NEWS - Agent Issues
Firms ease booking of consolidators' fares (1/16/2002)
By Dennis Schaal
NEW YORK -- In separate actions, two Canadian companies made it easier for agents to book consolidators' fares.
Vancouver-based SolarNet introduced its Real-Time Booking Engine, with Trans Am Travel as its first consolidator.
What this means is that agents using Amadeus, Galileo/Apollo, Sabre and Worldspan can check Trans Am's seat availability and fare rules, complete live bookings and receive a confirmed passenger name record (PNR).
Previously, agents could not make real-time bookings.
Based in Alexandria, Va., Trans Am is a large wholesaler/consolidator.
SolarNet said its new booking engine means some 450,000 agents now have free access to Trans Am inventory.
And, in a separate action, Galileo Canada deployed Red Seal Vacations' air, car, tour and consolidator inventory to Canadian agents using Apollo via Galileo LeisureLink.
Red Seal Vacations, a tour wholesaler, used Galileo's XML Select technology to connect its host system to LeisureLink, enabling real-time inventory booking.
As with SolarNet's booking engine, Apollo agencies receive online confirmations when they book consolidator inventory through LeisureLink. |
