Sabre to Distribute United NDC Content

Travel technology provider Sabre now offers United Airlines’ New Distribution Capability content through its global distribution system, the company announced Tuesday.

Sabre-connected travel buyers, agencies and developer partners can shop, book and service United NDC content through Sabre’s Offer and Order APIs, its Sabre Red 360 point-of-sale tool and its GetThere online booking tool, according to the company.

Buyers will be able to choose “enhanced offers” from United, such as its continuous pricing content, according to Sabre, and will have access to more descriptive information on flight offers as well as seat selection enabled in the booking path.

United’s NDC offers through Sabre currently are available in more than 70 countries, with “more coming soon,” according to the company.

“There is a lot of content that is only going to be available through NDC,” United VP of sales strategy and effectiveness Glenn Hollister said in a Sabre video interview. “To be clear it’s because the NDC technology allows us to share kinds of content that can’t be shared with the old technology.”

That includes continuous pricing, Hollister said. “Continuous pricing lets us put many price points out for one inventory bucket.” He added that in its direct channel, more than 40 percent of what United sells is continuously priced.

For corporates, “one of the benefits of NDC and the implementation United has made is what we call entitled shopping,” Hollister said. “That is the idea that because of someone’s loyalty status or their credit card or the company they work for that they are booking for, they may be entitled to certain things.”

Those could be such ancillaries as checked bags, better seating, Wi-Fi, drinks or meals that would be automatically included in their fare offer, he said.

The news comes about a week after Sabre launched American Airlines’ NDC content. United is the 10th airline to partner with Sabre to offer NDC fares.

United in 2021 announced it would distribute NDC content through Amadeus’ GDS.

Donna M. Airoldi www.businesstravelnews.com