NDC SPRK - AA

Modified on Fri, 4 Aug, 2023 at 11:34 AM

NDC Training (for American Airlines content)

A new fare source, NDC, has been introduced to the Spotnana OBT. NDC is New Distribution Capability.

This fare source provides even greater pricing options for our clients. The two goals behind this addition are:

to have more variety with fares
to not have a middle man with GDS fees

You will now see two source options, NDC and Sabre, under the cabin categories. This training will demonstrate the steps to book, cancel/refund and modify.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

NDC Training (for American Airlines content)

How to book AA NDC fares on the OBT

Flight Tab - Flight search results

This section will describe some of the details you will see in flight search results. The source of the inventory (e.g., Sabre, NDC) is visible to agents (but not self-serve travelers) in bottom right of fare listings.

You can disable the display of flights which are out of policy.

The results include the flight details, such as:

Flight times
Duration
Airport codes and City pair
Number of stops
Flight number
Class of service options and their cost.
Marketing Carrier
Inventory Source

Next, proceed to search for your flight. An AA NDC fare search is no different from a regular flight search.

Once you have AA NDC Fares loaded in our OBT, you will notice that there are several variations of the Inventory sources. These will be shown in the bottom right corner of each flight option, NDC|Sabre, Sabre, or NDC.

Next, offer the options provided and click Select to select the cabin requested by Client. Fare sources are noted in the bottom right corner of the column.

Note that one of the many benefits of offering NDC inventory is the savings for the traveler.

Flight Tab - Checking out

The checkout flow will be the same as Sabre inventory. The first checkout page has the flight details, traveler details and seat selection.

The second check out page will contain the flight details as well as potentially some company-specific custom fields (e.g., Reason for Travel) and a form of payment. Click Book Flight.

Flight tab - Completed.

Once the flight booking is completed, you will see the source displayed (NDC)

How to cancel and rebook AA NDC bookings

Flight Tab - Change

When a traveler needs to exchange their flight, this can be done online via the OBT.

Click on the three dots and expand the menu.

Choose Change.

Then click Edit.

You can now edit the city pairs or date of travel or both (if the fare rules allow it). Add Flight is available as well for adding another leg.

The search results will display and show the difference in fare.

Choosing the cabin will show any refunds or add collects per the refundability.

Click the Select button. You will then see the total refund or add/collect on the next screen.

As well as the updated proposed itinerary.

How to Cancel a flight

When a traveler needs to cancel their flight, this can be done via the OBT. To do this, click on the three dots menu.

Then, select Cancel.

The Cancel Flight reservation page will state the duration of your void window, if still within the void period.

If the void period has expired, this page will not be displayed.

Click Confirm cancellation. Continue with the steps in the workflow and click Yes, cancel to confirm.

A confirmation will be displayed that the flight has been canceled.

The itinerary will now show a status of Canceled.

How to log into the SPRK

Each agent will receive their own individual email link to log in to SPRK. This link is only valid for 20 minutes, so the process of logging in and changing your password will have to be done in a timely fashion.

When logging in, the system will ask for the Office ID and Agent ID. Both of these are provided in the email.

Here is what the login screen looks like:

Be sure to save this site in your browser favorites/bookmarks as you will be using it frequently.

How to Modify / Cancel / Refund fares in SPRK

For NDC American Airlines fares, only use SPRK to make change to fares IF you are unable to do so via the OBT. The reason for this is that if you make changes to American Airlines NDC fares via SPRK, those changes are not updated in the OBT and all subsequent edits will need to be made via a manual form in the OBT.

You can use the OBT to modify or cancel a flight reservation for an NDC booking the same as you would for any other exchange or cancellation in the OBT. The following steps explain the procedure for performing these changes directly on the SPRK site (in case OBT process is not working).

How to search for a reservation

There is a know issue that occurs when you search by the reference #.
The result is an error message that states that it's not a valid locator. Note that this issue will be fixed soon.

Click on Advanced Search.

Enter the traveler’s name.

Click Search. SPRK will then return all flights associated with the traveler’s name.

Be sure to choose the correct itinerary. Then click the Record Locator link.

The reservation is now ready for the next steps.

How to modify a flight

To begin to modify the flight, we must first search for the new flight(s).Click the Add Air (Blue plane icon) in the top right corner.

Then enter the new search criteria and click Fare Search. The results will display various cabin options to choose from.

Choose the fare by clicking the shopping cart icon next to the fare.

You will be presented with the new stored fare on the Fare Information page. Click Add to Shopping Cart. Then, you will be taken to the main screen with the new dates in the shopping cart tab.

Locate the old itinerary (the one that will be deleted) and select the new itinerary that will be reissued and select Book.

If you need to add a tour code, you must update the stored fare before you start the ticket exchange process. To do that, hover over the stored fare and select the view/edit fare (pencil) icon.

Choose the Auto-Exchange button to initiate the reissue process.

Select Continue in the next screen to move forward.

When exchanging records that have been priced with your corporate rates, you can optionally also do the following:

Expand the Qualifier section.
Select Corporate ID from the Type menu.
Enter your Snap Code in the Code field.
Select Continue.

This will price the record with your discount.

Click Continue in the next screen to proceed. SPRK will identify the original ticket to be exchanged.

SPRK will confirm the difference in fare. If the ticket has a penalty, that will be listed as well. Once the traveler agrees to the difference in fare, click Exchange to continue.

The summary screen will be displayed. If all the details are correct, click Submit.

The ticket is now issued. Note the Status (in the top left corner) displayed Ticketed.

How to modify a partially flown itinerary with residual

To search for a flight, see How to search for a reservation in this document (the steps are the same for your initial search). Once you have located the new flights picked and selected the old flights for exchange, click Auto- Exchange.

Then click Continue.

SPRK identifies the tickets to be used in the exchange. Click Continue.

SPRK will then confirm the value of the ticket. In this example, there's a residual.

Click Exchange. The summary screen appears.

To issue an MCO, select Issue Residual MCO/EMD/Other Document checkbox and enter the amount in that field that is displayed in the Current amount discrepancy field.

Then, click Submit.

The new ticket is issued with the residual MCO.

How to cancel or void in the OBT

See https://spotnana.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/72000604074-cancel-a-flight (this topic is also provided to travelers to self serve the cancelling of flight bookings).

Once cancelled, the reservation will display the Cancelledstatus.

Cancellations performed in the OBT will sync with the SPRK site.

Additional details about cancellations/voids

If the cancellation was performed outside the void window but the flight was refundable, then the flight segments will cancel and the flights will be refunded.
If the ticket was non-refundable, then the segments will still be removed and the ticket status left open. The credit should be added to the NDC spreadsheet.
The window for voiding is set to 11 pm the next day rather than 11:59 to avoid any possible errors.
You should check in in SPRK to ensure that the ticket was cancelled/refunded/voided.

If the action performed in the OBT was not reflected in SPRK, the How to void in SPRK section will describe the steps to perform in SPRK to cancellation a flight.

How to void in SPRK

Prior to cancelling on the OBT the reservation will show ticketed.

EMDs will show a status of Issued.

If the void performed in the OBT was successful, the SPRK site will automatically show the status updated. In this example, it was inside the void window, so it will be displayed as voided.

To void via the SPRK site, follow these steps:

As a first step, always attempt to cancel the PNR using the Spotnana OBT. You should only try to cancel it via SPRK if you were unable to do so via the Spotnana OBT.
Go to the SPRK site and login.
Load the reservation.
Click the Ticket link.
Choose the Void option (If within the void window)

The ticket selected for void will display. Click Submit.

The Confirmation Required screen will be displayed and require you to acknowledge the void. Click Continue to proceed.

The summary screen will be displayed showing the amount that was voided and a message confirming the amount that was refunded back to the form of payment.

The ticket will show the status as voided on the initial reservation search results.

How to issue a refund in SPRK

Normally, cancelling a refundable flight using the OBT will will automatically cancel and refund the ticket. No additional steps should be required. However, if for some reason, the refund must be issued via SPRK, this section explains how to do that.

Load the reservation in SPRK and click the Ticket link.

Choose the Refund option (If within the void window)

If the ticket is refundable, then the Ticket Refund screen will show what the traveler will be refunded minus any penalties if they apply. Once reviewed with the traveler, you can continue and click Submit.

The refund will be applied back to the form of payment and a confirmation will be displayed (similar to a void).

DO NOT REFUND A NON-REFUNDABLE RESERVATION - The SPRK site enables the Refund button even if the ticket is non-refundable. Clicking Refund for a non-refundable ticket, will cause the traveler's ticket to go into RFND status but no refund will be issued and the credit will be lost (as the ticket will no longer be open). Avoid this. 
If you can perform the refund in the OBT, do it there instead of via SPRK.

How to update the OBT with changes

Using the Manual Form

When using the manual form, you have two options:

Search Flight - will allow you to search within the OBT like a normal booking.
Outside Booking - will provide you with fields to fill out manually.

Choose the product you would like to create (Add Flight, Add Hotel, Add Car, Add Rail, Add Limo or Other).

Then choose Outside booking.

In this example, we use the manual form for air bookings. Each travel mode has it's own version of the manual form and the fields will be different each.

When first displayed, the form will be blank. Fill in all the required information to build the booking.

Third party supplier Information
Departure and Destination City pairs
Airline
Flight Number
Code share if applicable
COS or Branded Fare
Seat
Ticket Number
Fare: Base cost and Taxes
Fees

Then, click Add Booking.

Once you've made all the necessary change, scroll to the bottom of the form and click Save.