Sabre Travel Network has launched improved software in Europe which, it claims, will reduce TMCs' exposure to agency debit memos by providing more efficient access to the most up to date fares.
The enhancement twin pronged, with one part branded Sabre Air, the other Sabre MyFares. The latter is designed to save agents time by enabling them to load privately negotiated fares in its GDS once in a "fire and forget" process and use minimal information when accessing them subsequently.
European senior vice-president, Richard Adams said: "This will be of particular benefit to agents who serve the corporate market, where productivity and customer response times are critical."
The developments are based on open systems technology of the kind introduced by the new generation of search engines. The company says this works faster. By interrogating airline systems, Sabre Air allows changes in fares, terms and conditions to be loaded automatically rather than manually. A spokesman said this would help ensure that all restrictions, including those applied to negotiated CAT35 fares, would appear in the GDS display.
Sabre Air incorporates what the company calls a 'jump cabin' feature that automatically searches for lower or equal fares in a higher class. If an agent has booked an economy fare the system will check to see if a comparable business class deal is available. It also allows them to view and compare fares to and from different airports serving the same city.
After it introduced the technology in the US Sabre commissioned a survey which claimed agents using it enjoyed a significant edge when it came to finding the lowest fare. It says over 28,000 Sabre Connected agency locations across Europe and the Middle East have been successfully upgraded to Sabre Air, including agents in countries such as Russia, Jordan and Yemen.
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