Overview of Flight Booking Process: Structure, Steps and Key systems

PSS or Passenger Service System is a software solution used by airlines which encompasses a series of important data including central reservation system, departure control system and airline inventory system, to name a few. It also includes ancillary distribution wherein additional revenue can be earned by the airlines by sale of merchandises and other in-flight services.

Every airline resorts to technical support to manage ticket distribution which is called Central Reservation System or Computer Reservation System. The system basically takes care of all the essential records pertaining to flight bookings, inventory, flight-related information and ticketing. The software allows distribution of the inventory such as hotels and airlines online which enables the prospective customer to peruse through all the options available.

An Airline Reservation System is also part of CRS which helps list out all the flight schedules, ticket fares, reservations and records of the tickets. The idea behind the system is to enable convenient bookings that are spread across various distribution channels. The system comprises of a database with flight ticket tariffs, rules, booking conditions and more. The airline is responsible for sending their inventory bucket and booking data to the GDS, which then takes it to the main hub of distributors online.

A Global Distribution System is a very important system in the flight booking arena. It is a network that operates as a middleman to connect travel agents and the plethora of travel service providers. GDS encapsulates all the essential details such as airline inventory, fares, flight schedules and more. Using this data and connectivity APIs, it then connects travel agents and OTAs via manual terminals. They play a pivotal role in bringing in the ancillary revenue to the travel industry. Some of the important names to remember as main GDS' are Amadeus, Travelport and Sabre. GDS collects its inventory along with schedule details from Airline Tariff Publishing Company, OAG and Innovata as well as PSS. These systems help GDS to accumulate data. Once all the necessary data is collected, GDS then distributes them to its affiliated booking platforms as well as to travel agents upon request.

Every time you book a ticket for yourself, you receive a PNR code. It is basically a confirmation that the seat has been reserved to a certain person. The 6-digit code that help you in many ways as it helps you track the status of your flight booking, your flight status and much more. The PNR number validates your flight booking and ensures that it doesn't go to a different person. Further, if your trip involves changing flights and airlines, it results in interline booking. In such cases, an interline commercial agreement takes place for codeshared flights. This enables one of the various airlines to issue a PNR that can be utilised for the codeshared flights.

There are two ways through which you can make your flight bookings, either through an indirect channel based on metasearch engine or by direct channel wherein you approach the airline. Given below is a detailed brief on the same.

- Direct channel

A direct channel means you directly approach the specific airline to make your ticket purchase. They basically skip the whole process of going via GDS and instead go directly to the CRS.

- Indirect channel

Indirect channel includes using the services of InterMiles where you get an idea of the tariffs set by all the airlines. The OTA (Online Travel Agent) helps give you an idea of fare tariffs of all airlines so you can pick the most affordable and ideal ones.

Once the booking is made, it goes through the basic CRS functions of reservation management wherein they generate a passenger name record (PNR), a payment gateway process is channelled and all the inventory pertaining to what follows a flight ticket reservation. Some of the functions of CRS includes customer information management, refund management, booking and cancellation management and more.

Additional airline services or ancillary services include some of the perks that every airline offers such as reserving a specific seat, additional baggage, legroom, in-flight meals and more. The Merchandising System takes care of all the ancillary services which is tallied as part of the ticket tariff. Interestingly, the Merchandising System also offer tremendous discounts and pricing offers to make it an attractive offer.

When it comes to loyalty programmes and mileage programmes, there are many airlines and OTAs that offer such services. The airline Merchandising System also takes care of loyalty programmes. There are programmes such as frequent-flyers or airline loyalty which enables accumulation of miles. Depending on the miles that you accumulate, you can exchange them for discounts and several benefits including upgradation of cabin classes and more. Similarly, InterMiles also works the mileage programme with additional perks to make the customer's flight booking experience a good one.

A third-party service to take care of financial operations is enabled once you head to the payment gateway. Some of the main operations that involve in the payment gateway are authorization (to ensure that the customer has enough balance/money to pay for the ticket), sending the required funds to the merchant's account, payment for the purchase made, refund and more.

With a surge in the number of customers opting for online flight booking, there are not many ticketing agents present anymore. Although the process and choices for booking flight tickets online has become easier, the systems used to ensure the efficiency is still strenuous. Innovations may have been adopted by airports and airlines, the presence of GDS and airline flight booking APIs continue to be used to additionally enable seat confirmation, ancillary and fare distribution.

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