Rate reshopping and audit provider Tripbam during the next month will begin to roll out new capabilities to analyze airfares by the source of the content, the company announced Sunday at the Global Business Travel Association convention in Dallas.
The company will analyze fares from different distribution channels, including global distribution systems, third-party aggregators and airline websites, then use client itineraries to shop for like-for-like content through those channels “so that travel managers can quantify what impact New Distribution Capability is having on their travel program,” Tripbam VP of air solutions Jason Kramer told BTN.
“NDC has created a huge problem for travel managers in the context that there are various flight options and fares that are spread across different platforms and different websites, and as a consequence of that, fare parity no longer exists,” Kramer said. “We are in this environment where travel managers don’t know where to find the lowest fares, and neither do their travelers.”
The effect of NDC on corporate travel programs has been heightened in recent months as carriers continue to move to withdraw fares from traditional EDIFACT-connected channels, including GDSs.
Tripbam’s new capability does not involve reshopping NDC fares. That functionality still is on Tripbam’s roadmap, and “we will get to the point in 2023 where we will be able to introduce NDC into the reshop process,” Kramer said.
Travel managers have been “clamoring” for analytics surrounding the impact of NDC, Kramer added. “We will be able to answer a variety of different questions: How much is NDC impacting overall costs? Where can travelers find the lowest fare? What impact does an omnichannel strategy have on an airline program?” he said. “And then ultimately, what alternatives do [travel managers] need to consider?”
Initially, select clients will have access to the new capability, with plans to fully roll it out in the fourth quarter, Kramer said, adding that it will sit within one of Tripbam’s existing air products.
