AirShopping RQ

This service returns priced availability for each flight for the requested origin and destination, date and cabin. The service also returns priced availability for the next higher cabins (normally the next 2 higher cabins). Example, if the availability is requested for Economy, service will return priced availability for Economy, Premium Economy and Business (assuming these cabins are offered on the route requested). The service also returns brand attributes for each cabin for which availability is returned.

This web service is called with the following inputs:

• Origin and Destination (O&D)
• Cabin for the itinerary
• Number of passengers (anonymous) with passenger type
• Restriction Type (flexible or lowest) – “lowest” by default if not specified
• Leisure Fare Type

DataModel

Request Definition

User Guidance

• The service returns priced availability for the requested cabin and (up to) the next 2 higher cabins, if applicable. Example: If the requested cabin is “Economy”, the AirShopping response returns OfferGroup for “Economy”,” Premium Economy” and “Business” cabins as well.
• The service returns brand attributes only when the OfferGroup contains flights that are both BA operated and marketed. For connection journeys and journeys that involve Codeshare flights (BA marketed and other carrier operated) brand attributes will not be returned.
• The service returns availability for the nearest day (if applicable) when there is no availability or the flight is not operating on the requested date.
• The service will return prices in the currency of the agent’s country provided that currency is accepted by the BSP (Billing and Settlement Plan). For countries that support more than one currency, the service will return in the currency that is accepted by the BSP for IATA Accredited agents, and the currency accepted by ba.com for other retailers. For example, Mexico supports both USD and MXN but the service returns the price in MXN for IATA-accredited agents, as MXN is what is accepted by the BSP. Other retailers will receive a price in USD.
• The service returns flights based on British Airways carrier preferred availability.
• The price is returned in the currency of the agent’s country regardless of point of commencement. Example: If the journey starts from London but the agent’s location is Paris then the price will be returned in EUR. It is not possible to proactively request a different currency at this point.
• The service returns the lowest available Adult, Young Adult, Child and Infant prices.
• The service returns airline offers sorted by TotalPrice in an ascending order. This will mean that the AirlineOffer will get more expensive as you work through the response.
• Apart from returning the price and flight combination for the requested date, AirShopping service also returns the calendar offer i.e lowest available single adult price for +/- 3 days of the requested date without flight details. This calendar offer is only returned when the number of Origin and Destinations are 2 or less.
• If the client were to select one of the calendar offer then a follow up AirShoppingRQ should be made with the new dates to get the full price and flight combinations for all passengers.
• The service cannot be called for Group availability (more than 9 passengers).
• The service cannot be called for Unaccompanied Minor (children travelling alone, up to age 15).
• British Airways supports the following passenger types:
  • Adult (ADT)
  • Young Adults (ADT type, with a birth date comprised between 12 and 15 years old)
  • Child (CHD)
  • Infant (Infant)
• If any other passenger type is passed in the AirShopping request the service treats it as Adult and returns Adult price. Example: If passenger type requested is Military (MIL) the service will return Adult (ADT) price.
• The service now supports the below Leisure Fare type
  • Inclusive Tour
  • Humanitarian
  • Marine
  • Contact Bulk
  • Private Fare Adult
• Clients will be able to request any of the above Leisure Fare types via AirShopping
• Clients can only request one Leisure Fare type per request. If more than one Leisure Fare is requested then the service will apply the first Leisure Fare type it finds from the list
• The service returns error if the requested Leisure fare is not available i.e the service will not default to the published fare if the requested leisure fare is not available
• The service rejects request and returns error, if the agent is not eligible to request for leisure fare types
• Calendar recommendation will not be returned if clients do not ask for it in AirShoppingRQ i.e if AirShoppingRQ didn’t have CalendarDates requested the service will not return calendar recommendation
• Calendar recommendation will not be returned for requests containing more than 2 O&Ds even if the client requests for it
• Client can request for calendar recommendation up to 3 days before and after the requested date e.g. if the client requests
• AirShoppingRQ/CoreQuery/OriginDestinations/OriginDestination/CalendarDates/DaysBefore = “2” DaysAfter =”2”> then the service will return calendar recommendation for 2 days before 2 days after the requested date
• AirShoppingRQ/CoreQuery/OriginDestinations/OriginDestination/CalendarDates/DaysBefore = “1” DaysAfter =”1”> then the service will return calendar recommendation for 1 day before 1 day after the requested date
• AirShoppingRQ/CoreQuery/OriginDestinations/OriginDestination/CalendarDates/DaysBefore = “3” DaysAfter =”3”> then the service will return calendar recommendation for 3 days before 3 days after the requested date
• Calendar recommendation will not be returned if both DaysBefore and DaysAfter are passed as “0”
• The service returns calendar recommendation if at least one O&D contains DaysBefore and DaysAfter attributes with non-zero value
• BA offers different fare products within Economy cabin. For short haul routes, Basic, Plus and Plus Flex products are offered Please note that the fare product name is subject to change and the number of fare products being returned may also vary based on route and availability
• For each offer, the service returns fare product name under PriceClassReference if applicable. The fare product is returned at the origin and destination level, meaning customer can only buy one fare product for all flight segments within the origin and destination. Example: EDI-CDG is the O&D for which PriceClassReference is returned for EDI-CDG.
• The service expects clients to always pass the fare basis code in FlightPriceRQ in order to quote the correct fare product for the itinerary even if the request is for a non-Economy cabin :- In AirShoppingRS, fare basis code is returned for each offer for each passenger type. If the client were to select one of the offer and proceed with FlightPriceRQ then it is expected that the fare basis code for the offer is provided in FlightPriceRQ
• For each offer returned in AirShoppingRS, the service returns whether the offer is a published fare or private fare under FareGroup DataLists

AirShopping Request Example 

  <AirShoppingRQ Version="16.1" xmlns="http://www.iata.org/IATA/EDIST">
         <Document>
            <Name>BA</Name>
         </Document>
         <Party>
            <Sender>
               <TravelAgencySender>
                  <Contacts>
                     <Contact>
                        <EmailContact>
                           <Address>ba.ndc@ba.com</Address>
                        </EmailContact>
                     </Contact>
                  </Contacts>
                  <IATA_Number>33895934</IATA_Number>
                  <AgencyID>TEST</AgencyID>
               </TravelAgencySender>
            </Sender>
           <!-- <Participants>
               <Participant>
                  <AggregatorParticipant SequenceNumber="1">
                     <Name>Multicom</Name>
                     <AggregatorID>00010043</AggregatorID>
                  </AggregatorParticipant>
               </Participant> 
            </Participants>-->
         </Party>
         <Travelers>
            <Traveler>
               <AnonymousTraveler>
                  <PTC>ADT</PTC>
               </AnonymousTraveler>
            </Traveler>
         </Travelers>
         <CoreQuery>
            <OriginDestinations>
               <OriginDestination>
                  <Departure>
                     <AirportCode>LHR</AirportCode>
                     <Date>2018-02-01</Date>
                  </Departure>
                  <Arrival>
                     <AirportCode>MAD</AirportCode>
                  </Arrival>
               </OriginDestination>
               <OriginDestination>
                  <Departure>
                     <AirportCode>MAD</AirportCode>
                     <Date>2018-02-06</Date>
                  </Departure>
                  <Arrival>
                     <AirportCode>LHR</AirportCode>
                  </Arrival>
               </OriginDestination>
            </OriginDestinations>
         </CoreQuery>
         <Preference>
            <FarePreferences>
               <Types>
                  <Type>
                     <Code>759</Code>
                  </Type>
               </Types>
            </FarePreferences>
            <CabinPreferences>
               <CabinType>
                  <Code>5</Code>
               </CabinType>
            </CabinPreferences>
         </Preference>
      </AirShoppingRQ>

Related articles

• Page:
  AirShopping RQ
• Page:
  AirShopping RS
• Page:
  SeatAvailability RS
• Page:
  SeatAvailability RQ
• Page:
  AirShopping - How to Request Exact Dates Offers Only