0.    INTRODUCTION

       This specification provides the definition of the Availability
       request - interactive message (AVLREQ) to be used in Electronic
       Data Interchange (EDI) between trading partners involved in
       administration, commerce and transport.

1.    SCOPE

1.1   Functional Definition

       An interactive Travel, Tourism and Leisure Availability Request
       is sent by a customer or his agent, to a service provider to
       request availability for a Travel, Tourism and Leisure service.
       The Travel, Tourism and Leisure Availability Response -
       Interactive (AVLRSP) is utilised to provide an interactive
       response to the interactive availability request.

1.2   Field of Application

       The Availability request - interactive message may be used for
       both national and international applications. It is based on
       universal practice related to administration, commerce and
       transport, and is not dependent on the type of business or
       industry.

1.3   Principles

       AVLREQ may be used for the following functions within the
       Interactive Scenario for Travel, Tourism and Leisure:
       
       (1) to request a general availability for any hotel, rental
       car, train trip, airline flight, or tour in a specific city or
       geographical region for a date or range of dates. The request
       may include selection criteria, such as, the hotel is on the
       ocean or the rooms have fireplaces or the airline flight is
       non-stop.
       
       (2) to request availability for one or more specific hotels,
       rental cars, train trips, airline flights, or tours for a
       specific date.
        
       (3) to request rules and rates that may apply to the
       availability.

2.    REFERENCES

       See UNTDID, Part 4, Chapter 2.6 UN/ECE UNSM - General Introduction,
       Section 1.

3.    TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

3.1   Standard terms and definitions

       See UNTDID, Part 4, Chapter 2.6 UN/ECE UNSM - General Introduction,
       Section 2.

4.    MESSAGE DEFINITION

4.1   Data Segment Clarification

       This section should be read in conjunction with the Segment
       Table which indicate mandatory, conditional and repeating
       requirements.

0010 | UIH, Message header
       A service segment starting and uniquely identifying a message.
       The message type code for the Availability request -
       interactive message is AVLREQ.
       
       Note: Availability request - interactive messages conforming to
       this document must contain the following data in segment UIH,
       composite S306:

       Data element  0065 AVLREQ
                     0312 D
                     0316 98B
                     0051 UN

       It should also be noted that the data elements shown above for
       composite S306 are those specified in the draft version of the
       I-EDI syntax, published and approved for trial in document
       TRADE/WP.4/R.1157/Add.2 on 28 July 1995.

   MSD, Message action details
       A segment identifying the industry type (i.e. air, car, train,
       accommodations, etc.) and business function of the message.

   ORG, Originator of request details
       A segment providing data pertaining to the originator of the
       interactive request (i.e. travel agent identity and location
       and the commercial computer reservations system delivering the
       message).

   PDT, Product information
       A segment to indicate a class of service for which availability
       is requested.

   NUN, Number of units
       Number and identifying qualifier to indicate number of adults
       or children pertaining to the entire request.

   RPI, Quantity and action details
       A number to indicate how many units of the product is needed to
       be available.

   FTI, Frequent traveller information
       Frequent traveller program information relating to the entire
       Travel, tourism and Leisure (TT&L) availability request
       (frequent flier number).

   CRI, Consumer reference information
       Consumer reference information relating to the entire TT&L
       availability request (corporate discount number, personal
       profile number).

   ITM, Item number
       Numbers assigned to information in the previous response which
       may be used to make a request without repeating all the
       information.

   PLI, Product location information
       A segment to indicate the location by geographic area,
       reference point, or direction for which an available product is
       requested.

   PMT, Payment information
       Payment information which may be used to determine if a product
       is available.

   SDT, Selection details
       Information pertaining to the entire request to specify special
       criteria for selecting products that are available.

   NAM, Party name
       To specify additional originator information that may be used
       to determine what products are available.

   RTC, Rate types
       To indicate the rate codes for which availability is requested.

   HDI, Hardware device information
       Information specifying terminal equipment addresses and device
       types. This information may be used for tracing and security
       purposes.

   TFF, Tariff information
       Tariff information relating to the entire TT&L availability
       request.

   SSR, Special requirement details
       Details pertaining to special services or special requests to
       determine the criteria for selecting available products.

   CUR, Currencies
       To specify the currency when requesting products within a
       certain price range.

   RUL, Rule information
       To specify rules that may affect the availability request.


   Segment group 1: TVL-PRD-ITM-TFF-APD-SG2
       This segment group provides date, location, price range, and
       other criteria for selecting products to check for
       availability.

      TVL, Travel product information
          Information identifying the TT&L product or service (service
          provider, service location, date of service, service
          description, etc.).

      PRD, Product identification
          The identification of a specific product or service and the
          level or type of service.

      ITM, Item number
          Numbers assigned to information in the previous response
          which may be used to make a request without repeating all
          the information.

      TFF, Tariff information
          Tariff information relating to a particular product or
          service.

      APD, Additional transport details
          Supplementary services required of a particular product or
          service.


      Segment group 2: NUN-CRI
          This segment group provides information pertaining to the
          number of adults and children and their ages for a
          particular product or service.

         NUN, Number of units
             To specify the number of adults and children.

         CRI, Consumer reference information
             To specify the ages of the travellers for whom
             availability is requested.


   Segment group 3: TIF-FTI-SSR
       This segment group provides information pertaining to an
       individual traveller or traveller group for whom availability
       is requested.

      TIF, Traveller information
          Details pertaining to a traveller or traveller group
          (surname, group name, given name, adult, child, etc.).

      FTI, Frequent traveller information
          Frequent traveller program information pertaining to a
          specific traveller.

      SSR, Special requirement details
          Details pertaining to special services or special requests
          for a specific traveller.


   Segment group 4: RTI-RTC
       This segment group provides information concerning the rate
       codes and categories for which availability is requested.

      RTI, Rate details
          To specify rate categories, such as, standard, promotional,
          as criteria for availability selections.

      RTC, Rate types
          To specify the rate codes related to the previous rate
          categories.


   Segment group 5: MOV-ADS-CON
       This segment group provides information concerning requirements
       for delivery and chauffeur drive to be considered in the
       availability request.

      MOV, Car delivery instruction
          Information pertaining to the delivery of an automobile or
          chauffeur instructions.

      ADS, Address
          The address to where the car needs to be delivered.

      CON, Contact information
          To specify contact information for the delivery of an
          automobile.


   Segment group 6: ODI-MSD-PDT-SG7
       This segment group provides information pertaining to the
       travel product or services and groups the products by overall
       journey.

      ODI, Origin and destination details
          A segment providing the origin and destination of a TT&L
          journey.

      MSD, Message action details
          A segment identifying the industry type (i.e. air, car,
          train, accommodations, etc.).

      PDT, Product information
          To specify the class of service for which availability is
          requested.


      Segment group 7: TVL-PDT-RPI-FTI-SSR-CNX-SG8
          This segment group provides information pertaining to a
          travel, tourism and leisure product or service which is
          related to the preceding journey information.

         TVL, Travel product information
             Information identifying the product or service (service
             provider, service location, date of service, service
             description, etc.).

         PDT, Product information
             To specify the class of service requested for a
             particular product or service.

         RPI, Quantity and action details
             To indicate the number of products or services which
             needs to be available.

         FTI, Frequent traveller information
             Frequent traveller program information relating to a
             specific product or service.

         SSR, Special requirement details
             Information about special services or special requests
             relating to the product or service.

         CNX, Connection details
             Connection information for a specific product or service.


         Segment group 8: TIF-FTI-SSR
             This segment group provides information pertaining to an
             individual traveller or traveller group associated with
             the preceding product or service information.

            TIF, Traveller information
                Personal details pertaining to a unique traveller or
                traveller group.

            FTI, Frequent traveller information
                Frequent traveller program information relating to the
                preceding traveller.

            SSR, Special requirement details
                Details pertaining to special services or special
                requests for the preceding traveller.

   UIT, Interactive message trailer
       A service segment ending a message, giving the total number of
       segments in the message and the control reference number of the
       message.

4.2   Data segment index (Alphabetical sequence by tag)

          ADS Address
          APD Additional transport details
          CNX Connection details
          CON Contact information
          CRI Consumer reference information
          CUR Currencies
          FTI Frequent traveller information
          HDI Hardware device information
          ITM Item number
          MOV Car delivery instruction
          MSD Message action details
          NAM Party name
          NUN Number of units
          ODI Origin and destination details
          ORG Originator of request details
          PDT Product information
          PLI Product location information
          PMT Payment information
          PRD Product identification
          RPI Quantity and action details
          RTC Rate types
          RTI Rate details
          RUL Rule information
          SDT Selection details
          SSR Special requirement details
          TFF Tariff information
          TIF Traveller information
          TVL Travel product information
          UIH Interactive message header
          UIT Interactive message trailer

Contents of AVLREQ