MIAMI -- Farelogix, a provider of direct-connect and merchandising solutions, unveiled a travel selling platform for agents, called Sprk (pronounced "spark"), at a press briefing here last week.
The platform provides access to a range of data sources, including GDSs and direct-connects to airlines, and is designed to give travel suppliers more flexibility for pricing and for selling ancillary services.
Farelogix CEO Jim Davidson said suppliers want that flexibility whether selling direct or through agents. When asked why agents needed a platform like Sprk, he said it was a matter of staying relevant to suppliers and to travelers. After pilot tests, rollout is projected for spring 2010.
He said Sprk is free to agencies, but some of Farelogix's partners, such as Pass Consulting, which provides the links to the GDSs, charge for their services. AgentWare, which provides access to low-cost carriers and airline Web fares not found in traditional sources, also charges, he said.
The initial direct-connect carriers are Air Canada, AirTran, American, Continental, Singapore, United and US Airways. Davidson said users can determine which direct connections or other Sprk sources to use.
Farelogix created the airline booking system, but Davidson said that "we don't know how to do hotels, cars and content." Therefore, to give nonair suppliers the same flexibility to differentiate their products and pricing, the firm signed on CarTrawler for car bookings, Alliance Hotel Network for hotels and Unaira for destination services. Also, Tripit provides "master itineraries" that include destination content.
For air searches, users can set parameters and search different combinations of GDS and direct-connect carriers based on which corporate client is being served. Each availability display indicates the source of the information, Davidson added.
Michael Zumdieck, Farelogix director of product definition, demonstrated how an agent would select and sell ancillary airline services such as checked baggage or WiFi access. He said if airlines price ancillaries differently based on the passenger's mileage status or other stored criteria, Sprk would accommodate it.
In fact, Davidson said, an airline could price the entire ticket differently based on frequent flyer status or the preferred status of the agency or corporate customer. He said all Sprk's direct-connect carriers have that capability.
Zumdieck said Sprk is ready for electronic miscellaneous documents, or EMDs, which are essentially e-tickets for ancillary services. For now, this works only if the booking was made with a direct-connect carrier. ARC will probably be EMD-ready by late Q3 2010, said Mike Premo, ARC vice president of marketing, sales and customer care.
Client selections for ancillary services would reside in the PNR and back-office systems and ultimately be accounted for in reports to corporate customers, Zumdieck said. Stored policies could dictate which ancillaries any given staffer could buy, he added.
Zumdieck also demonstrated how airline seat maps can show the value or availability of each seat, based on the customer's fare code. Maps can be customized further: Zumdieck said American wants to show the location of power ports.
He itemized other key capabilities:
- Agencies can store custom service fee structures by corporate customer and default fees for leisure sales. Each agency is the credit card merchant unless it uses the ARC fee program.
- If a customer books additional services off one of the partner icons that come with Sprk-generated itineraries or Tripit itineraries, that will be captured in the PNR, protecting the agency's commission.
- The tool can capture details of at-airport purchases, such as seat upgrades, for the PNR.
Aerticket, a consolidator in Berlin, and Boulevard Travel, a corporate agency in Calgary, Alberta, will be pilot sites beginning in January.