Sabre Holdings Corporation (NYSE: TSG) today announced a new service for airlines, Sabre Connected travel consultants and travelers that provides access to deeply discounted fares—previously available only via the Internet. With the introduction of Sabre Clearance Fare Outlet, consumers shopping via travel agencies or on the Web can now find fares equal to or lower than the lowest fares distributed by participating carriers on the Internet. Sabre is the first to provide travel consultants access to these types of last minute travel deals.
“Reducing fares to sell the few remaining seats on an aircraft is a proven means for customers to get great last minute deals and airlines to maximize revenue. Displaying these fares at the maximum number of distribution points increases the probability of reaching the customer,” said Scott Alvis, senior vice president of associate marketing and sales for Sabre. “Sabre Clearance Fare Outlet provides a low-cost distribution outlet where airlines can post remaining inventory, non-published and last-minute fares and immediately make them available to price-sensitive customers through more than 47,000 Sabre Connected travel consultants and participating airline and travel Web sites.”

Sabre Clearance Fare Outlet is currently available to Sabre Connected travel agencies and will soon be available through other Sabre connected channels, such as Sabre Business Travel Solutions(R), the company’s business- to-business corporate travel management system. This new service complements the wide range of fare-shopping tools available through Sabre, with fares that are updated more than five times a day and can be searched by date, location, price or destination. The Sabre system processes nearly 40 percent of the world’s travel reservations for millions travelers.

This new service offers airlines a reduced distribution cost for non- published promotional fares. Initial carriers listing fares through Sabre Clearance Fare Outlet include Aeromexico, ATA and National Airlines. Sabre also is in final discussions with several additional participants.

“We are excited to participate with Sabre in this first-of-its-kind initiative,” said Richard Lesman, ATA’s director of sales and distribution. “By participating, we will now have the added flexibility of distributing selected weekly Internet special fares through Sabre technology.”

Sabre is the global leader in applying information technology to meet the needs of the travel and transportation industries with advanced and innovative technology skills to deliver progressive solutions. Headquartered in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, the company has more than 10,000 employees worldwide who span 45 countries. Sabre reported 1999 revenues of $2.4 billion, up 5.6 percent from 1998. Net earnings excluding special items were $264 million, up 15.2 percent from the prior year. More information on Sabre is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.sabre.com. Sabre, Sabre Business Travel Solutions and the Sabre logo are registered trademarks of an affiliate of Sabre Inc.

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