It looks like a-la-carte pricing is here to stay with the airlines. Not only are carriers making gobs of money, but reservation technology is beginning to catch up with the airlines’ love of fees — fees for baggage, fees for meals, fees for reservations, fees for pets, fees for pillows, fees for blankets, fees for snacks, fees for drinks and more.
The major GDS systems, which handle most airline reservations, have been working on a pricing solution for years and finally their technology is allowing them to deal with systems where fees are subtracted from fares, as is the case with Air Canada, and with added fees like those found in most of the industry.
Sabre last fall introduced their new technology. Amadeus has been creating systems for individual airlines that provide this service in bits and pieces. And Travelport GDS just introduced “a travel industry merchandising first and technology leap forward for Air Canada” with the full market launch of Travelport Agencia, a travel booking solution that delivers access to the complete portfolio of Air Canada’s a la carte product “in a seamless manner” to users of Travelport’s Apollo GDS.
Travelport Agencia enables travel agencies not only to display and book all of Air Canada’s fare families but also to book any service from the carrier’s a la carte menu such as lounge access, prepaid onboard food vouchers, checked baggage and advance seat assignment.
Now that GDS computer systems are beginning to catch up to reality in the airline a-la-carte world, perhaps transparency in the ticket purchase process will begin to emerge. It would be nice to get the full price for an airline ticket before it is time to push the final purchase button in the online world.
Maybe the airlines will be able to begin advertising airfares with more of a touch of reality than an impossible-to-buy one-way price with no taxes and fees. That would be a change every consumer would welcome.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
