Corporate Travel Glossary
Advance Purchase
A condition on the purchase of an airfare — typically 7, 14, or 21 days ahead of departure — that may secure the lowest rate. Although such fares often come with restrictions on refunds and modifications, they are often encouraged in travel policies.
Aggregator
A platform that consolidates and displays pricing and inventory information from various sources, such as airlines, hotels and car rentals, in one place for easy comparison.
Ancillary Services
Additional services offered by airlines that can include seat selection, priority boarding and checked baggage. These services may be part of the main offer or available separately.
Available Seat Miles
A metric used to quantify the airline capacity of an aircraft, route, region or network. It is determined by multiplying the distance flown by the number of available seats.
Back Office
Administrative and support functions of a corporate travel agency (travel management company), including data management, accounting and ARC reporting.
Best Available Rate (BAR)
The lowest unrestricted rate for a hotel room on a given day.
Blackout Dates
Specific dates, often around holidays or special events, when certain rates or promotions are not available.
Business Travel Account (BTA)
Aka a “ghost card” or “lodge card,” a central billing and payment method allowing for the payment of travel services without needing a physical credit card.
Carbon Budget
Pre-determined limit on carbon emissions permitted for travel activities associated with an individual, department, event or organization aimed at reducing the overall carbon footprint.
Carbon Credit
Verified emission reduction from certified climate action projects.
Carbon Offset
The practice of “reducing” greenhouse gas emissions footprint by purchasing credits from emissions reduction projects or participating in carbon trading schemes.
Code share
An arrangement where one or more airlines market and collect payment for a flight that is actually operated by another airline.
Collision Damage Waiver (CDW)
Optional insurance provided by car rental companies that covers the cost of damage to a vehicle from an accident.
Aka supplier-direct, a messaging “pipe” between suppliers and distributors or suppliers and corporate customers that does not require an intermediary.
Direct Flight
Different from a “nonstop,” a flight from the origin to the destination with one or more stops for purposes like refueling, changing aircraft or picking up additional passengers, without passengers from the origin changing planes or flight numbers.
The legal and ethical obligation of organizations to ensure the safety and well-being of their employees.
Dynamic Pricing
Driven by “yield management” or “revenue management,” a pricing strategy used by travel suppliers where prices are adjusted in real time based on algorithms considering factors like demand, availability and market conditions.
EDIFACT (Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce, and Transport)
Traditional communications protocol used in finance, travel and other industries. In air travel, it facilitates the distribution of fares and inventory. Less flexible than newer languages like XML when it comes to adding and customizing ancillary services.
Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD)
Document for non-flight related services such as lounge access or collecting change fees.
Fare Basis (Code)
Contains the airfare class and can specify rules and conditions.
Fare Class
One-letter code that identifies airfare type and rules.
Fulfillment
The usually automated steps a travel agency must take between making and completing a reservation, including policy management, document and itinerary delivery, quality assurance, ticket issuance and reporting.
A network or platform facilitating transactions for travel service providers through connections with airlines, hotels and other suppliers, streamlining the booking process and providing information about availability, prices and related services. Three major providers are Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport.
Corporate travel term for the practice of including a lodging reservation with an air booking, and the associated ratio of how often that happens.
Implant (onsite)
Travel management company branch or representative(s) located within the corporate client’s offices.
Indirect Channel
Sales channels comprised of aggregators, global distribution systems, travel management companies and/or online booking tools for the arrangement and sale of business travel.
Interlining
An agreement between two airlines allowing travel on one to be ticketed on another.
Irregular Operations (IROP)
Flight delays and cancellations due to weather, equipment changes, crew rest and other operational disruptions.
A feature of some hotel corporate rates where the property must honor the negotiated rate if the specified room type is available, even if there is high demand.
Load Factor
The ratio of flown passengers to the capacity for the aircraft, route, region or overall airline operation.
Lodge card
Aka a “ghost card” or Business Travel Account, a central billing and payment method allowing for the payment of travel services without a physical credit card.
Loss damage waiver (LDW)
Optional insurance offered by rental car companies that reduces or eliminates the renter’s financial responsibility for damage to or theft of the rented vehicle.
Lowest Logical Fare
The cheapest airfare available that aligns with a company’s travel policy and the traveler’s guidelines.
Managed Travel
Policies and procedures for a corporate travel program, typically overseen by an internal travel department or an external travel management company (TMC).
Management Fee
A fee charged by a provider in addition to direct costs that covers overhead and profit, assessed either as a percentage of sales, per transaction or a fixed amount.
Mid Office
Refers to the management information system (MIS) component of a travel agency’s system, involving the processing and quality control that occurs after the initial receipt in the front office.
Miscellaneous Charge Order (MCO)
An accountable document issued by a travel agency or airline as proof of payment for specific fees or as a residual amount from ticket exchanges, to be used for future purchases.
An IATA initiative using XML data exchange technology to enhance how airlines sell and market their products in indirect (e.g., travel agency) channels, allowing for more personalized and dynamic offers to customers.
Non-last Room Availability
A contracted hotel rate type that may not be available even if there is availability of the specified room type.
Occupancy Rate
The proportion of available rooms or units rented or occupied at a given time, a key performance indicator for hotels.
Offer and Order Management
Tailoring offers to individual traveler preferences and efficiently handling bookings and transactions for selected options — processes that have become more sophisticated with NDC implementation.
Offline Transaction
A booking initiated by a travel agent following a call or email request from a client.
Online Adoption Rate
The proportion of eligible bookings made through a company-approved online booking system compared to traditional booking methods.
A corporate travel technology platform enabling employees to self-book flights, hotels, car rentals, rail and other services through online and mobile interfaces. Can be configured to fit the an organization’s business rules, contracted rates, approvals processes and policies.
Open Jaw Ticket
An itinerary where a passenger flies into one city and out of another, possibly to avoid backtracking and/or to make the trip more cost-effective.
When an organization hires another company or individual to perform tasks, handle operations or provide services otherwise handled by the organization’s own employees. In corporate travel, travel management companies and consultancies offer such services.
Passenger Name Record (PNR)
A reservation number in the GDS used by airlines, travel agents and other travel providers to track and manage reservations and itineraries.
Passive segment
Typically created in a global distribution system or airline reservations system and used to fill gaps in a passenger name record (and an itinerary) or provide a placeholder for a segment that will be booked later.
Tailoring services, products and communications to meet the individual preferences, needs and expectations of customers based on profiles and historical data.
A process requiring employee travel plans to be authorized before booking to ensure compliance with corporate travel policy. Aka pre-trip authorization.
A “reshopping” process to audit purchased or identified travel options. When systems discover lower prices or more desirable products, they can cancel the old choice and secure a new one. They may be configured to do so automatically or with the traveler’s confirmation. They may be limited to searching options within a given flight or airline, or within a certain property, hotel brand or geographic area.
Property Management System (PMS)
A computer-based system for managing hotel inventory, guest check-in and check-out, and billing.
Pseudo City Code (PCC)
Alphanumeric code that identifies a travel agency or booking location within a GDS, helping to facilitate the booking process, track commissions and data, and maintain security.
Reason Code
Code for documenting and reporting on traveler decisions and behavior.
Reissue
The process of generating a new airline ticket by exchanging an existing one due to itinerary changes, which may involve additional fees and penalties.
Request For Proposals (RFP)
A formal document issued by organizations to travel suppliers to solicit bids and proposals for travel services, allowing for the comparison and evaluation of multiple travel suppliers to find the best fit.
Restricted Fare
Discounted airfares from airlines that come with specific restrictions, such as advance purchase or minimum stay requirements, and limits on changes or cancellations.
Revalidation
The process required for a passenger to change their journey en route, involving offsetting the value of the original ticket against the new fare and calculating any extra or refund.
Revenue Passenger Mile
A measure of the volume of air passenger transportation equal to one paying passenger carried one mile.
Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR)
Hotel industry metric that calculates room revenue divided by rooms available.
Global body facilitating businesses setting ambitious emissions reduction targets in line with the latest climate science.
Segment
One leg of an air itinerary, including one takeoff and one landing.
Segment fee
Fee charged by GDS providers to airlines for each segment booked via their systems.
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
A contractual agreement between a travel management company or supplier and its clients that outlines the level of service to be provided, including quality, responsiveness and timeliness.
Special Service Request (SSR)
A request in the GDS for a carrier to provide additional services for a traveler, such as a special meal, wheelchair assistance, etc.
Split Ticketing
Purchasing two separate tickets to build an itinerary, often to obtain a lower price. This practice is risky, as missed connections may not be rebooked unless a new ticket is purchased.
Booking channel connected to a supplier, commonly via application programming interface, that does not require a prevailing industry intermediary such as a GDS and/or TMC. Also called a direct connection.
Fuel produced from sustainable feedstocks or synthetic substances, mixed with fossil jet fuel, that reduces carbon emissions from flights, primarily through the manufacturing process.
Total Transaction Value (TTV)
The total value of all travel-related transactions processed by a travel management company (TMC), including airline tickets
Transaction Fee
Typically refers to a fee for each travel transaction, paid by organizations to their travel management companies.
Travel And Entertainment (T&E)
IRS term covering expenses incurred by employees for business travel or events, often reimbursed by the employer.
A specialized travel agency providing comprehensive services to businesses, including booking, policy compliance, expense management and reporting.
Practices and programs designed to foresee, avert and/or respond to risks including extreme weather, social upheaval, terrorism, natural catastrophes, pandemics and other public health events.
Unmanaged Travel
Travel that is not restricted or managed by a corporate travel policy, third-party provider or payment requirement.
Unrestricted Fare
An airfare without restrictions, typically refundable and without blackout days.
Unused Ticket Management
The process of tracking, managing and re-applying unused airline ticket credit to prevent financial loss.
Value-Added Tax (VAT)
A general tax applied to most commercial activities, including the production and distribution of goods and services, recoverable in some cases.
Digital payment using a unique credit card number for card-not-present transactions to minimize fraud risk. Can be limited to a certain date range, vendor or amount. Includes 16-digit card number, expiry date and security code.
Visa Processing
The process of obtaining an official document or stamp in a passport that allows entry to or transit through a specific country.
XML
Extensible Markup Language, a data exchange language supporting rich content and retailing, used to enhance airline product promotion and sales.
Yield Management (Revenue Management)
A process of optimizing revenue by adjusting prices in response to market demand, commonly used by airlines and hotels.