Process GDS Data (import travel bookings)

If you use external travel teams to book and manage your attendee travel, confirmed bookings can be added directly into EventsAir through a Trondent gateway. You can review all submitted travel records before final processing (which you do via Express Actions). 

The Trondent GDS Interface can bring in all travel sector information booked in Amadeus, Sabre, Galileo, Apollo or Worldspan, matching it to corresponding attendee records in EventsAir. This interface has been developed with Trondent Development Corporation and their integration technology.

Set up your Trondent GDS Interface 

  • Create an account with Trondent Development Corporation by contacting sales@trondent.com.  

NOTE: Trondent will charge your organization directly for transaction fees and your monthly subscription fee. The subscription fee covers the various GDS/CRS providers' charges for emulation.

  • Trondent will give you a username and login for their portal, where you can register and complete the necessary documentation.
  • This documentation authorizes Trondent to get the necessary information from your GDS/CRS (Galileo, Sabre, Worldspan, Amadeus or Apollo), and authorize payment of transaction fees per PNR transaction (fees are negotiated by your organization directly with Trondent).
  • Once your Trondent account has been set up, let us know the pseudo city details so we can update your EventsAir configuration.

Ensure bookings are entered correctly in your GDS/CRS System

  • Go to Event Preferences (found in the Setup Panel) and note the Unique Code for your event (under Details). 
    (If there isn't one, you need to create a Unique Code. Do NOT include spaces or special characters).
  • Give this Unique Code to your travel team. It must be used when updating a PNR record for a specific attendee.
  • Send through the travel request details for each attendee. Be sure this document or Quick Report contains all contact data, travel requests, names of passengers and the record ID for each contact.
  • To enter a booking into the GDS/CRS (i.e. Galileo, Apollo, Sabre, Worldspan or Amadeus), your travel team must enter the passenger name followed by an asterisk [or the correct symbol for a comment], the Unique Code, a dash, and then the Contact ID, for example:

    Smith/John Mr*PLAT15-4

    The * indicates a comment in the GDS/CRS – if your system uses a different symbol, please enter that symbol at this point. 
    There must be a dash after the Event Code and before the Contact ID.

  • The booking will be picked up by the GDS/CRS and sent to Trondent, who format the data and transfer it into EventsAir, ready for processing.
  • You then run the Process GDS Data from the Express Actions Panel (reviewing all submitted records, then adding them either one record at a time, or in a batch, as detailed below).

Processing imported GDS Data

When data has been successfully transmitted by Trondent, you'll see a listed of imported travel records. Each record will display:

  • Event Name
  • Booking Date
  • ID
  • Contact Name
  • Passenger Name
  • Booking Reference

You can review the records before processing them into EventsAir, including checking Contact Names against Passenger Names. When ready, choose specific records, or all records, then process. Double-check some Attendee Records to make sure the data has processed correctly.

Manual import

You can also use this Express Action to import travel data directly into EventsAir without a Trondent gateway.

The process is straightforward:

  • Download Template - select Download Template to download a blank Excel worksheet with data column headings already set up. 
  • Add the correct data into the appropriate locations.

  • To import Flights - select Import Flights to bring the data into EventsAir. Carefully review, and when ready, select the records you wish to process, then process them as discussed in the previous section.