Netizens have long complained about searching online for the best flight ticket only to find that seats are unavailable after several Web page clicks.
Flight shoppers often have to click the flying dates, wait a few seconds to choose the desired ticket, then a few more seconds for seat availability before the Web page reveals the final price, including taxes.
MASTER PRICER
However, Amadeus IT Group SA — a Madrid-based travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry — said last week its latest solution, “Master Pricer Calendar,” was going to revolutionize the way people book flights online.
Master Pricer Calendar is a solution that utilizes both price-driven and availability-driven search engines. It simplifies the online booking system into three steps: Enter your departure location, destination and dates, then choose your flights and confirm your booking.
The search results only show flights with available seating and the first price you see is the final price you get: Fares shown all include taxes. Other airline options with different fares (with taxes) are also shown in a table for comparison.
“We aim to change the whole business-to-consumer business model for the travel industry in Taiwan,” said Daver Lau (劉家輝), general manager of Amadeus Taiwan Ltd. “This allows more transparency and offers consumers more choices before they fly.”
Amadeus announced on Thursday last week that Kaohsiung-based 101 Vision Travel (一凌一旅行社) was its first client in Taiwan to use the Master Pricer Calendar, saying that it aimed to sell the solution to three more clients by the end of the year.
REVAMP
The Taiwanese travel agency used the solution to revamp its flight booking portal in May for a test run.
“We received feedback after the test run, and we plan to launch a second-generation version that allows customers to book destinations that depart from other countries and not only from Taipei; and also multiple pit-stop flight booking, say, flying from Taipei to Tokyo, then departing from Osaka and back to Taipei,” said Jim Lin (林顯峻), an executive at 101 Vision Travel.
Amadeus will also launch a smartphone version for Master Pricer Calendar with Taiwan’s Cyberon Corp (賽微), an embedded speech solution provider whose mobile solutions include the popular “VoiceGO!,” which is available on iPhone’s App Store.
The smartphone version is expected to go live by the end of this month and users will soon be able to book flights by tapping on their cellphone screens.
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