TRAVEL DOCUMENTATION

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, BS HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT

MODULE NO. 05-10

TOUR AND TRAVEL MANAGEMENT

This course aims to introduce students taking up travel and tours management to

the fundamentals of managing travel documentation. Topics on stages of

documentation, needed for traveling, and importance of documentation for both
domestic and international travel. This shall be thoroughly discussed throughout the
duration of the course. Lectures and actual preparation of a travel documents will be
discussed. Lessons will be presented in a simplified manner for easier
understanding.

I. COURSE OUTCOMES

At the end of the module, the students must be able to:

1. Airline ticketing
2. Flight Reservation
3. Immigration and custom

II. LEARNING CONTENT

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1. Airline ticketing
2. Flight Reservation
3. Immigration and custom

III. OVERVIEW

This course discusses the importance of travel documentation. Travel document

requirements can be confusing. Understanding the requirements, and then knowing
how to obtain the documents, is the key to trip planning for tourist and business
traveller. This course discusses the stages and requirement’s needed for travel local
and international.

The course exposes students on preparing and understanding the importance of

travel documents. This course equips them with skills of how to manage their
documents, processing their papers and importance of all documents on traveling.

IV. DISCUSSION

Function of
Airline
ticketing

An airline ticket is a document or electronic record, issued by an airline or

a travel agency, that confirms that an individual is entitled to a seat on a flight
on an aircraft. The airline ticket may be one of two types: a paper ticket,

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which comprises coupons or vouchers; and an electronic ticket (commonly

referred to as an e-ticket).

The ticket, in either form, is required to obtain a boarding pass during check-

in at the airport. Then with the boarding pass and the attached ticket, the
passenger is allowed to board the aircraft.

Details

● Regardless of the type, tickets contain the following information

● The passenger's name
● The issuing airline
● A ticket number, including the airline's three-digit code] at the start of
the number
● The cities between which the ticket is valid for travel
● Flight for which the ticket is valid (unless the ticket is "open")
● Baggage allowance. (Not always visible on a printout but recorded
electronically for the airline)
● Fare. (Not always visible on a printout but recorded electronically for
the airline)
● Taxes. (Not always visible on a printout but recorded electronically for
the airline)
● The "Fare Basis", an alphabetic or alphanumeric code that identifies
the fare
● Restrictions on changes and refunds. (Not always shown in detail, but
referred to)
● Dates for which the ticket is valid
● "Form of payment", i.e. details of how the ticket was paid for, which
will in turn affect how it would be refunded.
● The exchange rate used to calculate any international parts of the fare
and tax
● A "Fare Construction" or "Linear" showing the breakdown of the total
fare
● Times on airline tickets are generally for the local time zone where the
flight will be at that moment.

Issuing an air ticket

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An itinerary where multiple passengers are in same reservation with a ticket

number for each passenger

A revenue passenger on an airline must hold a valid issued ticket. In order for
a ticket to be issued, there are two distinct processes; both of these are
required:

Reservation

A reservation for an itinerary is made in the airline system, either directly by

the passenger or by an agent. The itinerary includes all the above details
needed for the issuance of an air ticket, except the ticket number.

When the reservation is made, a passenger name record (PNR) will be

created which is used to manage the reservation and check in. There can be
multiple passengers in a single passenger name record provided that all
passengers have the same itinerary and fare type.

Issuance

Having a reservation does not itself entitle the passenger to travel. Only when
the airline receives the payment or a passenger redeems miles/points, a
ticket is issued which is linked to the reservation and allows the passenger to
travel.

Historically, reservation and payment are separate steps, with the allowed
time between booking and payment being defined in the fare rules when the
reservation is made. With modern booking systems, it has become more
common to require immediate payment before a reservation is made.

Each passenger must have his/her own air ticket, as shown by an individual
ticket number, even when the reservations are linked by a single PNR.

Paper tickets

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A handwritten flight coupon for Biman Bangladesh Airlines

A sample Northwest Airlines ticket, computer-printed on ARC-style stock.

Note that the ticket's full designation is "passenger ticket and baggage
check".

For most of the history of commercial aviation, tickets for air travel were
printed on paper. In time, the form of the paper ticket was standardized, with
particular information shown in particular places on the ticket coupon.
The Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) printed many of the standard ticket
forms used by airlines and travel agents, and paper tickets were sometimes
known as "ARC coupons" as a result.

The tickets could be written by hand, or typed or printed. The individual

sheets comprising the ticket, one per flight segment, could then be stapled
together into a booklet with a cover and often with other documents, such as
legal notices to the traveler. The ticket doubled as the official baggage check
under the Warsaw Convention and Hague Protocol 

Replacement of paper tickets

IATA announced that as of June 1, 2008, IATA-member airlines would no

longer issue any paper tickets.

A ticket is generally only good on the airline for which it was purchased.
However, an airline can endorse the ticket, so that it may be accepted by
other airlines, sometimes on a standby basis or with a confirmed seat.
Usually the ticket is for a specific flight. It is also possible to purchase an
'open' ticket, which allows travel on any flight between the destinations listed
on the ticket. The cost of this is greater than a ticket for a specific flight.

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Some tickets are refundable. However, the lower cost tickets are usually not
refundable and may carry many additional restrictions.

The carrier (airline) is represented by a standardized two-letter code. In the

example above, Thai Airways is TG. The departure and destination cities are
represented by International Air Transport Association airport codes. In the
example above, Munich is MUC and Bangkok is BKK. The International Air
Transport Association is the standard setting organization.

Only one passenger can use a ticket. If multiple passengers are traveling
together, the tickets are linked together by the same record locator or
reservation number, which are assigned, if the tickets were purchased at the
same time. If not, most airlines can cross-reference the tickets together in
their reservation systems. This allows all members in a party to be processed
in a group, allowing seat assignments to be together (if available at the time
of the assignment).

Resale

When paper tickets were still frequently used, some travellers resold their
(person-specific) tickets to other travellers (often at discount prices) when
their travel plans changed. The seller would then accompany the buyer to the
airport at the time of departure. The original owner would check in under his
own name, and would check in the buyer's baggage. The buyer then
boarded the airplane.]However, since most airlines check identification on
boarding, this procedure is rarely functional. Using another person's ticket is
also illegal in many jurisdictions.

CHAPTER 2: Flight Reservations

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Airline reservation systems (ARS) are part of the so-called passenger service

systems (PSS), which are applications supporting the direct contact with the
passenger.

ARS eventually evolved into the computer reservations system (CRS). A

computer reservation system is used for the reservations of a particular
airline and interfaces with a global distribution system (GDS) which supports
travel agencies and other distribution channels in making reservations for
most major airlines in a single system.

What is an airfare?

Let’s start with something easy. What is an airfare? The airfare is the price
that you pay to travel on an airplane. The fare may be one-way or round-trip.
The price consists of a base fare plus the regular taxes and fees. So what are
the main types of airfares?

There are two main types of fares, published airfares and unpublished
airfares.

Types of airfares

Below are a few different types of published airfares. They all have their own
special rules, restrictions, and availabilities. Airlines will fill airplane seats with
a variety of these fare types.

1. Apex fare

These fares are discounted international fares. Apex fares are usually
purchased in advance – this is called advance purchase. For example, you
need to buy the ticket at least 7, 14, or 21 days before departure. They will
have some other restrictions attached, such as being non-refundable and
fees for any changes.

2. Discount fare

These fares are cheaper as they are usually available for a limited time, like a
‘seat sale’. Discount fares can have a long list of limitations like the:
– Travel dates – e.g. July – August only

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– Minimum stay – e.g. 2 nights

– Maximum stay – e.g. 3 months
– No refunds

3. Unrestricted, flexible, full fare, or walk-up fare

These are the most expensive types of airfares. This is because you can
refund or change these tickets as necessary. They can also be purchased on
the same day you travel. The pricing for these fares is used as the
benchmark for the discounted fares. So, this is basically the regular price of
the fare.

4. Joint fare

Joint fares are a result of more than one airline working together as partners
to get you to your destination.

5. Through fare

Through fares can be combined with the above fare types and happen when
you fly through a gateway city. Although you will be flying via a third city, you
are only charged one fare from your departure to your destination.

6. Bereavement fare

Bereavement fares are last-minute fares that are available right up until the
time of departure. Airlines offer them to family members for funerals, or in the
case of imminent death. Although bereavement fares are usually discounted
full fares, they may not always be the cheapest ticket. The discount is usually
50% of the full fare. You can only buy bereavement fares from the airline
directly, over the phone or at the ticket counter. Apparently, in recent years
many airlines have been cutting their bereavement fare options.

7. Open-jaw

An open jaw ticket is a return ticket, however, the departure and the
destination are not the same each way. For example, you fly from New York

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to Rome, have a little road-trip around Europe, and fly back from Paris to
New York. NY to Rome, Paris to NY.
There are three different types of open jaw flights:
1. Destination open-jaw – NY -> Rome, Paris -> NY
2. Origin open-jaw – NY -> Rome, Rome -> Boston
3. Double open-jaw – NY -> Rome, London -> Boston
Going to a different airport in the same city is not considered to be an open-
jaw flight.

8. Multi-city

Multi-city flights are single tickets that have multiple stops. Like a Round the
World ticket, but you don’t have to go that far! You can turn layovers into
stopovers

(layovers are under 12 hours and stopovers are over 12 hours). Traveling this
way allows you to visit many destinations and save on overall flight costs.

Booking open-jaw and multi-city flights online can be very expensive. The
best way to book these types of flights is to use a travel agent. They are
experts at piecing together these types of flights.

9. Youth/child/senior fares

When you book your flights with a travel agent, there may be the option to
get reduced rates for youth, child, or senior travelers. This depends on the
airline and the airfare. However, these discounts may only apply to full-fare
tickets, or only be 10%, so our discounted fares may already be the cheaper
option.

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Infants are usually classified as up to 24 months old (2 years).

Children are from 2-11 years old.

10. Unpublished flight deals

So aside from published fares, we also have unpublished airfares. These

airfares are not available online through flight booking websites and neither
on the airline’s own website. You also cannot call the airline to book these
flight deals. Travel agents find these airfares through a Global Distribution
System (GDS).

To get an unpublished airfare, you will need to contact a travel agent. There
are varying discounts available on these fares, depending on your route,
airline, dates, etc. Also, the fare rules for these airfares may vary wildly,
including some of the restrictions mentioned previously.

Unpublished airfares are also known as private airfares, wholesale airfares,

consolidator airfares. Fare consolidators are also known as bucket shops in
the UK.

11. Opaque airfares

Ok, here is one type of airfare you probably haven’t heard of. Opaque airfare
prices are shown without revealing the airline or the flight number (and in
some cases the flight times). Airlines offer these opaque fares as a way to
keep the prices private until after they are purchased. This is because airlines
don’t want to sell all of the seats on an airplane at the lowest price.

12. Fare classes

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You may find a letter code on your boarding pass or e-ticket which signifies
what type of airfare you have.

F&P
These lucky letters usually represent First Class.

J&C
These ones are for Business Class.

Y
This is pretty much always used for full-fare economy tickets.

B, H, L, M, etc.
These represent other subclasses like restricted or discount fares. Each
airline uses them in different ways with different meanings.

X, U, R
These letters are usually used by fare consolidators.

CHAPTER 3: Custom & Immigration

Customs is about the stuff you are bringing into the country. Is it allowed,
should you pay duty, should it be confiscated and burned, etc. By default,
none of your stuff is allowed in, even if you're a citizen returning home.

Immigration is about a person who is visiting, immigrating, or returning

home. By default visitors are (technically) turned away unless they have a
good reason and meet other criteria and those who live here are let in.
Immigrants are let in if the paperwork they've done in advance is all correct.

Both processes involve "who are you, where are you coming from, why are
you coming here, why were you there" and so on. Both involve a uniformed
person, your passport, and probably your baggage. For example if you say
you are visiting for 3 days, but you have brought weeks worth of clothing -
probably all you own - along with more permanent possessions like books,
photo albums, and CDs, an immigration officer may suspect you are moving
here. Customs officers may want to inspect your baggage for contraband,
and your explanation for your visit may make the difference between being

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inspected or not. As a result they are considered a single process in most

people's minds.

To add to the complication, many airlines won't let you board unless you
convince them you will be let in at your destination, and some airports
(especially in Europe) want to look at your passport and other immigration-
related documentation several times before you get to the boarding gate.
None of this counts as "clearing customs and immigration" but it may sure
feel like it.

IMPORTANCE OF IMMIGRATION

Immigration is the international movement of people to a

destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not
possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent
residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and other short-term
stays in a destination country do not fall under the definition of immigration or
migration; seasonal labour immigration is sometimes included, however.

As for economic effects, research suggests that migration is beneficial both

to the receiving and sending countries. Research, with few exceptions, finds
that immigration on average has positive economic effects on the native
population, but is mixed as to whether low-skilled immigration adversely
affects low-skilled natives. Studies show that the elimination of barriers to
migration would have profound effects on world GDP, with estimates of gains
ranging between 67 and 147 percent. Development economists argue that
reducing barriers to labor mobility between developing countries and
developed countries would be one of the most efficient tools of poverty
reduction. Positive net immigration can soften the demographic dilemma in
the aging global North.

The academic literature provides mixed findings for the relationship

between immigration and crime worldwide, but finds for the United
States that immigration either has no impact on the crime rate or that it
reduces the crime rate. Research shows that country of origin matters for
speed and depth of immigrant assimilation, but that there is considerable
assimilation overall for both first- and second-generation immigrants.

Research has found extensive evidence of discrimination against foreign

born and minority populations in criminal justice, business, the economy,
housing, health care, media, and politics in the United States and

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Importance of Immigration in USA

America’s historical openness to immigration has enriched its culture,

expanded economic opportunity, and enhanced its influence in the world.
Immigrants complement native-born workers and raise general productivity
through innovation and entrepreneurship. Immigrants continue to integrate
successfully into American society.

America is a nation of immigrants. That is not a cliché but a simple fact.

Almost all Americans today either immigrated themselves or descended from
immigrants, whether from England and Germany in the colonial era, Ireland,
Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia in the 19th and early 20th centuries, or
Latin America and Asia in more recent decades. Today one out of every four
people residing in the United States are either first- or second-generation
immigrants. Immigration has enriched the United States throughout its
history, economically as well as culturally and socially.

Contrary to what some of our leaders and pundits tell us, immigrants
strengthen the US economy by filling key jobs in important industries,
starting businesses, filing patents, creating new products, and keeping
America demographically younger. A large majority of immigrants embrace
America’s culture of freedom and opportunity. Immigration is both a sign and
a source of American dynamism. US immigration policy should move toward
welcoming more hard-working immigrants to build a stronger US economy.

Facts about Immigration

Immigrants come to the United States because of the freedom and

opportunity it offers. They come to work and build a better life for themselves
and their families. Immigrants fill niches in the labor market, typically at the
higher and lower ends of the skill spectrum, where the supply of native-born
workers tends to fall short of demand by US employers. Without immigrants
our economy would be less productive and dynamic.

Immigrants boost America’s economic growth and raise the general

productivity of American workers by providing much-needed skills. Immigrant
workers allow important sectors of the economy to expand, attracting
investment and creating employment opportunities for native-born
Americans. A recent study by the International Monetary Fund concluded,
“Immigration significantly increases GDP per capita in advanced economies.”

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Immigrants fuel entrepreneurship. Immigrants are more likely to start a

business than native-born Americans, whether it’s a corner shop or high-tech
startup. Among startup companies that were valued at more than $1 billion in
2016, half were founded by immigrants. Among Fortune 500 companies, 40
percent were founded by immigrants or their children.

Immigrants generate new products, ideas, and innovation. Immigrants make

up 17 percent of the US workforce, while filing one-third of the patents and
accounting for more than one-third of US workers with a PhD in one of the
STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math. One study
found, “More than half of the high-skilled technology workers and
entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley are foreign born.”

Without immigrants and their children, the United States would soon begin to
experience demographic decline. The number of US-born workers with US-
born parents is already declining, and will shrink by eight million from 2015 to
2035. Immigrants extend the sustainability of federal retirement programs by
slowing the rise in the ratio of retirees to workers. Without a growing
workforce, the US economy would begin to lose its dynamism and leadership
role in the global economy.

Three-quarters of immigrants in the United States reside here legally. The

number of unauthorized immigrants has stabilized in recent years at 11 to 12
million. Most illegal immigrants arriving today enter the country legally but
then overstay their visas; thus, a wall on the US-Mexican border will not stop
most illegal immigration. The most cost-effective policy for reducing illegal
immigration remains the expansion of opportunities for legal entry and work.

WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0dVfDiSrFo

Security of Custom

At airports today, customs functions as the point of no return for all

passengers; once passengers have cleared customs, they cannot go back.
Anyone arriving at an airport must also clear customs before they can
officially enter a country. Those who breach the law will be detained by
customs and likely returned to their original location.[7] The movement of
people into and out of a country is normally monitored
by migration authorities, under a variety of names and

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arrangements. Immigration authorities normally check for appropriate

documentation, verify that a person is entitled to enter the country,
apprehend people wanted by domestic or international arrest warrants, and
impede the entry of people deemed dangerous to the country.

VI. REFERENCES

Books

Book References:

Claravall, Bienvenido G. Travel and Tour Operations in the Philippines 3rd Edition
2013

E-Learning Reference

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