Month: June 2017

Sabre Commits To AA NDC Plan, Heralding Shift In Airline Distribution Economics

Timing on global distribution system readiness to hook up New Distribution Capability connections for full functionality remains a mystery. Sabre, for one, has committed to achieving that goal with American Airlines. When GDSs do bring in the highest-level NDC functionality of, say, American Airlines, what will that mean for travel management companies that want to access it through GDSs? Experts…

Flight Centre, Agents Pay For Overcharges

[UPDATE, July 25, 2017: Barrett received a suspended sentence of 15 months, according to reports.] Former Flight Centre agent Vanessa Barrett this month pleaded guilty to defrauding Australia’s Northern Territory of more than AU$110,000 by falsely inflating travel invoices. Barrett is one of more than a dozen agents Northern Territory police have investigated during the past few years for alleged…

As TMCs Praise AA Reveal, Some Question NDC Plan’s Practicality

Travel management company executives have mixed views on the American Airlines New Distribution Capability program announced Friday. Some are fine with it, acknowledging there is work to do. More are happy with the airline’s creativity but concerned about the technical and process challenges. Unease about the impact of direct bookings on agent and tech productivity featured prominently in nearly a…

Concur, Frosch, HRG Sign Up For New AA NDC Program Offering $2 Per Segment, Other Benefits

American Airlines will pay participating travel agencies $2 per net segment booked and ticketed using certified NDC connections at all points of sale on AA-marketed flights. The program requires agencies to cover distribution costs, but comes with a near-term content parity commitment. It also enables new possibilities for corporate bundles, waiver-and-favor management and risk management data. They’re not up and running yet…

Nineteenth Century Tech Joins SEO, Data Mining In Business Travel Startup Marketing

Nothing beats word of mouth for business travel providers seeking new clients. Established players count on referrals, with the most gratifying coming from former users recommending them to new employers. New entrants incentivize to evangelize. The lucky business travel startup hooks a big fish corporate account and rides the wave of publicity. Downstream from big corporate, new entrants going after…

Marriott’s 48-Hour Cancellation Policy To Affect 2018 Rate Negotiations

[UPDATE, Dec 22, 2017: Hyatt’s new “default” cancellation policy, effective January 1, 2018, will require customers of its various brands to cancel at least 48 hours in advance of their planned stays to avoid a fee. “Because each Hyatt hotel may continue to set its own cancellation policy based on local market dynamics and expectations, we always encourage guests to…

TMC Vet George Opens North America For Agency Automation Firm Tramada

Longtime corporate travel sales exec Mary Ellen George joined Sydney-based travel agency automation firm Tramada Systems to lead its expansion in North America. Sixteen-year-old Tramada offers agencies a cloud-based, GDS- and online booking tool-agnostic alternative to back-office systems like Trams or Travcom. This includes business intelligence, though Tramada is happy to export data to its clients’ preferred data visualization and reporting…

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