to date 76,000 miles. Try London Sydney or vice versa every weekend if you are trying to work that one out.

However, what I need is access to all of the fare rules, the maximum permitted mileages and the route restrictions. Obviously fare buckets is a mandatory requirement but they all give you that.

I do some complex fare searches but often trip over the mileage maximum. So I need to be able to work out the 5 to 25 % extra mileage buy for the tickets as well.

Any recommendations would be much appreciated.

Spottie.

RChavez

I would echo kanebear's recommendation to use Nexion. What separates them from other hosting agencies is the access to all 4 GDSes. While not always necessary, it can be useful when you're trying to squeeze that last seat out of a carrier. Availability can differ by GDS, so it's nice to have access to all 4.

One other caveat I feel I should throw out there. I would advise against trying to book any kind of fare mistakes using these tools. One thing to remember is that you are considered a live travel agent when making bookings via these tools. If you knowingly book what is obviously a fare mistake, the airlines can (and often will) come back with a debit memo to the agency who ticketed the booking. Guess where that ultimately comes back to? And the debit memos are almost always for full fare.

So, are they an invaluable tool? Absolutely. But remember that you are liable for everything you book via the GDS, so make sure you understand pricing, taxes, and ticketing rules very carefully before you start ticketing away.

tvl4free

Absolutety NOT! Didn't you read my post? You build your itineraries that way that YOU want them. Do you have any idea how many extra miles one can add in over the years that way? It's clear that you also have no clue how much one can save w access to consolidator fares.

And Kanebear...90/10? LOL! hehehe. Just between you and me, that larger number should be in your favor...???