Distribution

Scroll down to review The Company Dime‘s coverage of travel distribution.

The travel industry thrives on a complex network of channels connecting travelers with desired experiences. The Company Dime‘s travel distribution category delves into this intricate system, offering subscribers invaluable knowledge and insights. Our in-depth articles explore the various channels that constitute corporate travel distribution, both traditional and emerging.

Getting all the relevant, bookable inventory in front of business travelers is a never-ending challenge. Airlines, hotels and other suppliers constantly tinker with their products and pricing, and often favor direct distribution over third-party channels. That creates complexity in business travel technology.

Readers can expect thorough coverage of the relationships and dynamics between airlines, hotels, travel management companies, global distribution systems and other suppliers and intermediaries. We closely examine developments associated with the New Distribution Capability (NDC), direct booking initiatives and the rise of new entrants looking to disrupt legacy models.

Subscribers benefit from our scrutiny of the often-opaque world of distribution costs and revenue streams, including incentive payments, agency commissions and booking fees. We shed light on these essential commercial arrangements.

We also track the technological forces reshaping distribution, from the positioning of online booking tools to the potential of emerging solutions like artificial intelligence, blockchain and virtual payment. Readers stay informed on innovations that could unlock efficiencies and improve the traveler experience.

Our coverage clarifies major industry debates, such as the relative merits of GDS and NDC content, and our Op Eds deliver provocative thought leadership from all corners of the industry. Contributor insights on timely issues — like rethinking travel management company commercial models — make for essential reading.

With a critical eye and a healthy dose of skepticism, The Company Dime delivers must-have intelligence for anyone seeking to understand the present and future of travel distribution.

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You get what you pay for, and most travel industry business news is free. We sell insight. Our mission is quality journalism for those interested in business travel services, expense management practices and travel industry change. Our features, exclusives and analysis equip business travel professionals with vital info for top performance.

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Explainer: IATA’s One Order

Airline reservations and global distribution systems create passenger name records. Airlines issue tickets. Electronic miscellaneous documents account for ancillary sales. This multitude of records, ticket numbers and reservation numbers complicates revenue accounting and can confuse travelers. The International Air Transport Association is working on a better way, which corporate buyers and travel management companies may get a…

Upside Enlisting Travel Management Companies To Support ‘Self-Managed’ Service

[UPDATE, Feb 3, 2017: We published new information related to this article here.] In the words of founder Jay Walker, Upside aims to convert unmanaged business travel to self-managed business travel. So why does the company have a website showing nine corporate travel management company partners? Currently in beta, Upside sells customized air and hotel combo packages. Travelers earn…

Nobel Laureate Opines On Who Should Fund Business Travel Distribution

New York — “Business people are very excited about competition in every sector except their own.” With that quip, Columbia University professor Joseph Stiglitz opened his testimony here this month in the US Airways v. Sabre antitrust trial. Called by the plaintiffs, the Nobel Prize-winning economist Time magazine once named among the 100 most influential…

Case Details Sabre’s Airline Segment Fees, Including Southwest’s Advantage

New York — Industry pros always figured Southwest Airlines paid less to global distribution system providers like Sabre than other big airlines. Now they know how much. Southwest’s 2010 per-segment fee to Sabre at U.S. points of sale was $1.35, according to testimony in the US Airways v. Sabre trial here. Segment fees that year…

Trial Reveals Sabre GDS Incentives Paid To Big Travel Management Companies

New York — As they consolidate and grow, travel agencies earn more incentive money from global distribution system providers. Just how much has been hard to ascertain, since incentives are not specifically teased out in GDS company financial reports. With the US Airways v. Sabre case underway here, some interesting numbers are emerging. According to…

New Corporate Booking Platform Using Artificial Intelligence

There’s a new player in corporate booking technology. Before the year is out it expects to activate a booking portal for an undisclosed Fortune 10 company. Phase two early next year would bring a proactive artificial intelligence service scanning emails and calendars to present optimal itineraries based on corporate policies. It’s already working with two…

Sabre Sees An ‘Inflection Point’ On Ancillaries Via Travel Management Companies

Air Canada since September has been selling paid seats through Sabre. It began listing its branded fares there in April and now distributes its full content to Sabre subscribers. Once an enemy of the global distribution systems, Air Canada has traded in its maverick approach for real support of mainstream corporate travel channels. According to…

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