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Rate reshopping and audit provider TripBam will begin to roll out new capabilities to analyse airfares by the source of the content during the next month.
The company announced the development on Sunday (13 August) at the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) convention in Dallas.
TripBam said it would analyse fares from different distribution channels, including global distribution systems (GDS), third-party aggregators and airline websites.
The tech firm would then use client itineraries to shop for like-for-like content through those channels “so that travel managers can quantify what impact New Distribution Capability (NDC) is having on their travel programme,” Jason Kramer, TripBam’s VP of air solutions, told BTN.
“NDC has created a huge problem for travel managers in the context that there are various flight options and fares that are spread across different platforms and different websites, and as a consequence of that, fare parity no longer exists,” added Kramer.
“We are in this environment where travel managers don’t know where to find the lowest fares, and neither do their travellers.”
The effect of NDC on corporate travel programmes has been heightened in recent months as carriers, such as American Airlines and United Airlines, continue to move to withdraw fares from traditional EDIFACT-connected channels, including some GDSs.
TripBam’s new capability does not initially involve reshopping NDC-enabled fares, with this functionality still on TripBam’s roadmap. “We will get to the point in 2023 where we will be able to introduce NDC into the reshop process,” added Kramer.
Travel managers have been “clamouring” for analytics surrounding the impact of NDC, said Kramer.
“We will be able to answer a variety of different questions: How much is NDC impacting overall costs? Where can travellers find the lowest fare? What impact does an omnichannel strategy have on an airline programme?” he said. “And then ultimately, what alternatives do [travel managers] need to consider?”
Initially, select clients will have access to the new capability, with plans to fully roll it out in the fourth quarter, Kramer explained, adding that it will sit within one of TripBam’s existing air products.
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