THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE I 39 The Review THE TECHNOLOGY ➔ Sabre gets to grips with ancillary fees


SABRE has launched what it claims is a trail-blazing tool to help travel agents and travel management companies cope with the next big challenge set to hit the UK – bundled or unbundled airline ancillary fees and merchandising, writes Mike Swindell. One function of the GDS’ newly launched Sabre Red travel solution is the ability to display all aspects of unbundled fares and present a total price that allows bookers and agents to make a realistic comparisons with airlines that work with an all-in price. “We want to ensure that there is


a level playing field out there to enable agents to be competitive as ancillary fees become more of a feature in the market place,” says Sabre Travel Network senior vice- president EMEA, Martin Cowley. “We are working to achieve an industry standard so that it is manageable for all of us – both from a technology and selling distribution perspective – so that everybody understands what the offerings are.” In the US, where the practice


of unbundling fares is growing quickly, Sabre is working with regulatory authorities to ensure that airlines offer ancillaries to travel agents in the same way as they do on their websites. Where carriers were once offering


an all-in price, they are now selling a seat, or a seat plus a meal, with combinations including many permutations covering anything from baggage to priority boarding. “It is a huge issue in the US now


– one that we can see developing in the UK,” says Cowley. “British Airways, for example, is vocal about wanting to introduce unbundled fares, with baggage fees already in place.” Sabre argues that


“In the US, you have a base fare


and a whole lot of extras, and corporations in particular have an issue if they cannot get those extras through their GDS. If a traveller needs to buy ancillaries from the airline’s website, that part of the travel transaction is not being reported on and, increasingly, travel managers are struggling to capture the full extent of their travel spend,” With only part of the travel outlay available to corporations, they are hampered in their negotiations with airlines and it's impossible for travel management companies to present a full MIS picture to their clients –


it is not working to prevent airlines marketing their fares and services in this way but insists that they should be readily available to travel agents. “We think this is a very positive


thing but we need to work with all the stakeholders to make sure there is full transparency,” he says.


“Travel managers are struggling to capture the full extent of their ancillary travel spend“


data that


corporations need in order to budget for their travel. With the US Congress and Department of Transportation proposing legislation to control the


distribution of ancillaries, Cowley says the issue harks back to the battles that were fought about seven years ago to ensure that airlines could not keep low web fares to themselves.


And with the US taking action, Sabre believes the issue will inevitably come under scrutiny by regulators within the European Union too. Cowley repeats, however, that Sabre is not in conflict with the airlines over the distribution of ancillaries. With Sabre Red now in place, the


issue was not about technology. The missing element was the content. “When we negotiate our distribution agreements with airlines we negotiate for full content and this will inevitably include the ways airlines choose to include these ancillaries – either bundled or unbundled. “It doesn’t matter which way the


airlines choose to go because Sabre Red’s Total Pricing function offers a display that gives an overview of the end price along with all the ancillaries that go to make it up so that agents have a clear comparison with airlines that continue to offer a fully bundled fare,” says Cowley. Even without the imperative of regulation driving airline com- pliance with equitable distribution of ancillaries, Sabre is pushing ahead with negotiations for the display of all fare elements within its system. Cowley said that nearly 60 airlines had so far signed up to the fully transparent display


format with Sabre Red. At the heart of the new travel solution is Sabre Red Workspace, an agent platform that claims to offer faster start-up times than before, high performance and stability and easy access to content. Agents can work in native Sabre mode familiar to experienced travel consultants, in point-and- click graphical format, or toggle between the two with a split screen view. Nearly 100 UK agencies are now using the system, including Norad Travel Management. Norad's chief executive officer,


Mick Gibbs, says, “This newly- enabled workspace is quicker, more flexible, more versatile and the next step in our vision to have a one-stop-shop travel solution. “The Sabre Red portfolio is an awesome asset to any travel management company's arsenal of service solutions and delivers truly unique capabilities not offered by anyone else on the market,” adds Gibbs. Martin Cowley believes Sabre


has stolen a march on competitors with the launch of Sabre Red, concluding: “This is a real point of competitive advantage for Sabre today.” With the unbundling trend fast gaining pace, Cowley may well be right.


48 I THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE


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