PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
An alternate record is a modification in the tour dependent on a criteria. Alternates are different from
options in that they MUST be resolved before the booking is made.
This program lets the user enter the options that have to be resolved before a booking can be
completed.
For example, if you want to use hotel A for Jan-Jul and hotel B for Aug-Sep, all you have to do is:
Enter the alt. #1, question: Which hotel Selection: Date, date ranges and each answer. (When the
booking is made, the system won't ask any questions, depending on departure will pick hotel) Then
go to the hotel screen and select alt 1, answer 1 and enter hotel A. Under alt 1 answer 2 enter Hotel
B.
For another example, if you had an air-surcharge for December, you would Enter alt #2, question:
December Air surcharge, Selection: Date. Answer 1 would be Air Surcharge, Dec 01-Dec 31. This
would be the only answer for this alternate. If the booking date were Dec 01-31, then the surcharge
(entered in pricing) and modified ticket (entered in ticket entry) would automatically be selected.
Or maybe you want to give the client the chance to upgrade the hotel in Tokyo. Enter alt #1, question:
Upgrade to Palace hotel?, Selection: Answer. Now you can enter each answer (Yes and No). (You
could also enter date ranges if it was only available for a certain amount of time) Then you would go
to hotel display for Alt 1, option 1(Yes) and delete the normal hotel (soft delete) and re-enter the
upgraded hotel. Then you would go to tour pricing and add an item, "Hotel upgrade surcharge" with
the surcharge amount. You don't have to make any changes to Alt 1, option 2, because it is already
correct.
If you wanted to implement this same feature as an option, then you would do everything exactly the
same. The difference is that the person doing the booking wouldn't have to answer the question. To
select the upgrade they would have to select the option, then answer the question! This might be a
good way to ask: Hotel upgrade options with a list of possible answers.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
First, enter the tour code under number 1 on the screen. The tour file header with the current ending
date will display. Then all of the alternate questions with an ending date which is greater than the
system date will display in sequence number order. (sequence numbers are unique throughout the
tour--after a few years they will get high)
Now, the system will ask you if you want to see the answers for any of these questions.
If you select a question, the sytem will display the sequence number, the select by code, and the
question text. Then all of the answers grouped by ending dates will display.
The system will ask if you want to change any of the answers now. You can enter an answer just by
entering it in an empty slot. The date range defaults to the header starting and ending dates.
If you don't select a question when they display, the system will prompt for a question sequence
number. If the sequence number doesn't already exist, then a new question is created. You can then
enter the select-by code, the question text, and the answers on the screen.
NOTE:
Internally, the ALT_OR_OPT code is "A", and the other fields are entered.
If an answer is entered with a sequence number of 0, the system uses the main tour information (ie.,
no modifications may be made to a alternate with a zero sequence question) This is useful in entering
the default question to many answers. For example, if you were to ask: "Hotel upgrade?"; answer 0
would be "No."
When the a tour code and date are entered in the booking system, this file is accessed first. When the time comes to display or calculate the pricing or tour stuff, every "A"lt record in the date range is read and resolved. At each point the current files can be modified to the correct data.