With one day left before the Sept. 1 "opt-in" deadline, American Express Business Travel today announced it would not agree to any global distribution system program or pay any airline fees, because of the content agreements it has struck for its internal distribution solution, TravelBahn DS. American Express also announced today that this week it will add United Airlines to program carriers American and Continental.
"Because we anticipated the industry changes, today we have the opportunity to not charge the vast majority of our business travel customers for the new costs associated with emerging GDS opt-in and airline surcharge models going into effect Sept. 1," Andrew Winterton, senior vice president of global supplier relations of American Express, said in a statement released today. "Moreover, and consistent with our long-standing position, we need not and will not opt in to any GDS program. Rather, our TravelBahn DS will allow us to keep transactional and sourcing costs at the minimum, while maintaining client access to relevant airline content."
United's agreement with Amex states that all the carrier's corporate negotiated rates, published fares, schedules and inventory will be available to American Express corporate travel clients.
Jeff Foland, vice president of North America sales for United Airlines, said in a statement, "We chose to join TravelBahn DS to provide our customers with a fast and efficient way to book tickets while also lowering our distribution costs."
American Express said the very reason it created TravelBahn in 2003 was to reduce its reliance on GDSs. "Our TravelBahn DS program positions us very well to explore and now deliver a distribution option not readily available to other TMCs," Amex's Winterton said, "and more importantly, to preserve access to airline supplier content in a cost controlled environment."
The Amex announcement comes just over one month after Carlson Wagonlit Travel said it would charge clients $2 per airline ticket to offset the costs generated by GDSs' opt-in programs
(BTN, Aug. 14). No other mega travel management company has stated its policy publicly regarding the changes in GDS payments and airline fees.