Amadeus announced in February that it would begin displaying its airline inventory on Google Flights.
Industry insiders say that agents should be aware of this development and should not see it as a neutral move. An industry tech insider told Travel News that it was yet another attempt by airlines to cut out travel agents.
Amadeus says the Google Flight and the Google Offer Management system will benefit from Amadeus MetaConnect and Amadeus Nevio feed, “improving flight search accuracy for travellers worldwide”.
The industry expert (who is known to Travel News but who wished to remain anonymous) explained that the partnership included Amadeus’s airline hosting system, Altéa, and not Amadeus’s GDS. (Altéa manages airline inventory, and talks to the various GDS systems to accept travel agency and OTA bookings.)
“It means that consumers will be able to search in Google for flights and Google will return the best offer from the airlines. Google may also display offers from OTAs such as Expedia. Then there will be a link to book on the airline’s or OTA’s website.”
So, they point out, this partnership is a direct-to-consumer offer, that could provide better pricing than that available to agents on the GDS. Additionally, it gives airlines more opportunity to upsell the customer and charge for seats, bags, early boarding and more.
“Agents will lose out as airlines try and direct more eyeballs to their websites,” the expert said.
Obsolete OTAs?
Fundamentally, the partnership offers airlines greater control over the distribution of their inventory.
However, US travel trade publication, Beats of Hawaii, notes that the relevance of OTAs might be the most threatened entity in this move. Sites like Expedia, Kayak and Skyscanner have traditionally played a major role in listing competitive fares and allowing price comparisons. Now, airlines might gain more power by offering their best fares, on their terms, exclusively on Google Flights rather than via third-party websites.
Overwhelming
Amadeus’s integration allows airlines to adjust fares in near real-time – their dynamic pricing models adjust fares based on demand, competition, and the time of booking. However, fares in constant motion is bound to make it hard or even overwhelming for consumers to lock in their favourite deal.
Despite fare alerts, consumers will have to be more strategic about when and how they book flights – challenges that travel agents also face.
The more complexity and uncertainty present in the Google booking process, the more consumers are likely to turn back to a source that has insight, understanding and experience in airline bookings – retail travel consultants.
