Today I would like to just focus on the distribution and the inventory management and therefore on the differences between CRS (central reservation systems) and GDS (global distribution systems).
Complicated topics explained in a simple way: What is the difference between booking, waitlisting, ticketing, codeshare and interlining?
Everybody who has ever traveled has come across those terms, but have you ever wondered what they all mean? This article of the series Travel Technology for Dummies will shed some light on what it means if somebody has a booking, is waitlisted or actually has a ticket (or an interline ticket). Continue reading
Complicated topics explained in a simple way: Last time I explained what a booking reference or PNR is. Today let us talk about the Passenger Service System (PSS).
The PSS usually comprises of the Central Reservation System (CRS), in other words booked inventory, an airline inventory system (free inventory) and a departure control system (DCS). It is basically the technology an airline needs: Continue reading
Complicated topics explained in a simple way: Today let us look at booking references or PNRs.
What is a booking reference or PNR? A booking reference, also referred to as a PNR or Record Locator, is the airline’s internal identifier for your flight booking within their computer system. It is generated by the airline’s computer system, not by the travel agent or GDS. If your flights involve different airlines, there are often separate PNRs for each carrier for use within their respective systems, but you may be given only the ticketing airline’s PNR. Continue reading
Last week US Airways (now American Airlines) and Sabre made their final pleas to the jury – the five-year-plus antitrust case draw to a close. My prediction became true: There is no winner.
The verdict is in. American Airlines will receive $ 5.1 million in damages – 11.5 percent of what they’d sought. The battle will go on, Sabre will file a motion or appeal, and we are back to square one. Bottom line, attorneys aside, no winner only be losers. The money awarded will hardly cover the expenses of this lawsuit. [UPDATE 3/7/17: Even though the Award is tripled according to Texas law, US Airways disclosed legal costs exceeded $ 122 million ($ 84.5M in attorney fees, $ 36.6M in attorney expenses & almost $ 0.9M in statutory costs), while Sabre estimated their legal fees between $ 35-$ 50 million]. Will airlines now be free to negotiate any deals they may want? I hardly doubt it.
Did GDSs pay $ 1.2 billion to avoid multi-source agent desktops? And how much does it cost to develop multi-content booking tools?
Graphical travel user interfaces (GUIs) such as agent desktops, online booking tools and mobile interfaces have been around for a while by now. While they are pretty successful in the online booking space with an adoption at around 90 percent, they are still lagging behind with agents who love their cryptic screen or “green screen”, how this terminal access is called by insiders referring to the ancient IBM 3270 terminals. Continue reading
“German companies and their business travelers (…) are opposed to the sales strategy you have announced”, the VDR reproachfully started its letter to Jens Bischof, member of the Lufthansa German Airlines Board. “The introduction of your DCC involves a fundamental unilateral change to the system – those that fail to comply pay a high price, with a surcharge of 16 Euros per ticket.” Continue reading
The “Distribution Cost Charge” affects Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Swiss International Airlines, but will not be added to tickets purchased through their own website, airline ticket counters or service centers. Continue reading
In the time of the ancient Romans and Greeks, excursions to particular events, such as the Olympic Games and all manner of competitions, was a routine ritual of the rich upper class. Continue reading
In 2012, Southwest Airlines had picked Amadeus to build it a new system to handle international reservations and itineraries and to use Altea technology for the international part of its system, whereas their domestic reservation technology was based on a modified Sabre product which has been limiting to the Airline.
Amadeus already fortified its sales presence as the leading leisure travel sales platform in Germany with the 2006 acquisition of TravelTainment (the primary leisure travel internet booking engine in Germany) and is now yet again adding to its suit of products another corporate booking tool (Cytric) right next to their own corporate booking tool, E-Travel (which is also supported by PASS Consulting’s XX/1). Continue reading
Although I do not know exactly what Europe’s Competition Commission does on a day to day basis, but at least they know when not to get involved.
Throughout history people have been striving for innovation of life style that helped to make our lives easier and more comfortable. If it weren’t for this little rebellious spark in some people we would still listen to our favorite Vinyl record instead of the convenience of having our favorite music at our fingertips.
In my eyes it is incredible how much fear there really is for nothing: For over one hour the audience got caught up on why will there be fields, such as marriage status or gender in the suggested XML. Continue reading
We already stated our opinion, that the excitement regarding the NDC is mainly “much ado about nothing”, as Shakespeare already titled his comedic play, which was published in 1623. Now we would like to go a little bit further into detail and clarify our position on the main arguments of the discussion about the NDC.
Sabre recently demonstrated their pricing policy at a hearing hosted by the DOT. Their travel agent desktop solution enables customers to book tickets as well as other ancillary services which make all carriers’ fairs and fees comparable.
DOT’s spokesman confirmed: “We intend to issue our new proposed airline consumer rule late fall of this year. Because there are complex issues being addressed in this rule making, additional time is needed for this analysis.” Continue reading
While most of GDSs kept traditional tools, innovative third-party technology providers such as PASS Consulting Corporation (PASS), TRX or G2 SwitchWorks – the last two sold their technologies already – released new POS desktops and early introduced new technologies that would soon satisfy travel agencies’ needs: multi-GDS connection and graphical user front-ends. Continue reading
An official decision on this topic would have a dramatic impact on both. airlines, GDSs and the consumers. And since there is at this point not enough information to decide whether requiring the airlines to provide their ancillary services data to the GDSs leads to more transparency for the consumer, the DOT decided to defer its decision. Continue reading
Recently, Delta Air Lines started its own direct-connect strategy in partnership with Farelogix. According to their plan, Online Travel Agencies and Travel Management Companies will then be able to access Delta’s full-content through a Delta-Farelogix platform, thus bypassing the GDSs and saving additional costs.
