More
than two years -- 27 months, to be precise -- after Sabre Travel
Network revealed it had a long-term subscriber agreement with
Expedia Inc., Sabres GDS unit began processing a portion of
Expedia.coms and Expedia Corporate Travels air bookings, the
companies said.
Both companies
declined to disclose how much business Sabre is getting from the
two Expedia Inc. units. And, Expedia.com acknowledged that
Worldspan still handles a portion of its air bookings. Worldspan
had been Expedia.com's exclusive GDS, and Amadeus handles some
international bookings for other Expedia Inc.
properties.
Sabres May 2004
announcement about the subscriber agreement indicated it expected
to process a meaningful portion of Expedia.coms
bookings.
Expedia Inc. and Sabre
Travel Network also revealed that the subscriber agreement, which
would have expired in 2009, has been extended until
2012.
Expedia Inc. also
proclaimed its support of Sabres Efficient Access Solution (EAS),
which guts agency incentives.
However, a Sabre
spokeswoman noted that Expedia.com has yet to sign up for EAS and
was just noting its broad support for the program.
Asked whether Expedia
also supports Worldspans Super Access Product, an Expedia
spokeswoman said the company views EAS as the best program for the
industry..
Expedia Inc. decided
to supplement its GDS vendors as a hedge against airline content
fragmentation.
To contact
reporter Dennis Schaal, send e-mail to [email protected].