NEW YORK -- Bangkok-based Galaxy Distribution System is rolling out
a Web-based product that enables retailers to book overseas
products electronically, at wholesale prices, directly with
receptive operators.
Following a soft launch in March, the agent program -- called
Galaxy Travel Distribution System (TDS) -- offers more than 22,000
net-priced hotel rates, the company said.
Marco Gorin, Galaxy's corporate director of sales, said TDS will
add transfers, city packages and tours by the end of the third
quarter; at a later date, he expects to add other ground services,
such as car rentals, cruises, rail tickets and sporting events.
TDS, which is free to retailers, offers the products of 300
wholesalers worldwide, and that number is growing, said Myron
Ticlo, regional sales director for the Americas, based in Toronto.
He said about 65 travel agencies have signed on in the U.S. and
another 25 in Canada.
After retailers register, Ticlo said, they download the software
to access the TDS database via the Web. When searching for
products, he said, agents see details but not wholesaler names
until a booking is made and the voucher is printed. Agents print
their own vouchers.
For U.S. retailers, who have to be ARC- or Iatan-approved,
payment is made via a bank settlement plan (BSP) that largely
imitates the IATA settlement plans, Ticlo said. Retailers can pay
by check, electronic funds transfer or credit card.
For IATA agents outside the U.S., payment is made through IATA
BSPs by piggybacking on the membership of Germany's Hahn Air in
BSPs around the world (see story below).
In 1996, Galaxy launched a kind of GDS for the wholesale
industry where buyers and sellers could trade online; the product
included a central payment clearinghouse for ground services.
The system was enhanced in 1998 to provide inventory management
and private distribution systems for inbound operators to trade
online with their overseas buyers.
Galaxy said its system enables inbound operators to do business
directly with agents. For agents, TDS reduces search time while
offering immediate access and a wide selection.
New York agent Vijay Dusa of Mavi Travel, a TDS user for a few
weeks, cited another advantage: the ability to print customer
vouchers in his office.
Tony Cerruti, president of inbound operator Gastaldi USA in New
York, said he uses Galaxy to do business online with overseas
wholesalers, dealings that are made "more efficient."
He said he pays Galaxy on a per-booking basis, net of
cancellations. He plans to sign a second contract giving Galaxy
authority to sell Gastaldi's product line to retailers.
Agents earn commission booking with Hahn
Air
By Nadine Godwin
MIAMI -- The owner of Germany's Hahn Air launched a program --
call it "Piggyback BSP" for want of a cute brand name -- that
permits North American agents to issue air tickets for a number of
small overseas airlines not available in the ARC or IATA settlement
plans and earn a 7% commission.
Hahn Air's North American representative, Fraser Teasdale,
president-Americas for Aviareps Airline Management here, said
German tour operator Saspo saw an opportunity in the inability of
agents to deal with small airlines that can't afford to join the
settlement systems.
Saspo bought Hahn Air, a small regional carrier in Frankfurt,
and contracted with dozens of airlines worldwide to enable those
lines to sell through the GDSs with agents plating on Hahn Air.
Those agreements are the key to the operation because agents
ordinarily are prohibited from issuing a ticket on Carrier A using
the validator code of Carrier B, particularly if Carrier B isn't on
the itinerary.
Hahn Air joined ARC last December and the Canadian IATA bank
settlement plan (BSP) in February; these are two among 31 BSPs that
Hahn Air joined around the globe.
As a result, U.S. agents now can book another 40 airlines and
settle via ARC. Those carriers include Aeromar and Aviacsa in
Mexico; Air Berlin; Indian Airlines; SN Brussels and VASP in
Brazil. The full list appears at www.hr-ticketing.com.
Participating carriers determine where they accept tickets
plated on Hahn Air; for example, Frontier participates in the
program in Canada and will do so in Mexico, Teasdale said.
Customers are limited to payment by cash -- which is why the
program has not been broadly promoted yet -- but he said the credit
card capability should be available for U.S. and Canadian agencies
in about three months.
Teasdale said U.S. agents are placing "tens of thousands of
dollars' worth" of business on the Hahn Air plate each month, but
when the credit card capability is in place, that number is
expected to be "in the millions."
Saspo also is the creator of the All-America airpass, which is
not sold here, and the All-Europe airpass, which Aviareps promotes
on this side of the Atlantic. The All-Europe pass involves about 18
carriers, Teasdale said, that participate in the BSP Piggyback
program; the entire pass can be plated on Hahn Air, he added.