Tidbits of information about forthcoming improvements to SHARES, the reservations system for United Airlines, were revealed during the second quarter earnings call last week. In addition to apologizing for a range of customer disservice issues we’ve all experienced since March 3 (seat assignments falling off, missing upgrades, miles not posting, etc.), CEO Jeff Smisek said,…
Global Distribution System (GDS)
Category Archives for Global Distribution System (GDS).
United Airlines in the wee hours of March 3, 2012
There have been oodles of articles this week noting United Airlines’ system migration from Apollo to Shares this coming weekend, but very few offer any type of inside scoop as to what exactly will be happening. I found this one from a travel agency perspective that sheds a bit more light on the process and…
Hilton, Hyatt & Sheraton news, Economy Plus deactivated, car rental profits, another celeb disses American & idiot of the week
In other hotel and travel industry news last week… Hilton Hotels & Resorts completed renovations of the former International JFK Airport Hotel and officially opened its doors last week as the Hilton New York JFK Airport. This marks the chain’s sixth property in the New York metro area (excluding New Jersey). The JFK hotel features…
Preparing for the upcoming United Airlines system conversion
In a little more than two weeks, United Airlines will switch reservations systems from Apollo to Shares, merging all itineraries from Continental and United onto one platform. Other carriers who recently made similar technology shifts were plagued with problems when they flipped the switch, but United is hoping to avoid similar embarrassments. United’s CEO Jeff…
Virgin adds PHL, Frankfurt’s growth, Negotiator dies, hotel news and GDS politics
In other airline, hotel and travel industry news last week… Virgin America announced Philadelphia will be the carrier’s newest destination beginning in April 2012. Three daily LAX-PHL flights will commence April 4th and two daily turns SFO-PHL will follow starting April 10th. If history repeats itself, we should see some pretty decent fare wars in…
Hotel taxes, fees refunded, DOT rules, Boeing’s orders, vacation packaging, Overstock travel and more travel news
In other hotel, aviation and travel industry news last week… Last year, Chicago took the top spot as being the city that charges the most taxes to travelers in the country and effective January 1, 2012, they’ve raised hotel taxes another percentage point. It brings the hotel portion on par now with New York and…
Airlines’ ability to steer traffic to lower demand flights through screen bias
I follow the Australian airline industry pretty closely and one of my favorite websites to read every day is Australian Business Traveller. This week a reader asked the question, “Why does (Qantas) not want to sell me SYD-ORD via LAX on the A380?†I plugged in some sample dates on the Australian version of Qantas.com.au…
Southwest buys jets, American leads oneworld, Cathay opens SFO lounge, Qantas’ woes, FAA certs, theft, fraud and GDSs
In other airline and travel industry news last week… Southwest Airlines placed a monumental order for 208 Boeing 737 aircraft this week that includes 150 of the manufacturer’s newest Max version, making the carrier the official launch customer. The first delivery to Southwest won’t occur until 2017. At list prices, the order value is $19…
EVA Airways’ alliance, DOT monitors Twitter & approved AA/QF, American’s Flagship at LAX, TSA trusted traveler, Kevin Spacey, GDSs profit and Asiana expands
In other airline, hotel and travel industry news this week… EVA Airways has come out and acknowledged they are “in aggressive talks” to join either the oneworld or Star Alliance by 2013. Here in the U.S. they fly to Anchorage, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York’s JFK. To me, Star seems more fitting…
Booking airline tickets online: Easy or irritatingly difficult?
As a blogger I bookmark and follow a huge amount of travel-related websites that feature news and reviews in the airline and travel industry. One of them is Tnooz.com whose tagline is “Talking Travel Tech.” It really is a fantastic site and they frequently cover global distribution system (GDS) issues and stories for which I…