Overview
Flight configurations applied to templates allow a Tour Operator to pre-define flights that should be offered with a tour. While instantiating the itinerary on Discovery, the configured flights will be searched and instantiated at the same time as the whole itinerary.
In the planner, the flight offers are restricted to changes or removal based on the set restrictions in the template.
How to enable Flight Configuration on Templates?
To be able to use flight configurations on the template level, the features need to be enabled in settings.
Go to Cockpit
Click on Settings
Go to General Settings - Cockpit
Enable feature flag - Flight Configuration on Templates
Click Save
Important: Flight Configuration on Templates can only be enabled by Nezasa admin users. Please contact our support team for more details.
How to set Flights on Templates?
Once the feature flag is enabled, a new tab Flight Configuration will be displayed on Templates in Cockpit.
If No Restrictions is selected
the default flight configurations defined at the DC level for this merchant apply to this template.
If Land Arrangement Only is selected
flights will not be sold as part of this template.
No flight/transport UI will be displayed in the Planner for this template and the user will not be able to book a flight.
If Fixed is selected
an Add Flight Configuration button will be displayed, which allows adding the details of the flight (from specific suppliers or inventory).
In the Planner, the user will see the flight offer added to the template.
No UI is shown to remove or select a different flight offer.
If Restricted is selected
an Add Flight Configuration button will be displayed, to add flight offers per season and supplier
a Buffer Times section to define specific buffer times (which overrides the ones defined in Cockpit - Settings - Buffer Times)
an Alternative Flights section to restrict the flights retrieved if a new flight search is triggered at the Planner level
an Airline Ordering section to define the flight order in Planner, when a flight search is triggered
In Planner, the added flight in Flight Configuration will be shown in the template
A Replace/Remove option is shown to trigger a new flight search
How to add Flight Offers to Flight Configuration?
For Fixed and Restricted Flight Configuration, flight offers can be added to limit or restrict the offers visible to the user. For this, some information must be prepared beforehand:
Departure Airport
Destination Airport
Supplier
Start/End dates
Carrier Code(s)/Transport Number
Class
Fare Type
Booking Class Code(s)
Fixed Flight Configuration
Before adding a flight offer, a season must be defined:
Click on Add Flight Configuration
Add a Start/End date
Define the offer Source/Supplier
Please note: Seasons must cover separate date rates. This is independent of the selected supplier.
To add a flight offer:
Click on New Outbound Flight
Add the asked information in the modal
Click OK
Click Save
If the flight has segments, click on New Outbound Flight segment
Fill in the asked information to define the segment
Click OK
Click Save
To add an Inbound Flight:
Click on New Inbound Flight
Fill in the asked information in the modal
Click OK
Click Save
To add an Inventory Flight, the previous steps apply. However, if the flight has an associated tag, the latter can be used to connect the flight to the template:
Click on New Outbound Flight
Add the Departure airport and flight tag
Select the adequate Class
Click OK
Click Save
Restricted Flight Configuration
This configuration is similar to the Fixed Flight Configuration, where:
independent seasons must be created
flights can be added to each season, for specific suppliers
tags can be used to add Inventory Flights
However, Restricted Flight Configuration offers additional conditions, such as Buffer Times, Alternative Flights and Airline Ordering.
Buffer Times
Buffer times defined via Flight Configuration override buffer times defined in Cockpit - Settings - Buffer Times. To add buffer times:
Click on the text box
Write the intended buffer time
Click Save
Alternative Flights
Restricted flight configuration enables the user to trigger a new flight search, at the Planner level. By defining alternative flights (from live suppliers), the flight search will only display specific flights, thus limiting the user to particular offers.
To add Alternative Flights:
Click on Add a New Flight (Carrier Code + Transport Number)
Fill the text fields with the Carrier Code and Transport Number
Click Save
Airline Ordering
Arline Ordering enables preferential ordering to some airlines versus others at the Planner level.
To add an Airline Ordering:
Click on the button to add a New Airline to the List
Add a Carrier Code
Click Save
How Flight Configuration impacts the Planner flow?
Each Flight Configuration impacts the Planner in a different way, offering a panoply of scenarios where the user can select (or not) flight offers and be limited (or not) to certain ones.
If Flight Configuration is set to No Restrictions, the user can select any offer available for that specific day. The user can trigger a flight search, replace and remove selected flight offers, all at the Planner level.
For a Flight Configuration set to Land Arrangement Only, the Flights or Transport tab is not shown in Planner. In this case, the user can not, at any point, select a flight offer.
As for the Fixed Flight Configuration, only one of the available flights added to the template via Cockpit is shown in Planner. With this configuration, the user is not able to remove the flight offer nor replace it with a different one.
Similarly to the Fixed Flight Configuration, the Restricted Flight Configuration also shows the available flight added to the template via Cockpit. However, this configuration enables the user to Replace or Remove the flight offer and actually trigger a flight search, just like the No Restrictions configuration.
If Alternative Flights are defined within the Restricted configuration, the flight search will only show the defined Alternative Flights, instead of all available flight offers.
Additionally, if Airline Ordering is established, the flight search can be filtered by Airlines, where the results will include the airlines defined in the Flight Configuration.