AIR, CAR, & HOTEL BOOKING ENGINE GUIDE
In this guide you will walk through each step of the reservation process beginning
with setting up a profile to ending a reservation. This information is also accessible
on the booking engine as you complete live bookings. You can access information
by clicking on the "Help" link on the bottom of each page in the booking
engine.
Please Note: To begin a reservation you do not need to login. Simply click
on the applicable link or click on "Click Here to Quickly Search for Availability
and Fares" underneath the login box.
Section 1: Traveler Profile
Section 2: Flight Reservations
Section 3: Hotel Reservations
Section 4: Car Reservations
Section 5: Trip Plan
SECTION 1: Traveler Profile to create a new profile click on the "New
User" link. You can then enter the required information and create a user name and password
for yourself. The basic information needed to create a profile is your name,
telephone number, Preferred Customer ID, and passenger type.
You will need to provide some basic information:
Personal Information - Enter personal data such as your name and contact
information. Keep in mind that the fields are limited to a certain number of
characters.
Payment Information - For air travel, your credit card will be billed
when your ticket is issued.
For hotel and car reservations, you will be billed by the hotel or car rental
company. Rules vary, but hotels and car rental companies generally ask for
a guarantee or deposit for your reservation. You will be asked to review and
accept rules when you are completing a reservation. If you fail to take delivery
of the product or service or fail to adhere to the rules – arriving late
at a hotel without proper notification, for instance – you may be billed.
To avoid these kinds of problems, make sure you carefully read the rules displayed
during the reservation process. If you do need to cancel a reservation contact
the agency. Please be aware that cancellation fees will apply.
Delivery Information - Choose your preferred delivery type from the list
of options. Keep in mind that at booking time not all options might be available
due to time constraints. For example, if you want to leave tomorrow the regular
mail delivery option will probably not be available. Additional fees may apply
for certain delivery options.
Travel Preferences: Airline - Here you can specify your airline preferences, such as seat
and meal requests and frequent flyer numbers. Like all travel preferences,
any information you provide on this page is completely optional and some of
it can be modified during the booking process. To find an airline code for
the profile, simply click on the down arrow to the right of the text-input
boxes and a list of airlines will appear. From there, just click on the airline
you want. The information will be automatically inserted into the form. The
same system is used for entering frequent flyer account information. Likewise,
you do not have to tell the system whether or not you need a special meal
or have a preferred seat. If you leave these fields blank, you will get the
same food that airlines normally serve and you will get a seat –aisle,
window or something in between – in the class you requested.Hotel - Our
system allows you to specify your hotel preferences. Like all travel preferences,
any information you provide here is completely optional and some of these
preferences can be modified during the booking process.
The benefits of entering search options here is that the system narrows its
range of products to more closely match what you are looking for. Be aware,
though, that these options may occasionally produce no results. Should this
occur, it is easy to broaden your search criteria and try again. Simply click
on the down arrow to the right of the boxes to get a list of options. From
there, just click on the hotel you want to use. The information will be automatically
inserted into the form. The same procedure is used at the bottom of the page
for entering frequent guest account information.
Car rental - You can specify your car preferences, and any information
you provide on this page is completely optional.
The benefits of entering search options here is that the system narrows its
range of products to more closely match what you are looking for. Be aware,
though, that these options may occassionally produce no results. Should this
occur, it is easy to broaden your search criteria and try again.
Traveler ID and Password - You can create your Traveler ID and Password based
on the criteria listed.
SECTION 2: Flight Reservations There are 6 steps in booking a flight.
They are:
Flight Request - when and where you are traveling.
Flight Availability - a list of flights that match what was requested.
Flight Price - what the flight costs.
Trip Plan - where all your selected services are displayed.
Additional Information - where you can change some of the payment and
delivery methods specified in your traveler profile.
Trip Reserved - where the reservation information is listed.To
begin an air reservation enter from where to where you are flying. You can
enter a city or airport name; part of a city or airport name; or a city
or airport code (if known). Select one way or round-trip by choosing the
corresponding button. The system defaults to round-trip.Click on the month,
day, and time that you are departing and returning by choosing it from the
drop-down list. If you have preferred airlines, click on the down arrow
to the right of Airline Code and a window willwith an alphabetical
list of airlines. Special Note: If you insert an airline choice in this
box, you will get flight options for only that airline.When you click on
the Find button, the system will present you with a list of travel options.
Please be advised that ALL reservations are considered final.
SECTION 3: Hotel Reservations:
There are 7 steps involved in reserving a hotel room.
They are:
Hotel Request - the city and number of nights you want to stay.
Hotel Availability - a list of hotels with available rooms.
Room Availability - in the hotel you have chosen.
Room Price - the room rate you requested.
Trip Plan - where your hotel booking information is displayed along
with other flights, cars, or hotels you may have booked.
Additional information - where you can change some of the payment
and delivery methods specified in your traveler profile.
Trip Reserved - where you have your trip reserved. Enter which
city you want a hotel and for what dates. You can enter either a city name,
part of a city name, city code, or airport code in the box.
Special Note: At this time, the system recognize cities that have
airports. So if you want a hotel in a small town, search instead for the
nearest city with an airport and, if you know the name of the hotel chain
or company, include that prior to submitting your request.On this page you
can also refine your search by specifying what type of bed you prefer, how
many guests will be staying in the room, or the maximum amount that you
want to spend or category. If you search by category, the system will filter
out hotels which do not offer the category you asked for. The last options
on the page determine how the search results will be displayed to you and
which hotel chains you prefer. You can choose to sort hotels by price or
in alphabetical order and can specify how many hotels are displayed on the
results screen. The system can display a maximum of 20 hotels at one time.
To specify a hotel chain of your choice, click on the down arrow to the
right of the text boxes for a list of hotels. A window willwith a
list of hotels. Click on any hotel in the list and the correct code will
be automatically inserted into the text box. If you change your mind, you
can always delete the code by inserting the cursor in the text box and deleting
the code. When you have completed this screen, click on the Find button
to display the results of your search.
SECTION 4: Car Reservations
There are 5 steps involved in renting a car.
They are:
Car Request - where you want to pick the car up and how long you
want to keep it.
Car Availability - a list of car rental companies that offer the
car you have asked for and the rate.
Trip Plan - where your car booking information is displayed along
with other flights, cars, or hotels you may have booked.
Additional Information - where you can change some of the payment
and delivery methods specified on the traveler profile.
Trip Reserved - where you have your trip reserved. Enter the city
(airport) where you want to pick up and drop off the car and for what dates.
To drop the car off at the same location as pick-up, you can leave the drop-off
location text box blank. Try to make the rental pick-up time relate to the
arrival time of your flight. You will only be able to rent a car if you
pick it up an airport.Any car preferences you entered into your profile
(type of transmission, type of car, etc.) will be taken into account for
this booking. However, you can change your preferences at this stage if
you want something different.If you want to search for a Preferred company,
click on the down arrow to the right of the box (or boxes) provided at the
bottom of the screen.Now, click on the Find button at the bottom of the
screen to see what cars are available.
SECTION 5: Trip Summary.
On this page you see a list of the flight, car, and hotel reservations that
you have selected so far. You can add more cars or hotels by clicking on the
corresponding links or tabs on the top of the page. You can also add flight
reservations, if you have not done so already. However, for pricing reasons,
you cannot add flights if the Trip Summary already contains flight reservations.The
Seats selection allows you to send your preferred seat to the airline. Your
request option may not be available on all flights.The Airfare Rules link
allows you to see the rules and restrictions for the fare you have selected.
Once you have viewed these rules, click on the check box to say that you agree
with the conditions.When you have completed your reservations, click on the
Confirm Trip button. You will then be taken to another page where you will
complete some additional information necessary for the reservation. You will
also be able to change the options of your preferred method of delivery or
payment.
