Sabre claims record agency wins

Sabre has retaliated against rival Galileo by disclosing a record number agency wins.

The GDS also released a pure internet version of Sabre, which it claims will save agencies “hundreds of pounds a month” in communication costs, and a new booking platform.

Sabre Travel Network UK, Ireland and Nordic region director David Brown denied that the release of news of 14 new agency gains in the past two months – the largest single group of business wins the GDS has ever seen in the UK – was a riposte to Galileo snatching away P&O Travel.

“We would be doing this regardless, it is purely coincidental,” he told TravelMole, while conceding that the new business gains more than made up for the loss of P&O Travel.

Sabre has switched Uniglobe Preferred, and an unnamed London-based travel management company it is acquiring, away from Galileo. Worldspan has lost Phileas Fogg Travel and Uniglobe Island Travel to Sabre.

Sabre says details of two other conversions are confidential while the remaining eight will be disclosed within weeks “once the agencies have had a chance to inform their current GDS providers”.

Mr Brown added that further UK agency conversions were expected in the next two weeks. These are in addition to another 38 from France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Switzerland and Holland which have switched to the system.

“The main reason people are switching is that it is clear that we have the content to give them and the technology to use it,” said Mr Brown. “We are starting to get to a position where GDS’s are not as homogenous as they used to be, we are starting to differentiate ourselves.”

A key element in Sabre’s agency gains was the company’s decision not to pass on the GDS surcharge imposed by British Airways at the start of the year, together with an improved economic climate after agencies had put technology upgrade decisions on hold after September 11, added Mr Brown.

He revealed that the new wins demonstrated that Sabre was making inroads into the leisure agency sector, having traditionally been a GDS used by business travel agencies.

Phileas Fogg and Uniglobe Preferred are the UK launch customers for new booking tool Sabre for Windows Point and Click, which is designed to simplify the booking process by combining tradition Sabre screens and codes with drop down menus, graphical icons and the ability to use a mouse to enter data instead of a keyboard.

These agencies will also use new booking platform called MySabre, which gives single screen access to air fares – including no-frills carriers – and is to be formerly launched in the UK later this month.

All the agencies will use Sabre’s Hardware Virtual Private Network (VPN) to connect to the GDS.

The new wins give Sabre 22% GDS market share in the UK, putting it in second place to Galileo – a position Amadeus has vowed to challenge for. 

Report by Phil Davies