The Sabre Travel Network yesterday responded quickly to Northwest Airlines' decision to impose a fee on all domestic tickets issued through global distribution systems, firing back with its own policy changes and concluding the carrier's decision "is contrary to the letter and the spirit of the DCA 3 agreements." DCA 3, or direct-connect availability three-year program, requires participating carriers to provide Sabre travel agency subscribers with access to complete fare content in exchange for segment fee discounts.
"We are taking proactive measures to protect consumers from hidden and selective fare increases," said Sabre Travel Network president John Stow, "and we are standing up for online and offline travel agents, who have long provided great service to consumers and corporations."
Specifically, Sabre said any DCA 3 carrier charging fees on Sabre-issued tickets but not those issued through its own Web site would be disadvantaged in screen displays, denied access to system data and tools and disallowed from collecting full DCA 3 program discounts. Northwest yesterday said all domestic tickets that incur GDS segment fees as of Sept. 1 will include a $7.50 roundtrip charge billed to the booking agency
(BTNonline, Aug. 24).
"The Sabre DCA 3 program was introduced in late 2002 and was applauded by the travel industry for its role in eliminating fare confusion in the marketplace," Stow said. "It is unfortunate that Northwest Airlines is attempting to reintroduce that confusion. It is anti-consumer and anti-travel agent."
Northwest responded last night, insisting it violated no terms of the DCA 3 agreement. "The fact that Sabre took these actions prior to the implementation of any of these initiatives makes clear that Sabre's purpose is to prevent Northwest from making these much-needed changes," said Al Lenza, Northwest vice president of distribution and e-commerce.