Travel and expense platform TravelBank launched a new display for flight shopping today based on Next Generation Storefront standards. The display sorts flight offerings across fare classes using the star ratings ATPCO and its airline partners developed. Previously, TravelBank's display was based on the fare class preferences listed within user profiles. Travelers can see, in addition to the star ratings, features like the restrictions associated with tickets, whether Wi-Fi is available and the amount of legroom. "It gives our users more access and more transparency across all available inventory," TravelBank co-founder and CEO Duke Chung said.
While airlines have been making a big push for NGS displays in recent months—Delta, for example, temporarily pulled content from TripActions before TripActions unveiled its NGS-based platform—TravelBank has been working on a more transparent display for about a year, Chung said. American, Delta and United all assisted, he said.
The star ratings sort airfares in columns based on product, ancillaries and restrictions. The one-star category, for example, indicates basic economy fares, while standard economy fares fall largely in the two-star category. The display helps not only travel buyers who want to keep travelers booking within certain fare types but also travelers who might be enticed by lower fares without knowing the associated restrictions.
"We've found the general user who may or may not travel much may not know the difference, and the new NGS display makes that much clearer," Chung said. "It may be a great price, but they don’t know how it stacks up against other fares."
The new display already has been tested by some and went live to all TravelBank users on Wednesday, Chung said. Since its launch in November 2016, TravelBank has grown to 10,000 booking and expense companies on its client roster, he said.