THE GDSs say they are
coming to the party with
solutions to help alleviate
agents’ frustration in booking
‘no-bag fares’.
A number of airlines have
introduced cheap economy
‘no-bag fares’, which do not
include a checked baggage
allowance on long-haul routes,
leaving agents with a massive
administrative headache as
it’s not always clear on the
GDS what is included in the
fare price.
Agents say the introduction
of these fares has slowed
down their quoting process
times, and they are asking
GDSs to do more to help
them simplify things.
The addition of these
fares has complicated the
reservations process for
consultants, says Jose Cruz
of Rennies BCD Travel.
“Although the no-bag fares
remain unpopular, they
are not going anywhere.
Consultants need to be
trained accordingly.”
He adds that GDSs could
definitely do more to come
to the party to make the fare
quote display process clearer
for consultants.
Of agents surveyed by
Travelport, 76% said at times
they needed to check with
airlines to understand what
was included in fares.
“We have seen a
corresponding effect on
travellers themselves,” says
Travelport’s country manager
for Southern Africa, Claudette
Thorne. “Our Global Digital
Traveler Research in
2018 showed that 54% of
travellers in South Africa get
frustrated by not being able to
understand what is included
in the fare (bags, meals, etc.)
when booking a trip.”
Travelport says this
frustration has motivated the
development of its Branded
Fares and Ancillary offering,
which is available in its
Smartpoint and API portfolio.
“Agents can easily view the
same fares and extras they’d
see on airline websites. Rich
product descriptions and userfriendly interfaces help them
intuitively shop, price and
book baggage, among other
ancillaries,” says Claudette.
She says the offering is now
being used by 275 airlines
around the world. She adds,
however, that many airlines
can choose to deploy its
Branded Fares and Ancillary
offering in different ways.
Some airlines load different
ancillary offerings on long-haul
versus short-haul flights.
Richard Addey, lead
on Sabre’s South Africa
business, told TNW that it
also recognised that simplicity
was needed to help agents.
“Agents using Sabre Red
360 are able to identify
airfares with baggage
included by a simple icon
alongside each fare option, or
alternatively they can search
for airfares based on free
baggage inclusion only,” says
the spokesperson.
Sabre has also introduced
Beyond NDC, which it
says is an investment in
a fast-forward approach to
next-generation retailing,
distribution and fulfilment.
Amadeus offers the
ability to configure fare
search products such as
MasterPricer to contain
baggage options as a
default; GUI and Crypric
interfaces are laid out in
such a way that it is easy to
see whether a fare contains
a baggage allowance, says
Bafana Sithole, business line
manager, customer solutions,
retail sme for the Middle East
and Africa.
End in sight for no-bag fares frustration?
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