UPAs

The Routehappy API endpoint provides access to UPAs (as well as UTAs and Amenities). UPAs (Universal Product Attributes) bring unique airline fares, products and services to life with messaging, images, videos and cabin tours. UPA content can be highly targeted by aircraft, cabin, route, fare, and more, giving travel agents and customers time sensitive and relevant content as they shop.

Requesting UPAs

You can specify a request for UPAs using the includes parameter, filter the categories in that response using the upa_categories_filter, filter UPAs by specific sources using the upa_sources_filter, and exclude specific media types using the disable_upa_photo, disable_upa_tour, disable_upa_video, disable_upa_infographics, and/or disable_upa_marketing_graphics parameters.

{
  "control": {
    "includes": [
      "upa"
    ],
    "upa_categories_filter": [      // include the categories
      "seat",                      // you'd like in the response
      "wi-fi",
      "meals",
      "lounge"
    ],
    "upa_sources_filter": [         // include the sources from which you'd like to get UPAs
      "ATPCO",                     // these are optional and default to all possible sources
      "airline"
    ],
    "disable_upa_photo": false,    // use true to omit UPA media types from the response
    "disable_upa_tour": false,     // these are optional and default to false
    "disable_upa_video": true,     // this example excludes videos and infographics from the response
    "disable_upa_infographics": true,
    "disable_upa_marketing_graphics": false
    // ...
  },
  // ...
}

UPA Content Types

Airlines can provide visual content such as photos, graphics, videos, and 360 tours as well as corresponding textual content for use in creating the UPA rich content. For every visual content type, UPAs will return both a headline and a description/caption that can be displayed along with the visual content.

Visual Content

Each is returned as a pointer URL:

• Photos/Graphics – still photographs and graphic images.
• Videos – branded video content (for example, a video showing previews of entertainment options for the current month).
• 360 Tours – immersive virtual tours for exploration (for example, a 360-degree tour of a first-class cabin experience).

Textual Content

Returned for each type of visual content listed above:

• Headline – a brief line of text used to grab the flight shopper's attention to the UPA.
• Description/Caption – more extensive text that fully describes and defines the visual content to the flight shopper.

Targeting

UPA targeting is powered by Routehappy's flight product attribute database. This extensive database is continually and carefully updated with detailed information on routes, schedules, airline subfleets, cabins, branded fares and seat characteristics. It also includes data regarding the availability of meals, beverages, in-flight entertainment (IFE), Wi-Fi, power outlets and USB ports for specific subfleets.

This enables UPA content to be specifically targeted to aircraft, subfleet, cabin, route, fare, as well as other attributes, such as specific seat characteristics or optional services, which gives flight shoppers the most relevant and useful merchandising content possible while they shop for flights. As an example, Beverage UPAs for an early morning flight might focus on the quality of coffee being served, whereas Beverage UPAs for an evening flight might instead focus on the premium alcohol options that are offered.

Seat Characteristics Targeting

A part of the extensive targeting capabilities for UPAs includes targeting by one or more specific seat characteristic codes and commercial names.

Seat characteristics are filed by the individual carriers and are used in the processing of ATPCO's Optional Services Seat Selection data for a more granular distinction between the different seats on board. Targeting by seat characteristics offers UPA content creators that same granularity when it comes to the rich UPA content, allowing them to leverage the Routehappy API's Optional Services processing to specifically filter and show UPAs by the seat characteristics they are targeted to for the respective fares.

UPA Standard Categories

Standard categories for a particular flight:

• Aircraft – content relating to the aircraft type.
• Seat – content covering a particular seat or row of seats or cabin.
• Meals – content for any food (snacks and meals) provided and/or available for purchase.
• Beverages – content for any non-alcoholic and/or alcoholic beverages provided and/or available for purchase.
• Entertainment – content related to all forms of passenger entertainment options
• Power – content covering AC power outlets, USB ports, etc.
• Wi-Fi - content related to Wi-Fi coverage and availability for a particular flight.
• Inflight service – content related to the quality of inflight service.

Codeshare UPAs

Codeshare UPAs give flight shoppers greater transparency about what is included in flights sold by one carrier but operated by another. Beginning with the ‘Overview UPA’, which is a display of both marketing and operating logos to show the flight is a codeshare. UPAs are created using media and information specifically targeted to the operating carrier’s flight. Other common topics explained in codeshare UPAs include mileage accrual, bag check, and airport security.

There is an approvals process for getting access to codeshare UPAs. Although the approvals process for codeshare UPAs can vary depending on the partners involved, generally it is conducted in a spirit of mutual interest and cooperation. If you are interested in consuming codeshare UPAs in your channel, please ensure that you meet minimum display requirements (provided below) and contact your ATPCO Sales Channel Retailing manager.

Accuracy

UPA content is sourced directly from airlines and therefore is aligned with the airline’s product offerings and individual brand voice; this content is never generated by passengers.

Imagery and other media are provided to ATPCO by participating airlines. Headlines and captions/descriptions are then crafted by the ATPCO Merchandising Strategy team to complement airline-provided media. This team strives to create accurate expectations and/or generate excitement among flight shoppers by creating as detailed and accurate of a portrayal as possible of the products showcased.

UPAs are regularly refreshed or updated in accordance with changes in subfleets, product experience, when there is new airline-provided media, etc. These changes automatically flow through to channels with UPA integrations.

Icons

Although icons are returned in each UPA response (small_icon_url and large_icon_url), these are a relic of a much earlier version of the UPA API. ATPCO highly recommends pairing UPA headlines and descriptions/captions with the provided rich visual content (photos, videos, and tours) and NOT with the more generic icons that are returned by the API.

Language Translation

UPAs are always created in English. However, airlines can also provide UPA text translations for 41 different languages at this discretion. This capability allows UPAs to be delivered in the appropriate language by point of sale. The media and targeting portions of the UPA remain the same; only the text is translated. If UPAs are requested in a language that UPAs are not available for, then UPAs will be returned in English.

This differs from translations of UTAs and Amenities, where the content is static, factual, and uniform, and where translations do not require approval by individual airlines.

If you would like to see new translations for a particular airline or particular language, please reach out your ATPCO Sales Channel Retailing manager.

UPA Display Guidelines

Non-codeshare UPAs

• Please ensure that UPAs are clearly mapped to their correct flight segment in your display. There have been a number of cases in which integrations did not make it clear which UPAs mapped to which flight segments of a given itinerary, which caused confusion for flight shoppers.
• Please ensure that your integration allows for special characters to be recognized. Special characters, such as the trademark symbol, are often used in UPA headlines or descriptions/captions and should be displayed in your channel as they are in the original headline or description/caption text.
• If your integration includes text, we recommend using both the headlines and the descriptions/captions together. However, if you must choose only 1 text field, please use the descriptions/captions, as these are much more descriptive than using headline alone.
• If you must alter the size of images provided by our API, please scale images rather than cropping them. Airlines craft the media that they share with us to be displayed in full. Cropping could leave out important elements in the media.

Codeshare UPAs

• Both headline and description/caption textual content must be displayed. Due to the more complex nature of codeshare flights, airlines and ATPCO rely on both text fields working together to communicate all required information for codeshare UPAs.
• All UPAs must be clearly mapped to the correct flight segment in your display. There should be no confusion about which UPAs map to which segment in a given itinerary.
• UPA categories must be displayed in the following order: Overview UPA first, followed by Connection or any other joint codeshare UPA categories.
• Again, if you must alter the size of provided images, scale instead of cropping. This is especially important for codeshare UPAs, as the media often includes brand elements from 2 or more brands. Logos for all brands must be visible when the UPAs are displayed.
• Please ensure that UPAs are clearly mapped to their correct flight segment in your display. There have been a number of cases in which integrations did not make it clear which UPAs mapped to which flight segments of a given itinerary, which caused confusion for flight shoppers.