Global distribution systems are providing new purchasing capabilities that allow travel agencies to book "branded" airline fares and offer travelers choices to pay extra for certain product attributes. Previously, such options were available only to users of airline Web sites.
GDS firm Sabre Holdings this week announced its latest "merchandizing" solution, which enables "airlines to differentiate and sell premium airline seats in a coach class aircraft cabin" via standard agency desktops. Midwest Airlines, which has long sought to distinguish its product from competitors' coach-class seats within GDS displays, is the launch customer. Midwest's "Signature Seating" features "two-across wide leather seats and stretch-out legroom" according to the airline.
Kyle Moore, vice president of product marketing for Sabre Holdings, said airlines handle their inventories differently, with some opting to label products and pricing as economy and first class, sometimes with hybrids like United Airlines' Economy Plus. In Midwest's case, he said, "They really are doing different levels of service within a one-cabin view of the inventory. There is a level-up option even in that one cabin, from a seat selection perspective." That option will be integrated with "the traditional agent workflow in the Sabre GDS," Moore explained, without any third-party systems and without "disrupting how [agents] want to serve their customers."
The booking functionality will be available "in the coming months" at the agent point of sale, following a roll-out of premium seat selection capabilities for check-in on Midwest's Web site or at airport kiosks, according to a Sabre announcement.
Sabre this month also launched its branded fares product, which provides Sabre-connected agents with attribute-specific and one-way airfare options offered by participating airlines. The launch customer is Australia's Qantas.
"Airlines in Australia and New Zealand have led the move to using a select number of branded 'fare families' that have simple, but clearly differentiated rules ... to differentiate themselves in this highly competitive market place," according to a statement by Hans Belle, Sabre Travel Network vice president of marketing. "There are multiple price points with common rules within each 'fare family' that are individually inventory controlled on each flight according to demand. However, now an agent only has to look for the lowest available fare within the chosen 'fare family.' "
Moore said Sabre has not included the new branded fare booking capabilities in its GetThere corporate booking tool, used by corporate and agency clients including Sabre's own Travelocity Business. There is no date set for when such offerings would accommodate premium coach seat booking capabilities. He said corporate booking tool providers "still have some work to do on their side to enable themselves to transact that data that we make available to them," but the Sabre's plan is make new shopping capabilities "broadly available regardless of channel--corporate, leisure, direct, indirect, online or offline."
Airline interest in product differentiationalso has spurred development at Travelport's Galileo. The company and Air Canada this month announced a partial solution for Canadian travel agents frustrated by the airline's strategy to offer a la carte pricing options exclusively through its Web site. Planned for the fourth quarter, "a revolutionary graphical agency desktop solution" linking Galileo-connected agents directly to Air Canada would allow agents to "shop, price and book all Air Canada domestic, U.S. transborder and international itineraries and fares," including all branded fares and Flight Pass products, according to a Galileo statement. The program broadens access to a number of pricing and product variations, such as advance seat assignments, baggage checks, meals, lounge access, loyalty point accrual and ticket refundability.
"Behind the scenes, we integrate the booking into the GDS so the agencies can perform their traditional mid- and back-office functions," said Jean Collier, vice president of supplier services for Galileo Americas, who noted that the cost to agency subscribers had not yet been finalized.
"Today we are vindicated from some of those naysayers, in terms of delivering to the market a viable solution for them to continue to promote and sell Air Canada products," Air Canada vice president of sales and product distribution Marc Rosenberg told The Beat.
But the Business Travel Coalition described the Air Canada-Galileo development as "a well-hyped, but cryptic announcement" that "promises much, but leaves a multitude of questions unanswered. A sampling of questions posed by BTC include: "Will the new program include all Air Canada inventory, thus setting the stage for a radical unbundling and shifting of Air Canada's distribution costs to TMCs and their corporate customers? How secure is this? How are itinerary changes, cancellations and upgrades handled?" BTC suggested that "the overarching issue is whether this model is simply another expensive workaround foisted upon the industry."
The Galileo solution is not available through corporate booking tools, though Collier said the company would work toward that goal.
Air Canada's differentiated pricing and products are available through Concur Technologies' Cliqbook booking tool and airline executives said they are in discussions with several other third-party booking tool providers.
Galileo recognizes that other airlines are considering Air Canada-style pricing strategies and plans to introduce the new functionality in other markets after implementation in Canada.
At Sabre, "We are having numerous conversations all around the globe with airlines that are doing things differently in how they sell their products and services through the GDS," Moore explained. "An airline may want to charge differently for an aisle or a window; or there may be additional airlines beyond Qantas that want to brand their fares through Sabre; or it may be things like the sale of ancillaries through the agent shopping process in their traditional environment and their workflow."