Hailed as a solution for the challenges of fare unbundling, NDC has been in development for nine years. What does it have to show for corporate clients? A rebundled fare, theoretical savings, “whatnot” and “whatever.” Oh, and new distribution fees. “So, nothing new or innovative,” according to former Sabre executive Martin Cowley. Cowley got into…
The Travel and Tourism Advisory Board of the U.S. Commerce Department is attempting to collaborate with other U.S. federal agencies to spur development of standards and digital interoperability for traveler documentation of Covid-19 vaccinations and test results. On Wednesday, TTAB chair and CWT president and CEO Kurt Ekert outlined the effort’s goals and challenges during…
[UPDATE, May 8, 2019: British Airways and Iberia upped fees on bookings outside their preferred distribution channels to $14, 12.50 euros and £10.50, effective May 31.] British Airways and Iberia said that on Sept. 18 they would increase the surcharge applied to bookings that don’t go through “an NDC-based connection or through other low-cost channels,”…
When Lufthansa Group in mid-2015 informed the market of a new distribution strategy, one stated objective was to lower associated costs. The company expects to prove wrong the skeptics and start achieving that by the end of 2018. Lufthansa’s financial reporting does not offer enough detail to completely validate progress, but there are indicators of…
British Airways gave deadlines of this week to some U.S. travel agencies that had not signed a private channel agreement waiving its GDS surcharge. After the megas, U.K. agencies and Expedia, not every travel management company offered the deal signed up, according to sources. For agencies, agreeing to the private channel endorses a model that sacrifices GDS…
With many travel management companies accepting the IAG airlines’ private channel GDS deals, which are left out? Industry experts see the “have-nots” facing ruin or consolidation. The puzzling part is, why would British Airways and Iberia want that? Posed to a BA press official, that question was not answered. International Airlines Group has declined multiple…
Travelport and British Airways/Iberia agreed to a framework for surcharge-free airfares, adopting the private channel concept for travel agency users that sacrifice GDS incentives. It wasn’t unexpected, but the agreement serves as a letdown for some U.K. travel agency leaders who were hoping the market’s top GDS would fight the private-channel construct. Amadeus and Sabre had…
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