How IATA / channel codes relate to travel agent profiles in your property management system (PMS), how SiteMinder passes these codes, and what needs to be configured in your PMS to ensure reservations link to the correct travel agent profile.
What is an IATA number?
An IATA number, also known as agency ID, is a code used by some channels and programs to identify a specific agency. It appears in the reservation XML log as an agency or travel agent identifier.
💡 Many PMSs do not automatically map an IATA number to a travel agent profile unless configured to do so.
What is a channel code?
The channel code is the code SiteMinder sends with each reservation to identify the booking source (for example, EXP for Expedia, BDC for Booking.com, TRK for Traveloka, DID for DidaTravel). For the complete list of channel codes, see this guide.
💡 For some systems, this may also be referred to as an IATA code, booking agent code, or source code.
Travel Agent (TA) profile in PMS
A travel agent (TA) profile is the record in your PMS that represents a channel or agency, for example, "Expedia" or "Booking.com."
Each Travel Agent profile has a field where you store the code that should match the reservation mapping code sent by SiteMinder.
How SiteMinder passes codes to your PMS
Channel → SiteMinder
Channels send an agent, source, IATA, or company code with each reservation
SiteMinder passes this code from the channel through to your PMS or use a configured channel code
SiteMinder → PMS
SiteMinder includes this code in the reservation / agent fields
This value must match the IATA, agent, or booking code configured on the TA profile in your PMS for reservations to attach to the correct Travel Agent profile
If the codes match, your PMS attaches the reservation to that profile. If no matching profile exists, your PMS may:
Create a new generic TA profile using the incoming code as the name
Record the details as free text or notes instead of TA profile fields
Attach the reservation to a default TA profile
What to do if codes are not matching correctly
If reservations are attaching to the wrong TA profile, or the profile name is displaying incorrectly in your PMS, the fix needs to be made in your PMS, not in SiteMinder. SiteMinder passes through the code provided by the channel. It does not generate or modify IATA numbers or channel codes.
To correct the mapping, update the Travel Agent profile in your PMS so the code field matches the value SiteMinder is sending. To find the code SiteMinder is sending, check the reservation XML log in SiteMinder.