Sabre will launch a product on June 1 that will allow agents to book flights and other transactions that are not yet e-ticketable.
The new piece of kit, called the Virtual Miscellaneous Charge Order (vMCO), arrives just in time for the IATA May 31 deadline after which it requires 100% e-ticketing.
There are currently a number of gaps where eticketing has yet to become a reality. Some airlines and routes do not operate e-ticketing and payment for excess baggage vouchers and exchange fees is still done the old fashioned way. Pre-paid Ticket Advices (PTA) and tickets on departure are also not eticketable.
The vMCO, however, will bridge the gap with agents able to arrange for passengers to receive a paper ticket at the airport when an airline or route is not yet e-ticketable.
The solution will be totally automated, passing transaction details to IATA’s Billing and Settlement Plans and an agency’s mid and back-office systems.
British Airways is one of the first companies to endorse the use of vMCO.
Martin Cowley, senior vice president for Sabre Travel Network in EMEA, said: “Moving to a 100% e-ticketing environment is one of the most significant industry initiatives ever undertaken, and we’ve been working with airline and agency customers to proactively address gaps where e-ticketing won’t be available.
“Our agents around the world already issue over 93% of their tickets as e-tickets – a figure that is steadily rising as we focus on enabling e-ticketing for remaining airlines and thousands of other interline carriers. Sabre agents can also issue single e-tickets for passengers travelling on multiple carriers, using data from more than 6,100 Interline E-Ticket (IET) agreements we already have in our system.â€
by Dinah Hatch
