Sabre Red to provide ancillary transparency

Sabre has today (June 16) announced the roll-out of its new Sabre Red reservation system, which it hopes will give agents more information on airline charges

Although Sabre has been working with airlines such as United for some time to include ancillary information, the new product will make it possible for agents to filter searches by extras such as baggage fees.

The new "Shop by Total Price" facility will allow agents include and exclude various ancillary options as they become available across its global distribution service (GDS).

But so far the number of ancillary charges given exposure across MySabre, Sabre's current booking platform, is limited, a problem Sabre is aware of and is working to improve.

Speaking to ABTN after the announcement, Greg Webb, president of Sabre Travel Network, said that Sabre Red would provide airlines with a platform as they begin to introduce more ancillaries.

But he added: "The problem is there are no carriers out there that really have much in the way of ancillary services, so the initial stuff is likely to be informational as opposed to purchase."

Webb argued that the value of Sabre Red's total price facility would be in providing information so that Sabre-connected agents can make better choices. Purchasing power would come later as airlines begin to list more ancillaries.

Webb said it would become "increasingly important for airlines to be transparent over ancillary services" and hinted at a dialogue between the main technology providers and the carriers they work with

Sabre yesterday unveiled the new Sabre Red desktop to an audience of some of its key European travel management clients. The announcement to US customers is expected today.

The platform is already being rolled out worldwide, and the first 250 agents will be upgraded by July 15. Sabre expects to complete the majority of upgrades by the end of the year.

Agents familiar with MySabre should not worry too much about training. According to Webb, the first delivery of Sabre Red will look and behave much like MySabre, and agents will have complete control over migration, such as which new facilities to enable and when.

Sabre Red is a re-write of MySabre and so is backward compatible with API, profiles, PF keys and scripts all the same. Sabre Red has a blue screen emulator, and profiles are shared with Sabre's GetThere online booking tool.

Other key features include a heavy emphasis on social networking and the integration of XML feeds, the ability to create "apps" in different programming languages using a Sabre Red development kit, multi-GDS capability and a strong mobile device suite (pictured).

www.sabre-holdings.com