Tracking Fare Differentials in American Airlines’ NDC Push

When American Airlines on April 3 removed some fares from EDIFACT-connected channels, key questions included which content would be available only through the carrier’s New Distribution Capability channels and what difference in price, if any, would the fares in each channel carry.

Travel management company AmTrav has begun tracking those fares and analyzing the differences.

For the period between April 3 and April 22, AmTrav found that there was a $132 difference between American’s overall average EDIFACT channel fare of $570 and the NDC channel fare of $438, when there was a difference—and there was a difference 36.1 percent of the time.

The TMC further broke down the differentials by fare brand and found differences in price by channel 93 percent of the time for American’s economy flexible fares. That difference on average was about $444 less for NDC fares compared with EDIFACT fares, about a 47 percent discount. First-class fares in EDIFACT channels were higher 82 percent of the time, with an average fare difference of $267, a 24 percent discount in the NDC channel. Prices for flexible first-class tickets differed by channel 88 percent of the time, with a 26 percent discount in the NDC channel, about $297. Economy fares showed the lowest variance and differed about 32 percent of the time, with a 17 percent discount for NDC fares, which worked out to about $75.

To calculate the differences for basic economy fares, which are no longer available in EDIFACT, AmTrav leveled up those instances to the lowest available economy fare.

“It’s really easy to find fare differences,” AmTrav director of product marketing Elliott McNamee said, adding that there is about a one in three chance of finding a different fare. “That means the travelers who start their search on Google Flights or AA.com can easily find fare discrepancies, and buyers could hear those terrible words: ‘I found a lower fare somewhere else.’ ”

AmTrav accesses American’s NDC content via a direct API connection. It then compares those NDC fares with those listed in global distribution system channels that are not NDC-enabled.

BTN will update this report weekly with new pricing data.

Donna M. Airoldi www.businesstravelnews.com