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Customize User Setting
This document helps you to set up your default definitions and preferences in ForwardKeys in order to maximise productivity:
Understanding “Definitions & Preferences” submenu
- Setting default display and filters
- Setting definitions
- Setting default definitions per location
Understanding “Definitions & Preferences” submenu
Defining your preferences under the “Definitions & Preferences” submenu can help you save time for your most frequent queries. There are three main sections within “Definitions & Preferences”: default display (A), default filters (B) and definitions per location(C).
It is important to note that most preferences can be changed whilst setting up your queries, as they are only the default starting point for the most common queries. However, Definitions can only be changed in the “Definitions & Preferences” submenu. After clicking the “Save” button, it is recommended to log off your account and re-login to have the default definitions and preferences working.
1. Setting default display (A)
The first section helps you to set the default display (A) options. Note that some of the below items may not be available in your setting page due to contract specification limitations.
- Expertise level: query settings have three levels of detail, “Basic”, “Standard” and “Advanced” to adequate the interface to the complexity of the analysis. “Basic” displays only the key query parameters, while “Advanced” level expands all available filters and settings.
- Module: for different purposes of using ForwardKeys data, we have built various analysis modules and they will only be available according to your contractual setup.
- Categorisation: the selected category will be displayed by default as the main Categorisation so the result categories can be cross-referenced with any other available segmentation.
- Segmented by: allows you to choose what segmentation you would like to appear as the initial result of your query. The most common default segmentation is by “trip origin”.
- Scale: Time granularity; from daily to triannual. The available time scale choices depend on your contracted specifications.
- Origins: refers to the geographical granularity of the results in “Trip origins” category. Depending on your contractual specifications, it can go from subcontinent to terminal level, for purchased source markets only.
- Points of sale: refers to the geographical granularity of the results in “Point of Sale” category. If enabled as part of the contracted specifications, the granularity can go from subcontinent to city level.
- Routes: refers to the geographical granularity of the point-to-point locations in the results of “Routes” category (only in Routes modules). If enabled as part of the contracted specifications, the granularity can go from subcontinent to airport level.
- Intermediate hubs: refers to the geographical granularity of the results in “Intermediate hubs” category (Routes modules only). If enabled as part of the contracted specifications, the granularity can go from subcontinent to airport level.
- Inbound gateways: This describes the gateways used to arrive to a destination of interest. Choices in this category combine both geographical granularity and transport method. These range from subcontinent to airport level, merging or distinguishing air and surface arrivals.
- Further destinations: This describes the passengers’ destinations after your analysed POI. Choices in this category combine both geographical granularity and transport method. These range from subcontinent to airport level, merging or distinguishing air and surface arrivals.
- Combined trips: This describes trips including more than one destinations. Choices in this category combine both geographical granularity and transport method. These range from subcontinent to airport level, merging or distinguishing air and surface arrivals.
- Graph colour scheme: colour palette used in the charts.
- On-the-book look-ahead: Number of weeks ahead from the latest available database update to automatically define the default “On the Book” time period; options range from 3 to 12 months.
- Decimal separator: typographic symbol to separate decimal digits; point (.) and comma (,) are the available options.
- Thousands separator: typographic symbol to separate thousands; point (.) and comma (,) are available.
2. Setting default filters (B)
This section helps you to zoom by default into your preferred profiles for all future queries. The configuration for any Default filter will be automatically set when you run a new query, but you will also be able to manually change it when setting up your query. All default filters are listed below, note that the available filters for you are limited to your contract specifications:
- Trip Origins: The recommended setting is to tick “Exclude domestic” box, so your queries focus on international travel. However, you can choose any trip origin, from sub-continent level, right down to airport terminal level.
- Length of stay (LOS) at Point of Interest: Lists all categories of Length of Stay, where LOS1 to LOS8 represent the predefined time periods as defined in “Definitions per location” (also in Definitions & Preferencessubmenu). The recommended settings are:
- To focus on travellers staying overnight as part of a round-trip, tick the LOS1 to LOS8 categories, or exclude the remaining categories.
- To focus on traveller transfers, tick the categories Short transfer, Dwelling transfer, Stopover and Long transfer, or ignore Short Transfer and Stopover to consider only travellers with enough time for airport shopping.
- Pax profiles: You can focus on specific traveller profiles, defined as in Pax profile rules defined in the Definitions & Preferences submenu.
- Pax per booking: Describes the number of passengers per booking.
- Lead times: The categories listed, LT1 to LT8, refer to each of the predefined time periods as configured in Definitions per location in the Definitions & Preferences submenu.
- Distribution channels: Refers to the type of travel agent the passengers used to book their flight(s) with.
- Types of stay: Note that “Weekend nights” are defined per location and can be customised in Definitions per location in the Definitions & Preferences submenu.
- Gateways: Select a default location for “Inbound gateways” filter (if available).
- Destinations: Select a default location for “Further destinations” filter (if available).
- Gateways/Destinations filters mode: Select the default counting method when Inbound gateways and further destinations are defined.
- Length of Stay (LOS) at Combined Trip destinations: Lists all categories of length of stay, where LOS1 to LOS8 represent the predefined time periods as defined in “Definitions per location” (also in Definitions & Preferences submenu). The recommended settings to analyse combined destinations in multi-destination itineraries is to tick LOS1 to LOS8 boxes to only consider Combined Destinations with overnight stays.
- Continuing Departures mode: Sets a default value for Departures mode filter (only in Continuing Departures module).
- Route direction: Sets the default route direction for analyses using Routes modules (only in Routes modules).
- Number of intermediate hubs: Sets the default value for the Intermediate hubs filter in Routes modules. The recommended value for analysing direct routes is “non-stop route”. (only in Routes modules).
3. Setting default definitions per location (C)
Besides the general preferences, more parameters can be customised per Point of Interest (C-1). Depending on your contracted specifications, these Points of Interest can be removed, or more can be added.
- (C-2) Reset button: recovers the generic definitions by ForwardKeys for the selected Point of Interest.
- (C-3) Copy button: Duplicates the configured parameters for the selected Point of Interest in another Point of Interest. After clicking on the button, you can select the Point of Interest in which you want to copy the settings.
- (C-4) Save as location default: Saves the defined settings as the default only for the selected location.
- (C-5) Save preferences buttons: Saves the settings for all Point of Interest.
4. Customising definitions
The definitions and parameters that can be customised are:
Definitions:
- The nights of the week considered “weekend” nights can be customised. This has implications on some segmentations as “Types of stay” and “Pax profile”.
- “Lengths of stay” and “Lead times” default time buckets. This allows you to have more granularity in longer lead times or longer lengths of stay than what is set by default.
- Investment window: Allows to define the lead time and maturity windows for the investment window analysis, available in Pickup analysis.
Pax profiles
The rules to categorise traveller profiles as “Business”, “Group”, “VFR & Expats” and “Leisure” can be customized by defining the thresholds of pax per booking and length of stay.
Room occupancy:
This is a special definition area for the Overnights module in the ForwardKeys application. The real or estimated accommodation inventory in the location can be inputted to calculate Room Occupancy (only in Overnights module). The following values can be inputted:
- Rooms at location: total available rooms in the Point of Interest location.
- Rooms for pax in the same booking: number of available rooms by number of guests.
- Probability of booking a hotel room, per pax profile: To customize the room occupancy by pax profile. The profiles are defined as in Pax profile configuration in the Definitions & Preferences submenu.
- Occupancy-rate calibrating factor: A multiplying factor can be defined to tune the occupancy rate. The calibrating factor can also be calculated automatically by clicking on “Ask the wizard” option.
Now set up your preferences and you are ready for productive analysis in ForwardKeys database.
