Worldspan Launches Total Rates: Makes Low Cost Airline Fares as Easy to Find and Book as Published and Negotiated Fares

LONDON, 25 February 2003—Worldspan, today announced the global launch of Worldspan Total Rates, a powerful new fare search technology that offers Worldspan travel agencies worldwide easy access and complete booking functionality for low cost airline fares. With Total Rates’ real-time search capability, travel agents can compare Internet fares from low cost carriers around the world with published and negotiated fares from the Worldspan system in a single, integrated display, to give their clients the widest possible selection of flights and prices.

Total Rates offers Worldspan agents fast, easy access to Internet fares from a number of airlines, including major North American and European carriers, as well as leading international low-cost airlines. Last December, Worldspan was the first Global Distribution System (GDS) to offer a limited release of a low-cost fare solution in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) market.

“By seamlessly integrating Internet fares with fare data from the Worldspan system, Total Rates cuts through the clutter to give travel agents the flights and fares they need to serve their clients without spending extra time searching the Internet,” said Mike Parks, senior vice president and general manager – Worldwide Travel Distribution for Worldspan. “Time saved, better client service, and new revenue opportunities gained with the ability to book a wider selection of airlines and flights make Total Rates an extremely valuable new option for our global travel agency partners.”

Graham Nichols, Worldspan vice president for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia, added: “Fast and easy solutions for looking-and-booking low cost airlines are high on the wish lists of travel agents – and Worldspan has introduced yet another industry-first with Total Rates. Test trials with travel agents show it delivers exactly what it says it does, improving agency efficiency, expertise and customer service. We’re certain Total Rates will go down a storm in the European market, as well as being a key component of Worldspan’s corporate travel initiative being announced shortly.”

In addition to offering one-stop fare comparison, Total Rates allows agents to book a Web itinerary directly from the fare display and incorporate the results into a Worldspan PNR for simplified reporting and billing. Total Rates can be accessed through Worldspan’s Go!SM desktop PC.
Agency Tests Confirm Total Rates’ Benefits
Testing of Total Rates by Worldspan agencies has shown it delivers on its claims. Steven Woodley, manager of Premier Travel’s Haverhill branch in Suffolk, commented: “Total Rates appears to be very useful and I’m quite impressed by both its speed and the way it sorts search results. There are also useful options that help refine fare searches. It certainly does help to find the cheapest fares. Our customers are increasingly demanding them, and this really does cut the time and effort previously needed to interrogate different websites and to sort out the results. Total Rates would definitely be useful for us.”

His views are echoed by Premier’s travel systems manager, Ian Slater: “Our customers, both leisure and business, are asking us to make more and more low cost bookings. Total Rates has proved itself as a time and effort-saver because you don’t have to access separate airline or GDS websites and then painstakingly capture flight and availability data. Total Rates does it all and displays the results clearly and logically. We’re now assessing the cost benefit of using it, but I’m pleased by what I’ve seen.”

Worldspan’s new solution is based on Web Automation technology from FareChase, Inc., the leading provider of Web automation solutions for the travel industry.

Now available as an option for all Worldspan travel agency subscribers, Total Rates will also be extended to Worldspan Trip ManagerSM customers during the first quarter of 2003.

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About Worldspan
Worldspan is a leader in travel technology resources for travel suppliers, travel agencies, e-commerce sites and corporations worldwide. Utilizing fast, flexible and efficient networks and computing technologies, Worldspan provides comprehensive electronic data services linking approximately 800 travel suppliers around the world to a global customer base. The company offers industry-leading Fares and Pricing technology such as Worldspan e-PricingSM, hosting solutions, and customized travel products, including Worldspan Travel EnginuitySM. Worldspan enables travel suppliers, distributors and corporations to reduce costs and increase productivity with best-in-class technology like Worldspan Go!® and Worldspan Trip Manager®. Worldspan is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Additional information is available at http://www.worldspan.com.

For further information, please contact,
Blair Drummond or Lis Griffiths, Four Communications, Tel: +44 (0) 20 77 63 59 90 / 85, Email: [email protected], or [email protected]