Queuing

Queuing involves manipulating traveler records (PNRs or BFs) to appropriately process a traveler's itinerary. While queuing occurs on the Apollo® or Galileo® CRS, the function of working with queues is closely related to ticketing and the management of other fulfillment processes. See the PNR Queue and Retrieve eBL which automates the queue and redisplay feature.

Queues are filing areas for PNR/BFs and messages. Each pseudo city code has 100 queues, a message queue, and a supervisor queue. The PNR/BF queues are numbered 0-99. Each queue can be subdivided in up to 100 categories and four date ranges. These categories and date ranges allow increased specificity when working with queues.

Types of Queues

Some queues are assigned as programmatic queues because the CRS automatically places booking records on these queues. On Apollo, 16 queues are considered programmatic; on Galileo, the first 25 queues are programmatic. For example, when a PNB/BF is booked, PNR/BFs with an Arrange Ticketing Date (TAU/DATE) in the ticketing field typically default to Queue 10. This field is used when a traveler wants to ticket with either a preferred agency or an agency of their choice.

The remaining queues on each CRS can be assigned at the discretion of the travel provider. On Apollo, 84 queues are unassigned. On Galileo, the first 25 are programmatic, while the remaining queues (26 – 99) are unassigned. These unassigned queues can be defined by the travel provider. For example, a queue can be assigned to each individual agent. Or queues can be assigned to important customers or a specific corporate department.

Queue Functions

There are a wide range of queue-related functions, through either XML or terminal emulation transactions. These functions include the following activities:

• Queue Routing (QEP)

• Queue Management

• Queue Ticketing (Batch Ticketing)

• Queue Messaging

• Review/Queue Minder

Queue Routing (QEP)

Directing a PNR or BF to a specific queue or queues (a PNR/BF can reside in multiple queues). Routing can either be performed programmatically or manually.

Queue Management

Queue management involves several activities:

• Signing on to or off a queue.

• Listing all PNR/BFs associated with a queue.

• Listing all of the queues associated with a specific Pseudo city code (PCC).

Queue Ticketing (Batch Ticketing)

Issuing of tickets continuously from a queue with a single command.

Queue Messaging

Queue Messaging is a method of communicating with vendors. Requests for information are documented in PNR/BF remarks. The PNR/BF is then forwarded to the vendor by queuing it to the designated company’s queue.

Review/Queue Minder

The Review/Queue Minder function places a PNR/BF message onto a specific queue. The time the message is placed can also be specified. Therefore, these messages can alert the user about actions that need to be made to the booking at a future time.

Queue Identification

Queue identification is divided into three (3) parts: queue number, category, and date range. The queue number is required, while the category and date range are optional modifiers that can be used to target specific types of records.