Buying tickets from airline websites or price-comparison websites that hook up with airline servers is usually a picnic. Travellers know how much they must pay: total airfare, even the breakup (taxes, airport charges etc), and what for: additional services such as access to airport lounges, speedy boarding, onboard WiFi and the like.
Airlines call this the direct channel, where they are able to tailor offers to even the most finicky customers. The experience is similar to shopping on a retail website.
The indirect channel is primitive in comparison. Here, airlines distribute flight tickets through computerised reservation systems ” known by the more regal-sounding Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) ” or physical or online travel agents who rely on a GDS. Information is limited: typically, travellers must be satisfied with just the schedule, airfare and, if lucky, the breakup.
The reason is simple. The indirect channel of distributing flight information conforms to a pre-internet standard. The older language, so to speak, cannot easily support the display of ancillaries รข those extra fees airlines make from meals, checked bags, more legroom and so on.
31/03/13 Binoy Prabhakar/Economic Times
