When
A fare says "buy at least 14 days before departure", "stay at least until Sunday" or "return within one month", and you need the actual dates: the last day to issue, the earliest and latest return. Also when you want to know whether a fare will still be valid if the client pays later.
Check first
- Read the fare's advance purchase and minimum/maximum stay paragraphs first (
FQN, thenFN1; see Read fare rules (fare notes) — from a fare display or a quote). - Know the departure date of the fare component the rule counts from.
Steps
| # | Entry | What it does | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | *TAA/14NOV/14 | The date 14 days before 14 Nov. | Last day to ticket a 14-day advance-purchase fare for a 14 Nov departure. |
| 2 | *TAA/14NOV/+30 | The date 30 days after 14 Nov. | Latest return for a one-month maximum stay. |
| 3 | *TAA/330 | The furthest date Travelport+ accepts for a booking. | Before booking far ahead. |
| 4 | FH*1 | From a fare display: travel and ticketing dates of the fare on line 1. | Season and last sale date of a fare. |
| 5 | FQ.T20OCT26 | Prices the booking as if ticketed on 20 Oct 2026. | Shows whether advance purchase and ticketing conditions still hold on that day. |
| 6 | FQ:AP | Prices only fares without an advance-purchase condition. | The client is too late for the cheap fares. |
Check it worked
*TAA answers with the calculated date. Write it into the ticketing arrangement of the booking file so the deadline is not forgotten (see Ticketing arrangement field (T.TAU, T.TAW, T.T*)).
Traps
- Count from the right date. Check in the advance purchase paragraph which date the rule counts back from before you use
*TAA— don't simply count from today. - A quote with a future ticketing date (step 5) is a check only: it is not guaranteed and is filed with code
M. Price again with a plainFQon the day you ticket. - Check any ticketing time limit on the booking as well, and keep to whichever date comes first (see Ticketing time limits — the airline's, the fare's and yours).
- The ticketing arrangement field works in Zulu time, not local time.