Overview
Ad-hoc components enable travel brands to customise itineraries by integrating unique, individually contracted travel offerings. This feature provides an easy solution for blending online and offline offerings.
Ad-hoc components should be used when you need a one-off inclusion for a specific itinerary. They cannot be reused across different itineraries. For reusable options, consider using Inventory Products.
If a product is unavailable from supply sources and not set up as an inventory product, ad-hoc components offer a quick method of adding it to your itinerary and pricing.
TripBuilder supports the addition of several ad-hoc components, including generic, accommodation, car rental, activity, and transport options.
Note: Ad-hoc components depend on the agreements established with your suppliers and must be booked and confirmed outside of TripBuilder.
Steps to Add an Ad-Hoc Component
Open an itinerary in the Planner
Click on either TO-Tools or TA-Tools
Select Ad-Hoc Components
A new page will appear, presenting options to create an ad-hoc component directly (e.g., generic, accommodation, car rental, activity, and transport) or indirectly (e.g., imported PNRs).
Adding an ad-hoc component can take several forms:
Options | Description | Article |
Generic | Include services that are not part of the standard offerings or adjust the itinerary with extra charges or discounts. | |
Accommodation | Add hotels or other types of accommodation contracted outside of TripBuilder. | |
Rental Car | Include rental cars, campers, or motorbikes contracted outside of TripBuilder. | |
Activity | Incorporate activities not listed in TripBuilder. | |
Transports | Add flights, trains, or buses (excluding rental cars) contracted outside of TripBuilder. | |
Imported PNR | Import flight information from an external flight consolidator such as AERTiCKET and SoftConEx. |
Know more: TripBuilder does not directly support the creation of an ad-hoc transfer component. Alternatively, you can create a "Generic" ad-hoc component, appending the transfer details to the end of the proposal or travel documentation under Additional Services.
If you want to include transfer information throughout the itinerary, in chronological order, with other services, use the Remarks feature applied to the transfer placeholder. Further details can be found in the article How to add remarks to an itinerary?
Pricing Factors to Consider
When configuring an ad-hoc component, users can set both a net price and a sales price regardless of its type. Note that these prices are not subject to mark-ups from other pricing rules.
Both prices are manually defined within the component, allowing travel agents and tour operators to manage the final pricing from the ad-hoc component modal directly.
Presentation in planner
Ad-hoc components are displayed in the Planner similarly to inventory and live supply components, ensuring consistency. For example, the screenshot below shows an ad-hoc accommodation component linked to a stop in Los Angeles, indicating its ad-hoc nature.
Subcategories for Ad-Hoc Activities
Sub-categories can be specified for ad-hoc activities, to help users better organise their products. Five categories are supported:
Tours
Packages
Tickets
Cruises
Other (although this subcategory is generic, it improves organisation, reporting, and clarity, especially with external booking systems)
Subcategories also improve labelling accuracy within the Planner. Once a subcategory is defined, the generic ad-hoc activity label dynamically changes to examples like "Ad-hoc Tour" or "Ad-hoc Cruise." If no subcategory is selected or "Other" is chosen, the label will remain "Ad-Hoc Activity," maintaining consistency with earlier practices.
Misalignment Between Ad-Hoc Component and Itinerary Structure
Ad-hoc components are manually defined with specific start/end dates and stops. Changes to an itinerary may result in a mismatch of dates or locations for ad-hoc components. In such cases:
A warning will appear in the Notification Centre, prompting you to adjust or edit the component.
In the Planner, the ad-hoc component will have a different background colour and a text warning indicating that it "... does not fit the itinerary."