ACCORDING to Sabre, its air shopping platform returned the lowest fares globally when compared to other leading GDSs.
The finding was the result of research by Fried & Partner, a German marketing and management consulting company, in partnership with Sabre.
Results of the Low Fare Study showed that Sabre found the lowest fare 12 per cent more often than Amadeus and 9 per cent more often than Travelport.
This also led to substantial discounts, with Sabre fares saving travel buyers on average US$20.50 and US$11.40 compared to Amadeus and Travelport respectively.
Explaining why this was an important finding, Sean Menke, president, Sabre Travel Network, said: “Travellers want to know that no matter which airline, itinerary and services they choose, they are getting a good value for their money and the experience that is right for them.”
He added: “For travel agents especially, the ability to consistently find the lowest fare is foundational to improving their service quality and generating savings for the traveller at the same time.”
When contacted for comment, an Amadeus spokesperson said: “This study was commissioned by Sabre and does not reflect a neutral or objective view of Amadeus’ search results.
“We believe that search requires an understanding of the business practises of online travel players and airlines, and most importantly that search is about content. In comparison to other GDSs, Amadeus has more airlines with content agreements.”
Travelport similarly finds flaws in the study, noting that it was funded by Sabre, thus skewing results in their favour. “For example, the study compares fares in certain key markets such as the US, based on a Travelport pricing engine which is not even used there,” said a Travelport spokesperson.
“The data produced by Sabre’s marketing study is not in line with our data, or the feedback we receive from our customers who also monitor their performance very closely.”
