TravelBank Adopts NDC for Flight Shopping and Booking
Good news for business travelers! Beginning this month, TravelBank is going live with the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) New Distribution Capability (NDC) for flight shopping and booking. This connection will provide TravelBank customers with the choice of more flights from the most comprehensive fare options available.
What is NDC?
According to IATA, NDC is a travel industry-supported program for the development and market adoption of a new, XML-based data transmission standard. The NDC Standard, which is designed to enhance the capability of communications between airlines and travel agents, is open to any third party, intermediary, IT provider or non-IATA member, to implement and use.
Until recently, airline pricing has been determined using standards based on outdated technology, limiting the pricing potential of the industry. NDC was designed to update this approach for the benefit of the industry and end users such as TravelBank customers.
How does this impact TravelBank customers?
The overall aim of NDC is to provide a more personalized and efficient booking experience for travelers, while offering airlines more control over the distribution of their products. It also provides more diverse and dynamic pricing as well as ancillary products such as seat upgrades, checked luggage, pre-ordered meals, and more. Shopping for fares through NDC is comparable to the fare classes and rates typically found when booking direct.
“The various fare classes divide every seat on a plane into different categories, each with its own price and set of rules,” explains The Points Guy. “Some fare classes and codes are standard across all airlines, while some are very different depending on the airline.”
TravelBank is collaborating directly with airline partners now to deliver a modernized shopping experience that shows the full suite of fares and options available to our customers when booking airfare for a business trip.
How this affects the TravelBank booking experience.
NDC will enhance the TravelBank flight shopping experience. By connecting to airlines via NDC, we can provide our customers with Dynamic Offers, which is a combination of three NDC capabilities: dynamic pricing, continuous pricing and dynamic bundling.
Starting this month, TravelBank customers will have access to continuous pricing from major airlines. According to IATA, “continuous pricing allows an airline to provide indefinite price points. This means the airline pricing becomes more granular to adapt to supply and demand at each moment in time. It leads to maximizing the aircraft’s capacity which as a result increases the number of satisfied customers (as they have more chances of getting their first choice) and drives more efficiencies.”
>> Related: TravelBank Adds NDC Integration for Lufthansa Group <<
In some instances, we have seen NDC fares that are less than fares were before, due to continuous pricing. Specific to the user experience in the TravelBank app, continuous pricing means TravelBank’s pricing will match that of the airline. NDC allows TravelBank to have the same full content, fare rates, and continuous pricing that airlines offer on its direct booking channels.
With the adoption of NDC, stay tuned for news about major airlines we will be partnering with to offer this enhanced shopping and booking in the TravelBank app.
