Today’s Travel Booking Engines Offer Endless Options

The travel booking engine you choose is a key element of your online business operations and needs to support the larger overall company strategy. It is always a good idea to start by reviewing your existing customer base and determine how you might serve them better and offer them additional services. Research has shown that it is usually less expensive to sell to existing customers and avoid to additional costs and resources often required to secure a new customer. Have you considered adding a hotel option for those customers using your air booking engine? What about a packaging engine that uses Cruise as the base of the transaction and then adds other travel products like air, hotel accommodations or activities during or around the Cruise dates. Odysseus clients will now have the features and capability to offer agents and consumers to either tailor make their own cruise/holiday with flights, hotel, activities and more or from a set of predefined trip/package that is tailored by a vacation expert.

How do your end customers prefer to make their travel reservations? This can be an important question to answer to make sure the travel booking engine you choose will provide access to the distribution channels you’ll need to serve your customers. Decades ago, a good retail location with plenty of foot traffic and a few Advertisements featuring special offers were enough to drive customers into your agency. The online revolution has dramatically changed the way consumers shop for everything, including travel.

Call center applications are great for providing personalized customer service and many give Agents the tools they need to research the best options and quickly assist customers on the phone or sitting at their desk. Some customers prefer to research options online and then call and speak with an agent to confirm their arrangements, while others like to research and book their travel arrangements at their convenience. It is all about consumer choice today and your business has to be ready with a travel booking engine ready to serve customers how and where they want. If your customers are like most, the application you choose will likely need to support B2B, B2C as well as B2B2C to serve your clients.

After you determine the content you’ll need to include and the distribution channels you need access to, it’s time to consider your technology options. Will a simple “white label” booking solution work for you or does your business need something a littl more customized? Do you need to work with a host agency or an air consolidator for some or all of your products or do use plan to your own agency credentials with the Supplier? What about the ability to adjust a products selling price or include a value add offer along with a hotel reservation or cruise vacation? There are countless technology providers offering different types of solutions for your business.

Finding a travel booking engine with the right combination of options for your business can be a critical decision. Finding a technology partner that will help you reach today’s mobile consumer where and how they shop for travel can be just as important.

Flight Reservation System to Compete in Travel Business

The flight reservation system was originally developed by the airlines decades ago in an attempt to automate processes and reduce the time and effort that was required to complete a reservation for a flight. These systems evolved over the years becoming the huge Global Distribution Systems or GDSs that many of today’s online booking engines use for live connectivity to hundreds of airlines worldwide. These massive systems aggregate content and provide live connections with literally hundreds of airlines and provide access to them all through a single interface.

Many of today’s online booking engines integrate with the GDSs to access airline content using an agency’s specific ID and then customize the headers, footers and style sheets to provide a seamless online experience for users. Complete private label versions are also supported where an agency can change the complete layout to meet their specific requirements. There’s even a flight reservation system with the ability to simultaneously search multiple content sources for the best price using live access to airline content to be sure the most up to date availability and pricing is used.

These online booking engines also provide the Revenue management tools needed to manage your business, including the ability to mark up or mark down a product’s selling price by supplier, itinerary, class of service, dates and more. Whether your customers prefer to book their travel arrangements directly with a travel agent (B2B) -or- they prefer to shop and book online (B2C), an air booking engine provides the ability to service them quickly and easily. Some even support Multiple Selling Channels which can be easily managed using a single application. Ready to help any size business grow, today’s online booking engine is designed to easily set up additional users and affiliated websites and many even have an optional mobile app for the flight reservation system.

The most flexible online reservation engines utilize responsive technology to provide greater support of various mobile and tablet screen sizes so customers can easily view and navigate through the booking process regardless of what device they are using. And for those looking to control the user interface of their online booking engine, an Air XML can provide the capability for a Client to host all User interfaces on their own server while using the core booking engine for business logic and live Pricing, Availability & Booking.

The best online booking engines are is designed to meet the unique requirements of Global Marketplaces and can easily handle multiple currencies as well as multiple languages. They use “state of the art” technology” that helps them design, develop and deliver flexible & fully scalable online reservation engines that can easily grow with your business while maintaining your unique identity.

So whether your clients are looking to book an airline ticket, reserve a hotel room or even plan that perfect cruise vacation, an online booking engine can help you serve them quicker and easier. Finding the right flight reservation system for your online travel business will play an important role in determining the success of your online booking engine. Finding the right technology partner may be even more important.

Innovation is Key to Booking Airlines Effieciently

From the beginning, airlines have been driving efficiency through innovation with systems designed to automate processes and reduce the time required to complete an airline reservation. These systems have been providing travel industry professionals the ability to book air travel directly for decades. Early on they began to offer the ability to search schedule availability and price for flights by a variety of search criteria such a specific airline, flexible travel dates, nearby airports, nonstops only, etc. As the volume of an airline’s business grew and they began to offer more service options in advance, the airline reservation system quickly began to include these features as well. Advance seat Selection, special service requests, ordering onboard meals in advance all became additional options in an online booking engine as well. Credit Card validation, AVS checks, Airline blocking, ticket type checks as well as consolidator and negotiated fares soon followed.

Many travel companies have found that the airline booking engine they can license from an experienced travel technology company to be more powerful and cost effective than developing, hosting and maintaining it themselves. For those looking to control their own user interface, some technology companies provide the capability for Clients to host all User interfaces on their own server while using a web services interface to their booking engine hosted by their technology partner.

There are many types of hosted solutions available including everything from the basic “out of the box” airline reservation system to more customizable applications that include unique sub-domains for your specific version of the application to minimize the appearance customers are being redirected from your website. The best of these allow for booking engine’s headers, footers and style sheets to be customized to maintain your brand identity and provide a seamless online experience for your customers. Some travel companies may require a fully custom application where they design the complete layout to meet their own specific requirements. Mobile apps are now available that can extend an airline booking engine to a dedicated app. Many clients are also choosing mobile ready applications built using responsive technology that automatically provides support of various mobile and tablet screen sizes so customers can easily view and navigate through the booking process regardless of the device they are using.

As is the case with many things, the more that you need customized, the higher your costs are likely to be. So remember to evaluate the benefit that customization brings compared to the associated additional costs.

Live access to content is critical for any airline reservation system. Some air booking engines even have the ability to simultaneously search multiple content sources for the best price, allowing an agency to combine their own content with content from a partner agency. Management Tools include the ability to mark up or mark down a product’s selling price by airline, itinerary, class of service, dates and more. Some even allow for promotional codes to be set up that can be redeemed during the booking process.

Finding an airline booking engine that can help your online business drive efficiencies through innovation is important. Finding the right technology partner to help make this happen is the key to success.

Air Booking Engines Are About Options

Air travel has exploded over the past few decades with more of the population travelling much more frequently than ever before. For many, hopping on a plane to go visit a friend, attend a quick meeting or just to enjoy a show has become as common place for some of us as taking a bus or train.

I was reminded of this while on a recent weekend trip. I was settling in my seat on a flight to New York when the lady seated next to me said hello and asked if I lived in New York. I said no, but that I was going there for the evening to have dinner and attend a show with a friend. We had a nice conversation about the show I was seeing and where I was planning to stay, etc. She even recommended a few places to eat and go for a drink after the show. We had a nice conversation during the flight and she shared some good suggestions on how I might spend my time in New York. We said our good-by at the end the flight and headed our separate ways.

I was in ta cab headed to my hotel when I began to think of how casual taking a trip to New York had become. My friends had just called me the day before letting me know they scored tickets to a great show and here I was in New York City the very next day heading to my hotel to get ready before the show. Planning the trip was simple using the air booking engine available on my travel agent’s website. I was able to quickly find and book a flight that fit my schedule and the application even included the option to book a hotel room at a reasonable rate. I was all set!

Access to an airline booking engine is a critical part of any online travel business, so you’ll want to research the options available in the market. And there are plenty of options out there, so be prepared to do your homework. First, you’ll want to understand your customer and determine their travel needs and shopping preferences. Next do some quick research on the different booking engine options available. For example, consider using an air booking engine that can also help your clients book a hotel room. This may be an excellent way for you to expand your overall sales volumes while helping you serve your customers better and build up customer loyalty in the process.

The airline booking engine you choose needs to be able to provide your travel business the access the airline content your customers need at the price they are looking for. It needs to include business rules capability for you to easily adjust a product’s selling price and offer special targeted promotions. And most of all, it needs to be easy to use and mobile ready to meet the demands of today’s consumer.

Finding an air booking engine with the right combination of options for your business can be a critical decision. Finding a technology partner that will help you reach today’s mobile consumer where and how they shop for air travel can be just as important.

Today’s Booking Engine needs to do More Than Just Sell Airline Tickets

The online air booking engine was originally designed to automate processes, increase revenues and reduce time and effort required to research and book an airline reservation. These applications have evolved significantly over the years and whether your clients are looking to book an airline ticket, a hotel room or even that perfect cruise vacation, today’s online reservation engine can help serve all of their travel needs.

Many online reservation engines have kept pace with the multiple ways that consumers research and book travel today. Some hosted applications utilize responsive technology to provide greater support of various mobile and tablet screen sizes so customers can easily view and navigate through the booking process regardless of what device they are using. While others provide the capability for a client’s to host all User interfaces on their own server while using the booking engine for business logic and live pricing, availability & booking.

Whether your customers prefer to book their air arrangements directly with a travel agent (B2B) -or- they prefer to shop and book online (B2C), you’ll want an online booking engine that provides the ability to service them easily via multiple selling channels using a single application.

The right air booking engine can provide the revenue management tools you’ll need to manage your business, including the ability to mark up or mark down a product’s selling price by airline, itinerary, class of service, dates and more. Some air booking engines even have the ability to simultaneously search multiple content sources for the best price and provide live access to airline content to be sure the most up to date availability and pricing is used.

Whether your customer is travelling for business or pleasure, one of the most important parts of their travel arrangements can be hotel accommodations. This is an area that working with a travel agent can really pay off since many agents know the different hotel properties, have access to special deals and in many cases can get you that VIP treatment that will make your stay more enjoyable. Many of today’s travel agency websites include a hotel booking engine option. This allows customers to take advantage of all the benefits that booking with a travel agent combined with the ease and accessibility of a using an online booking engine.

Booking with a travel agent may be the key to getting a special rate on a hotel room, a possible room upgrade or that special V.I.P. treatment during your stay. The right hotel booking engine can help your travel agency automate processes and reduce time or effort required to complete a hotel booking. Many are designed with the capability to search rates and availability at multiple properties in a given location and even include hotel images and descriptions to help decide which best hotel for a specific traveller.

Today’s online travel booking engines allow any size travel agent to compete with the largest online travel agency while providing the personalized service that booking with an individual travel agent can provide. With so many options finding the right online booking engine can be a critical decision that determines the success of your online business. Finding the right technology company to partner with can be even more important.