Worldspan has announced an agreement with United Airlines that will enable the carrier to utilise Worldspan Rapid Reprice, Worldspanå‘s automated repricing solution, to process ticket exchanges throughout its worldwide operation.

Repricing tickets manually is usually an inefficient process for airlines, resulting in inaccurate calculations that cost them lost revenue. Worldspan Rapid Reprice allows airlines to instantly and precisely determine new pricing and rules for ticket exchanges globally, including appropriate collections, refunds or change fees.

Worldspan
estimates that in the past year, airlines using Rapid Reprice have generated up to US$500 million dollars in additional revenue.

Graham Nichols
, Vice President and General Manager EMEAA, said: “Currently, the main airline adopters of Rapid Reprice are from the Americas as they clearly understand its revenue benefits. I urge airlines based in Europe to adopt this technology which is available to them now. While Rapid Reprice is unique to Worldspan, airlines do not have to be Worldspan-hosted to adopt it. It’s also a product relevant to travel agencies and online travel sites, and we expect to release a version of Rapid Reprice for them in the first quarter of 2004.”

“Without question, inaccurate ticket charges following an itinerary change cost our business a great deal of money,” said Greg Taylor, senior vice president - Planning for United Airlines
. “By streamlining the repricing process Rapid Reprice will help resolve this long-standing issue while facilitating enhanced customer service. We are very pleased to be able to implement this innovative Worldspan solution.”

By automating the exchange process, Worldspan Rapid Reprice cuts ticket exchange times to just seconds, getting customers on their way quickly. And because the automated system accesses 13 months of comprehensive historical fares and rules data to reprice tickets, participating airlines are assured of accurate and complete transactions.

The technology also enables travel agencies and online travel sites to automatically recalculate fares and rules for faster ticket exchanges and better customer service. Industry wide response to Worldspan’s global automated solution has been enthusiastic. During the past year, Rapid Reprice utilisation totaled more than 3.8 million successful exchange transactions.

Full implementation of Worldspan Rapid Reprice within United’s system is expected by the year’s end. The new agreement places United as Worldspan’s largest customer using Rapid Reprice in conjunction with a non-Worldspan-hosted reservation and inventory management system.

Aeromexico, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and now United Airlines utilise Rapid Reprice technology internally. Carriers participating in Rapid Reprice for distributors include Aeromexico, America West, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, Midwest Airlines, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways.

Related stories on ITN:

(18/07/2003) Worldspan Wins Hong Kong Market Share

(16/07/2003) Worldspan Launches New Ferry Booking Solution in UK and Ireland

(02/07/2003) Worldspan Under New Ownership and Leadership

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