Business travel jargon explained

The corporate travel industry is renowned for having many confusing acronyms. Be confused no longer, here is our A-Z of Business Travel Acronyms.

Glossary

a

AAB – Agent-assisted booking- A secure booking option for travellers which integrates assistance from travel agents in booking any client travel needs.

ACM – Agency Credit memo. Adjustments issued by an airline for an incorrectly reported document.

ADM – Agent Debit Memo – a document with negative monetary value, issued by airlines usually to collect penalties or fees which have not been remitted to the airline. The ADM transactions are processed through IATA’s BSP (International Air Transportation Association – Billing and Settlement Plan).

ADR – Average daily rate – Otherwise known as Average Room Rate (ARR) is a realised room rental per day, calculated by dividing total hotel rooms revenue earned by total number of rooms sold.

Advance purchase- An airfare, rail ticket or hotel room that must be purchased a specific number of days before travel, typically 7, 14, or 21 days, for the best fare. Most Advance purchase fares and rates are non-refundable but can create considerable savings for travel.

AEA – Association of European Airlines – trade body representing major European airlines advocating on range of issues like regulatory matters, environmental policies and air traffic management.

Airport Code– Airports that are part of the International Airport Transport Association (IATA) worldwide have a three-letter code to identify them. For example, LHR (London-Heathrow) and SFO (San Francisco International). See the list here.

Airport access fee – A fee paid by car rental companies for the use of shuttle vehicles. Paid to the airport authority, this often appears in customer’s car rental bills.

Airline Alliances– An aviation industry arrangement between airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. I.e., the Star Alliance comprises of 26 members including United Airlines and Lufthansa. Alliance members work together to share flight routes, airport lounges, ground crews, and even their booking systems. Frequent flyers miles can be used with airlines across the alliance, and members can market seats for partner airlines on their own website.

Airline Joint Venture– A joint venture is an agreement between airlines in which they jointly set pricing, scheduling, and revenue sharing. This is typically only done in specific regions and requires government approval.

Airside- The part of an airport nearest the aircraft, the boundary is the security check, customs and passport control

Air Miles- Points accumulated by buyers of airline tickets that are redeemable against the cost of air travel with a particular airline. An example of which is Avios points associated with British Airways.

APEX Fare– APEX Fare stands for advance purchase excursion and is a type of airline fare that is discounted due to certain usage restrictions.

ARC – The Airlines Reporting Corporation is responsible for supervising payments from traveller agencies to airlines, and the process of issuing tickets to consumers in the USA.

ARR – Average Room Rate- See definition of Average Daily Rate (ADR).

ARNK– Arrival Unknown. An ARNK is added to a reservation when there is a break in the itinerary and continuity is not recognised; it does count as a segment when ticketing.

ATP– Average ticket price.

b

Basic Economy– This is the lowest airfare that comes with certain restrictions, such as limits on carry-on luggage and seating assignments. Each airline has its own set of restrictions.

Baggage Allowance – Also known as a baggage policy, is the limit on baggage per passenger set by each airline, including size, weight, and number of items for both checked and hand luggage. Restrictions vary by ticket class, passenger status, and route.

BB – Hotel rate that includes breakfast

BAR – Best available rate, usually in reference to hotels or car rentals.

Bed-nights- The total number of nights spent in accommodation establishments.

Billback– When a hotel bills a customer’s TMC directly for the traveller’s stay. Travelers don’t need to pay for the room or tax at the hotel, although they can still be asked to put a card on file upon check-in for incidentals.

Blackout Dates– Black-out dates are the specific dates set by the airline, hotel, or car rental agency when special discounts, promotions, or use of miles are not permitted.

Bleisure – A combination of business and leisure travel, also known as blended travel.

Boarding pass- A pass for boarding an aircraft, given to passengers when checking in. They identify the passenger, the flight number, and the date and scheduled time for departure and can be a physical pass or downloaded onto a mobile device.

Booking Engine– Web-based booking software that enables clients to make airline, train, hotel and car reservations, such as R&M/Book, the quick and easy online booking system by Reed & Mackay.

Boutique Hotels– Unaffiliated (independent) hotels with fewer than 100 rooms.

Brexit- The departure of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). The UK leaving the European Union has an impact on UK citizens travelling to Europe, including changes in passport rules, health insurance and business travel requirements.

BSP – Billing Settlement Plan. Outside the USA, IATA set up and controlled financial system through which the travel agent community pays carriers for tickets it issues. BSP is also used by airlines for assigning ticketing authorities to travel agents and financial liquidity / credit checks with a view of ensuring the airlines receive the funds they are owed by the travel trade.

BTA– Business Travel Account. A centrally billed “ghost card” that consolidates air, rail, and transaction fee purchases for corporate employees without issuing individual credit cards.

BTA – Business Travel Association – The representative association for the business travel community, with theirTMC members accounting for over ninety percent of all managed travel booked in the UK.

BTN –Business Travel News – A travel industry publication that delivers news and research to the corporate travel population.

Bulkhead– A Bullkhead seat is an airline seat directly behind the bulkhead, or the interior dividing wall that separates cabins, often having more legroom that other seats in the same fare class. Larger planes often have Bulkheads throughout the plane as well as at the front.

Business Class– An airline class that is above economy or premium economy, with upgraded amenities, service, and seating. With Reed & Mackay, not only can you book business class, but you can use your rewards to upgrade for a smoother flight experience.

Business Continuity– Business continuity is the process of planning and preparing for external events that threaten the ongoing operations of a business.

Business Traveller- Someone who is travelling specifically for work. This is a trip that is essential to work, it could be a meeting with suppliers, partners, or to visit other branches of a company.

c

CDF – Customer data fields, used to collect specific company information such as an employee’s role and department. This information will pull into your traveller data view.

CDW -Collision Damage Waiver-An industry term for optional insurance provided by car rental companies that eliminates all responsibility of the driver in an accident.

Centralised Billing– A form of billing in which the customer receives a consolidated invoice of all travel charges.

Chain Discounts– A negotiated discount between businesses and entire hotel chains. If the company is large enough, they may be able to receive a blanket discount at all chain properties

Check-in- The act of recording your arrival at a hotel or at an airport when you are going to travel. Reed & Mackay provide online check-in for flights.

Check-out- The process of leaving a hotel or lodgings and settling any outstanding bills.

City Pairs– A pair of cities: the origin and destination on an itinerary.

CNR – Corporate Negotiated Rate – A special, discounted rate at which a travel provider, like a hotel or airline, agrees to sell its products to a client.

Codeshare – An agreement between two or more airlines which allows one carrier to market and collect payment for a flight operated by another carrier.

Consortia Rate– A discounted rate agreement between an agency and hotel. Consortia rates are negotiated by travel management companies making them available to all the agency’s travellers and can include various value-adds.

COP– Country of payment-The country in which a ticket is being purchased.

Corporate Card– A corporate card is like a credit or debit card issued to a business or organization. The business entity is legally responsible for charges made to the card, not the individual card owner.

Corporate fare- The offer of non-published fares at discounts from the otherwise applicable prices to corporations or other entities for authorised travel.

Corporate Travel Policy– A corporate travel policy is a set of guidelines created by a company for their business travel created by their travel managers and used by employees as they plan trips on behalf of the company, and typically outlines protocol on travel.

COS – Class of service.

CPM – Cost Per Mile- A calculation of the average price paid per mile.

Cross-platform Search– Start a search on web and pick it back up on the mobile app.

CRS -Computerised/ Central Reservation System– A system used by airlines to manage flight schedules, passenger booking records etc. The CRSs are not accessible to travel agents. Some airlines use CRS system which is the same as GDS (for example Sabre, Amadeus, Worldspan, Galileo) but there are many other CRS systems.

CT – Circle Trip- A journey from origin to destination returning to origin in a continuous, circuitous route.

CUG – Closed User Group – offers exclusive, lower rates to a select group of customers not available to the public.

CXR– Carrier- Another term for airline.

d

DBB – Dinner, Bed, and Breakfast rate – hotel industry, referring to a package that includes accommodation, an evening meal, and breakfast.

DBC– Denied Boarding Compensation. Commonly called “Bumping,” – For overbooked flights, airlines compensate check-in passengers with reservations who are denied boarding, those who voluntarily give up their seat. If bumped passengers arrive at destination with an hour of original flight time, they won’t be compensated.

DCS – Departure Control System – a system used by airlines to automate processing of airline’s airport management operations.

Deadhead– An off-duty airline employee traveling in a passenger seat.

Direct flight– Different from “nonstop,” a passenger flying on a direct flight will not have connections or a change in flight number — but they may stop for refuelling, to add/disembark passengers, or to actually change aircraft.

DMC – Destination Management Company- Organise local ground services at destination.

DOJ– Double open jaw – Type of round-trip flight where origin and destination differ in both directions and two separate fares are used, i.e., fly from London to New York, return from Boston to Manchester.

Duty of Care– An organisation’s moral and legal obligation to care for employees while they’re conducting business. As it relates to business travel, duty of care involves ensuring the safety of traveling employees.

Dynamic Pricing -A strategy in which airlines and hotels change prices based on algorithms that consider competitor pricing as well as supply and demand.

e

EMD-A- Electronic miscellaneous document – Document which has a monetary value and is used for the fulfilment of all flight related services and fees (such as bags, seats, meals, etc.), linked to a specific e-ticket coupon in the airline’s database.

EMD-S- Electronic miscellaneous document – Non-flight related services (such as lounge access or change fee collection). It is a manually created service segment must be in the PNR.

ERA – European Regions Airline Association which aims to identify, protect and promote the interests of regional air transport in Europe.

ESTA– Electronic System for Travel Authorisation. An automated system that determines the eligibility of visitors to travel to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Programme.

ETIAS – European Travel Information and Authorisation System is an entry requirement for visa-exempt nationals travelling to any of these 30 European countries

ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival. A measure of when one is expected to arrive at a certain place.

ETA – Electronic travel authorisation – A digital permit that allows certain travellers to enter a the United Kingdom without a visa.

ETD – Estimated Time of Departure. The expected start time of a particular journey.

ETR – Electronic Ticket Record – An image of an electronic ticket (e-ticket) stored in a carrier’s database.

ETS – Emergency travel services- Specialist team available to support travellers when travel does not go to plan or an unprecedented event occurs.

Excess baggage- Luggage that weighs more than the limit allowed on an aircraft and is liable to an extra charge.

Expense Automation– The practice of using modern technology solutions to streamline a company’s expense management processes.

Expense Management Software– Technology utilised by companies to authorise, manage, and edit employee expense claims. This software is also useful for implementing practices for employee reimbursement.

Expense Policy– Expense policies are dynamic sets of guidelines created and enforced by companies that employees can turn to for understanding business-related expenses and travel costs. Read more about expense management here.

Expense Reimbursements– Compensation paid by a business to employees, customers, or third parties that incur out-of-pocket expenses or overpayments on transactions made on behalf of that company.

Expense Report– An expense report is a working document that encompasses expenses incurred on behalf of the company within a certain time frame. Typically broken down by categories and itemised, this report helps finance and accounting teams determine what money was spent where, when and for how much while simultaneously approving in-policy transactions. Read more about how R&M can provide in-depth data insights.

Expense Report Software– Is the technology used to automate and streamline the process of filing an expense report. When an expense is obtained by an employee, that software can automatically recognize, reconcile, and potentially reimburse as a function of the policy constraints within the software.

Extended Stay – Accommodations that offer long-term housing facilities for travellers.

f

FB – Fare Basis– alpha-numeric codes used to identify different types of fares and help find the rules corresponding to that particular fare. The fare basis is usually constructed by an airline as a combination of RBD (booking class) plus two to four characters to identify the airline’s fare program (leisure, corporate, season) and market. Example: VPRGB – stands for V (booking class) PR (promotional fare) GB (market to which promo is available is Great Britain).

Fair Market Price– The benchmark number used behind the scenes as the foundation for company savings. It’s based on dynamic personalization (individual behaviour and company settings/trends) as well as inventory available at the time of booking.

Flag carrier – A loose term, referring to the airline registered within a specific country or state which may allow it certain privileges.

Flown Data- Traveller ticketing information collected after the trip is taken.

Fixed-rate negotiations– A hotel rate in which a company has negotiated for with a fixed price and set of amenities that remains in place throughout the year, such as LRA, cancellation, or check-in flexibility.

First class- The premium, most luxurious cabin class on an airline, categorised by superior amenities, more spacious seating, enhanced services, and priority treatment for passengers.

FOI–Form of indemnity, sometimes called a LOI (Letter of Indemnity)- Passenger form needed to claim a refund when an air ticket has been misplaced or stolen.

FOH – Front of House – area accessible to guests/travellers, such as reception, lobby & restaurant.

FOP – Form of payment. Method of payment for a transaction.

Frequent Flyer Number- A unique identifier assigned to an individual by an airline’s loyalty or rewards programme. It allows the airline to track and credit a passenger with frequent flyer miles and other qualifying activities that earn benefits or privileges.

g

GBTA – Global Business Travel Association– A global business travel and meetings organisation that acts as a hub, bringing together leaders in the business travel industry to exchange information and ideas among members.

GBV – Gross Booking Value- The total amount of money received before any deductions or fees are taken out. Calculated by multiplying the number of bookings by the average booking value.

GDS – Global distribution system a worldwide reservation system that acts as a conduit between travel bookers and suppliers, such as airlines, hotels and other travel related services. Sabre, Amadeus, Worldspan, Galileo) are used in many countries around the world. China is an exception using its own system called Travelsky.

Global Entry– A programme of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service that allows pre-approved, low-risk travellers to receive expedited clearance through automatic kiosks at select airports upon arrival into the United States. As of May 4th, 2018, Global Entry was available at 53 US airports and 15 pre-clearance locations.

Group Fare- Fares for a group booking for 10 seats or more with the same carrier, route and date. Each airline has differences in what they consider as the minimum amount to provide group fares.

h

High season – Times of greatest traveller demand and most expensive rates.

HIP – Higher intermediate point- referring to a city between the origin and destination of an international fare component that has a higher fare (typically only used internationally).

Hotel Billback- A way of allowing business travellers to stay at hotels without having to pay their hotel bill on departure. The hotel will send the bill to the TMC who invoice the traveller’s organisation.

Hotel Brands– Brands are the second level of hotel organisation, in which a collection of properties with similar levels of luxury and offerings are grouped together under one name, such as Hilton’s Waldorf, Curio and DoubleTree. Chains can develop their own brands or acquire smaller chains and convert them into their own brands.

Hotel Chains– Hotel chains are the largest organizing structure of a hotel group. Examples include Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Accor, Radisson, Best Western and many more. Each chain contains multiple brands, they tend to have 100s or 1000s of properties within their holding and cover many markets.

Hotel Prepayment- When booking a hotel, this means paying for the room at the time of booking instead of on departure or arrival.

Hotel Programme– This is a catch-all term a company’s travel manager uses to describe all the rooms and rates available to their travellers.

Hotel sourcing- The process of identifying, negotiating and contracting with hotels to secure accommodations for a specific group, event or organisation.

i

IATA – International Air Transport Association. The world trade association of international air carriers, appointing travel agencies to sell ticket and determines the rules and regulation for these carriers.

ICAO – International Civil Aviation Organisation- Agency of the United Nations responsible for civil aviation in standardisation and formulation of international aviation law

IET -Interline e-ticket. An agreement between airlines that allow e-ticketing on each other’s flights.

IET Ticketing Platforms – Provided by HR (Hahn Air) and GP (APG Airlines) to issue tickets for carriers that do not participate in BSP or to connect multiple carriers on a single ticket, even if they lack direct agreements but have interlining with HR or GP. These platforms use sub-codes H1/X1 for Hahn Air partners and A1/Z1 for APG partners, and baggage check-through is dependent on the carriers’ agreements, not HR or GP.

Implant- A business consultant established on the premises of the client company to handle the travel needs of the company’s employees.

Implementation – The process where a travel management company integrates its products and services into a new client’s workflow, which forms part of the client onboarding process.

IMU – Incident Management Unit– Reed & Mackay’s In-house team who communicate where incidents are occurring, monitoring risk for all clients 24/7.

Independent Hotels– Hotels that are not affiliated with a chain or brand. Although these hotels can have certain agreements with chains, they retain their name and complete autonomy over the property management.

Intercontinental traveller – Travel between two continents, such as traveller from the U.S. to the U.K.

Intracontinental traveller – Travel within a continent, such as traveller between the U.S. and Canada.

Interline– A very basic form of agreement between airlines where check-ins and baggage handling can be done together, so a traveller only needs to check in once and not worry about moving checked bags despite changing carriers during a trip.

Interline connection – A trip with a connection flight from a different airline.

IROP – Irregular operations refers to flight disruptions such as delays or cancellations due to weather, acts of God, equipment changes or rest for the crew.

Itemised Receipt– An itemised receipt is a copy of a proof of purchase that contains detailed and line-item information about that transaction. Itemised receipts mirror typical receipts but will also have each individual service or good listed out and may include various sales taxes attached to some items or the total amount.

ITM – Institute of Travel Management– an organisation that supporting people involved in corporate travel in the UK and Ireland.

j

Joint Fare Airfare published for travel via two or more carriers.

k

No results We don’t have any terms for this letter yet.

l

Land arrangements – All non-flying reservations upon arrival such as car rental, hotel and tourist reservations.

Layover – Different from a stopover, a layover is a short period of time between connecting flights. On domestic flights this refers to stops of 4 hours or less. For international flights, this refers to stops of less than 24 hours.

LCC– Low-Cost Carrier- an airline that offers low fares by removing some traditional passengers services.

LDW – Loss damage waiver- insurance pertaining to car rentals, covering accidental damage, theft and vandalism.

Leakage– This is when employees book business travel outside the preferred channels; a lot of leakage in a managed travel program can lead to missed cost-savings opportunities and weaken duty of care capabilities.

Leisure travel- Travel that is undertaken by an individual on their own personal time for enjoyment and relaxation.

LFR – Lowest fare routing. The least expensive airfare available.

LLF- Lowest Logistical Fare– The least expensive, non-refundable fare with the minimum number of stops at the time of booking.

Limited service hotel – A hotel without a restaurant on the premises.

Load Factor- A metric used in the airline industry that measures the percentage of available seating capacity that has been filled with passengers.

Lodge Card– A type of payment mechanism held by TMCs and used by their clients to pay for travel. Typically, it is issued for an entire company or entire cost-centre. Access is usually given virtually, although physical cards can be provided.

LRA– Last room availability- A hotel industry term for ensuring a negotiated rate or negotiated room type is always available.

m

Managed Travel– A business travel programme in which employees book travel within pre-established guidelines, designed to control spend and help enhance travellers’ safety.

Marine fares- Discounted, one-way airfares that are offered exclusively to those working on or for a vessel, be it a commercial/merchant vessel or a cruise vessel.

MCO – Miscellaneous Change Order- document issues by a travel agency or airline as proof of payment for a specific fee or as residual amount of an exchange.

Metal – Industry slang that refers to the operating carrier of a flight.

MICE – Meetings, Incentives and Events- A term for a company department offering meeting planning services to customers. Read more about Reed & Mackay’s Event Management solution here.

Minimum connect time – The shortest time required to successfully transfer to a connecting flight at an airport.

MPM – Maximum permitted mileage- the number of miles that may be flown on a published direct fare between the origin and destination.

Multi-carrier Support-Book your departure and return flights with any airline combination of your choosing.

Multi-fare Class Support- Mix and match cabin fares on a single ticket. For example, Book economy class on the flight out and business class on the way home.

n

NDC– New distribution capability. Read more here

NUC – Neutral units of construction- imaginary currency established by IATA that allows fares of different currencies to be added together

NLRA – Non Last Room Availability. A hotel industry term for restricting availability of a negotiated rate when occupancy levels are high.

NR – Non-refundable- A ticket on a fare that does not allow for a refund, changing tickets may come with a fee.

NOJ – Normal open jaw- Where a passenger flies from one city to another but returns to the original city from a different place (single open jaw – SOJ) or there is a surface sector at both the origin and turnaround point (see DOJ-double open jaw).

o

OCC – Occupancy Rate – percentage of available rooms that are occupied during a specific period.

OBT – Online booking tool- A web-based platform allowing travellers to make self-service reservations for air, rail, hotels and ground transport. R&M’s proprietary online booking is R&M/Book, see here

OLCI – Online Check In

OND – Origin and destination airline route information

OSI – Other service information. A GDS entry providing information to a carrier that does not require traveller action.

OTA – Online Travel Agency- A website or application that allows users to search and book travel services.

p

P&V– An abbreviation for Passport and Visa.

PAR– Passenger Account Record- A profile showing passenger information, used by travel consultants.

PATA– Pacific Asia Travel Association– Association which aims to promote travel to Asia Pacific.

PAX – abbreviation for passengers

PCC –Pseudo City Code – an alpha-numeric code ( 3-5 characters long) used to identify travel agent locations. It is assigned by GDS.

PCI – Payment Card Industry. Security standards set to protect account data information

PEX – Public Excursion fares- They have the same restrictions as APEX fares but may be purchased at any time. Usually, no stopovers are allowed, and direct flights are used.

PIR – Property Irregularity Report- Form submitted by travellers to ground handling agents at airports in the event of loss or damaged baggage.

PNR – Passenger Name Record- Record held within a CRS/GDS which gives the personal details associated with a particular booking.

POC – Point of Commencement related to a booking or journey

POS – Point of service or point of sale, A time and place where a transaction is made.

PSS – Passenger Service System – a system used by the airlines for inventory and departure control (DCS) sometimes integrated with CRS (central reservation system)

PTA – Pre-paid Ticket Advice- Buying a ticket that will be issued at the airport of the same or a different city. Example: A ticket purchased in New York to be picked up by in and for a departure from Chicago.

PU – Pricing Unit- A (part of a) journey priced and ticketed as a separate entity; a round-trip, circle trip, one-way, normal open jaw or special open jaw, only used internationally.

PUC – Pricing Unit Concept- An alternative method of fare construction for multiple-stopover journeys that uses pricing unit, only used internationally.

q

No results – We don’t have any terms for this letter yet.

r

RC – Reason codes- Term used for the codes used to document and report of traveller decisions and behaviour whilst travelling.

RevPAR – Revenue Per Available Room – a metric used to assess a hotel’s ability to fill its available rooms at an average rate.

RFI / RFP – Request for Information / Request for Proposal – used by our clients as part of the procurement process to select new travel supplier or maintain the same. Find out more here.

RLI – Rate location instructions- A hotel term for TMC-specific rate codes as displayed in the GDS.

RTW – Round-the-world- A continuous journey around the globe, generally east to west or west to east.

ROH – Run of the house- A flat rate where a hotel offers any of its available rooms.

RRF – Refund Request Form – Manual document used to apply for a refund from non-BSP link airlines

s

SAF – Sustainable Aviation Fuel. A biofuel used in an aircraft to reduce carbon footprint of air transport.

SBT – Self Booking Tool- See online booking tool.

SLA – Service Level Agreement- An agreement stating measurable performance commitments made to clients.

SSR – Special Service Reservation- A request to an airline to provide a particular item/facility for a traveller/s.

STP – Satellite Ticket Printer- A printer at an alternate location than main premises, usually dedicated to a specific account to ensure accountability for transactions by vendor.

t

TOD – Ticket on departure- Transportation ticket collected at the point of departure i.e., at rail station ticket printer.

TMC – Travel Management Company – A company that provides corporate travel services to businesses such as Reed & Mackay.

TSA – Transportation Security Administration– Body that protects US transportation systems

u

No results – We don’t have any terms for this letter yet.

v

VCC – Virtual credit card- Not a physical card but has many of the same features as plastic corporate cards.

w

No results – We don’t have any terms for this letter yet.

x

No results – We don’t have any terms for this letter yet.

y

No results – We don’t have any terms for this letter yet.

z

No results – We don’t have any terms for this letter yet.

Business travel jargon explained

Glossary

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