Access to the right content with powerful business rules and flexible distribution capabilities are key to any travel business. Flight Booking Software that allows a business to aggregate travel content from multiple sources and distribute a Flight Reservation System to a network of affiliated agencies or home based agents can be a valuable tool in today’s competitive online marketplace.
There are multiple content source options for a Flight Reservation System to choose from today when booking a flight. The ability to search multiple sources for content with your own online booking engine can be important for those businesses that are taking advantage of the special rates and content that many consolidators or aggregators bring to the table. Some air consolidators focus on a specific geographic or ethnic markets for example and work with a network of affiliated agencies to book airline seats for their customers using the consolidator or host agency’s credentials. These consolidators are able to aggregate sales with suppliers such as airlines and leverage their overall volumes for better prices and access to special deals. Some focus on specific destinations or regions of the world and are experts about every aspect of travel there. Others serve certain ethnic or specialty groups and have developed a vast network of sub agents entrenched in these markets. By using your own fares and those of air consolidators or aggregators that you work closely with, you are able to remain competitive and provide your clients with the best value possible whether they shop online via your website or contact you directly.
The ability to expand your agency footprint while taking advantage of what the specialists have to offer can be a valuable tool for you to have as well. Your Flight Reservation System should allow you to easily extend the reach of your agency to serve customers whether in person, via a call center or online. You may also want to consider an application that allows you to easily extend your online air booking engine to other agencies and home based agents as well. And of course for those always “on the go” mobile consumers you’ll need a mobile ready application that adjusts the screen display to fit the device they are using.
Flight Booking Software must allow you to easily control business rules such as price adjustments, value add offers and targeted promotions. You’ll need the flexibility to control your business rules a variety of ways, so here is where you want to make sure the application has the flexibility you’ll need. Price adjustments should have the flexibility to be calculated as a fixed dollar amount ($) -or- a percentage (%) of the fare and apply to certain sales channels or affiliate groups. Business Rules should be easy to enter with the ability to define filters for a specific airline, flight number or class of service. With the way that airline fares and seat availability so frequently it can be nearly impossible for the most experienced travel agent to keep up with where to find the latest deals. A flexible and easy to use Business Rules feature can help you manage.
Finding Flight Booking Software that provides the right content, powerful business rules and flexible distribution capabilities is an important decision for any travel business, so choosing the right technology partner can be just as important.
