Roles: Fare Provider, Distributor & Retailer
A participant can play the following roles:
- Fare Provider – defining the fare and combination rules and providing them to distributors offline or online.
- Distributor – combining fares, defining after sales rules within the constraints set by the fare provider, providing combined offers and managing the booking transaction, managing the ticket security (barcode, control processes), creating a fulfillment, managing compensations processes, managing the stock control process.
- Retailer – selling tickets from one or more distributors to the customer. Selecting the distributors and joining multiple independent bookings.
A public transport provider, e.g. a railway or a system provider can support more than one role.
In the following sections, five scenario from the point of view of the different are high lighted.
Fare Provider Role
The services defined to exchange fares online are designed to support general sales and after sales scenarios. Here the general flow is listed, and the supporting services of the fare exchange are indicated as well as other services of UIC specifications.
Distribution Scenario – Sales
Timetable Search
Timetable data are not in the scope of this specification. It is assumed, that the distributor has retrieved a valid travel solution from a timetable search engine before requesting fares.
Offer
Requesting fares of a carrier or train for a specified set of passengers. Splitting of the entire travel solution into appropriate parts is the task of the distributor. Data supporting the selection of the carriers/fare providers to be requested are part of this specification and can be transferred beforehand.
The carrier should deliver all applicable fares for the requested offer and the rules for combining them.
The prices provided within the offer might be fixed for a specific time range depending on the fare, but this is not mandatory. Some carriers don’t guarantee prices at all.
In case of offers with reservation the offer reply will contain the availability of the different fares and services, but no availability on other place features (e.g. window, aisle, …) if they don’t affect the price.
In case a trip description needs to be change as the carrier/ fare provider has more accurate data on the trip the reply contains a new trip and an indication of change.
Preliminary Booking
The preliminary booking allocates the fare for a period defined by the carrier. Technically it is implemented as a post /booking using the offerId.
For an intermediate time the booking and fulfillment of reservations might be implemented using IRS 90918-1 and not via 90918-10. In this case only the offer service is used.
In case of reservations the currently defined flow in IRS 90918-1 is different, as the preliminary booking must be implemented by the distributor receiving the reservation by cancelling the allocated fare and places in due time and with a specific reason for cancellation.
The current 90918-1 service require a detailed specification of fares and place features. The fare data of the offer defined in this specification will provide these data to allow an integration with the existing services of reservation systems.
Confirm Booking
The booking is confirmed by the distributor to the carrier. This is the trigger for the accounting processes between the distributor and the carrier.
Fulfillment
For combined tickets the distributor creates the ticket and is responsible to for the fulfillment. The fare provider might provide additional security features to be included within the fulfillment of the distributor.
The distributor is responsible to provide the ticket data for the control by the carriers. This is not in the scope of this specification but defined in IRS 90918-4.
Place Selection
Place selection is implemented as a patch to the selected offer.
Place selection does not allocate places.
For an intermediate time the booking and fulfillment of reservations might be implemented using IRS 90918-1 and not via 90918-10. In this case only the offer service is used.
The current 90918-1 service require a detailed specification of fares and place features. The fare data of the offer defined in this specification will provide these data to allow an integration with the existing services of reservation systems. (see Reservation Parameter).
Payment
Payment is not in the scope of this specification. The carrier/fare provider is not involved in this step.
After Sales Scenario – Cancellation
Refund Offer
The fare description obtained with the original offer includes all information on cancellation fees in case the fees are not calculated by the distributor.
A refund offer from the carrier is therefore not required for the process.
A refund offer request can indicate a special reason for cancellation without fees due to an error of the distributor or unavailability of the service. The reason might not be accepted by the carrier.
The refund offer might indicate that the payment of the refund needs to be delayed checking whether the ticket has been used.
Confirm Refund Offer
A confirmed booking is cancelled.
After Sales Scenario - Exchange
A cancellation offer is requested using special exchange reasons.
An offer for the new booking is requested with a reference to the old booking(s).
These covers:
- Exchange
- Upgrade
- Increase of passengers
- Decrease of passengers
Return Payment
No data exchange is foreseen in this step between distributor and carrier.
In case of a delayed payment of refunds the distributor needs to validate the ticket control data (IRS 90918-4) before the payment to the customer.
Change of personal data Scenario
Change of personal data
The change of personal data can be provided as an optional feature.
Note: according to GDPR it must be possible to correct errors in personal data.
Reticket
The reticketing is not in the scope of this specification.
The distributor is responsible to provide the ticket data for the control by the carriers. This is not in the scope of this specification but defined in IRS 90918-4.
Information on personal data Scenario
In order to fulfill GDPR requirements information on stored personal data of the customer or passenger must be provided. As personal data are transferred from the distributor to the carrier the customer can ask at the issuer or distributor for information on the still stored personal data. The distributor then needs a possibility to request this information from the carrier.
To retrieve the stored personal data the booking has to be requested.
Distributor Role
Distribution Scenario – Sales
Timetable Search
The distributor makes a timetable search himself or retrieves the trip from a retailer. The distributor must specify additionally for which part of the trip he requests the fares.
Offer
Requesting fares of a carrier or train for a specified set of passengers. Splitting of the entire travel solution into appropriate parts is the task of the distributor. Data supporting the selection of the carriers/fare providers to be requested are part of this specification and can be transferred beforehand.
The prices provided within the offer might be fixed for a specific time range depending on the fare, but this is not mandatory. Some carriers don’t guarantee prices at all.
In case of offers with reservation the offer reply will contain the availability of the different fares and services, but no availability on other place features (e.g. window, aisle, …) if they don’t affect the price.
In case the fare provider delivers a changed trip the distributor has to take this into account. The reply contains a new trip and an indication of change.
Preliminary Booking
The preliminary booking allocates the fare for a period defined by the carrier. Technically it is implemented as a post /booking using the offerId. The distributor is responsible to manage the transactions including multiple carriers/fare providers.
For an intermediate time the booking and fulfillment of reservations might be implemented using IRS 90918-1 and not via 90918-10. In this case only the offer service is used.
In case of reservations the currently defined flow in IRS 90918-1 is different, as the preliminary booking must be implemented by the distributor receiving the reservation by cancelling the allocated fare and places in due time and with a specific reason for cancellation.
The current 90918-1 service require a detailed specification of fares and place features. The fare data of the offer defined in this specification will provide these data to allow an integration with the existing services of reservation systems.
Confirm Booking
The booking is confirmed by the distributor to the carrier. This is the trigger for the accounting processes between the distributor and the carrier.
In case the confirmation of a booking fails the distributor is responsible to restore a consistent status of the booking either by retries of the failed confirmation or by deleting the confirmed booking.
The distributor is responsible to delete bookings in case of failures and to repeat delete requests until the request is successful of the departure date of the trip has passed. The repletion of delete requests should avoid network bottlenecks (e.g. one retry every hour).
Fulfillment
For combined tickets the distributor creates the ticket and is responsible for the fulfillment. The fare provider might provide additional security features to be included within the fulfillment of the distributor.
The distributor is responsible to provide the ticket data for the control by the carriers/fare providers. This is not in the scope of this specification but defined in IRS 90918-4.
Place Selection
Place selection is implemented as a patch to the selected offer.
Place selection does not allocate places.
For an intermediate time the booking and fulfillment of reservations might be implemented using IRS 90918-1 and not via 90918-10. In this case only the offer service is used.
The current 90918-1 service require a detailed specification of fares and place features. The fare data of the offer defined in this specification will provide these data to allow an integration with the existing services of reservation systems. (see Reservation Parameter).
Payment
Payment is not in the scope of this specification. The carrier/fare provider is not involved in this step.
After Sales Scenario – Cancellation
Refund Offer
A refund offer from the carrier is required in case of online sales for the process
A refund offer request can indicate a special reason for cancellation without fees due to an error of the distributor or unavailability of the service. The reason might not be accepted by the carrier.
The refund offer might indicate that the payment of the refund needs to be delayed checking whether the ticket has been used.
Confirm Refund Offer
A confirmed booking is cancelled. In case after sales fees for the carrier are applied that need to be transferred in the booking confirmation.
Return Payment
In case of a delayed payment of refunds the distributor needs to validate the ticket control data (IRS 90918-4).
After Sales Scenario - Exchange
A exchange offer is requested using special exchange reasons.
An offer for the new booking is requested with a reference to the old booking(s).
These covers:
- Exchange
- Upgrade
- Increase of passengers
- Decrease of passengers
Return Payment
No data exchange is foreseen in this step between distributor and carrier. The distributor hast to pass on information on delayed payment to the retailer.
In case of a delayed payment of refunds the distributor needs to validate the ticket control data (IRS 90918-4) before the payment to the customer.
Change of personal data Scenario
Change of personal data
The change of personal data can be provided as an optional feature.
Note: according to GDPR it must be possible to correct errors in personal data.
Reticket
The reticketing is not in the scope of this specification.
The distributor is responsible to provide the ticket data for the control by the carriers. This is not in the scope of this specification but defined in IRS 90918-4.
Information on personal data Scenario
In order to fulfill GDPR requirements information on stored personal data of the customer or passenger must be provided. As personal data are transferred from the distributor to the carrier the customer can ask at the issuer or distributor for information on the still stored personal data. The distributor then needs a possibility to request this information from the carrier.
To retrieve the stored personal data the booking has to be requested.
Retailer Role
Distribution Scenario – Sales
Timetable Search
The retailer makes a timetable search itself or retrieves the trip from a distributor.
Offer
Requesting offers of an distributor for a specified set of passengers and optionally for a trip.
The prices provided within the offer might be fixed for a specific time range depending on the offer, but this is not mandatory. Some carriers don’t guarantee prices at all.
In case of offers with reservation the offer reply will contain the availability of the different services, but no availability on other place features (e.g. window, aisle, …) if they don’t affect the price.
In case the distributor delivers a changed trip the retailer has to take this into account. The reply contains a new trip and an indication of change.
Preliminary Booking
The preliminary booking allocates the offer for a period defined by the distributor. Technically it is implemented as a post /booking using the offerId. The distributor is responsible to manage the transactions including multiple carriers/fare providers.
Confirm Booking
The booking is confirmed by the retailer to the distributor. In case the confirmation of a booking fails the retailer is responsible to restore a consistent status of the booking either by retries of the failed confirmation or by deleting the confirmed booking.
The retailer is responsible to delete bookings in case of failures and to repeat delete requests until the request is successful of the departure date of the trip has passed. The repletion of delete requests should avoid network bottlenecks (e.g. one retry every hour).
Fulfillment
The retailer requests fulfillments from the distributor and hands them to the passenger.
Place Selection
Place selection is implemented as a patch to the selected offer.
Place selection does not allocate places.
Payment
Payment is not in the scope of this specification. The distributor is not involved in this step.
After sales scenario – cancellation
Refund Offer
The retailer needs to get a refund offer from the distributor to start the refund process. The refund offer is part of the booking to be refunded.
A refund offer request can indicate a special reason for cancellation without fees due to an error of the sales staff or unavailability of the service. The reason might not be accepted by the distributor.
The refund offer might indicate that the payment of the refund needs to be delayed checking whether the ticket has been used.
Confirm Refund Offer
A confirmed booking is cancelled.
Return Payment
The retailer needs to obey the delayed payment instruction provided by the distributor.
After sales scenario - exchange
An exchange offer is requested using special exchange reasons.
An offer for the new booking is requested with a reference to the old booking(s).
These covers:
- Exchange
- Upgrade
- Increase of passengers
- Decrease of passengers
Return Payment
The retailer needs to obey the delayed payment instruction provided by the distributor.
Change of Personal Data Scenario
Change of personal data
The change of personal data can be provided as an optional feature.
Note: according to GDPR it must be possible to correct errors in personal data.
Reticket
The reticketing is not in the scope of this specification.
Information on personal data Scenario
To fulfill GDPR requirements information on stored personal data of the customer or passenger must be provided. As personal data are transferred to the distributor the customer can ask at the retailer for information on the still stored personal data. The retailer then needs a possibility to request this information from the carrier.
To retrieve the stored personal data the booking must be requested.