Amadeus
announced
today that North American travel agents can view, book and ticket fares from
more than 50 airfare supplier web sites - including “low cost” carriers -
via Amadeus AgentNet, through a global technology agreement signed with
FareChase.
 
Kay Urban, EVP and COO for Amadeus North America
The transaction means that FareChase`s real-time, evolutionary platform
will be deployed by Amadeus
to serve its network of agencies in the US and
Canada, giving travel providers the ability to combine the power of the
Internet, including non-GDS content, with traditional distribution.
 
The FareChase
web automation software enables Amadeus agents to display
published airfares as well as gain access to the full range of web and low
cost airline fares from carriers such as Southwest and JetBlue, which were not
previously available in the Amadeus GDS.  North American travel agents now
have a single source of access to web fares via a simple desktop portal,
Amadeus AgentNet.  The elimination of time-consuming searches of individual
sites will increase agents` productivity and enhance the service given to
travelers.
 
The new web automation software consists of a comprehensive low-fare
search based on origin, destination, and travel dates.  Powered by FareChase,
the low-fare search compiles results from a variety of supplier sites and
presents up to 200 choices to the travel agent, who simply clicks on the
supplier name to link to the supplier site.
 
  “Amadeus is pleased to bring agents the technology they need to boost
their effectiveness in the highly competitive North American marketplace where
there is growing demand for automated access to low-cost carriers and web
fares,” said Kay Urban, EVP and COO for Amadeus North America.  “Through our
technology agreement with FareChase, Amadeus continues its commitment to
providing travel agents with access to the broadest range of travel providers
and fare choices available through any distribution channel today, thereby
enabling their ongoing productivity, profitability and success.”
 
Future enhancements to the web fares functionality will include the
integration of booking data with the Amadeus passenger name record (PNR),
adding several filters to customize the web fare search, and making the web
fares solution available on the Windows-based solution, Amadeus APS (Amadeus
Pro Software).
 
“Our alliance with Amadeus gives North American travel agents the ability
to combine the power of the Internet with traditional distribution to
significantly enhance the value of their offering to consumers,” said Krista
Pappas, Senior Vice President, FareChase.  “With the newly integrated Web fare
solution announced today, Amadeus travel agents can book with complete
confidence, knowing they found the best fare available, without spending extra
time.”
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