Agency FAQs for Expanded Booking Class Alignment for Travel on/after January, 7, 2019

Q: Why is Delta going through booking class realignment?

A: Delta is realigning Domestic (50 U.S. and Canada) premium cabin booking classes as part of its ongoing effort to more consistently and transparently display fare choices, while better aligning with our joint venture partners.

Q: What is changing with the Booking Class Alignment?

A: Delta will simplify its front cabin configurations across the Online Network to C-W-Y, where “C” inventory will be used for Delta One & Domestic First.  New booking class codes will be JCDIZO for Domestic First class.

Q: When is this going into effect?

A:  Delta is taking a phased approach for this realignment.  On October 20, 2018, Delta performed a schedule change for the SEA markets to move domestic First Class booking classes from FPAGR to JCDIZO for travel on or after November 1, 2018.

On November 3, 2018, Delta expanded this change to include almost all Domestic First Class markets for travel on or after April 2, 2019.   

Effective November 17, 2018, additional 2019 travel dates have been added for those same markets, updating the Domestic First Class configuration for travel between January 7, 2019 and April 1, 2019.

Q: What booking classes will be used in markets that have both Delta One and Domestic First Class?

A: Markets that offer both Delta One and Domestic First Class will continue to use FPAGR for Domestic First Class and JCDIZ for Domestic Delta One until further notice (affected markets include JFKSEA, JFKSAN, JFKLAS, BOSLAX).

Q: What happens to bookings made for travel on or after January 7, 2019?  

A: Fully domestic markets will remain status quo between November 17, 2018 and January 6, 2019, and almost all domestic markets will book into JCDIZO for travel on or after January 7, 2019.  

Q: What happens to bookings that were made before the November 17 schedule change?

A: PNRs created before the November 17 schedule change in the impacted markets and for the impacted travel dates will be rebooked into J, C, D, I, Z or O Class, and no action is required.

• Travel agency PNRs will be updated with the new booking class and tickets should be revalidated automatically. 
• Delta will add special PNR documentation (OSI remarks) to itineraries to indicate that a revalidation has occurred (e.g.  OSI 1P REVAL COMPLETE).
• If the ticket is not automatically revalidated, travel agencies must reissue the ticket using normal schedule change guidelines.

Q: What happens to SEA bookings that experienced the schedule change on October 20 and the bookings that experienced the November 3 schedule change?

A:  The November 17, 2018, schedule change will not impact the previous SEA market implementation that took place on October 20, 2018, nor will it affect the schedule change that took place on November 3, 2018 for travel on or after April 2, 2019.  Exception: Domestic First Class bookings on JFKSEA route will be updated to FPAGR to account for the market being served by both Delta One and Domestic First Class as mentioned in a previous question.

Q: When can I make a new booking with the new fares?

A: New bookings can be created any time after our new flight schedules and fares are available in the GDS.

Q: What if I have an existing booking that is not yet ticketed, will these price correctly after the schedule change occurs?

A: GDS bookings that are not yet ticketed at time of schedule change will remain valid as long as the ticket is booked in the new booking class and issued within the ticketing time limit.

Q: What will my PNR look like after the booking class realignment and how do I process the schedule change?

A: Delta will perform a schedule change that will update the class of service, replacing the old class of service with the new class of service for the PNRs impacted.

• Travel agency PNRs will be updated with the new booking class and tickets should be revalidated automatically. 
• Delta will add special PNR documentation (OSI remarks) to itineraries to indicate that a revalidation has occurred (e.g.  OSI 1P REVAL COMPLETE).
• If the ticket is not automatically revalidated, travel agencies must reissue the ticket using normal schedule change guidelines.

Q: What does this mean for Delta Premium Select?

A: Delta Premium Select is not impacted and still utilizes booking classes P, A and G.

Q: What will happen to any special service request codes (SSR) I have previously added to bookings? For example, a pet SSR or a wheelchair SSR?

A: All SSR codes that have been previously added to your bookings will carry over during the schedule change.

Q: If I have an EMD associated to a GDS issued ticket, do I need to contact Delta to have this reassociated to the PNR?

A: No.  Since the ticket will be re-validated, the EMD will remain associated to the PNR and no changes are required. 

Q: What will happen to the pre-reserved seat I selected for my client?

A: All previously selected seats should be re-accommodated into the same seat during the schedule change.

PARTNER IMPACTS

Q: What is the impact on existing partner bookings?

A: All existing partner bookings will be handled through the normal reaccommodation process with no action required by travel agencies.

Q: Will this process affect any partners for future bookings?

A: Korean Air has a fare class mapping limitation that does not allow for different mappings by date range. On October 20, DL zeroed out KE* mapping into the Domestic F cabin on DL in SEA market for flights on or after November 1^st to avoid denied sales. Bookings made under DL* or interline bookings were not impacted. DL will now expand and zero out KE* mapping for all Domestic F cabin on or after April 2, 2019.  

Sales will resume for First Class on KE* when Domestic First booking class alignment is complete in all markets. Other partners do not have the same limitation and should see no impact.   

 AGENCY IMPACTS

Q: How will my accounts be impacted by this?

A: Accounts with a front-end PoS program (e.g., AC787, AC404, etc.) will not see a change in their eligible commission, as rates are consistent across First and Business Classes for the impacted markets.  Sales Development has updated all program documents and uploaded new versions to each account’s agreement section in Salesforce.

Q: What does this mean for GAIN earnings?

A: Sales Development analyzed the impact to GAIN earnings for all of our accounts and for the vast majority, there is no impact as pay rates / commissions are consistent between Domestic First Class and Business Class.  For accounts that are materially impacted, your Sales Development analyst will reach out to discuss next steps.