Use this program to:

• Import the schedule of Flex Rates from an Excel spreadsheet.

Note: This program has undergone extensive changes in the recent months. The following material describes the current functionality of this program in the latest release of CARS+. What is presented below will not be true of earlier releases. To use this program you must be on a current release of CARS+.

Flex Rates are net tour rates used on tour vouchers. The rates themselves are set up in the Edit Rental Rules and Rates program. But rather than assigning the net rate code to a tour operator's IT record (as is the case in the Net Rate Method of voucher pricing) this Schedule file is used instead.

• Rather than assigning a Net Rate to an IT record, a Flex Table Code is assigned.
• The Flex Rate Table has the CARS+ Rate Product Code for the net rate that is to be used for each week for the next 12 months for each class at each location.
• For example:
• The record "WW,CCAR,06-01-11, 06-07-11, BOS, 23" means that tour operators with Flex Rate Table Code "WW" in their IT record when booking a tour reservation for Boston with a pickup date between June 1st and the 7th will use net rate FX23 for the Vehicle Class CCAR.

I. SETTING UP THE SPREADSHEET

The columns are:

• Flex Table Code
• Beginning Date
• Ending Date
• Location
• up to nine vehicle class codes

The first row must have the CARS+Vehicle Class Codes in columns 5 through 13.

Click here to download a template file with the header row already completed.

The cells under each Class Code can be one of the following:

1. A two character number referring to the Flex Rate to be used. For example, 23 in the cell will be combined for the prefix "FX" and Rate Product FX23 will be used.
2. "NA" - this indicates that for the date and location, this class is blacked out and is no longer available.
3. "RQnn" (where nn is a Flex Rate Number) - this means that for the date and location, this class is on a request only status. The voucher will not automatically be accepted but will require the reservation agent to manually enter the Net Rate Code. For example the code RQ23 means that a check should be made to verify unit availability, but if the reservation is to be accepted, the agent is to use the FX23 Rate Code.

Required Column Header	Data to be entered in this cell	Notes
Flex_table	Flex Table Code
Flex_beg_date	Beginning Date	in the format MM-DD-YYYY
Flex_end_date	Ending Date	in the format MM-DD-YYYY
Flex_loc	Location Code
up to 9 Class Codes	Flex Rate Codes	In these cells enter one of the three codes listed above (nn, NA or RQnn) , one for each class.

USER TIP: When creating the spreadsheet, initially save it in your spreadsheet program's native format (for example if using Microsoft's Excel program, save it as .xls). Then re-save a copy in .csv format. In this way, if there is a error in the data discovered by the merge program, you are able to go back to the file in the native format and easily make any corrections and then resave it again as a comma delimited file.

II. TRANSMITTING THE FILE FROM A PC TO THE CARS+ SERVER

Create the spreadsheet on a PC or computer that is also used to access CARS+. Once the spreadsheet is done, save it in the csv format. Then on the same computer, sign into and access CARS+. Go to the Import Flex Rate Tables program and with the cursor at the "OPTION" field, press F4 to upload the file. A browser window will appear. Select the csv file from your PC and click "Send".

III. RUNNING THE PROGRAM

If the file has been previously imported (using the above instructions), the file can be loaded for processing by either typing the file name in Field 1 or searching for it. To search, place the cursor in Field 1 and press F6. A search window will appear on the lower half of the screen. An example is shown below.

OPTION: __ IMPORT FLEX RATE TABLES 1. Filename Option: _ FLEX RATE FILE SEARCH F2=NEXT 8 F4=PREV 8 File Name Create Date 1 flexrates-101112.csv Oct 11 12:00 2 flexrates-100312.csv Oct 3 14:20 ** No More Records **

Select the appropriate file by typing the row number.

After loading the name of the file to be processed, place cursor back in the "OPTION" field and press F1 to begin.

To access the program, type IMPTUR (RET) at any menu "OPTION:" field or the appropriate number on the RV Operations Menu. The screen will then display:

OPTION: IMPORT FLEX RATE TABLES 1 From File named 2 Overwrite existing Y 1BEGIN 2 3ERASE 4 5 6 7HELP 8

Enter data as follows:

1. FILE NAME	Enter the full path name of the CSV file to be processed.
2. OVERWRITE EXISTING	Enter: Y = Yes, existing Flex Table records in the file should be replaced with the data from this file. N = No, only insert new records to the Flex Table file do not re-write any existing records. EXAMPLE: Type Y (RET)

PRESS "F1" AT "OPTION:" TO BEGIN .

By pressing F8 from this screen, the program that prints out the contents of the Flex Rate Table file, International Flex Rates Listing, is called.