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.
Subscribe here for up-to-the-minute coverage and our comprehensive archive, dating back to 2014. Would you like a free trial? Just ask.
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.
_______________
Continuing its efforts to help standardize the “development of robust and scalable NDC connections specifically designed for business travel,” American Express Global Business Travel on Monday made public its Minimum Marketable Product document. The MMP is an evolving framework that describes the “capabilities needed for NDC to work successfully for business travel.” It currently lists…
American Airlines and Accelya, developer of the carrier’s NDC interface, on Monday announced a breakthrough for post-ticketing support in next-generation airline distribution. They said they made unused EDIFACT tickets exchangeable through NDC connections. “It’s available broadly to any travel retailer or aggregator that can support the use of an unused ticket in an exchange,” said…
AmTrav CEO Jeff Klee, an NDC supporter, sounded exasperated on his company’s May 16 webinar. He wanted to acknowledge the gaps in American Airlines’ NDC implementation without giving undue fodder to its skeptics. The challenges with NDC were not trivial, but in Klee’s view, throwing out the baby with the bathwater could have severe consequences…
United Airlines recently upended its corporate rate negotiations, in some cases scaling back offers to corporate accounts late in the dealmaking process. “What we saw with top clients in the past few weeks was that United has decided to reduce discounts,” said Advito global air practice director David Frangeul during a phone interview last week….
Some travel management company representatives are unhappy with revisions to American Airlines’ ARC agreement addendum that set conditions for fees charged to their clients on bookings with the airline. Some TMCs have told clients they would need to charge higher fees on NDC bookings to cover reduced productivity and GDS incentive revenue. Precedents for this…
Airline officials and other proponents of the New Distribution Capability have described its servicing challenges as “edge cases,” but travel management companies are finding more than that. Limitations on exchanges and unused ticket tracking are the most crucial on growing lists of issues. It’s no wonder that, by most accounts, corporate adoption of American’s NDC…
“I’m gravely concerned.” Jeffrey Verman’s 26-year-old travel agency has been through multiple crises. The hit he expects from NDC-enabled airline programs is extra bitter, coming as it will from business partners rather than a virus or terrorist. “I survived 9/11, SARS, recessions, wars,” said Verman, CEO of Toronto-based Plus Travel Group, which is handling about…
End of content
End of content
