Airline offers fare families through Sabre GDS
LONDON, June 22, 2011 – Global travel technology company Sabre Travel Network (http://www.sabretravelnetwork.com) will start distributing Brussels Airlines’ fare families to Sabre-connected travel agents from today.
Fare families, also known as bundled fares and offered through Sabre as Branded Fares, are tickets that include ’add on services’ such as a meal, baggage, ticket changes and refunds, and loyalty points within the total price of a fare. Brussels Airlines will offer five fare families including Business Flexible, Business Semi-Flexible, Economy Flexible, Economy Semi-Flexible and Economy Restricted.
Bundling allows airlines to brand and package a variety of fares containing different attributes, and provides a valuable platform to distribute them to hundreds of thousands of agents across the globe.
By distributing the fares through Sabre Travel Network’s global distribution system (GDS), Brussels Airlines will allow agents to provide their customers with a transparent and easy way to comparison shop, while having more efficient access to the airlines’ fare and schedule information.
Brussels Airlines is the first European carrier to launch branded fares on the GDS.
Hamish Broom, Sabre Travel Network director of distribution for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, praised Brussels Airlines’ for its innovative approach to distributing air fares.
“Brussels Airlines’ fare families will provide customers with one all-inclusive price, removing the hassle of searching for various airline products, services and fares, and then calculating the total cost of the ticket.
“Agents can, therefore, sell tickets based on their customers’ overall requirements, rather than just the cheapest fare. These innovative fares will help the airline grow its sales and improve travel agency loyalty,” he said.
Brussels Airlines’ branded fares are available to Sabre-connected agencies in Belgium for flights to Africa from today.
Rudy Maex, vice president of development and service delivery at Brussels Airlines, said: “Our bundled fares strategy differentiates us from other carriers in Europe and helps us build customer service by providing travelers with clear and transparent pricing. The Sabre GDS provides a lot of added value and will help us bring our compelling offer to our partners, the Belgian travel agencies.”
Sabre Travel Network already distributes fare families for airlines such as Air New Zealand, Qantas, Aeromexico and WestJet, and remains the only GDS provider with the ability to load and distribute bundled air fares.
Sabre Travel Network is the world’s leading provider of high-performance travel solutions. By combining its unique expertise and leading technology, Sabre powers business performance across the travel industry. Sabre’s multi-channel merchandising and procurement solutions enable corporate and leisure agencies, corporate travel programs, airlines, hotels and other travel suppliers around the world to make money, save money and provide better customer service. Sabre Holdings connects people with the world’s greatest travel possibilities by retailing travel products and providing distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry.
Media Contact:
Martin Ferguson
Sabre Holdings
Office: +44 20 8538 8576
Mobile: +44 7740 409 440
Email: martin.ferguson@sabre-holdings.com