Travel professionals in the U.S. and Canada can now access and book ancillary services for the most airlines currently available in the North American market via any GDS, Amadeus reports.
Amadeus says it has launched for North America ancillary services for 14 airline partners. Amadeus subscribers in the U.S. and Canada can now access and book from their desktop a variety of ancillary services from airlines such as priority boarding, pre-paid baggage and other services travelers want.
Ancillary services from these carriers are currently accessible and bookable by Amadeus North America subscribers:
- Air Berlin
- El Al
- Belair
- Finnair
- Air France
- Iberia
- Air New Zealand
- Lufthansa
- Alitalia
- Niki
- Austrian
- Scandinavian
- Corsair
- Spirit Airlines
Available services include pre-paid baggage, chargeable seating, pre-paid meals, priority boarding, airport lounge access and more.
Amadeus said it will continue to implement ancillary services for more carriers in 2014, such as U.S. major airlines with development projects currently underway including American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
Amadeus’ ancillary services functionality enables travel professionals to easily provide and complete end-to-end air travel arrangements and deliver optimal value to travelers.
Amadeus travel agencies benefit from an easy-to-use, multi-channel end-to-end solution to sell ancillary services and compete effectively with airline direct and online channels. Integration of a graphical and dynamic catalog, with booking and issuance in the same workflow for nearly every airline, makes it easy and efficient.
The booking solution saves agents time and money by accessing the airlines’ ancillary services content through their point-of-sale, Amadeus says. "It is fully integrated within the standard booking flow, minimizing time needed for training. Furthermore, by being fully integrated into agency mid- and back-office systems, agents can save time otherwise spent on administrative tasks, ultimately maximizing their productivity and profits."
Reinforcing their role as true travel consultants, ancillary services allows travel professionals to offer their travelers the ability to customize their travel experience, Amadeus says. "Whether it’s a premium seat, advance boarding or a gourmet meal, by booking ancillary services via Amadeus, agents have more transparency earlier in the shopping process than ever before. This allows agents to assure their customers understand the total cost of their trip and puts them in the ideal position to help their customers choose the best travel option," said Amadeus.
Amadeus also says it has implemented in the North American market of the Electronic MiscellaneousDocument (EMD), a single, standard method used to issue all travel related services, replacing the existing automated Miscellaneous Charge Order (MCO), Amadeus virtual MCO and IATA virtual Miscellaneous Prepaid Document (MPD). The Amadeus EMD delivers enhanced functionality compared with the MCO, including interlining facility, multi-coupon functionality and e-ticket association, Amadeus says.
The move follows a new partnership that allows agents to secure their clients' preferred airline seats with Amadeus. Travel agents in over 60 markets will now be able to book travelers’ preferred seats in Economy Class in advance of travel, thanks to a new agreement with Lufthansa.
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The company is also making moves in the hotel technology space. Recently Amadeus acquired Newmarket International, a provider of cloud-based group and event IT solutions to the hotel industry, for $500 million.