Abacus Functionalities for Tourism Students Introduction to Abacus

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION TO ABACUS ......................................................... 1-0

1.1 INTRODUCTION TO ABACUS ......................................................................... 1-1

1.1.1 ABACUS PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS ................................................................ 1-1

1.2 TRAVEL TERMINOLOGY ................................................................................. 1-2

1.3 STARTING THE ABACUS WHIZ ...................................................................... 1-4

ABACUS WHIZ FAMILIARIZATION .................................................................................... 1-4

1.4 SPECIAL KEYS IN ABACUS ............................................................................. 1-5

1.5 SIGN IN TO ABACUS ..................................................................................... 1-5

1.6 TO SIGN OUT ............................................................................................... 1-6

1.7 ENCODE FUNCTION ...................................................................................... 1-7

1.8 DECODE FUNCTION ...................................................................................... 1-7

1.9 WHIZ MASK - ENCODE / DECODE ................................................................ 1-8

1.10 CHAPTER EXERCISE ....................................................................................... 1-8

1.11 CHAPTER REVIEW ......................................................................................... 1-9

De La Salle – Lipa
Introduction to Abacus Abacus Functionalities for Tourism Students

1. Introduction to
Abacus
By the end of the chapter, you will be able to:

 Identify the terms GDS and CRS

 Know the partner carriers of Abacus
 Identify the terminology used in the travel industry
 Access the Abacus system and know the different
features
 Properly Sign-In and Sign-Out of the Abacus system
 Use the Encode and Decode functions for cities and
airlines using the cryptic entries and whiz mask

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Abacus Functionalities for Tourism Students Introduction to Abacus

1.1 INTRODUCTION TO ABACUS

Abacus is the largest Global Distribution System (GDS) in Asia-Pacific that provides international and
domestic bookings, pricing, ticketing facility, hotel and car bookings, travel insurance and other travel
information. It allows domestic booking, pricing and ticketing on Philippine Airlines (PR) segments and
domestic booking on Air Philippines (2P).

Abacus International is owned by Sabre and a consortium of Asia's leading airlines including:

NH – All Nippon Airways MH – Malaysia Airlines

CX – Cathay Pacific PR – Philippine Airlines
CI – China Airlines BI – Royal Brunei Airlines
GA – Garuda Indonesia SQ – Singapore Airlines
BR – EVA Airways MI – Silkair

US-Based GDS
KA – Hong Kong Dragon Airlines

 Sabre is the global leader in the electronic distribution of travel and travel related services.
 GDS – A system containing information about availability, prices, and related services for Airlines,
Car Companies, Hotel Companies, Rail Companies, etc. and through which reservations can be
made and tickets can be issued.
 CRS – Computer Reservation System is a computer network through which travel information is viewed
and booked by the airlines for inventory control.

1.1.1 ABACUS PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS

Abacus provides a string of solutions that give travel agencies control, efficiency and content.

ABACUS PRODUCTS DEFINITION

A windows-based system running on Internet Connectivity that provides travel
Abacus Whiz consultants easy access to Abacus Central Reservation System and travel
contents.
An internet-based Point of Sale solution. It offers a single point of access to all
Abacus Space
travel contents. The travel agent can work, learn and receives support 24/7.
Provides airlines, wholesalers and retail agents an efficient way of handling and
Abacus FAREX
processing fares information with the most number of participating airlines.
Leading Client Relationship Management (CRM) tool, which provides you with a
range of powerful functions to build lasting relationships and deliver outstanding
Abacus ClientBase
service to your customer.

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ABACUS PRODUCTS DEFINITION

An ASP-based application that allows easy development of website creation. It
is intuitive to learn and simple to manage, which leads to lower costs and high
Abacus WebCreate returns for starting an online business. It can also be integrated with Abacus
WebStart, enabling greater productivity and higher efficiency as it incorporates
an online booking capability.
A customer-focused internet booking engine that allows an online store to be
Abacus WebStart
tailored according to customer’s needs and objectives.
This product lets agent gain a competitive edge and tap on new revenue
Abacus WebConnect streams. By utilizing internet capabilities, you can build a customized website
that allows your customers to shop and book travel content.
Process your travel insurance transactions electronically within the same PNR
Travel Secure
from the most number and biggest Travel Insurance providers (i.e. Chartis
formerly known as AIG, Blue Cross and Assist Card).
Virtually There Allows the client to view their itinerary via the internet through Virtually There.
Abacus Car Allows agent to check and book cars anywhere in the world for your customers.
Most widely used GDS Hotel system worldwide with more than 80,000 hotels
Abacus Hotel
and 230 hotel chains.
Allows you to connect to Abacus Philippines business services 24/7.
Abacus e-Services
www.eservices.abacus.com.sg
Smart Back-Office Systems Solution. It’s an accounting system, which helps
Abacus SBOSS
automate the front, mid and back-office operations of the Phil. travel agents.
Similar to SBOSS, but it’s an internet-based, fully integrated front, mid and back-
Abacus SBOSSi
office system.

1.2 TRAVEL TERMINOLOGY

TRIP-RELATED TERMINOLOGY DEFINITION

The starting point at which the passenger begins his travel on a
Origin
particular flight segment.
The ultimate end of the passenger’s journey as shown on the booking
Destination
and ticket.
Departure City Point of embarkation.
Segment/Leg Flight segment or auxiliary segment of the itinerary.
Itinerary List of all flights that the passenger is scheduled to take.
Routing Term to identify the passenger’s flight itinerary.
Arrival Not Known; used in CRS booking; portion of the itinerary where
ARNK
a passenger will not take any air service from one city to the next.

TYPES OF JOURNEY DEFINITION

One – Way Journey Trip that does not go back to its origin city.
Roundtrip Journey A flight that involves flying to a single destination and back to origin city
Circle Trip A trip that involves two or more than one destination
A trip where the next flight’s origin city is different from the arrival city of
Open Jaw
the last segment.

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FLIGHT SERVICES DEFINITION

A flight that proceeds directly to the final destination without making any
Non – Stop Flight
stop(s) at intermediate point.
May have 1 or more stops from departure to arrival city with no change
Direct Flight of aircraft. Passenger takes the same flight number all throughout the
flight.
Additional flight(s) where change of aircraft and flight number is
Connecting Flight
required to reach the final destination.
A connection that involves same airline service to bring passengers from
Online Connection
the arrival city to the next intermediate point.
A connection that involves not only a change of aircraft but also change
Offline Connection of airline service to bring passengers from the arrival city to the next
intermediate point.
There is a change in the aircraft enroute or a change of inventory
Change of Gauge
compartment enroute but uses single flight number.
An agreement between airlines to sell space on each other’s flight using
Code Share Flight
their own two-letter codes in the CRS.

RESERVATIONS – RELATED
DEFINITION
TERMS
Any person manifested, ticketed and carried on board in any
Passenger
transportation.
A person who has reached his/her 12th birthday on the date of the
Adult (12 & above)
commencement of travel.
A person who has reached his/her second birthday but not his/her
Child (02-11 years old)
12th birthday on the date of the commencement of travel.
A person who has not reached his/her second birthday as of the date of
Infant (01 to 23 months old)
the commencement of travel.
Free Individual Traveler (FIT)
Reservations made for 1 to 9 passengers.
Booking
Group Inclusive Tour (GIT) Booking that consists of 10 or more passengers on the same date for the
Booking same destination.
International Air Transport An organization that represents, leads and serves the airline industry. Its
Association (IATA) members comprise all major passenger and cargo airlines.
Standard IATA designated codes for cities, airlines and airports, which
IATA Codes
are commonly used worldwide. .
A phonetic alphabet is a list of words used to identify letters in a
Phonetic Codes
message transmitted by radio or telephone.
Minimum Connecting Time The legal minimum time necessary to change planes at the airport for
(MCT) connection.
Greenwich Mean Time Universal point of reference in determining standard time; also known as
(GMT) Zulu time, Universal Time (UT) or Coordinated Universal Time (CUT)
The standard time used for flight operations globally. The letter
Zulu Time
designator of this clock is Z.

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1.3 STARTING THE ABACUS WHIZ

From the initial window screen, agent must find and click the Abacus Whiz icon
to start the program

1.3.1 ABACUS WHIZ FAMILIARIZATION

Title Bar
Pull Down Menu

Shortcut Key

Content Toolbar

Workflow Toolbar

Standard Toolbar

Emulator

General Status Bar

PARTS OF THE ABACUS WHIZ DEFINITION

Window Title Bar Identifies the emulator you are working on.
Menu that contains all the features/ masks accessible
Pull Down Menu
via either mouse or through keyboard.
Standard Toolbar Printing, editing and point and click related actions.
Key masks like PNR Creation, Air Availability, etc that
Workflow Toolbar allow you to perform PNR related functions in a
workflow format.
Shortcut Keys Toolbar Quick access to common host entries.
Where you are able to interact with host through
Emulator Screen
cryptic commands as well as point and click action.
General Status Bar Displays help and other generic messages.
Content Toolbar A row which contains Abacus product

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1.4 SPECIAL KEYS IN ABACUS

This key represents
DISPLAY symbol ()

This key represents END ITEM symbol (§)

This key represents

CHANGE symbol ()

This key represents CROSS OF LORRAINE symbol (¥)

Ctrl or Ctrl allows you to

recall previously entered commands

1.5 SIGN IN TO ABACUS

A user must always sign in to Abacus prior to performing any host entries. Signing in allows the user to use
the system.

Entry SIØØØ4

DESCRIPTION
SI Function Identifier to Sign In
ØØØ4 Agent I.D. number

Response after doing the above entry: Enter the current

AGENT SIGN IN passcode here

CURRENT PASSCODE <******* > ID <000004> CTY <2ME8 >

DUTY CODE <.> AREA <A> NEW PASSCODE <*******>

 Passcode must have a minimum of 7 and maximum of 8 alphanumeric characters.

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Response: This response is known

2ME8.2ME8*ATR.A
as the SIGN-IN TEXT
28FEB
** W E L C O M E T O A B A C U S **
---------------------------------------------------------------
- ATTN ALL MSIA TAS ONLY - QR HAS DISTRIBUTED NETT FARES THRU
ABACUS FAREX. TO RETRIEVE THESE FARES, PLEASE USE NFP/QR/A

CODE DESCRIPTION
2ME8.2ME8 Agency Pseudo City Code (PCC) is the system’s way of identifying an
agency. The agency’s security in the system is determined by this
unique code.
 Duty code which indicates agent with full reservation access
ATR Identifier A + agent initials
.A Work area
28Feb Date of sign in
Welcome to Abacus Sign in text (marketing message/announcement)

 Once you see the sign in text it means you have successfully signed in to the system.

1.6 TO SIGN OUT

The CRT should be sign out every time you leave the terminal for security reasons. This is to avoid someone
from using your sign in code.

Entry SO

DESCRIPTION
SO Function Identifier to Sign Out

Response:
SO«
A SIGNED OUT

 Abacus will automatically sign out the work area that has not been continuously used after 60
minutes.
 If you attempt to sign-out and there is an active PNR in your work area, the system will prompt you
to FIN (finish) or IGN (ignore) the current transaction.

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1.7 ENCODE FUNCTION

Encode function is used to obtain the 3-letter city codes and the 2-alpha or alpha-numeric airline codes of
the preferred carrier before retrieving the flight availability.

 Encoding City / Airport / Airline

Entry W/-CCPARIS
W/-ALSINGAPORE AIRLINES

DESCRIPTION
W/– Function Identifier
CC Identifier to encode city name
AP Identifier to encode airport name
AL Identifier to encode airline name

1.8 DECODE FUNCTION

Agent may perform the decoding function to determine if the given code is a city, airport or airline code

 Decode City / Airport / Airline

Entry W/*NGO
W/*LIN
W/*OZ
W/*695

DESCRIPTION
W/* Function Identifier to decode
NGO /LIN City / airport code
OZ Airline code
695 Airline numeric code

 Decode Aircraft Equipment

Entry W/EQ*777

DESCRIPTION
Function Identifier to decode aircraft
W/EQ*
equipment
777 Aircraft code

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1.9 WHIZ MASK - ENCODE / DECODE

From the Pull Down Menu, click TOOLS -> Encoder/Decoder

STEP3: Type the word STEP2: Click drop-down arrow

in the Search For box to select category. e.g. City,
then click GO button. Carrier, etc.

STEP1: Toggle between

Encode / Decode

1.10 CHAPTER EXERCISE

Write your answer on the space provided.

1. What will you do if you receive a SIGN IN A response? ______________________________

2. Which functionality will you use to get the meaning of LUX? ______________________________

3. This term refers to a portion of the itinerary where a passenger will not take any air service from one
city to the next.
___________________________________________________________________________________

4. In which part of the Abacus window screen can you identify the emulator you are working on?

___________________________________________________________________________________

5. Encode the following cities:

A. Lusaka __________ B. Chicago __________

C. Lilongwe __________ D. Darwin __________

E. Borabora __________

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Abacus Functionalities for Tourism Students Introduction to Abacus

1.11 CHAPTER REVIEW

By now, you should be able to:

 Identify the terms GDS and CRS

 Know the partner carriers of Abacus
 Identify the terminology used in the travel industry
 Access the Abacus system and know the different features
 Properly Sign-In and Sign-Out of the Abacus system
 Use the Encode and Decode functions for cities and airlines using
the cryptic entries and whiz mask

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Chapter 1 - Introduction to Abacus/LUD: Oct. 2011