i:FAO Announces for cytric the End of the Support of Internet Explorer 6.0 (IE6)

With respect to an open communication related to all changes, which may impact our customers, we inform you about a change in our support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 (IE6).

Already at this time cytric offers functionality, which cannot be used with IE6. This includes as well some parts of the New cytric Design. In upcoming versions throughout the year 2010 we may deploy additional functionality and improvements of the user interface, which are not supported by IE6. These changes are applied as a part of the complete end of our support for IE6, which is planned for the end of the calendar year 2010.

There are important reasons to end the support for IE6:

• IE6 has poor security. Many security vulnerabilities have been exploited in recent years. Current attacks against Google, Yahoo and other companies have targeted the easy accessible vulnerabilities of IE6, which are much more difficult to target in IE7 und IE8. This has prompted the Microsoft Security Response Center to recommend to users of the IE6, to upgrade to a newer version of Internet Explorer.
• IE6 is slow. Compared to all browsers supported by cytric, IE6 delivers the slowest and least satisfactory user experience.
• IE6 is an old generation browser. IE6 has first been published in August of 2001. As an outdated, non-standard platform IE6 is a browser, which makes it difficult to develop and support complex Internet applications with a high level of customer benefit, like cytric.

We recommend urgently for your users to upgrade to IE7, IE8, or another current browser before the end of 2010.

cytric supports Cube Channel™ Technology in the hotel booking workflow as well. Thus, hotels can be returned from several channels. Through the cytric Content Info Base these hotels are consolidated and displayed in the Hotel Options.

After selecting a hotel the cytric user is transferred to the page indicating the available hotel rates for the requested time. In this process all rates from all suppliers are displayed. This can occasionally lead to a high amount of rates because a lot of hotels offer different rates for different room types and possibly even for different room facilities.

In order to limit the number of displayed rates, cytric will support a simplified display of hotel rates with the new release.

Many customers request an adjustment of the system colours to the own Corporate Identity. In addition to the cytric Standard Layouts, self-defined System Colours will be supported with the new cytric Version.

Some areas on the corresponding pages can be customized with self-defined Colour Codes.

For some multi-segment routings, the reservation system may offer certain combinations of airlines that should not be displayed to the traveller. Reasons for this could be the high prices of such combinations or the cytric Administrator may decide to steer the travellers towards offers from Enforced Airlines, excluding combinations with other airlines.

For years, cytric has already provided the possibility to limit the display of air options to up to three airlines in the Travel Management System.

In addition, with the upcoming cytric Release the display of air offers for certain multi-segment routings can be limited to offers with combinations of only one of the Enforced Airlines as well.

With the introduction of the cytric Cube Channel™ Technology, airlines can be set up through the Cube Channel™ Administration. Here, besides the possibility to enforce airlines the possibility to limit air offers to the same airlines has been added as well.

On most cytric systems a location is linked with a credit card as form of payment for certain bookings. For this reason it might be helpful to define the user’s location as not changeable within the user profile.

With cytric Release 9.7 cytric now offers the option to prevent the change of the location in the User Profile by the user himself. The location of a user can be set up as fixed and will not be manually changeable.

The Full Day Display is a ground-breaking cytric innovation. As part of cytric Grid Pricing™ the Full Day Display uses a user friendly control to allow for easy scanning of an entire day’s flight options without reloading any information.

With the release 9.7 cytric now offers the option to activate the Full Day Display on different levels:

- Domestic Flights
- Same Area Flights
- Intercontinental Flights

Graphic files for the cytric confirmation are stored in .png file format.

Lotus Notes versions prior to 8.5 do not support .png formats and therefore confirmations cannot be displayed correctly.

To make HTLM confirmations available for cytric customers with Lotus Notes versions prior to 8.5 the following formats are now available for the cytric confirmation.

• HTML with embedded PNG images (Recommended for most email clients - e.g. Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird and Lotus Notes R8.5 and newer)
• HTML with embedded GIF/JPG images (Recommended for Lotus Notes prior to R8.5)
• HTML with linked PNG images
• HTML with linked GIF/JPG images

On top of the Multi Fare Display more detailed information for the selected Flights / Trains are displayed.

In case the lowest hotel rate is a corporate rate, or the corporate rate is displayed due to the “Corporate Rate Overwrite” this rate is now displayed to the user as “Corporate Best Buy”.

Since cytric Release 9.6 the Car Vendor Hertz has been supporting the Delivery and Collection Option in the VDA interface to cytric. To use this service the CDP number must be activated for Collection and Delivery by Hertz. Please contact your Hertz Account Manager for this purpose.

With the cytric Release 9.7, the Cancel or Change Button will not be displayed anymore at time of Display of Booking when the User has booked a non-cancellable rate. Also in the Travel Arranger Dashboard™ no “Cancel” or “Change” Button will be displayed for these rates.