TRAMS integrated AgentWares Trip Console,
which agencies can use to search for and book non-GDS inventory,
into Trams ClientBase Plus Live Connect, a CRM and back-office
accounting system that facilitates Web bookings. What this means is
that ClientBase Plus Live Connect users can use Trip Console to
book flights from such carriers as JetBlue, Ryanair, Easyjet,
Spirit, AirTran, Air Canada, consolidators and other Internet
travel sellers and import the reservation details into ClientBase
Plus without having to manually process the reservations.
ClientBase Plus Live Connect -- the application is used at about
11,000 agency locations -- is sort of a two-way street to the Web
and back. Agency log-in and client data get transferred to the
supplier Web site for bookings, and then reservation details get
imported into the ClientBase Plus database, enabling agencies to
manage inventory and run reports on both GDS and non-GDS bookings.
HILTON
HOTELS accredited Travelocity -- as in Travelocity.com,
Lastminute.com, Zuji.com and Site59.com -- as an online distributor of Hilton
properties merchant and opaque inventory, and Travelocity and
Hilton penned their first chainwide agreement. With Travelocity in
the fold, Hilton essentially completed the process it began in June
when it issued distribution standards related to trademarks,
technology, marketing practices and economic terms. Hilton said it
has now accredited all major third-party, online merchant booking
channels, including Travelocity, Expedia, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Priceline and Orbitz.
DEALS,
DEALS, DEALS:
" Sabre separately reached GDS participation agreements
with Northwest and US Airways, locking in their published fares for
five years. The terms of the agreements, including the economics of
the booking fees the airlines will pay, were not disclosed. Sabre
and Northwest also reached a settlement, subject to bankruptcy
court approval this month, in their litigation over the airlines
2004 shared GDS fee and the retaliatory steps that Sabre carried
out. Details of the settlement are under seal, but Sabre would pay
Northwest a mutually agreed sum that would bring substantial
economic benefits to the airline, according to a bankruptcy court
motion. The US Airways deal also covers America West-branded
flights. Sabre and US Airways also signed a five-year pact that
makes Travelocitys private-label business, called the Travelocity
Partner Network, the exclusive hotel provider to the airlines Web
sites.
" Meanwhile, KLM and Worldspan signed a multiyear
full-content agreement, ensuring that Worldspan subscribers will be
able to access the same KLM inventory available through all of the
airlines sales channels without surcharges. Separately, KLM agreed
to become a participant in the Worldspan Interchange, an e-ticket
message communications hub for interline e-ticketing. The companies
said that the Worldspan product can translate airlines divergent
Edifact messaging versions, which helps to save on programming
costs.
SABRE took a minority stake in VRX
Worldwide and signed a three-year content licensing agreement with
VRX Worldwide subsidiary VRX Studios. VRX, headquartered in
Vancouver, provides Web-ready images of hotels, cruise ships and
destinations to the Web sites of suppliers, including Carnival,
Hyatt, Virgin Holidays, Priceline.com, Southwest Vacations and many others.
The licensing agreement means Travelocity.com, Lastminute.com and
the World Choice Travel affiliate network will be able to use VRX
imagery, including still photography, virtual tours and interactive
maps, as well as written descriptions. Sabres investment in VRX is
in the form of a convertible debenture with a face value of some
$955,145. Separately, VRX expanded its relationship with Hyatt,
with VRX winning a contract to shoot imagery for all of Hyatts 90
international properties in Europe, Asia, Australia, Mexico and the
Middle East. An agreement that the two companies announced last
year covered Hyatts 120 properties in the U.S.