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Abacus Poll Measures the Gap between Supply and Demand for Low Cost Carrier Content on Online Travel Agent Sites
[ezcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””] Providing a snapshot of the key issues for online travel agencies in the Asia Pacific region, Abacus is today sharing the findings of an ‘Online Travel Poll.’ This August the region’s leading travel technology provider questioned 62 travel agents invested in the online space on various aspects of their digital businesses and the revenues achieved. Comprising a mix of agency types, some regional, some traditional or niche, one in five were dedicated almost entirely to online business. Those more offline tended to fulfil that way, even if the query originated on the net, while those focused on online revenues tended to process the entire transaction digitally. Flight search served as the primary function of their sites with 82 per cent confirming that they sell air tickets online. Almost three-quarters offer accommodation and cross-sell other products. The ability to present competitive fares, including those of low cost carriers (LCCs), was seen as vital to the offering for most. But, while 42 per cent of participants acknowledged LCCs as having a ‘major presence’ in their markets, 60 per cent were unable to display and sell their inventory. Only 29 per cent of the agents have any agreements with budget carriers, the rest either excluded them from their search results or, as one in seven admitted, ‘screen-scrape’ the LCCs’ sites for the sake of content comprehensiveness. As further evidence of the disparity between supply and demand, almost a third stated ‘we ignore LCCs and focus on airlines that can be booked through our online booking engine.’ “We cannot assume users of these travel agents’ sites are familiar with all the airlines operating on their chosen routes, or to know where else to look to compare the available fares,” explained Martin Symes, VP Product & Marketing at Abacus International. “An LCC’s absence places the carrier, the intermediary and the consumer at a disadvantage.” Having bridged the content divide, though it seems other gaps appear. Where online travel agents are able to book LCCs, the low cost model, with fares often lacking flexibility and the emphasis on ancillary revenue generation, selling and servicing is made more challenging. One third of the agents cited a problem with ancillaries in quoting the total price. “It’s a snapshot of where we are on this important debate,” cautioned Symes. “In other parts of the world including the US, Europe and Australia, we have witnessed major LCCs work to gain share of the higher yielding corporate market, by evolving their products and GDS participation levels. It will be interesting to see if this is replicated here in Asia.” “LCCs in this region now have the ability to engage the trade in many different ways, given innovation in the distribution technology. They can readily scale a B2B model to complement their direct focus,” he added. Confirming the growing and largely untapped corporate opportunity, almost three-quarters of the corporate agents responding to the recent Abacus Corporate Travel Practices Survey noted greater demand for LCC seats from their clients. The LCCs distributing through the GDS appear to be reaping rewards too. The budget carriers integrated with Abacus have seen business from the channel grow by an average of 86 per cent over this last year. Commissioned from Travel Tech Consulting, the Abacus Online Travel Poll findings are available on request from: marketing@abacus.com.sg. [/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” … READ MORE
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Hotel Cancellation Guidelines
Has your travel agent experienced no cancellation number returns whenever an active hotel segment is cancelled in the system? Before checking with the hotel chain or property, you may like to access Travel Agency’s General Message queue to display hotel chain’s teletype messages. These messages may provide information that could be helpful while troubleshooting. Steps to access General Message Queue are as follows: Step 1: Access subscriber’s General Message Queue Example: Q/G Step 2: Explanation on the important information display on the message. Row 1 HDQ Headquarter RM Reservations AA Carrier code Row 2 .DAL 3-letter location code of hotel chain HL Code representing hotel segment HL 2-letter hotel chain code, eg, Hilton Hotels 25 Hotel segment action date 0339 Hotel segment action time Row 3 HDQ Headquarter AA Carrier code LTYANL Abacus Record Locator Row 4 1 Number of passenger in name field WOO/HEN… Passenger’s name Row 5 HHL Hotel segment HL Hotel chain code, eg, Hilton Hotels UC1 Status code, number of rooms KUL 3-letter city code IN31JUL Check-in date OUT02AUG Check-out date 2NT Number of room nights 12475 Hotel property code 1A01A07 Room type and rate code from hotel chain -1 Number of adult occupants /CX-1921… Cancellation number Row 6 – Information with regards to the hotel segment Step 3: Remove G message after … READ MORE
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Jet Airways to Develop More Connections with Abacus
SINGAPORE March 2nd, 2015 – Abacus, Asia Pacific’s leading revenue partner for airlines, today announced a comprehensive partnership with Jet Airways that will broaden the Indian carrier’s reach while increasing its control over connecting … READ MORE
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Malaysia Airlines Berhad & Sabre Great 6 Months Join Reward Program 2017
Booking and issued Malaysia Airlines ticket only on Sabre and win Grand prizes 2 units Daihatsu Alya Car and 2 Business Class Ticket JKT-LHR-JKT and dozens of Bimonthly prizes starting from Shopping vouchers up to Motorcycle. Terms and condition applies. Promotion Periode : 01 July – 31 December 2017 … READ MORE
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Four More Asian Carriers Adopt Abacus Paperless EMD Technology
[ezcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””] Abacus International, the leading travel solutions provider in Asia Pacific, today announced that four more Asian carriers have adopted the Abacus electronic miscellaneous document (EMD) technology: Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Cathay Pacific, together with Hong Kong-based Dragonair. Responding to the IATA mandate for all miscellaneous documents issued from January 2014 to be electronic, many airlines have partnered with Abacus to implement the required proprietary technology, creating a new paperless ticketing environment. Beyond the benefits of full digitization, carriers gain the ability to track their ancillary sales, with Abacus e-coupons for lounge access, baggage, in-flight Wifi and more. Databases will be more closely aligned with the trade channel on transactions. “With Abacus EMD, airlines can simultaneously go green, drive efficiencies and boost yields,” explained Division Head, Airline Distribution at Abacus, Ho Hoong Mau. “We are delighted to help four more powerful brands in Asia’s burgeoning aviation industry to achieve the EMD standard, realizing the benefits in terms of cash and credit card reimbursements and ancillary sales through the region’s trade channel.” Lee Ser Yi, Vice President, Corporate Sales and Distribution, Singapore Airlines added, “Adopting the Abacus EMD solution allows Singapore Airlines to improve our customer experience by automating miscellaneous fees and deposit payments, while reducing paper dependency and related costs. We are pleased to be able to take this to our key customers through Abacus.” Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair join the extensive list of global airlines who have adopted the Abacus EMD solution, contributing to IATA’s planned sunset of the legacy virtual Miscellaneous Charge Order (vMCO). For more information, contact: marketing@abacus.com.sg. [/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” … READ MORE
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Abacus Consulting
Knowing how your company stacks up against other leading companies is key to your success. Abacus Consulting delivers penetrating insights as a result of our work with agencies, suppliers and governments around the world. Our global scale provides you with an in-depth, objective assessment of your business especially in the area of productivity, efficiency, costs and technology. Identify areas of strength and areas for potential improvement and bring your business further with Abacus Consulting. Breaking new ground with you. Contact us to find out … READ MORE
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Happy New Year 2019
Happy New Year! Please be informed that our office will be closed on Tuesday, 1 January 2019 and for Monday, 31 December 2018, Our Customer Service operating hours will be changed from 08.00 AM – 14.00 PM. We will reopen on Wednesday, 2 January 2019. Thank you for your kind attention and happy holiday! Best Regards, Sabre Travel Network Indonesia Customer support after office hours HP : 0816920832 or 0812862323 Email : helpdesk@sabretn.co.id, technical@sabretn.co.id, marketing@sabretn.co.id, Electra Indonesia … READ MORE
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Abacus dan Lufthansa Agent Sales Challenge