NDC Bookings in Trams Back Office

We're working closely with our GDS partners to make NDC bookings interface seamlessly with Trams Back Office. Currently, NDC bookings made in Amadeus and Sabre interface to Trams Back Office. Travelport+ (Galileo) is finalizing their specifications related to NDC bookings.

NDC bookings interface to Trams Back Office with the submit-to Supplier, and the airline as the vendor.

Travelport has not provided information related to NDC bookings in Apollo and Worldspan. Contact Travelport for more information about NDC content in those GDS.

In this article

• About NDC
• Preparing Trams for NDC bookings
• Commission on NDC bookings
• Voided NDC bookings
• Refunded NDC bookings
• Special considerations for specific GDS users

About NDC

New Distribution Capability (NDC) allows airlines to process payments directly, bypassing ARC/BSP. Because the payments are processed by the airline, they are treated as supplier bookings in Trams.

Preparing Trams for NDC bookings

There is no extra setup required to interface NDC bookings, though you may wish to consider entering default commission rates in your Trams Vendor Profile for airlines that participate in NDC. More information about how commission is calculated on NDC bookings is provided later in this article.

Commission on NDC bookings

It's important to note that the normal default commission rules apply to NDC bookings as other supplier bookings.

Specifically, if a commission is specified in the GDS accounting information, that amount will be shown in Trams. Trams calculates the commission in the following order:

1. Commission specified using an override entry in the PNR.
   (See the Interface guides for Amadeus, Sabre, Worldspan, Apollo, and Travelport+ for specific formats for entering commission overrides)
2. Commission amounts included in the automated GDS accounting information from your GDS.
3. The default commission rate specified in the airline's vendor profile.
4. The global default commission rate set up under Utilities > Global Defaults > Taxes.

NOTE: We have observed that NDC bookings often lack commission details in the automated accounting information. Therefore, we recommend entering a default commission rate in the Trams airline vendor profile or entering a commission override remark in the PNR.

Voided NDC bookings

The GDS do not transmit void messages for non-ARC/BSP bookings. Therefore, as with other non-ARC/BSP bookings, NDC bookings must to be manually voided in Trams.

Refunded NDC bookings

Refunded NDC bookings interface to Trams automatically.

Special considerations for specific GDS users

Based on feedback from our users, we've found that the following steps may be helpful when invoicing NDC bookings.

Amadeus

Client interface IDs must be entered using the format RM*AN{interface ID}. PNRs using the alternative format for client interface IDs, AIAN{interface ID} do not include the interface ID in interface records.

Sabre

Sabre may not automatically generate invoices after issuing an NDC ticket and ending the PNR. Therefore, it may be necessary to manually issue the invoice using the DIN command.