How should a TMC track unused ticket credits?

An unused ticket is value your client has already paid for. It sits with an airline, on a deadline. The job is to keep each one visible until it's used.

What counts as an unused ticket credit?

It takes one of three forms:

• The open ticket. At most large airlines, the original ticket number holds the value, and the issuing agency exchanges it in the GDS.
• An airline credit. Delta calls it an eCredit and JetBlue a travel credit. Some of these redeem in the airline's own channels.
• A residual value document. When an exchange leaves value over, it can sit on an MCO or EMD, linked to the exchange in IAR.

How long does each credit last?

A ticket is good for one year from its issue date unless the fare says otherwise. IAR takes exchanges and refunds for 13 months as standard. Each airline then sets its own rule for the credit, and some count from a different day. The tracker below shows the rule for each airline we've checked.

Where do you find unused tickets?

Coupon status lives in the airline's ticket database. ARC settles and reports the sale, and IAR keeps 60 months of data, but the flown or unused status of each coupon comes from the airline.

GDS reports and mid-office trackers check that status for you. Run them every day, and record each open ticket with its traveler, airline, issue date and the day it runs out.

Can another employee use the credit?

It depends on the company's airline contract. The University of Wisconsin System publishes its own terms as an example. American and United allow name changes on unused tickets under its contracts. Delta allows them for a fee taken from the ticket value.

Two rules from the same guidance apply widely. The name changes when the new ticket is bought, and the new ticket has to be of equal or higher value. Outside a contract, credits stay with the traveler they were issued to.

Who should own the tracking?

Both sides, with clear roles. California's statewide travel program is a good model:

• The TMC sends the list. On the 18th of each month, each department's travel contact receives a spreadsheet of every open credit.
• The company uses it. Each department's travel contact makes sure credits are used before they run out.
• The system applies it. When a traveler books, the TMC's mid-office applies the credit automatically.

What should the monthly report include?

Sort it by the day each credit runs out, so the client sees the next deadline first.

How much value goes unused?

Enough that government auditors have counted it. In 2004 the US Government Accountability Office found about 58,000 fully unused tickets at the Department of Defense, plus more than 81,000 partly used ones, and traced the cause to travelers being left to report them.

Percentages for corporate air spend come from companies that sell trackers, so treat them as sales figures. Your own report gives your client the real number.

Common questions