Op-Ed: Monitoring Data Origin Essential For Consolidation

As travel management reporting needs expand, corporations are asking that their travel data be consolidated into single data sources for easier management. Few stop to consider whether consolidation harms the data.

When a corporation requests that its data be consolidated, the original ticketing travel agencies are instructed to send that company's data to a consolidating entity. Such an entity can be either another travel management company or a company that specializes in data consolidation.

The question of data completeness and integrity must be paramount to all parties in the consolidation process. The ticketing data source that is handing data off to a consolidator must send the full, rich data at the outset. Essential data elements can be lost if the export from the original source is not complete. The consolidator then has the responsibility to send the same level of data to the data consumer.

Data quality is at risk when consolidators' databases do not contain fields to store these important elements. Since multiple parties now handle your data, the risk of harm increases.

The danger is that numbers will be distorted, analysis skewed and bad decisions made.

For example, the IATA number is an important data element. The original ticketing IATA number needs to appear in each transaction to establish the exact ticketing location. Most airline contracts require that tickets be issued at authorized locations. Without the correct IATA number, there is no way to audit for this.

False IATA numbers, such as 99999999 or "created" alpha numbers, have the effect of removing the ticketing country from the data. One simply does not know what this phantom has replaced. Similarly, when the number is replaced with a valid, but not original, IATA number, the replacement IATA number is used to determine the ticketing country and you might find travelers originating in Singapore all traveled on tickets issued in New Jersey. The travel manager becomes blindsided by altered elements.

Other elements are equally important. The ticket number is the key to identifying a unique sale. Without such a key, data can be duplicated if is reprocessed. If either the original data source or consolidator alters this number, the risk that data will be duplicated is too high for the data to be considered reliable. The correct ticket number is also required for processing refunds and exchanges reliably. If the ticket number is removed or altered, these transactions cannot be reconciled properly. With refunds and exchanges comprising up to 25 percent of transactions, the impact on the data can be significant. Most travel managers are unaware their data has been edited and are embarrassed when audits explain the reasons for variances in their reports.

Date formatting is another area of concern. Data from different systems may have different formats for dates. When these data are consolidated, it is important that the dates be in a uniform format. An invoice date of 02-07-06 can mean that the ticket was issued on Feb. 7, if the data originated in the United States, or on July 2, if the data are from Europe. So tickets that were booked in one period were incorrectly ascribed to another period simply because of cultural differences.

Currencies need to be managed equally carefully. The currency reported must be consistent across the entire range of data. If the data are not expressed in a single currency, then a currency indicator must be present for each ticket. It makes a difference if a ticket valued at 20,000 is being priced in dollars, euros or yen.

Here are some common areas that should be discussed thoroughly with your data sources and consolidator before implementing any consolidation project. Travel managers may consider these as requirements to ensure data integrity:

• IATA number. Data must have the valid and original eight-digit IATA number.

• Ticket identification. The ticket number must be the original 10-digit unique ticketing number. Exchanges and refunds must be properly referenced.

• Flight details. Complete flight segment details are required. This includes:

Arrival and departure airports, dates and times

Carrier code

Flight number

Service class and fare basis code

• Dates. Arrival, departure and invoice dates must be accurate and in a single, consistent format.

• Amounts. Ticket, commission and tax amounts must be in the currency represented in the file and must be accurate.

• Contracts. Codes required for contract discounts, such as ticket designator or tour code, must be provided accurately.

When a data consumer goes to the marketplace for data consolidation services, it is important that all parties understand the need for rich, complete data to be sent from the original sources to the consolidator and from the consolidator to the consumer. Flaws in the data are often invisible to the end user, but they seriously undermine the effectiveness of the data. Important financial decisions are made on these data, and buyers have a fiduciary responsibility to make sure their data are fit to use.