Fare Applications

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Fare Applications for Official Travelers

Forward: The General Services Administration (GSA), at the request of the DOD, has contracted with US flag carriers special rates to be applied for the movement of duty personnel when performing official travel. The rates are very economical when compared to other full fare costs and because of these rates, the DOD is saving over two hundred million dollars annually. Military and Government travelers on official business are required to use the contract carrier unless a specific exception applies. SatoTravel is required to adhere to the guidelines set by the General Services Administration (GSA) when providing duty travel to military and DOD civilian personnel.

The GSA has now been mandated to audit one hundred percent of all government tickets to ensure the most economical fares are used. When the GSA auditors review a record for pricing errors they check for a contract fare from origin to destination. If it is a connecting flight, and there is not a contract fare for that route, they check the point to point fare for each leg of the journey to see if the lowest combined fare was used. The audit committee is only auditing the airline and routing issued on the ticket. If they find a lower fare than the fare booked they send it to the airline as an overcharge to the government, who in turn sends it to us in the form of debit memos.

Applicable Fares

When booking Official Travel, SatoTravel must offer the Government the lowest applicable fare. Applicable fares are fares available to the Government or IATA published fares available to the General Public.

Government Contract Fares (YCA, LCA, MCA, QCA etc.)
Contract Fares can be identified by the "CA" in the fare basis. Contract fares are OW and point to point.
You can not use fares with a State code at the end. These fares are for local state government employees only.
Example:
YCAMI fare is only applicable to state of Michigan employees.
MCATX fare is only applicable to state of Texas employees.
(The list continues for every state in the U.S.A.)
Government Discount Fares (QDG, LDG, MDG, BDG etc.)
Discounted government fares are fares offered by the " loser" of the contract city-pair award. Airlines offer these fares in the hopes that they may be chosen for the trip if the contract carrier is not available or if it does not meet the travelers mission requirements.
Category Z Fares (MMZ, YMZ, BMZ, KMZ etc.)
These fares existed before contract fares. They are normally more expensive than contract fares and only apply to "over the water" flights.
IATA Published Fares (BLTMAYO, QAW14NR, Y2 etc.)
Published fares are fares available to the general public, with or without penalties.
NOTE: If a penalty fare is accepted, a signature is required from the traveler stating that he or she understands the penalty conditions of travel.

Contract Fare Market

When a traveler requests travel from point A to B, you must first determine if a government fare exists for that market. If a YCA market exists you must offer the contract carrier. If the contract carrier also offers a lower _CA fare (ie. LCA, QCA, etc.), the lower fare must be offered. If the lower fare is not available use the next lowest _CA fare and so on up the ladder.

The linking of contract or other fares is not permitted when a through or direct contract fare exists for the city pair.

Example: Contract Route FRA – DTW. NW is the contract carrier. Fares offered by NW for this route are:

YCA $435
LCA $400
QDG $350
BMZ $375

In the example above, you would offer the lowest available contract (_CA) fare, LCA $400. If the LCA is not available, offer the next lowest contract (_CA) fare, YCA $435.

NOTE: The LCA fare is lower than the YCA fare as it is capacity controlled. You are required to offer the LCA however inform the traveler, especially in high seasons and Emergency Leave cases, if there is a possibility he or she will change the return date, they may have difficulties obtaining a seat in "L" class. Let the traveler decide which fare would better suite the mission. The capacity controlled LCA fare or the YCA fare which has a higher inventory of seats.

If there are no seats available on the contract carrier, it is mandatory that you annotate the PNR:

"No available seats on the contract carrier."

Now you are now free to use any combination of applicable fares that are available and are not obligated to use contract fares to construct the lowest applicable fare to the travelers duty point. See "No Contract Fare Market" below for more information.

NOTE:

general public

not a

"PAX declined lowest available fare due to mission requirements."
-or-
"PAX declined restricted fare due to penalties."

Exceptions To The Mandatory Use Of The Contract Carrier:

Seating space or the scheduled flight is not available in time to accomplish the purpose of travel mission.
Use of contract service would require the traveler to incur unnecessary overnight lodging costs which would increase the total cost of the trip.
The contract carrier’s flight schedule is inconsistent with explicit policies of individual Federal departments and agencies.
A non contract carrier offers a lower fare available to the general public, (Fly American Act) the use of which will result in a lower total trip cost to the Government. This determination should be based on a cost comparison to include the combined cost of transportation, lodging, meals and related expenses.
Rail service is available and such service is cost effective and consistent with mission requirements.

If one of the above exceptions apply, an exception form is required.

No Contract Fare Market

When there is no contract fare between the traveler’s duty points you are still required to offer the lowest available fare. The lowest fare could be a through fare or a constructed fare. When constructing a fare, you are free to use any combination of applicable fares that are available and are not obligated to use contract fares to construct the lowest applicable fare to the travelers duty point. Contract fares may be used in conjunction with other published fares, discounted government fares and, when applicable, in conjunction with other contract fares.

The linking of contract or other fares is not permitted
when a through or direct contract fare exists for the city pair.

The best way to ensure you have booked the lowest fare(s), for the routes booked, is to price the PNR with the following Sabre entries to see which one is the lowest cost to the government

WPNC‡PGVT‡XR	Checks for the best fare in the market, excluding CATZ fares, for the routing booked.
WPNCB‡PGV1‡XR	This format will re-book if necessary, the existing itinerary, at the lowest government fare or combine a fare without restrictions. Example: NUE/FRA - COW1 FRA/ORD/MCI - YCA
WPNC‡PGV1‡XR	Checks for both Government Contract and CAT Z fares without restrictions for the routing booked.
WPNI‡PGV1‡XR	This format will re-book a different itinerary or give you a few options of different connections at the lowest government fare or combination. This format searches for alternative available itineraries for the requested route.

Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa

The lowest fare must be offered for the desired route, even if there are associated penalties. Inform the traveler of the penalties. If the traveler declines a penalty fare, the PNR must be annotated:

"PAX declined lowest available fare due to mission requirements"
-or-
"PAX declined restricted fare due to penalties."

Now you may book an unrestricted fare.

last update September 29, 2005