BSP Manual for Agents – Local Procedures
Chapter 14
IATA Romania & Moldova
January 2012
LOCAL PROCEDURES
CONTENTS
1. Address, telephone number and e-mail addresses of BSP Romania and responsible persons.
2. Reporting calendar including methods of dispatch and dates ASTFs.
3. Settlement calendar including various methods of payment and days required after payment order done to be credited to IATA hinge account.
4. Details of sanctions and administrative/clearing bank charges.
5. STD types in use locally. Handling of coupons (void/cancelled/exchanges etc). 6. Method of STD distribution, distribution supplier, type of distribution. How to order emergency stock.
7. BSP Helpdesk
8. Which CRS/GDSs are approved ticketing system providers.
9. Local DPC information- who, where to contact. Is processing done locally or remotely. Is data capture done locally, by whom?
10. Local Clearing bank information – who, where? Names, telephone numbers. 11. Airlines/Third parties participating in BSP Romania.
12. Composition of LCAG-P in Romania
13. Distribution of CIPs, who does it? Plating rules and conditions. 14. Local net remit ticketing procedures
15. Local ACM/ADM procedures 16. Refund procedures.
17. Credit card sales – procedures and local practices. 18. BSPLink Manual for agents.
1 Address, telephone number and e-mail addresses of BSP Romania and responsible persons
IATA Romania & Moldova
Bd. Nicolae Titulescu nr. 4-8, et. 1,
America House Building – Galeriile Comerciale, Cod: 011141 Bucuresti
Tel.: +40 (21) 310 IATA (4282) Fax: +40 (21) 310.42.83
Contact persons:
Anca Apahidean - Area Head, IATA Czech Republic, Slovakia, Polanda, Hungary,
Romania & Moldova
E-mail: apahideana@iata.org
Amalia Rosca – Assistant Manager Passenger Services (BSP, BSPlink, Accreditation, ITDI)
E-mail: roscaa@iata.org
Sergiu Sarasan – Coordinator Passenger, Cargo & Special Projects
(Cargo, CASS, Risk Management, Accreditation, other projects) E-mail: sarasans@iata.org
Corina Raducu – Assistant Manager Finance & Administration
(BSP&CASS)
For any queries we recommend you to visit our Customer Portal!
http://www.iata.org/customer-portal/Pages/ContactUs.aspx
Agent calls are welcome between 9.00 am- 12.00 pm
2. Reporting calendar including methods of dispatch and dates of ASTFs.
BSP Romania has 2 reporting periods and 2 billing periods: 1-15 of month, respectively 16-end of month.
Reporting currencies accepted are RON and EUR. Only Tarom, Air Moldova, Carpatair, British Airways accept the RON reporting.
Please find BSP Reporting calendar at
http://www.iata.org/customer-portal/Pages/index.aspx / Resource Center / Romania / BSP-Travel Agents - Reporting
Calendars (year).
or BSPlink
3. Settlement calendar including various methods of payment and days required after payment order done to be credited to IATA hinge account.
The sole method of remittance accepted for the monies due by Agents is bank transfer. The remittance date as per the calendar means that money shall be in IATA’s accounts by the close of business day on the mentioned date. The working days required in order for the monies to reach IATA hinge account are normally 2 for EUR transfers and 1 for ROL transfers. Intra-bank transfers are made in the same working day.
Cash deposits directly into our hinge account opened with ING Bank can be accepted only on exceptional basis and for very small amounts. No cash payments to IATA Office are accepted.
Please consider payments exclusively on the IATA’s accounts mentioned on the invoice.
The detailed annex of each invoice is located in BSP link containing all transactions. The annex is to be downloaded and checked.
Disputed billings
In case an Agent considers that the billing received is not according to its own calculations, there are two situations:
Minor amounts disputed – in case these minor amounts do not cause any financial hardship for the Agent, then the amounts will be settled in full, and adjustments will be made subsequently using Airline Memoranda;
Major amounts disputed – the Agent will inform in writing the IDFS Romania Manager regarding the amounts disputed and reasons involved. IDFS manager will then inform the Agent of the amounts to be settled and manual adjustments will be made if necessary.
4. Details of sanctions and administrative/clearing bank charges.
The sanctions arising from irregularities are presented in Resolution 818 g - Attachment
‘A’ – Section 1 – Reporting and Remitting. The financial penalties applicable are:
Airline direct penalty for issuing incorrect currency (RON instead of EUR and EUR instead of RON).
As per attachment to present documentation.
Warning! Two such situations as above lead to accumulation of 4 instances of irregularity, which places the agent in Default and suspends the access to BSPlink and GDS.
5. STD types in use locally. Handling of coupons (void/cancelled/exchanges etc)
All tickets issued are electronic
For any other airline services, a V-MPD shall be used
6. Method of STD distribution, distribution supplier, type of distribution. How to order emergency stock.
As of 1 jun 2008, the use of electronic ticket is exclusive. ET ranges are allocated automatically by the GDS.
7. BSP Helpdesk
The preferred method of contact enjoying priority of response is our Customer Portal Europe at http://www.iata.org/customer-portal/Pages/index.aspx by clicking
Contact Us / Log an Enquiry Fill in the form
Submit – select “Country” (Romania & Moldova) The local contacts are:
Anca Apahidean - Area Head, IATA Czech Republic, Slovakia, Polanda, Hungary,
Romania & Moldova
E-mail: apahideana@iata.org
Amalia Rosca – Assistant Manager Passenger Services (BSP, BSPlink, Accreditation, ITDI)
E-mail: roscaa@iata.org
Sergiu Sarasan – Coordinator Passenger, Cargo & Special Projects
(Cargo, CASS, Risk Management, Accreditation, other projects) E-mail: sarasans@iata.org
Corina Raducu – Assistant Manager Finance & Administration
(BSP&CASS)
8.Which CRS/GDSs are approved ticketing system providers
AMADEUS 1A GALILEO 1G
SABRE
WORLDSPAN 1P
9. Local DPC information – who, where to contact.
DPC (Data Processing Centre) for BSP Romania is ACCA – Beijing, China.
Any queries/problems regarding the data processing should be made via the Customer portal.
All transactions (tickets, refunds, ADM/ACM, V-MPDs) are automated using either the GDSs or the BSPLink and are sent to the DPC for processing on daily basis therefore any mistakes shall be corrected accordingly.
10. Local Clearing bank information – who, where? Names, telephone numbers.
Clearing Bank for BSP Romania is: ING Bank Bucharest
ING BANK Metropolis
Str. Grigore Alexandrescu nr. 89-97, Corp C, Sector 1,
Bucharest, Romania Tel. +40 21 222 1600 Fax +40 21 222 9385
11. Airlines/Third parties participating in BSP Romania
List of Airlines Member in BSP Romania & Moldova (January 2012)
82:
Code Participant
JP 165 Adria Airways - The Airline of Slovenia A3 390 Aegean Airlines S.A.
VV 870 Aerosvit Airlines
BT 657 Air Baltic Corporation S/A
AB 745 Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG CA 999 Air China Limited
UX 996 Air Europa Lineas Aereas, S.A. AF 057 Air France
MD 258 Air Madagascar KM 643 Air Malta p.l.c. 9U 572 Air Moldova HM 061 Air Seychelles Ltd.
7D 897 Airline Company Donbassaero
AZ 055 Alitalia - Compagnia Aerea Italiana S.p.A. AA 001 American Airlines
OS 257 Austrian Airlines, Österreichische Luftverkehrs AG dba Austrian
J2 771 Azerbaijan Hava Yollary BA 125 British Airways P.L.C. SN 082 Brussels Airlines N.V. FB 623 Bulgaria Air
CX 160 Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. CZ 784 China Southern Airlines QI 647 Cimber Sterling A/S
5L 275 Compania Boliviana de Transporte Aereo Privado Aerosur S.A.
DE 881 Condor Flugdienst GmbH OU 831 Croatia Airlines
CY 048 Cyprus Airways Limited OK 064 Czech Airlines
F7 033 Darwin Airline SA DL 006 Delta Air Lines Inc. LH 220 Deutsche Lufthansa AG LY 114 El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. EK 176 Emirates
ET 071 Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise EY 607 Etihad Airways
AY 105 Finnair Oyj GA 126 Garuda Indonesia
GF 072 Gulf Air Company G. S. C. HR 169 Hahn Air Lines GmbH
HU 880 Hainan Airlines Company Limited YO 747 Heli Air Monaco
HX 851 Hong Kong Airlines Limited IB 075 Iberia - LAE S.A. Operadora FI 108 Icelandair
JU 115 Jat Airways
9W 589 Jet Airways (India) Limited KL 074 KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines KQ 706 Kenya Airways
LO 080 LOT - Polish Airlines
MH 232 Malaysian Airline System Berhad IG 191 Meridiana fly S. p. A.
2M 860 Moldavian Airlines YM 409 Montenegro Airlines OA 050 Olympic Air S.A.
WY 910 Oman Aviation Services Co. (SAOG) PC 624 Pegasus Hava Tasimaciligi A.S. QR 157 Qatar Airways (Q.C.S.C)
WQ 534 Romanian Aviation Company Romavia AT 147 Royal Air Maroc
BI 672 Royal Brunei Airlines RJ 512 Royal Jordanian
V3 021 S.C. Carpatair S.A. dba Carpatair
S4 331 SATA International Servicos Transportes Aereos S.A. LX 724 SWISS International Air Lines Ltd. dba SWISS SK 117 Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS)
S7 421 Siberia Airlines
SQ 618 Singapore Airlines Limited UL 603 SriLankan Airlines Ltd. JJ 957 TAM Linhas Aereas TP 047 TAP - Air Portugal
RO 281 TAROM Romanian Air Transport TG 217 Thai Airways International Public Co. Ltd. UN 670 Transaero Airlines
TK 235 Turkish Airlines Inc. US 037 US Airways Inc.
PS 566 Ukraine International Airlines UA 016 United Airlines Inc.
UT 298 Utair Aviation Joint-Stock Company 7W 461 Wind Rose Aviation Company
List of Third Parties
1 Hotelcon 777 HC
2 Worldwide Hotel Services 793 WH
12. Composition of LCAG-P in BSP Romania.
Mrs. Daniela Chiriac – RO - Chairperson of LCAG
Mr. Alexandru Dobrescu - AF/KL/DL Mr. Philipp Kappel - OS
Mr. Patrick Artiel - LH/LX Mr. Marco Rottino - AZ Mr. Pawel Merchel - LO Mr. Mehmet Kilik -TK
13. Distribution of CIPs, who does it?
Following the implementation of V-MPD, the distribution of CIPs is no longer necessary, and thus the majority of airlines withdrew them from the market.
In order to be able to issue tickets, the agent shall obtain a ticketing authority from the airline via BSPlink, automatically generating a message to the GDS. The agent will contact the airline directly.
The agent may consult the list of airlines that have granted him with ticket authority by accessing BSPlink.- Other Services -Ticketing Authority Query
The permission to issue V-MPDs is different from ticketing authority and shall be granted by the airline in addition to the ticketing authority. Such permission can be checked in BSPlink - Virtual MPD -V-MPD Airline Permission
14. Local net remit ticketing procedures/net ticketing option
In BSP Romania there are two net remit ticketing procedures that can be used in case of market fares, besides the net ticketing (IT in fare box) option:
a. Net fare amount option (Option 1)
The published fare is entered in the “Fare” box and a code starting with NR and followed by up to 12 alphanumeric characters is entered in the “Tour Code” box.
The Net Fare Amount is an agreed amount. The Standard Commission Amount (COAM) is based on the Gross Fare. The Supplementary Amount (SPAM) is calculated by deducting both NTFA and COAM from the gross fare.
E.g. Gross fare 100
Net fare 60
Standard Com 1% 1
Suppl Com 31
Tax 15
Payable amount 75 (60+15)
In this case the Tour Code Box will be filled in with NR, followed by an Agreement
Reference, for e.g.: NRRO
The remittance area will look as follows:
Currency RON Cash Collection 60 Credit balance Comm Rate 9 Tax amount 15
b. Value coding option (Option 2)
The published fare is entered in the “Fare” box.
from the Gross Fare. Supplementary Amount (SPAM) is calculated by applying the agreed rate to the Gross Fare less COAM.
E.g. Gross 100 Standard Com 1 Supplem. Com 9.1 (100-9) x10% Tax 15 Payable amount 96.9 (100-9%-10% + 15=100-9-9.1+15=81.9+15)
In this case the Tour Code Box will be filled in with NR, followed by the Agreement Reference, followed by /C and the supplementary commission, for e.g.: NRRO/C10
The remittance area will look as follows:
Currency RON Cash Collection 100 Credit balance Comm Rate 9 Tax amount 15
Net Ticketing (IT)
The “IT” code is entered in the Fare box and a code starting with IT and followed by up to 12 alphanumeric characters is entered in the “Tour code” box of the ticket as instructed by the Airline.
The fare entered in the “Cash Collection” box is a gross fare including the agent commission and is advised by the Airline.
15. Local ACM/ADM procedures
ADMs are a legitimate accounting tool for use by all IATA Members and BSP Airlines and should only be used to collect amounts or make adjustments to agent transactions in respect of the issuance and use of Traffic Documents issued by or at the request of the Agent, or to collect penalties and taxes related to BSP.. For further reference, please see the Resolution 850m.
ADMs issued in BSPlink have a 14-day protest period, meaning that unless they are deactivated/deleted by the issuing Airline, they will be processed in the following reporting period. In case the dispute of an ADM is not solved amiably between agent and airline
during the “protest period”, the agent will be informed by the IATA Manager of steps to be followed.
ACMs do not have any protest period and are processed in the reporting period they are issued.
16. Refund procedures
For the V-MPDs, automated refund notices will be issued using BSPLink.
Refund application/authority will be issued using only BSPlink. Once the refund
application is approved by the Airline, this will automatically be sent to processing, and the issue of a refund notice is not necessary.
No refund notice is used for the ET.
For V-MPDs the Refund Application Authority will be used only.
17. Credit card sales – procedures and local practices.
CREDIT CARD CHARGE FORM (CCCF)
The Standard Credit Card Charge Form is raised when issuing ET against credit card. Procedure for completion of CCCF’s
Whenever presented with a credit card, ensure that all necessary security precautions are carried out before handing over the ticket:
-signature verification -validity date of credit card -credit limit
-blacklist check
-check that issuing Airline honors the credit card presented
If credit limit is exceeded, obtain approval code from the card company and enter it in the assigned space of the CCCF;
All standard ticketing rules and regulations must be complied with: - only one credit card may be used to pay for a STD
- only one type of STD may be covered by one CCCF - only one Airline per CCCF
- complete the remittance area
- the “Form of Payment” box is to be filled with the Credit Card two letter identifier followed by the Credit Card number.
Validate and issue a Credit Card Charge Form using the credit card in place of a Carrier Identification Plate in the ticket imprinter; write in the Airline code number in the appropriate box;
The total on the Charge Form must equal the “Total” on the ticket, which must equal the “Credit Balance” plus the “Tax”
Please mind to obtain the card holder’s signature on the CCCF and validate it against the signature on the card.
Issues made partly for Cash and partly against Credit Card the remittance area is automatically populated in the appropriate boxes;
Issue a CCCF for that part of the sale covered by the credit card. The total on the CCCF must equal the “credit balance” on the ticket, and the cash amount must equal the “cash collection” plus the “Tax”
Reporting the CCCF
After issue and completion, the top copy, the second (green) copy and the third (pink) copy of the CCCF are sent to the issuing Airline on the day of issue along with a copy of the agent coupon. Please also check with Airline, as some only require the top copy. The second and third would then be retained by the Agent. The fourth (yellow) copy is retained by the Agent.
The fifth (blue) is given to the cardholder.
Credit sales improperly reported are processed as cash sales.
It is important that credit sales are reported on the day of sale since the issuing Airline has only a limited time to secure payment from the credit card company. Late reporting of CCCF is penalized according to the provisions of the Sales Agency Rules.
If the issuing Airline is unable to secure payment from the credit card company because the Agent failed to adhere to the procedures set out above, then the issuing Airline will raise an Agency Debit Memo against the Agent for the amount of the credit sale.
Use of standard CCCF’s is restricted to BSP Airlines only. Agents being charged for their supply of CCCF’s may penalize misuse.
CCCF’s should be batched separately from the documents issued against cash to facilitate identification since they are processed separately.
Credit refunds
An Airline Refund Application/Authority must be completed for all refunds of tickets issued on credit cards. The Airline concerned will process the refund internally for crediting the passenger through the credit card company and will raise and dispatch an indisputable ADM to reclaim commission from the Agent.
Automatically processed Refund notices via the GDS are only possible by obtaining prior agreement from the airline.
Please check the list of airlines accepting credit card transactions regularly.
Settlement Plan (BSP).
A key element in ensuring that the BSP operation evolves to keep pace with change is the development of BSPlink, an innovative, internet-based system to facilitate interaction and exchange of information between all participants in the BSP.
This electronic system is one of the primary components of an overall BSP process re-engineering programme that will progressively eliminate costly paper-based processes. In March 2001, following extensive testing and market acceptance trials, the new product was formally launched. The product name BSPlink encapsulates the key concept of the system, which is to "link" all the agents, airlines and BSP offices via an electronic infrastructure that supports the needs of all parties for effective communication and access to information.
Some of the highlights of BSPlink are:
• Intuitive, web based product accessible world-wide
• Easy-to-use instant on-line access to all data
• View and download reports electronically
• Paper free environment
• Streamlines existing formats and processes, and
• Minimizes the need for new training
BSPlink allows agents and airlines the freedom and immediacy to perform transactions
on-line. BSPlink does away with time consuming and costly manual processing. BSPlink provides on-line reports - available instantly, rather than mailing paper reports.
Basic requirements for users are: - a connection to Internet
- user ID and password, consisting each of 8-10 alphanumeric characters. These need to be changed by the user after the first connection.
- Internet Explorer version 5.5 or Netscape 6.0 - Adobe Acrobat Reader version 5.0
In BSP Romania, the BSPlink system is mainly used for: - downloads of billling reports
- issuance of ADM/ACMs by Airlines. ADMs carry a 15-day protest period, meaning that the ADM will be processed in the next reporting period, if it is not deactivated or deleted by the issuing Airline.
- issuance of automated refund notices only for agents, which cannot use their GDS for such transactions.
- issuance of automated refund application/authority, which must be approved by the Airline in order to be processed. These documents do no longer require issuance of another refund notice as they are automatically processed once approved.
- Ticketing authority options - V-MPDs
The address to connect to BSPLink is www.bsplink.iata.org
Shortly after the close of the first reporting period, the agent will receive a letter containing the login and password in order to connect to BSPLink.
There are two BSPLink versions: - basic – free of charge
- enhanced – EUR 40 (VAT not included)/month
The system will be set to BSPLink enhanced in order for the agent to be able to see how system works and in order to get familiarized with all the advantages offered by the enhanced version. In case the agent considers that the enhanced version is not required and can manage with the basic version, he/she should advise in writing the local BSP office and starting with the 1st day of next month, the basic version will be installed.
According to Resolution 818 and the EU zone price lists, the use of BSPlink comes with the following charges:
• BSPlink Basic - free for max 1 user per location
- 15 EUR / month for each additional user
• BSPlink Enhanced - 40 EUR / month for max 2 users per location - 15 EUR / month for each additional user
• Rebates
4 - 25 locations - 25.2 EUR for max 2 users - 15 EUR / month for each additional user
The charges are reflected by issuing an ADM in BSPlink on the second billing period of the month. You may find the transaction in the billing files of BSPlink under the airline code 954.
