Travel professionals in the US and Canada can now access and book ancillary services for the most airlines currently available in the North American market via any GDS.
MIAMI – Amadeus, leading technology provider for the global travel industry, announces the launch and availability in North America of ancillary services for 14 airline partners. Now Amadeus subscribers in the US and Canada can easily access and book right from their desktop a variety of ancillary services from airlines around the world such as priority boarding, pre-paidbaggage and other services travelers want most today.
“Amadeus is a global leader in airline merchandising. Having already deployed ancillary services for over 20 airlines in more than 60 global markets, we’re thrilled to bring the benefit of our merchandising technology to Amadeus customers across North America, giving agencies valuable new content to better serve their travelers’ needs,” said Robert Buckman, head of Distribution Product Management for Amadeus North America.
Ancillary services from these carriers are currently accessible and bookable by Amadeus North America subscribers:
- Air Berlin
- Air France
- Air New Zealand
- Alitalia
- Austrian
- Belair
- Corsair
- El Al
- Finnair
- Iberia
- Lufthansa
- Niki
- Scandinavian
- Spirit Airlines
Available services include pre-paid baggage, chargeable seating, pre-paid meals, priority boarding, airport lounge access and more.
Buckman said Amadeus will continue to implement ancillary services for more carriers in 2014, such as US major airlines with development projects currently underway including American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
Amadeus’ ancillary services functionality enables travel professionals to easily provide and complete end-to-end air travel arrangements and deliver optimal value to travelers. Amadeus travel agencies benefit from an easy-to-use, multi-channel end-to-end solution to sell ancillary services and compete effectively with airline direct and online channels. Integration of a graphical and dynamic catalog, with booking and issuance in the same workflow for nearly every airline, makes it easy and efficient.
The easy-to-use booking solution saves agents time and money by accessing the airlines’ ancillary services content through their point-of-sale. It is fully integrated within the standard booking flow, minimizing time needed for training. Furthermore, by being fully integrated into agency mid- and back-office systems, agents can save time otherwise spent on administrativetasks, ultimately maximizing their productivity and profits.
“Reinforcing their role as true travel consultants, ancillary services allows travel professionals to offer their travelers the ability to customize their travel experience. Whether it’s a premium seat, advance boarding or a gourmet meal, by booking ancillary services via Amadeus, agents have more transparency earlier in the shopping process than ever before. This allows agents to assure their customers understand the total cost of their trip and puts them in the ideal position to help their customers choose the best travel option,” said Buckman.
This launch also marks Amadeus’ implementation in the North American market of the Electronic MiscellaneousDocument (EMD), a single, standard method used to issue all travel related services, replacing the existing automated Miscellaneous Charge Order (MCO), Amadeus virtual MCO and IATA virtual Miscellaneous Prepaid Document (MPD). The Amadeus EMD delivers enhanced functionality compared with the MCO, including interlining facility, multi-coupon functionality and e-ticket association.
Over the past several years Amadeus has pioneered and rolled out a number of initiatives as part of its commitment to a comprehensive merchandising approach in the global marketplace. With that approach, currently travel agencies sell airline ancillary services via Amadeus technology in 64 countries around the world. Globally, 23 airlines are currently distributing their ancillary services via the Amadeus System.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
