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Travel Agent Tabs
Agent Detail Changes Comments	Notes Reservations Transactions

Travel Agent Tabs

Agent Detail

Travel Agent Functions
Add Change Change Transactions Configuration Delete Find Flat Rate Letter Analysis	Payment Post Charge Process Commissions Refund Statements Statistics Tabs View Reservations View Transactions

Travel Agent Functions

Payment

Tabs

Tabs Available for Agents

The basic master information on all types of masters are similar. Each master type has different tabs available where appropriate. As shown in the sample Agent Master, tabs outlined in color hold master-specific information. In this case, the Aladdin Travel master has booked reservations in the system.

Contact Detail Tab

When viewing agents in the Analysis grid, the Contact Detail tab is available. When viewing the Add or Change Agent screens, the Contact Detail tab is displayed above all of the other tabs.

Agent#: Enter or maintain the 8-alphanumeric characters representing the agent number.
Entered By: When an agent master is added to the database, this field is stamped by the system to identify the logon name of the user who entered the information.
Name: Enter the first and last name of the agent using any 24 alphanumeric characters.
Entry Date: When an agent master is added to the database, this field is stamped by the system to identify the system date when the information was entered.
Address 1 and 2: Enter the street (mailing) address of the agent using any 24 alphanumeric characters.
City: Enter the city where the agent is located using any 16 alphanumeric characters.
State: Select the state where the agent is located using the drop-down list. When the first letter of the desired state is typed in to the field directly, the system searches the CB table and displays the closest match. Once a state is displayed in this field, use the up and down arrows to scroll through the list individually without using the mouse.
Zip: Enter the Zip Code using any 10 alphanumeric characters prior to the City and State fields for the system to automatically fill in those fields for the user. Letters are allowed for Canadian and European addresses.
Country: Select the country where the agent is located using the drop-down list. When the first letter of the desired country is typed in to the field directly, the system searches and displays the closest match. Once a country is displayed in this field, use the up and down arrows to scroll through the list individually without using the mouse.
Phone 1 and 2: Enter the home and business telephone numbers of the agent using any 12 alphanumeric characters. Formats allowed are 800/555-1212, 800-555-1212, 8005551212, and 011945551212.
E-mail: Enter the email address of the agent using any 40 alphanumeric characters. The system recognizes that an e-mail address must contain the "@" symbol and displays an error when not entered.
Don't Mass E-mail: Check to allow the agent to opt out of mass e-mail marketing. Allowing this restriction abides by all current regulations for anti-SPAM.

Agent Detail Tab

Agent Type

The default type for all travel agents is "X" and is currently a read-only field. Changes to agent type are not currently supported in RDPWin.

Disable Checkbox

When checked, the agent master does not display on the Find or Analysis screens to allow a more narrow search on active agents. Once disabled, an agent cannot be added to a reservation. All existing reservations with a disabled agent are unchanged.

Commission Code

This code determines the commission percentage an agent receives on associated reservation revenue. Set the code on the agent master to set the default commission percentage. The code can be changed on a reservation-by-reservation basis by accessing the Commission Code drop-down on the reservation screen. Click Flat Rate for information on entering flat commission rates for agents.

Travel agent commissions are based on the reservation charge buckets (Room, Other-1, and Other-2). Commission codes (Table C7) can be set up to pay a percentage of the total of room charge, Other Charge-1, or Other Charge-2. The commission code should start with a "C" and is two characters in length. Example: Code CA is set at 10, 0, 0, meaning 10% of the room charge, and zero for Other Charge-1 and Other Charge-2. The standard commission codes supplied with the RDP system are:

CA - 10% Commission
CB - 5% Commission
CC - 15% Commission
CD - 20% Commission
CZ - No Commission

Rate Plan (Table Z0)

Enter the default rate plan for the travel agent. This rate plan is used as the default rate plan for a new reservation when associated with that Agent. Change the rate plan manually using Rate Plan drop-down on the reservation.

IRM Password

When allowing travel agents to make reservations on the Internet Reservation Module (IRM), a password must be entered. Enter the password and notify the travel agent to enter both their number and password on the IRM.

Default Pre-deduct Commission on Reservations

When checked, agents assigned as Travel Agent #1 on new or changed reservations have the Prededuct checkbox checked by default. See Prededuct on Reservations for more details.

Generate Check if Balance Due

When checked and when balance forward statements are closed for agents, a check voucher for the amount due to the travel agent is generated. When unchecked, the check vouchers for travel agents must be generated outside the RDP system.

Statements

If an agent statement should reflect the amount due at the end of the last billing period plus all new agent, select the Balance Forward radio button. The balance forward statement should be used for all travel agents. Open Item statements DO NOT generate vouchers and should not be used for travel agents. However, if an agent statement should reflect all "open" transactions (those with a balance), select the Open Item radio button.

Comments Tab

The twelve comment fields can be customized to the property's needs. Common information tracked in these fields include billing arrangements, alternate contacts, and number of rooms requested. The headings for these fields can be changed to reflect the appropriate information. Depending on which master type is selected determines how many comment fields are available.

Notes Tab

Any free text entries pertaining to the selected master are displayed in this section.

Add and Change Notes with Switch 414-60: When Switch 414-60 Use Add/Change button on notes" is set to Yes for RDPWin, links to Add and Change are available on the Notes tab.
Add Note: Click Add to open the Add Note screen, enter any text, and click Save & Close when complete. User entry information is tracked using the S7 Change Tracking module.
Change Note: Click Change to open access all notes on the Notes tab and change where necessary. Click Save & Close when complete. User entry information is tracked using the S7 Change Tracking module.

Reservations Tab

Display a grid by "Future, In-House, and Active" reservations or by "Non-Active" reservations using the radio buttons. The tab supplies a complete reservation history for the selected agent. Double-click any reservation in the grid to open the "Inquire on Reservation" screen (same as Change Reservation but in read-only format). Change is only allowed from this tab using the direct links on the screen for Other Charges, Deposit 1, and Deposit 2.

Transaction Tab

Display a grid with complete transaction history for the selected agent, as well as a tally of the charges for current the period. Click the Post Charge button to open the Post Charge form or Change to access the Change/Reverse Charges form. Fields displayed on this tab are transaction date, transaction code, description, price, quantity, charge, tax, total, no print, and running balance. Check the Display All Transactions box to display all historical transactions for the selected master (time consuming). When not checked, filter the display by selecting a Starting Date or the Number of Days and click Display.

Post Charge: Click to open the Post Charge screen for travel agent masters.
Change: Click to open the Change/Reverse Charges screen for credit card masters.
Reset Balances: Click Reset Balances to read all the transactions, reset the running balance, and use the last running balance as the correct balance due. The stored balance due on the master is set to this correct balance due. The open balance transactions are retrieved and summed. If the open balance total does not match the correct balance due, then the last transaction’s open balance is adjusted. This makes the open balance, stored balance on the master, and the running balance amount on the last transaction match.
Hide No Prints: When checked, all transactions marked in the "NoPrt" column are not displayed. When unchecked, all transactions (regardless of print status) are displayed in the grid
Starting Date: When "Display All Transactions" is not checked, select the Starting Date and set the Number of Days field to display a range of transactions. This works as a sub-filter of the Display Options. For example, select Running Balance, set the Starting Date to 01/29/98, and Number of Days to 30 to display all running balance transactions between January 29th and February 28th. With the same settings, set Number of Days to 29 to view only running balance transactions between January 29th and February 27th.
Number of Days: Display transactions for a specific date range by entering the Starting Date and setting the Number of Days field.
Display All Transactions: Display All Transactions: Check to display all transactions without regard to Starting Date or Number of Days settings. Checking this box still allows for the Running Balance, Open Balance, and 1099 Adjustment filters to be considered.
Aging: Columns on the Transaction tab now include Aging for open balances detail for 1-30, 31-60, 61-90, 91-120, and greater than 120 days.
Recent Reset: Each time the transaction tab is displayed in any of the masters, the system does a “Recent Reset” of the balances. The process is the same as the Reset Balances button, except the running balances are reset only from the last closed statement. In this case, the running balance on the last closed statement marker (D@) is assumed to be true and the process is much quicker. This reset of balances also takes place for these masters (1) before and after a payment is taken, (2) before and after a charge is posted, and (3) before a statement is reviewed/finalized.
No Print#: This column contains the "no-print offsetting transaction sequence number" and makes tracking which transaction a reversal transaction is associated with much easier. This column also displays on Change Transactions and View Transactions screens.

Changes Tab

When the Change Tracking Module (S7) is installed, changes made to travel agents in RDPWin are tracked. Change Tracking Analysis and Summary information is also available.

The system tracks information on the user making the changes as well. Some properties assign group logons for front desk, audit staff, accounting. To assure the most accurate information is recorded for Change Tracking, properties should create and maintain individual logons for each and every user. See Change Tracking Overview for more details.

Summary View

When the Summary View radio button is selected and an agent master is changed using RDPWin, basic change information is displayed on the tab. Each row in the grid represents a time when an agent was changed and saved. One or many changes can be associated with a single row. Fields available on this tab are always Date Changed (includes time), Changed By (based on logon of user), Name, Commission Code, Rate Plan, Balance Due and contact information.

The original agent record is always displayed at the bottom of the grid. Any changes made thereafter are displayed in order with the latest on top. The grid cannot be sorted, filtered, or reordered. For additional reporting and data manipulation, use Change Tracking Analysis and/or Change Tracking Summary.

When multiple changes are made on the same date and display the same time in the Date Changed grid, view the detail to see the actual, official time including the seconds. In the sample below, the original agent record was made on 12/01/97 at 12:00 a.m. Multiple changes were made on March 1st.

View Detail Button

While in Summary View, click the "View Detail" button or double-click any row to display the details on the Changes screen. The sample screen below shows the prededuct default, disable, commission code, and suppress mass e-mail fields were all changed by User USER on March 1st at 53 seconds after 3:52 p.m.

The sample screen below shows the agent's default rate plan was updated User USER on March 1st at 23 seconds after 3:54 p.m.

View Agent Button

While in Summary View, click the "View Agent" button to display the agent information in read-only format. The information displayed is the same as that displayed on the Change Agent Master screen.

Detail View

When the Detail View radio button is selected and an agent is changed using RDPWin, each row represents a single change regardless of whether or not multiple changes were made during the same Change session. The Date Changed column is always displayed, along with the field name changed, the original and new value of that field, and the user's logon information. This information is the same as displayed on the Changes screen.

Click these links for Frequently Asked Questions or Troubleshooting assistance.

Last Updated 11/06/2008

Masters - Travel Agents - Tabs