Industry + Work Environment
Not publishedof exam
Geography + Industry Codes
Not publishedof exam
Travel Documents + Passenger Experience
Not publishedof exam
Air Transport Products + Services
Not publishedof exam
Rail, Hotel, Car, Cruise + Tours
Not publishedof exam
Customer Service Principles
Not publishedof exam
Airfares + Ticketing
Not publishedof exam
GDS System Functionality
Not publishedof exam
Quick Facts
- Diploma
- DIPL-22
- Elective
- Choose one GDS
- Exam
- 80 MCQs
- Time
- 2 hours
- Pass
- 60%
- Attempts
- 2
- Course Access
- 12 months from purchase
- Study
- About 200 hours
- Booking Tool
- Maximum 45 hours
- Format
- Closed course book
- Distinction
- 85% Amadeus/Sabre; 90% Travelport+
Industry Roles
- Supplier
- Owns travel inventory
- Travel agent
- Advises and books
- Tour operator
- Builds packaged products
- Consolidator
- Distributes negotiated inventory
- GDS
- Connects sellers and inventory
- IATA
- Airline industry association
- ICAO
- UN aviation agency
- Customer profile
- Reusable traveler preferences
Airport vs City Code
Airport code
- One specific airport
- Example: LHR
City code
- Metropolitan grouping
- Example: LON
Facility vs city market
Codes + Geography
- Airport code
- Three-character location identifier
- City code
- Metropolitan airport grouping
- Airline designator
- Two-character carrier identifier
- Currency code
- Three-letter ISO identifier
- UTC
- Global time reference
- Local time
- UTC plus zone offset
- Elapsed time
- Arrival minus departure instants
- Dateline
- Calendar date may change
- LON
- London city code
- LHR
- Heathrow airport code
Formalities Check
PATH: Passport, Authorization, Transit, Health
Passport: validityAuthorization: visaTransit: en-route rulesHealth: current requirements
Travel Formalities
- Passport
- Identity and nationality document
- Visa
- Permission to seek entry
- Timatic
- Current travel requirement source
- Transit rule
- Depends on routing and nationality
- Health rule
- Verify destination and transit
- APIS
- Advance passenger data
- Insurance
- Coverage subject to exclusions
- Entry decision
- Made by border authorities
- Special assistance
- Request before travel
Nonstop vs Direct
Nonstop
- No intermediate landing
- Single flight movement
Direct
- Same flight number
- Stops may occur
No stop vs same number
Air Itinerary Picker
- Time is critical→Nonstop(Fewest flight events)
- Direct flight shown→Check stops(May still land)
- Connection required→Check MCT(Airport-specific)
- Airport changes→Add transfer(Allow travel time)
- Codeshare displayed→Check operator(Service provider)
- Baggage matters→Check carrier rules(Route-specific)
- Fare seems lowest→Check restrictions(Compare total value)
- Overnight connection→Check formalities(Transit may change)
Air Selection
- Nonstop
- No intermediate landing
- Direct flight
- Same flight number
- Connection
- Change flight en route
- Codeshare
- Shared flight designators
- Marketing carrier
- Sells coded flight
- Operating carrier
- Flies the aircraft
- Interline
- Carriers accept shared documents
- Cabin
- Onboard service compartment
- Booking class
- Inventory and fare bucket
- MCT
- Minimum permitted connection
Marketing vs Operating Carrier
Marketing
- Displays own code
- Sells the flight
Operating
- Flies the aircraft
- Delivers onboard service
Code shown vs aircraft flown
Ground Product Picker
- One rail journey→Point-to-point(Compare restrictions)
- Many rail journeys→Compare rail pass(Price each route)
- Door-to-door freedom→Car rental(Check inclusions)
- No driving wanted→Transfer(Confirm meeting point)
- Predictable total cost→Package tour(Check inclusions)
- Flexible independent trip→Separate products(Coordinate timings)
Ground + Packaged
- Point-to-point rail
- Specific journey ticket
- Rail pass
- Defined network travel allowance
- Room only
- Meals excluded
- Bed + breakfast
- Breakfast included
- Half board
- Two daily meals
- Full board
- Three daily meals
- Car category
- Vehicle class, not model
- Cruise cabin
- Location affects experience
- Package tour
- Prearranged combined services
- Transfer
- Terminal-to-accommodation transport
Needs Check
DATE: Dates, Airports, Travelers, Expectations
Dates: fixed/flexibleAirports: exact citiesTravelers: names/needsExpectations: budget/purpose
Service + Sales
- Open question
- Invites detailed needs
- Closed question
- Confirms specific fact
- Feature
- Product characteristic
- Benefit
- Customer value delivered
- Recap
- Confirms shared understanding
- Upsell
- Higher-value suitable option
- Cross-sell
- Relevant complementary product
- Service recovery
- Resolve and rebuild trust
- Loyalty
- Earn repeat business
Fare Check
PRICE: Price, Rules, Itinerary, Changes, Expiry
Price: totalRules: restrictionsItinerary: exact flightsChanges: feesExpiry: ticketing deadline
Fare vs Ticket
Fare
- Price plus conditions
- Rules govern use
Ticket
- Carriage document
- Coupons track travel
Price rules vs document
Fare Structure
- Fare basis
- Encoded fare conditions
- Published fare
- Publicly distributed price
- Private fare
- Restricted distribution price
- One-way
- Single-direction journey
- Round trip
- Return to origin
- Open jaw
- Surface gap between endpoints
- Circle trip
- Multiple points, same origin
- Advance purchase
- Book before stated deadline
- Minimum stay
- Earliest permitted return
- Maximum stay
- Latest permitted return
Reissue vs Refund
Reissue
- Replace changed ticket
- Collect difference and fees
Refund
- Return eligible value
- Apply refund rules
Continue travel vs return value
Ticketing Documents
- Itinerary
- Planned travel summary
- Reservation
- Held service record
- E-ticket
- Electronic carriage document
- Coupon
- Segment travel entitlement
- EMD
- Electronic miscellaneous document
- Reissue
- Replace changed ticket
- Refund
- Return eligible value
- No-show
- Missed booked service
- Ticketing deadline
- Issue before cancellation
PNR Check
NCRS: Name, Contact, Route, Services
Name: document matchContact: reachableRoute: all segmentsServices: SSR/OSI
SSR vs OSI
SSR
- Structured service request
- May require response
OSI
- Informational carrier message
- No service request
Request vs information
Reservation Workflow
- Request received→Profile needs(Dates, budget, purpose)
- Routing drafted→Check formalities(Authoritative sources)
- Options available→Compare journey(Time and value)
- Customer selects→Sell segments(Chosen GDS syntax)
- PNR created→Add essentials(Names, contacts, services)
- Services requested→SSR or OSI(Choose correct field)
- Itinerary complete→Price itinerary(Read fare rules)
- Before ticketing→Customer approval(Confirm total and rules)
- Document issued→Final audit(Send itinerary and receipts)
GDS Record
- PNR
- Reservation data record
- Name field
- Match travel document
- Contact field
- Reach traveler promptly
- Air segment
- Booked flight service
- SSR
- Structured service request
- OSI
- Carrier information message
- Remark
- Agent record note
- Received from
- Instruction source record
- Queue
- Pending work list
Industry Code vs GDS Command
Industry code
- Identifies travel entity
- Standard reference data
GDS command
- Executes system action
- Platform-specific syntax
Identifier vs action
GDS Workflow
- Availability
- Schedules and inventory
- Sell
- Book selected inventory
- Price
- Apply fare rules
- Validate
- Check names and services
- End transaction
- Save current record
- Retrieve
- Open existing record
- Cancel
- Remove booked segment
- Amadeus entry
- Use Amadeus syntax
- Sabre entry
- Use Sabre syntax
- Travelport+ entry
- Use Travelport+ syntax
Common Traps
Direct is not nonstop
Direct may stop ≠ Nonstop never lands
Visa is not admission
Visa permits travel request ≠ Border decides entry
Cabin is not booking class
Cabin is onboard section ≠ Class controls inventory
Booking is not ticketing
PNR may hold space ≠ Ticket documents carriage
Code is not command
Codes identify entities ≠ Commands vary by GDS
Marketing is not operating
Marketing code sells ≠ Operator flies aircraft
Lowest fare is not best
Restrictions may cost more ≠ Compare total journey
Last Minute
- 1.Choose one official GDS elective
- 2.Use only selected GDS syntax
- 3.Verify passport, visa, health rules
- 4.Record names exactly as documents
- 5.Check operating and marketing carriers
- 6.Respect minimum connection time
- 7.Compare total journey, not fare
- 8.Read change and refund rules
- 9.Confirm baggage with operating carrier
- 10.Price before ticketing deadline
- 11.Recheck dates, airports, time zones
- 12.Get customer approval before issue
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