Last year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) implemented a worldwide change to international fare construction and ticketing procedures. This change, the most significant amendment to international pricing policy since the introduction of Neutral Units of Construction (NUCs) in 1989 and the Pricing Unit Concept (PUC) in 2000, represents a significant liberalization of today's international fare calculation and ticketing policies.

The changes are the result of IATA's plan to simplify fare construction and pricing policy to better accommodate the distribution of international airline tickets via the Internet and to remove those fare calculation procedures which are obstacles to the fast-growing e-commerce initiatives of IATA member carriers. The changes respond to and facilitate an increasingly mature online marketplace, one dominated by electronic ticketing, off-site call centres, and remote automated ticketing robotics.

Accordingly, ATC will present webinars (web seminars) highlighting the main components of the revised fare calculation rules. This series of two hour webinars is designed to assist travel agency and airline personnel in understanding these important changes and incorporating them into the participants' international pricing and ticketing skill set.

Key Seminar Topics
Topics which will be discussed include:

• Elimination of International Sales Indicator codes (SITI, SOTO, SOTI, SITO)
• New definitions for place of ticket sale and ticket issuance
• New definitions for round trips and circle trips
• Factors governing online ticket sales and distribution strategy
• Tax implications on point of sale and ticketing
• Proliferation of split ticketing
• Elimination of various minimum fare checks
• Changes to HIP (Higher Intermediate Point) checks
• Changes to limitations on indirect travel
• Changes to the specified routing principle
• Impact of U.S. and Canadian Government Orders
• Importance of historic fares

Who Should Attend
This seminar is highly recommended for frontline sales personnel who regularly sell and service international air transactions. While not required, a minimum of one year's experience is suggested to maximize benefits from this program. This seminar is also recommended for those individuals who are responsible for the planning and for the development of strategy for Internet ticket sales or other e-commerce initiatives in the sale of international air transportation. At the conclusion of this seminar, participants will be better able to price, ticket, and reissue international air transportation transactions.

Tuition
Tuition for this seminar, which permits an unlimited number of participants in a single office location, and includes a complimentary electronic copy of ATC's International Fare Simplification Guide (in English only) will be USD 265.00 for U.S. sessions or CAD 295.00 (plus applicable Canadian taxes) for Canadian participants. A discount of USD 50.00 or CAD 60.00 will be accorded to USTAR, CSTAR, and ARTA member travel agencies. Tuition must be paid online using ATC's secure web payment system, and only VISA and MasterCard are accepted. We regret that the American Express card is not accepted.

Pre-Course Training Guide for Entry Level Personnel
ATC will make available a pre-course training guide (in English only) Basics of International Fare Construction for those participants who are less experienced in international fare calculation. The guide will be a useful primer to prepare new or entry level personnel for the IFS webinar training session. The cost for this pre-course guide is USD 75.00 or CAD 90.00 (plus applicable Canadian taxes). To order a copy of the pre-course guide, please click here.

Seminar Sessions

*Registration after the enrollment deadline indicated above is subject to a late registration fee of USD 25.00 or CAD 30.00 (plus applicable Canadian taxes). Please register on-time. Space is extremely limited.

Online Webinar Requirements
This program is an online web-based seminar. Participants will be required to have access to an Internet-connected PC and a regular telephone (long distance charges apply). Technical requirements include:

»» Minimum technical requirements to attend the webinar using a PC:

. Required: Internet Explorer 5.0 or later, Netscape Navigator 6.0 or later or Mozilla Firefox 1.0 or later

. Required: Windows 2000, XP Home, XP Pro or 2003 Server, or Vista

. Required: Stable 56k, cable modem, ISDN, DSL or better Internet connection

. Recommended: Minimum of Pentium 400 with 256 MB of RAM

. Recommended: Java Virtual Machine enabled

»» Minimum technical requirements to attend the webinar using a Mac:

. Required: Mac OS X 10.3.9 (Panther) or newer

. Required: Safari 1.3 or newer, Firefox 1.5 or newer on PowerPC G3/G4/G5 or Firefox 1.5.0.2 or newer on Intel (JavaScript and Java enabled)

. Required: Stable 56 k, cable modem, ISDN, DSL or better Internet connection

. Required: Power PC G3/G4/G5 or Intel processor (G4 450 MHz with 256 MB of RAM)

As this is an interactive session between participants and the instructor, and to assure a fulfilling learning experience, space is limited to 25 participants per session. Please register early to assure confirmation in the session of your choice.

Instructor - Bruce Bishins, CTC
One of the most accomplished technical trainers in the travel industry, Bruce Bishins has been teaching international fares and ticketing for over 30 years. He has held positions at Air Canada, Swissair, Air France, and Austrian Airlines, and was Manager-Travel Industry Training at Trans World Airlines for nearly eight years. In 1978, he was appointed by a joint airline task force to the position of Manager-Procedures Training for the Air Traffic Conference (the predecessor to the ARC Area Settlement Plan in the U.S.). In 1981, he joined the Airline Training Council as Executive Director. In 1991, while still at ATC, he was contracted by the International Air Transport Association to provide technical support and training for travel agents and air carriers participating in the IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP). In February 1997 and March 2000, Mr. Bishins attended IATA briefings and workshops on the PUC in both Geneva and Miami. In September 2004, Mr. Bishins participated in a three day IATA training session in Atlanta on the new 2005 fare simplification procedures.

How to Enroll
Please complete the above Online Enrollment Form with all requested information. Tuition fees include only the cost of instruction and training materials. Conference call long distance charges are at the participants' own expense. Please enroll early to assure participation in the session of your choice and to avoid a USD 25.00 or CAD 30.00 late fee if enrolling after the published deadline.

Cancellations/Changes to Sessions
Tuition fees are non-refundable. Please consider carefully your intention to attend prior to enrollment. To discourage changes, a change fee of USD 25.00 or CAD 30.00 (plus applicable Canadian taxes), payable by check only, will be levied for changes to session dates after enrollment.

Session Confirmations
Approximately one week prior to the session requested, a confirmation will be e-mailed to all enrolled and confirmed participants. If for any reason a participant has not received a confirmation at least one week prior to the course date, it will be the full responsibility of the participant to contact ATC by sending an e-mail by clicking here or calling ATC at 416-920-3242 immediately. As such, non-receipt of e-mail confirmation is not a valid reason for failure to attend.