A travel business with more than one GDS contract has to decide, for every booking, which system issues the ticket. In the Innovate Solution booking platform that decision is made by rule: the airline on the booking determines which GDS the ticket is issued through, so ticketing staff stop routing bookings from memory.
The problem
Consolidators and larger agencies rarely work with a single GDS. They hold accounts with two or three of Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport, because no one system is the best place to ticket every airline. For one carrier the negotiated fares, the content or the commercial terms are better on one GDS; for the next carrier they are better on another.
In day-to-day operation that knowledge usually lives in people's heads, or in a spreadsheet pinned next to the ticketing desk: this airline goes through that system. Experienced staff know it. New staff do not, and a busy shift is exactly when someone issues through the wrong one.
A ticket issued through the wrong channel is rarely a disaster, but it is always work: a void and reissue if it is caught in time, a missed commercial term if it is not, and a correction somebody has to chase afterwards. And every new airline deal means re-briefing the whole team.
Why it is hard to fix
The rule is commercial, not technical
Which GDS suits which airline depends on the agency's own agreements, so it differs from one business to the next and changes whenever a deal changes.
It has to be right every time
A routing habit that is correct nine times out of ten still produces a steady trickle of reissues.
It must not slow ticketing down
Asking staff to look the rule up before each ticket defeats the purpose.
What we built
Ticketing in the platform is dynamic. The business sets, for each airline, which of its GDS connections that airline's tickets are issued through. When a booking is ready to ticket, the platform reads the airline, applies the rule and issues through that GDS.
The person issuing the ticket does not pick a system and does not need to know the rule. Because the platform connects to Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport using the agency's own PCC, Office ID or SID credentials, the rules sit on top of the accounts the business already holds — nothing is migrated or re-registered.
How it works
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Connect the GDS accounts
The agency's existing Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport credentials are connected to the platform.
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Set the rule per airline
For each airline, the business chooses which GDS its tickets are issued through.
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A booking reaches ticketing
The platform identifies the airline on the booking and selects the GDS the rule names.
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The ticket is issued
Issuance runs through the selected GDS and the ticket is recorded against the booking.
What changes for the team
| Before | With this in place |
|---|---|
| "Which GDS for this airline?" is answered from memory or a spreadsheet | It is answered by a rule the business set once |
| New ticketing staff must learn the routing before they can be trusted with it | They issue from one screen; the routing is not their decision |
| A changed airline deal means re-briefing everyone | It means changing one rule |
| Wrong-channel tickets are found afterwards and corrected by hand | The choice of channel is taken out of the individual's hands |
What it does not do
- It applies the rules you set. Deciding which GDS is commercially best for which airline remains your call.
- It does not grant ticketing authority. Issuing flight tickets still needs your own IATA accreditation, a host-agency arrangement or a consolidator agreement.
- It works with the GDS accounts you hold; it does not provide GDS contracts.
Questions
Which GDSs can tickets be issued through?
The platform connects to Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport using your own PCC, Office ID or SID credentials, so ticketing rules can route between whichever of those accounts you hold.
Does the person issuing the ticket choose the GDS?
No. The airline on the booking determines the GDS according to the rule the business has set, and the ticket is issued through it.
Do we need to move our GDS accounts to use this?
No. The platform works with your existing GDS credentials; there is nothing to migrate or re-register.
Related
About this page. This is a solution case study: it describes a problem and how the platform solves it. It contains no customer names and no performance figures. For measured results from a named customer, see the customer case studies.
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