Beyond NDC - Online Travel Agencies | Sabre 1

FOR ONLINE TRAVEL AGENCIES

®

Beyond NDC - Online Travel Agencies | Sabre 2

Airlines are developing new intelligent retailing capabilities to fuel growth Airlines seek to grow by developing new retailing capabilities to deliver more intelligent offers to travelers. To broaden their reach, airlines want to distribute these new types of offers not only directly through their own websites, but also via indirect distribution channels, such as the Sabre GDS marketplace. Currently, legacy messaging standards inhibit indirect distribution.

NDC provides the technical “plumbing” to enable indirect distribution of intelligent offers NDC is a travel-industry-supported program introduced by the International Airline Transport Association (IATA). NDC is a set of XML-based data exchange standards that creates new “technical plumbing” to enable distribution symmetry of intelligent offers across both direct and indirect channels. Introducing NDC-enabled solutions will help airlines merchandise their inventory more effectively.

Sabre is focused on leveraging the NDC standard by driving innovation, building compelling products to drive value, and leading industry conversations to fill in gaps (servicing, etc.) and therefore, creating value for all constituents.

One of the primary differences with NDC, is that airlines will create and control the flow of offers. Sabre partners with OTAs to enable access to more content and meet customers’ needs. Sabre offer and order APIs are the pathway to NDC content for OTAs and lay the foundation for access as we steadily increase our capabilities in the coming months and years.

NDC brings a fundamental shift in workflows

NDC level-set

2019 marks an inflection point as NDC starts to become real. OTAs have an opportunity to join in and benefit from the content diversification that NDC promises. Sabre OTA account teams worldwide are ready to partner with you and advise regarding potential changes in workflow, as well as help your teams start testing Sabre Offer and Order NDC APIs.

CONSTANTINE HALLAX Vice President, Online Sales, Americas

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1. Seamless Integration: NDC offers are fully integrated into Sabre’s leading Bargain Finder Max (BFM) shopping capability, which normalizes traditional and NDC offers.

2. Developer experience: Sabre Offer and Order APIs for NDC content are REST/JSON enabled for the end-to-end workflow. We make it easy to get started with detailed documentation on the workflow available via Sabre Dev Studio, which includes a postman demo via GIT HUB.

3. Efficiency: Managing multiple direct connections to airlines adds development time and cost. Sabre manages this complexity and connectivity, resulting in direct savings for you by reducing implementation and maintenance costs.

Looking for developer resources, including API documentation and capabilities?

Visit Sabre Dev Studio

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Why OTAs leverage Sabre APIs to integrate and sell NDC content

Sabre successfully integrated the travel community’s voice into the design and development process of the new NDC API on eye level. Their NDC Customer Advisory Board provides for an excellent platform to discuss NDC-related topics. All Sabre experts I have had the opportunity to speak with are very knowledgeable and I really appreciate the in-depth discussions very much.

ANDREAS OCHSE Chief Technology Officer, AERTicket

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WORKFLOW STEP CURRENT PROCESS IMPLICATIONS WITH NDC TAKEAWAYS FOR THE OTA

One single API request and source from ATPCO

Sabre shopping API integrates content from multiple sources (ATPCO, LCC, NDC) into one single API.

Displaying NDC offers may include multiple components to support comparison shopping.

Minimize integration efforts.

Optimize development resources.

Understand UI design implications associated with NDC offers.

One single API to verify the details of the Offer.

A single API is used to validate the pricing with additional qualifier (like FF#, etc.) irrespective of the content source (ATPCO, NDC, etc.).

The “Offer Price” API now provides a common approach to obtaining final pricing.

Itinerary revalidation

PNR creationThe NDC booking process requires separate Sabre APIs.

Sabre booking APIs for NDC are less complex because you only send in offer ID and passenger details.

“Order Create” is the API to request an NDC order. (Order is how reservations are referred to in the NDC world).

One PNR is created in the Sabre GDS and one is created in the airline reservation system.

Order is created in the airline reservation system.

Sabre keeps a copy of the order in its Order Management System (OMS).

When an NDC order is created, a mirror PNR is simultaneously generated in the Sabre GDS, which can also be retrieved via Sabre Red 360.

Simplified development efforts.

Itinerary revalidation

PNR creation

Introduction of new “Time to Live” concept: NDC offers expire based on the carrier’s business rules. This is referenced to as “time to live” or TTL.

An NDC offer must be booked within its TTL interval.

TTL will vary by airline and possibly by date of travel.

After TTL has expired, an offer will need to be re-shopped and re-priced.

Ensure that the online booking flow includes the information on the validity of the offer.

Considering stakeholder needs across end-to-end workflows is a key component of Sabre’s iterative development process. We are collaborating with customers to design and refine our Beyond NDC solutions. While we strive to minimize workflow disruptions, some changes may be needed. Work with your Sabre account representative to understand NDC workflows.

SHOPPING

PRICING VALIDATION

BOOKING

Be in the know for your OTA workflow

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WORKFLOW STEP CURRENT PROCESS IMPLICATIONS WITH NDC TAKEAWAYS FOR THE OTA

For traditional offers, OTAs issue tickets through the Sabre GDS.

For NDC Offers, airlines will issue tickets upon receiving a fulfillment request from an OTA.

The API to request fulfillment is called “Orders Change.”

OTAs need to be aware of this change in order to adjust collection, billing and back-office processes.

Tickets are issued by OTAs by using automatically assigned ticket stock.

A technology provider may utilize neutral ticket stock on behalf of an airline.

Allows multiple payment options.

Leverages ARC/BSP capabilities (depending on carrier’s implementations).

PNRs/reservations normally have a ticketing deadline for midnight on the day of creation.

An airline will return the ticketing time limit after an order has been created.

OTA may need to adjust ticketing delivery processes.

A variety of forms of payment (FOP) accepted today.

Some airlines may only accept credit cards as a FOP as they start to distribute NDC offers.

Those airlines using neutral ticket stock, may accept other forms of payment as well.

Consider your customer base and payment terms.

Know if your airline partners will adopt neutral ticket stock.

OTAs can manage involuntary changes, make voluntary changes and cancel reservations.

OTAs can add or edit reservation fields such as email address, telephone number, seat assignment, etc.

Cancellation pre-fulfillment is available today.

Voluntary changes post-ticketing will be delivered in 2020.

Sabre is working to normalize these capabilities, but we also recommend you familiarize yourself with your airline partners’ procedures and policies.

Steady state Changes to mid-office systems will be necessary and will vary depending on the type of system and provider.

Assess your mid-office systems and determine how they support your NDC plans and if adjustments are needed. Ask third-party providers about their approach to migrating to the new NDC-enabled APIs.

Steady state

Sabre will continue to provide the Interface User Record (IUR) – a file produced every time a ticket is issued or modified and enables settlement between the agency and airline. Content in the new IUR file may be slightly different, requiring adjustments to processing.

Adjustments to processing may be required.

POST-BOOKING

MID-OFFICE

BACK-OFFICE RECONCILIATION

PAYMENT

TICKETING

cont’d...

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We are setting the foundation for NDC now, though widespread adoption will take time. Now is the time to test and learn, so you can experience the full benefits of NDC as additional capabilities become available. Visit Sabre Dev Studio for the latest on our NDC APIs.

Include NDC in your strategic planning conversations

Ask your Sabre account representative about accessing and testing the APIs

Share feedback about the APIs with your Sabre account representative

Ask other third-party partners about their ability to support your NDC plans

Conduct user research and usability testing to determine optimal interface design for personalized bundles and prices

NDC is here, it’s time to test

Get started today!

Fareportal is a leader in NDC adoption and implementation, starting with engagement in 2013. Embracing NDC and engaging with key industry stakeholders early on enabled us to leverage learnings and testing leading to our implementation position today. I believe this process is imperative for success, and it is further enabled by partnerships such as ours with Sabre.

VERONICA SILVER Vice President, Fareportal