How can I check availability in Galileo?

Basic flight availability 

FUNCTION ID	DATE	ORIGIN	DESTINATION
A	20MAR	HKG	KTM

Shown above is a basic entry used for displaying flight availability. The purpose of this entry is to check the availability of flights between two airports on the date specified.

The entry consists of the function identifier "A" for "availability", followed by the date on which the scheduled flights depart, a three-letter code representing the origin airport and a three-letter code representing the destination airport.

In application, the entry shown above would retrieve the availability of flights on 20 March, from HKG  to KTM

Return availability 

FUNCTION ID	LETTER R	DATE
A	R	18JAN

Shown above is an entry to display return availability. The purpose of this entry is to display inbound flight availability by reversing the city pair order of an existing availability display.

The entry consists of the function identifier "A" for "availability", followed by the letter "R" for "return" and the date on which the flights should depart.

In application, the entry shown above would reverse the ordering of cities in the current availability display and generate a new display for flights departing on 18 January.

FUNCTION ID	LETTER R	#	NBR OF DAYS
A	R	#	9

Shown above is a variation of the entry on the last frame. This entry is used to display return availability for a specified number of days after the date in the original display.

The entry consists of the function identifier "A" for "availability", followed by the letter "R" for "return", a hash character (#) and the number of days later on which the flights should depart.

In application, the entry shown above would reverse the city pair order of an existing availability display and generate a new display for flights departing nine days after the date in the existing display.

 

Flight details for a flight in an availability display 

FUNCTION ID	LETTER L	LINE NBR
TT	L	2

Shown above is the entry to display flight details for a flight in an existing availability display. Flight details include such things as departure and arrival times, total journey time and any stops the flight may make en route.

The entry consists of the function identifier "TT" for "timetable", followed by the letter "L" for "line" and the line number on which the flight appears.

In application, the entry shown above would display the flight details for the flight on line two of an existing availability display

Flight details for a flight in a BF 

FUNCTION ID	LETTER B	SEGMENT NBR
TT	B	3

Shown above is the entry to display details for a flight in a BF's itinerary.

The entry to do this consists of the function identifier "TT", followed by the letter "B" for "BF" and the segment number.

In application, the entry shown above would display the flight details of the flight in segment 3 of a BF.

Flight service information 

FUNCTION ID	LETTERS "SVC"	BOOKING CODE	LINE NUMBER
*	SVC	Y	3

Shown above is an entry to display flight service information from an availability display. The purpose of this entry is to obtain detailed service information for a specified booking code on a particular flight.

The entry consists of the display function ID (*), followed by the letters "SVC" for "service", the booking code and the line number of the flight in the availability display.

In application, the entry shown above would display flight service information regarding booking code Y for the flight on line 3 of an existing flight availability display.

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Availability by time 

BASIC AVAIL ENTRY	TIME
A22JULBRUVIE	1300

Shown above is the entry to display flight availability by time. Recall that when no time is specified, Galileo displays all flights for the day, starting with the earliest departure. If you know, for example, that your client wants an afternoon flight, you can specify the departure time so that the morning flights will not be shown.

The departure time, in either 12-hour or 24-hour clock, is added to the end of the basic flight availability entry.

In application, the entry shown above would display flights departing around 1300 or 1:00 p.m. Galileo will display flights approximately two hours prior to the specified time up to midnight. Flights are displayed prior to the specified time in case there are no flights departing at that time.

Adding the departure time to an availability display is useful for city pairs with a high volume of flight service.

Availability by airline 

BASIC AVAIL ENTRY	OBLIQUE	AIRLINE
A22JULBRUVIE	/	SN

Now shown is the entry to display availability for one carrier only. This entry is useful when your client has requested a specific airline.

Note that an oblique and the airline code are added to the end of the basic entry.

In application, the entry shown above would display availability for the specified city pair and date, but listing SN flights only.

Availability for direct flights 

BASIC AVAIL ENTRY	FULL STOP	"D"
A22JULLHRHKG	.	D

Now shown is the entry to display direct flights only. This entry is useful when your client will not consider flying on a transfer, or connecting flight.

Note that a full stop and the letter "D" for "direct" are added to the end of the basic entry.

In application, the entry shown above would display availability for the specified city pair and date, listing direct flights only. No connecting (transfer) flights would be included.

Remember that while a direct flight usually does not require the passenger to change planes, it may or may not make a stop en route.

Availability by connection point 

BASIC AVAIL ENTRY	FULL STOP	AIRPORT
A22JULKTMSYD	.	BKK

Now shown is the entry to display flight availability specifying a connecting point. This entry will limit the display to show only those flights connecting (transferring) at the specified airport.

Note that a full stop and the code for the connecting airport (or city) are added to the end of the basic entry.

In application, the entry shown above would display availability for the specified city pair and date, listing only those flights connecting in BKK

This entry is useful when a low fare is available through a specified city or when a passenger wishes to avoid a certain airport.

Availability by booking code 

BASIC AVAIL ENTRY	@	NBR	BK CODE
A22JULKTMLHR	@	3	Q

Now shown is the entry to retrieve flights with seats available in the specified booking code.

This is the basic availability entry followed by the "@" character, the number of seats required and the booking code.

In application, the entry shown above would display availability for the specified city pair and date, but listing only those flights with three or more seats available in booking code Q

 

Availability by day of the week 

FNCT ID	DAY OF WEEK	CITY PAIR
A	.MO	LHRCDG

Some agents find it useful to display availability by the day of the week, especially those who book last minute business travel.

Instead of a date, a full stop and a day of the week code are entered in the standard availability entry.

In application, the entry shown above would display availability for the specified city pair, for next Monday.

The day of the week codes are the first two letters of the English spelling of the day of the week, as shown below.

MO	Monday	TU	Tuesday	WE	Wednesday	TH	Thursday
FR	Friday	SA	Saturday	SU	Sunday

 

This entry is useful when you are searching for a discounted booking code that is highly booked and difficult to find. This situation often occurs at peak travel times around the holidays.

Note: The "@" character may be generated by pressing the key to the right of the "P" key on your keyboard.

Changing availability flight ordering 

FNCT ID	LETTER	DATE	CITY PAIR
A	D	20MAR	LHRCDG

There is one more variation to the standard availability entry you should know about. This variation changes the ordering logic of the flights.

Recall that flights are displayed according to the Galileo neutral ordering scheme, which lists flights in the following order:

1.   All non-stop flights, in order of departure time

2.   All flights making stops en route, in order of departure time

3.   All connecting flights, in order of departure time

Galileo will allow you to change this ordering scheme. For example, you may wish to see flights listed by strict departure time, so that flights are listed from earliest to latest, without regard to whether or not the flight makes a stop or connection. With this scheme, flights with stops or connections that depart in the morning would be listed before non-stop flights with afternoon departures.
You can change the ordering to list flights by:

• Strict departure time
• Strict arrival time
• Strict journey time

To change the ordering, the letter "D", "A" or "J" is specified after the function ID and before the date. Below are some example entries. Note that the time is optional; when no time is specified, Galileo defaults to just after midnight.

AD11MAYTXLFCO1000		Display flights by strict departure time
AA11MAYLHRCDG1P		Display flights by strict arrival time
AJ11MAYAMSSYD		Display flights by strict journey time

AD11MAYTXLFCO1000

Displaying flights by strict departure time is used when you have a client who needs to depart at a certain time, regardless of whether or not the flight is direct.

AA11MAYLHRCDG1P

Displaying flights by strict arrival time is used when you have a client who needs to arrive at the destination at a specific time.

AJ11MAYAMSSYD

Displaying flights by strict journey time is used when your client wants a flight with the shortest travel time, and is especially useful for city pairs served only by connections.

Combining availability options 

FNCT ID	DATE	CITY PAIR	OPTION	OPTION
A	15JUL	LHRNRT	.D	/JL

Before moving on to practise the advanced availability entries, it must be mentioned that many of the options you just learnt may be combined to make the availability entry even more specific. Below are some examples.

AA15JULDUBJFK11A.D	Display availability of direct flights (.D) only, from Dublin to Kennedy Airport in New York, arriving (A) at 11.00
A20AUGLHRMLA@3B/BA	Display BA  s availability from London Heathrow to Malta with at least 3 seats available in booking code B (@3B)
AJ.TULHRTPA.MIA	Display availability by journey time (J) from London Heathrow to Tampa departing next Tuesday (.TU), showing connections via Miami (.MIA) only

 

Follow-up availability entries 

FUNCTION ID	LETTER D
A	D

Shown above is an availability follow-up entry to change an existing display to departure time ordering. The purpose of this entry is to modify the order of an existing availability display so that flights are listed strictly by departure time, regardless of the number of stops or connections en route.

The entry consists of the function identifier "A" for "availability", followed by the letter "D" for "departure time ordering".

In application, the entry shown above would change the ordering of an existing availability display so that flights would be listed strictly by departure time, from earliest to latest.

FUNCTION ID	LETTER A
A	A

Shown above is the availability follow-up entry to change an existing display to arrival time ordering. The purpose of this entry is to modify an existing availability display so that flights are listed strictly by arrival time, from earliest to latest.

The entry consists of the function identifier "A" for "availability", followed by another "A" for "arrival time ordering".

In application, the entry shown above would change the ordering of an existing availability display to arrival time ordering.

FUNCTION ID	LETTER J
A	J

Shown above is the availability follow-up entry to change an existing display to journey time ordering. The purpose of this entry is to modify an existing availability display so that flights are listed strictly by journey time, from shortest to longest. Recall from the last section that journey time is the amount of time it takes a flight to travel from its origin to its destination, including any time spent on the ground.

The entry consists of the function identifier "A" for "availability", followed by the letter "J" for "journey time ordering". In application, the entry shown above would change the ordering of an existing availability display to journey time ordering.