additional info marked on booking

[Zephyrana]

Hello AFFers!

I noticed this morning that my ADL-BNE return flights are marked "SpecialRequest.CMNT" under the Additional Info section. What does this mean? I didn't make any special requests.

 

[clazman]

i thought it meant you had requested a wheelchair or assistance getting from check in to plane

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

I had the same notation ADL SYD, guess what happened?
The notation later disappeared though BUT...
Empty seat next to me both ways.

 

[Grimace1]

I've had that appear when I've used my Platinum Complimentary upgrades, points upgrade - so it could be anything.


http://www.virginaustralia.com/us/en/information/domestic-and-short-haul-international/ssrs/<= should also trigger it.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Looks like an Programming Field ID for Special Request Comments. Might just be the infamous QF IT work experience kid again

 

[Ansett]

Looks like an Programming Field ID for Special Request Comments. Might just be the infamous QF IT work experience kid again

Except this is a Virgin thread

 

[kalboy]

Unless the QF work experience kid has left school and now runs the IT dept at VA.... (possibility)

 

[SeatBackForward]

Unless the QF work experience kid has left school and now runs the IT dept at VA.... (possibility)

They were poached

 

[clazman]

They were poached

I heard they were sacked

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Maybe VA outsources to QF. The training kids are cheaper!

 

[aamslfc]

my ADL-BNE return flights are marked "SpecialRequest.CMNT"... what does this mean?

I'm inclined to agree with Grimace1 that it could be anything.

I've had this show up when I've used points to upgrade... only problem being that, having upgraded the second leg of a multi-trip itinerary, the "SpecialRequest.CMNT" message promptly locked the rest of the itinerary and prevented any further changes without the aid of the call centre :shock:


But I suspect it also got me a shadow on a later flight (completely unprompted, arranged by the desk upon lounge entry) so it's not necessarily all bad.

 

[Zephyrana]

I don't know what it was. I was travelling with a friend, so a shadow wasn't possible, I didn't need any special help or meals, and it hasn't resulted in being asked to participate in a survey. It was a straight booking and no changes were needed, so didn't get to test that.

Meeestery.

Oh wait, there was something slightly unusual.
I've requalified Velocity Gold although even with the ADL-BNE flights I am 40 SC short. (Based presumably on more flights this week which will get me those SC.) But I don't know if that would be marked on the booking; I thought Velocity was more separate because of having to log in separately to both websites.

 

[matted]

I also had that "SpecialRequest.CMNT" next to my booking for my PER-MEL leg last Thursday. It appeared after my bid to upgrade was accepted. In previous instances I had been able to select/change my seat allocation when upgraded but this time I was not (unsure if they are linked)

cheers
matt

 

[MH_fan]

I've only had that when I've called the GCC to make certain requests or changes to a booking. Never had that even when an upgrade bid was successful.

 

[loflo]

Hello AFFers!

I noticed this morning that my ADL-BNE return flights are marked "SpecialRequest.CMNT" under the Additional Info section. What does this mean? I didn't make any special requests.

Long time lurker here guys. Saw this question though and can provide the answer. I've worked on GDS/RES systems for years at airlines (don't anymore) so can bore you with every bit of a PNR till the cows come home.

SSR.CMNT simply means SSR (special service request) and CMNT means comment.

So, not a terribly exciting SSR - it just means check the comments section of the PNR for more information. The reason it's put in the SSR field is because many reports eg. the pax manifest printed at the gate always include the SSR (but don't necessarily list the comments field). Still, the gate and crew would rarely bother - it's not usually important. If it was, they'd put in a genuine service request eg. WCHR for wheelchair etc. In the case of the OP, the travel agent might have put it in to explain a booking change, or some other bit of trivia. Airline staff generally won't be interested.

(just updated this post: VA only use Amadeus for Load Control, but moved to Sabre for RES/DC etc.)

With Virgin's expensive upgrade of their CRS to SABRE, they're now using the 2nd most common (and 2nd best IMHO) CRS you can get. They apparently use Amadeus (the best) for Load Control (weird to split the two, but SABRE is much cheaper than Amadeus). It was part of Borghetti's move to send Virgin 'upscale' as a full-service airline to compete with Qantas (a strategy which hasn't worked yet given their financials, and the fare war cost both of them hundreds of millions a couple of years ago). With things like Sabre, their cost base has gone up, but the strategy is yet to pay itself off financially. Still, they have a much better 'full service' CRS, the the old Unix one which failed continuously, and was a bit of a 'toy' for an airline that grew quickly.

Cheers
P

 

[williamsf1]

Long time lurker here guys. Saw this question though and can provide the answer. I've worked on GDS/RES systems for years at airlines (don't anymore) so can bore you with every bit of a PNR till the cows come home.

SSR.CMNT simply means SSR (special service request) and CMNT means comment.

So, not a terribly exciting SSR - it just means check the comments section of the PNR for more information. The reason it's put in the SSR field is because many reports eg. the pax manifest printed at the gate always include the SSR (but don't necessarily list the comments field). Still, the gate and crew would rarely bother - it's not usually important. If it was, they'd put in a genuine service request eg. WCHR for wheelchair etc. In the case of the OP, the travel agent might have put it in to explain a booking change, or some other bit of trivia. Airline staff generally won't be interested.

(just updated this post: VA only use Amadeus for Load Control, but moved to Sabre for RES/DC etc.)

With Virgin's expensive upgrade of their CRS to SABRE, they're now using the 2nd most common (and 2nd best IMHO) CRS you can get. They apparently use Amadeus (the best) for Load Control (weird to split the two, but SABRE is much cheaper than Amadeus). It was part of Borghetti's move to send Virgin 'upscale' as a full-service airline to compete with Qantas (a strategy which hasn't worked yet given their financials, and the fare war cost both of them hundreds of millions a couple of years ago). With things like Sabre, their cost base has gone up, but the strategy is yet to pay itself off financially. Still, they have a much better 'full service' CRS, the the old Unix one which failed continuously, and was a bit of a 'toy' for an airline that grew quickly.

Cheers
P

I think you are being a little generous saying Sabre is the 2nd best..... It may be a great travel agent system but as a airline system it is rubbish.

 

[loflo]

I think you are being a little generous saying Sabre is the 2nd best..... It may be a great travel agent system but as a airline system it is rubbish.

LOL fair enough: I was being a bit polite. It is pretty cough, stuck in the 80s with its cryptic green screen stuff (which funnily enough, a lot of people still like as it's so fast to use once you're used to it). I don't think its travel agent side is very good anymore either - the core parts of these systems never get fully redeveloped.
Sabre is a bit of a big-airline-on-a-budget choice, I wasn't surprised Virgin chose it. They would have done this because a) it's cheap (much, much cheaper than Amadeus apparently) and b) it's a global GDS so hooked into everything so they get all the connectivity functionality they need. There's also a c), it's reliable given its big-iron background and use of TPF (like Visa etc.). Much more reliable than that messy system they had before which kept breaking down (was it OpenSkies? It was a Unix thing I think and just couldn't cope). Amadeus's Load Control module (DC/FM) is best-of-class, but apparently Virgin are the only customer that has FM connected to Sabre. Virgin could have gone cheaper still and leased the ancient SHARES system like Virgin Atlantic did (they're apparently moving to something called AIR4 by Delta soon). SHARES took cryptic (and poorly user-designed) interfaces to a whole new low level. But...it worked, and it was extremely cheap.