Fare Rule Interpretation.....It Never Gets Easier

Join the club on fare rule interpretation!! LOL Heck, it changes all the time and when in doubt, I call the airline and hope I get someone smarter than me. Basically, all of the airlines have different rules, yet similiar too. It varies from airline to airline and that's where it can get crazy. I keep profile info on each different airline that I frequently use and update the basic rules as they change.  Needless to say, I'm constantly updating my airline profile information.

A few of the key rules to know, especially when it comes to domestic, nonrefundable fares are:

1. How far in advance does that airline require a passenger to cancel in order to maintain the travel funds?

2. How much is the basic penalty to change (you can almost always find that in section 16 of the fare rule). I'm 99pct sure that would be the same place on Sabre too.

3. It's important to know and to be able to determine if the "round trip" ticket is based on a "round trip" fare or "two one way fares" and if that particular carrier will allow you to change the return before you've begun travel or if you have to start theh price all over again or if they're just changing their return and travel has already begun, what those rules are. I'm telling you, it's not real easy and most of the time, when I call the airline just to "ease my mind" I pretty much know the answer, I just need someone to tell me I'm right. There are so many little loopholes and sadly that's what gets many people caught up in debit memo's. I'm thinking that SABRE too (like Apollo) has an automated exchange program where SABRE figures out your add collect too. The thing I don't like about those programs is that you can't get the information unless you've already cancelled and rebooked which could really put you in a jam, especially if you broke the rules of the fare by making the change or whatever.

You practically have to be a lawyer to be able to interpret fare rules!!

I could say so, so much more, have to watch black out dates, same day confirm/change rules and options (only can be done by the airline directly in most cases) and all of those fees vary from airline to airline, as do the hours in advance it can be done as well as required inventory needed.  You have to pay attention to day of week restrictions, minimum/maximum stay requirements. Sometimes exchanges are a piece a cake, but they can get rather involved if you start to "think" too much, but the fear of a debit memo requires us to "think" of all the different scenarios and possible problems (debit memo's) which could arise by making the changes.

I personally haven't been on SABRE in years, but the concept is the same as APOLLO/Galileo, and has all the same bells and whistles per se.

Basically the best rule of thumb is, if in doubt, get a 2nd or 3rd opinion. Eventually, you'll learn what to focus on and what's most important. You'll also learn to keep notes for future reference so you'll have someplace to start, especially if you have a customer on the phone and you're trying not to sound like a bumbling idiot!! That's when I throw in the "dang, you almost have to be a lawyer to read these stupid rules!!" The passengers are very understanding to that comment, even if they're an attorney, they totally understand.

The key at being an awesome corporate travel agent is honesty and great communication skills, if you don't know, there's no shame in admitting to that, but people always expect the following comment to be "but let me find out for you".