Agents have reported an increase in Emirates ADMs after the
airline began clamping down on out-of-sequence bookings in August.
The carrier announced more stringent checks for out-of-sequence
bookings on Travelinfo on August 8.
eTNW understands
that Emirates implemented more stringent checks to deter agents who make these bookings
to access different flight availability.
Availability is determined by the fares of the origin
country. There would be different availability to an agent based in South
Africa compared with an agent based in the UK, for example. If an SA agent was
to book out of sequence in this context, they would book the London-Johannesburg
flight before the Johannesburg-London flight, thereby accessing the
availability associated with the UK-based fare.
eTNW understands
that Emirates has also introduced a warning box that pops up when an agent is
about to make an out-of-sequence booking. This will notify the agent that they
will receive an ADM if they continue. At this point the agent can cancel the
booking without consequence.
