Sun Country Airlines Agency GDS FAQS

Sun Country Airlines will be transitioning to a new reservation system and that will alter some processes and procedures for any GDS bookings made. Sun Country will be a completely ticketless airline. Below you will find frequently asked questions that will hopefully answer any questions you have about this transition to a ticketless airline.

What is the new Sun Country Airlines Host System?

Sun Country Airlines (SY) will be hosted in Navitaire (1N) New Skies system.

When will the conversion to Navitaire happen?

All GDSs will have no availability in new searches for all future travel dates starting at 2:00 pm CT on June 24, 2019. All ticketing, transactions, voids, and exchanges need to be done by 2:00 pm on June 25, 2019 or the PNR will cancel and will not be migrated into Navitaire. In addition, the PNR will not be reinstated. There will be no GDS connectivity starting at 3:00 pm on June 25, 2019, until the system is brought back up in Navitaire. We anticipate all GDSs will be back online by 6:00 am CT on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.

What GDSs will Sun Country participate in?

Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport (this includes Apollo and Worldspan). Galileo will follow at a later date.

What are ticketless requirements when booking in the GDS?

Some GDSs refer to this as Guaranteed Ticketing or EPAY, which requires payment for a booking made directly via credit card vs going thru a separate ticketing process. Sun Country will not accept paper or electronic tickets as a valid form of payment for travel. Sun Country requires immediate payment. If payment is not successfully applied within four (4) hours of making the booking, the PNR will cancel. Sun Country will not reinstate the PNR for any PNRs that are canceled due to lack of payment.

What are the payment formats for a ticketless carrier?

Mandatory formats:

Worldspan: 3SSR OTHS SY HK1 CCVI123456789/EXP12-07/FIRST LASTNAME
Apollo: 3SSR OTHS SY HK1 CCVI123456789/EXP12-07/FIRST LASTNAME
Amadeus: 3SSR OTHS SY CC VI4111111111111111/EXP 02 20/FIRST LASTNAME
Sabre:
- 3OTHS/411111111111111 EXP 02 22
- 3OTHS/CH FIRST LASTNAME

When does payment need to be applied?

Sun Country requires immediate payment. If payment is not successfully applied within four (4) hours of making the booking, the PNR will cancel. Sun Country will not reinstate the PNR for any PNRs that are canceled due to lack of payment.

Sun Country will process the payment information and then it will send a booking confirmation number back. Once Sun Country has confirmed the booking, the segments are validated and any further changes to the PNR are subject to restrictions and/or fees.

Sabre Example Payment Accepted: SSR OTHS 1S SY AMOUNT DUE SY USD0.00 SSR OTHS 1S SY CONFO NBR SYJSMA

Sabre Example Denied: SSR OTHS 1S SY DID NOT DEBIT CREDIT CARD- CREDIT CARD DECLINED

Please note: These messages may vary slightly depending on which GDS you’re using.

What forms of payment will Sun Country accept as a ticketless airline?

All transactions will be required to be paid with a valid credit card. Sun Country accepts Visa and Mastercard. We will not accept cash or check as a form of payment.

What happens if there are bookings that are not ticketed before the cutover?

Ticketing needs to be complete by June 25, 2019 at 2:00 pm CT or the PNR will cancel and will not be reinstated.

What happens to the electronic tickets that were issued before the transition to Navitaire?

All electronic tickets will be changed to ticketless PNRs. Travel agencies will still have access to their original PNRs. If you make changes to the segments after the booking is ticketless, a credit card will be required for change fees and any difference in fare.

Does Sun Country require passengers contact information in the booking?

Yes. Effective June 1, 2019, IATA requires all travel agencies to enter passenger contact information when booking air tickets as part of a new rule IATA issued.

Sabre SSR format examples:

Format for phone: 3CTCM/(mobile phone)/(optional language)-(name number)
Example: 3CTCM/11223344/ES-1.1

Format for phone: 3CTCM/(email address, the “@” will be substituted by “//”)/(optional language)-(name number)

Example: 3CTCE/NINA//SABRE.COM/IT-1.1

Format for phone: 3CTCR/(optional refuse note)-(name number)

Example: 3CTCR/TEXT-1.1

The GDSs encourage agencies to adhere to IATA Resolution Passenger requirement.

Please note: Check formats with your GDS provider

What is a fare mismatch?

Only the interactive price returned from Sun Country via Navitaire at End Transaction is considered final and valid. If there is no valid fare for the PNR, then Sun Country will return a NO response. If the flight is closed, sold out, or the specific class of service is closed, then Sun Country will return a UC response regardless of the availability shown in the GDS.

What are the requirements for ticket time limits (TTL)?

It is critical that the travel agency changes the TK element to TKOK in order to remove any ticketing time limits from your GDS booking once payments are submitted. If this is not done, your GDS system will send Sun Country a cancellation message when the time limit is reached, and the Sun Country system will automatically process the message and cancel the reservation.

The agency must mark the booking ticketed, which removes the TTL on ticketless PNRs. When Sun Country confirms the form of payment and validates the booking by returning the HK, the TKXL component is not automatically updated. When using TKXL in a ticketless PNR, you must change the TK element status to TKOK once confirmation is received.

Caution: If you do not update the TKXL component, the ticket will be automatically canceled by your GDS.

What are Invoice or Reference numbers in the record?

Sun Country provides the agency with an Invoice or Reference number for the agency internal processing purposes. Invoice or Reference numbers are sent from Sun Country to assist agencies with back office processes. These Invoice or Reference numbers are not maintained by Sun Country and have no association to the value of the ticketless transaction. Sun Country cannot retrieve or reference any of the Invoice or Reference numbers sent after End Transaction.

Sun Country’s Invoice or Reference numbers will begin with 337 but have no ties to any “ticket number” and cannot be retrieved by Sun Country’s accounting system.

Example of Reference or Invoice number:

OSI 1S TKNO 33700503372350
OSI 1S THIS NBR APPLIES TO TICKETLESS ONLY

Will I be able to obtain a refund on a ticketless transaction?

Yes. You may request a full refund for a GDS booking created after the Navitaire conversion, within 24 hours of booking creation by canceling all segments (This would exclude tickets purchased within seven (7) days of travel as fees may apply).

After 24 hours from booking creation, any amounts due back to the customer will be placed on a Credit Shell that is valid for one year from the date of issue and can be used by the named traveler. A Credit Shell is a voucher created for travelers and not a direct refund to the credit card used. A Credit Shell will be created under the name of the traveler, is non-transferrable, and is equivalent to the value of the affected flight of the confirmed booking minus any penalties. Credit Shells can only be redeemed through Sun Country Airlines website or by calling in directly. Non-refundable amounts will not be placed on a Credit Shell.

Any PNRs that were originally issued with Electronic Tickets and then went through the conversion to ticketless can have segments exchanged or canceled within the GDS. Any change fees or additional fare required must be sent with a form of payment within four (4) hours of the booking or the segments will auto cancel.

Will I be able to make changes within the GDS to a PNR now that it’s a ticketless transaction including migrated transactions?

Yes. You can make changes or adjustments within 24 hours of the original booking being made without incurring any fees or charges unless any difference in fare would apply (This would exclude tickets purchased within seven (7) days of travel as fees may apply).

If the flight is departing within 24 hours, you are required to call Sun Country Reservations to make a change to the booking (651-905-2737 prompt #2).

For migrated transactions, or outside of 24 hours of flight departure, you can make changes or adjustments via the GDS. You will be required to add a new payment for each time a new segment is added, changed, or modified on an existing reservation. Any applicable change fees or fare difference will apply.

In the event an exchange from a higher priced fare to a lower fare results in a residual value, the difference may be applied toward any change fee. Any residual value in excess of the change fee will be put on a Credit Shell for future use.

Only the price returned from Sun Country at End Transaction is considered final and valid.

Please note: When seats and bags are added to a PNR via www.suncountry.com, we recommend calling into our Sun Country reservations department to make sure the bags and seats are handled properly for a GDS record.

How far in advance, prior to flight departure, do I need to action or cancel segments?

Segments status changes because of schedule changes, irregular operations, flight firming, flight cancellations, or other circumstances will be queued to your GDS and must be actioned at least 24 hours prior to flight departure. This includes canceling segments within a status code of UN, NO, HX, WK, WL, or WN. You must also action or cancel segments with status codes UC, US or DS.

What is Sun Country’s change fee policy?

60+ days prior to departure= $0*

14-59 days prior to departure= $50* per direction, per traveler

Less than 14 days prior to departure= $100* per direction, per traveler

If the price of the new airfare is lower, the difference is given in the form of a credit shell, which must be used for travel within one year of the original purchase date.

Any increase in airfare may apply.

Please note: Fees are subject to change

Who should I call if I need assistance with a booking when I’m unable to modify it in the GDS?

You can call our Sun Country Reservations department at 651-905-2737 prompt #2 and they will be able to assist you with your reservation.

How will I be notified of a schedule change with the transition to a ticketless carrier?

A message will be generated to the booking agency for action. The agency must action the message to synchronize the GDS PNR with the Sun Country reservation. Once the record is synchronized, agencies should provide the new schedule information to the customer to ensure the customer has the most up-to- date travel information.

If Sun Country has a schedule change, customers will have the ability to change the impacted flight to a new flight of the same origin and destination. The change fee along with any difference in fare will be waived. If the customer wants to completely cancel their flight because of the schedule change, the cancellation fee will be waived, and a refund will be processed to the original form of payment by contacting Sun Country Reservations.

Will I be able to assign seats and bags in the GDS?

No. Seats and bags can be purchased via our website www.suncountry.com

What is the maximum number of segments allowed in a booking?

The maximum number of segments permitted will be 16 coupons in a Sun Country ticketless transaction.

Does Sun Country have any interline and codeshare agreements?

Sun Country does not currently have Interline or Codeshare agreements with other carriers.

Does Sun Country have any ticketing and baggage agreements?

Sun Country does not currently have any ticketing and baggage agreements with other carriers.

Does Sun Country allow Passive and Open segments?

Passive and Open segments are not allowed.

Does Sun Country allow name changes or name corrections?

Minor name corrections can be done by calling Sun Country reservations at 651-905-2737 prompt #2. A $15 name correction fee will apply.

Name changes are not allowed.

What are the seat options on a Sun Country flight?

All Sun Country planes are equipped with state-of-the-art seat equipment, offering full-size tray tables, comfortable recline, and in-seat power in most seats. Sun Country offers three different seat categories: Best, Better, and Standard.

Best seats are in the forward section of the cabin and come with a generous 34 inches of legroom,
a moveable headrest, an extra three inches of recline, and both USB charging ports and standard AC power outlets. Travelers in Best seats also receive preferred boarding and a complimentary premium beverage.
Better seats have 32 inches of legroom and standard recline. Better seats are in the mid-section of the aircraft and most feature USB charging ports.
Standard seats are like the seats in most major U.S. airlines’ economy cabins and feature 29 to 30 inches of legroom, standard recline, and most feature USB charging ports.

What are Sun Country SSR codes used in the GDS?

Does Sun Country accept Unaccompanied Minors?

No. A child 14 years of age or under must travel with an adult. For domestic travel, including Puerto Rico, one passenger 15-17 years of age may travel with up to one child 5-14 years of age on the same reservation.

What is your pet policy?

Sun Country accepts cats and dogs as carry-on baggage on select flights within the 48 contiguous United States. Fees may apply along with rules and restrictions. Please visit our website at www.suncountry.com for additional information.

Please refer to our Sun Country Agency Booking Policy for additional information regarding making bookings in the GDS.