Southwest Airlines

New Southwest Revenue Management Tactics Put Upward Pressure On Fares

Southwest Airlines is using new revenue management tools in a fight against lower-cost competition. For travel buyers, the impact could be fewer low airfares from Southwest and, in turn, its big three U.S. rivals. Already there are signs pointing to fare hikes during the second half of this year. Fuel prices are up, prompting some airlines…

Lacking Southwest Concerns Lola’s Paul English Less Than Customer Acquisition Does

Well-funded startup Lola last week announced its Lola Works small business platform featuring reporting, team collaboration and policy and spending guidelines with “wiggle room.” The features could have some appeal, but Lola’s bigger challenges remain unresolved. One, how will it find customers? Two, can it compete for said customers without offering the airline that carries the…

Boosting Corporate Sales Force, Southwest Targets Booking Fees And Considers Prism

After making a “modest” investment in corporate sales during the past 10 years, Southwest Airlines expects to significantly increase its numbers. It’s also taking a fresh look at its toolkit and contemplating ways to make bookings more efficient. Southwest started 2017 with 18 field account managers. Senior director of business development Matt Smith, who leads…

United Offers Low, Flexible Coach Fares But Makes Them Hard For Intermediaries To Reach

United Airlines on its website has been offering low, refundable fares to compete against rival carriers. If you know where to look, you can find them in global distribution systems, too. The only way to access “economy flexible” fares in a GDS is by using a special code in the “passenger type” field. That means…

Wall Street Analysts: Amadeus Lead On GDS Rivals Is ‘Insurmountable’

Evercore ISI analysts are bullish on Amadeus. They like the strength of its airline IT business and expect the company to continue growing share on the GDS side. Evercore in a research report issued Jan. 4 raised its Amadeus outlook to “outperform” from “in line.” Amadeus’ gains would be losses for Sabre and Travelport, both…

Building On Packaging, Upside Seeks ‘Full-Service’ Status With Unmanaged Business Travelers

After beating the packaging drum for more than a year, Jay Walker’s Upside Travel is now also offering flights and hotels individually. It added Uber as a packaging option and will soon announce new support services. TMC relationships have not advanced, but Walker reiterated during a Thursday interview that they’re part of the plan. Upside…

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