Hot on the heels of the announcement by Qantas of a hike in fares, see article here, the airline has announced that it will introduce lower pricing via the Qantas Distribution Platform (QDP).
From November 29, travel agents will be able to access Australian domestic fares at a lower price compared with what will be available in the indirect booking systems (ie GDSs), effectively driving traffic to its NDC portal and penalising agents and their clients for using systems that do not access QDP content.
The airline says: “Lower pricing through the Qantas Distribution Platform means that Qantas will be able to share the benefits and efficiencies of NDC with our valued customers, offering better value and confidence when booking Qantas fares.” But it doesn’t detail what the benefits and efficiencies of NDC will be, nor does it explain how this “better value and confidence” will come about.
“Lower pricing will encourage more agents to access Qantas Distribution Platform content and will complement the many retailing capabilities, features, and benefits already enabled,” says the airline.
Concerning accessibility of this NDC content for agents, the airline says on its QDP website: “These lower fares will be made available to travel agents accessing Qantas Distribution Platform content either directly or through an Approved Technology Partner.
“Your travel agency may still need to undertake steps to finalise access to Qantas Distribution Platform content. Therefore, Qantas has allowed extra time before making this change.
“During this time, your Travel Agency Manager is encouraged to speak with your nominated Technology Partner about their connection to the Qantas Distribution Platform and to understand their plans in delivering this benefit for your agency.”
Access to the QDP requires the travel agency to be registered globally in the Qantas channel and to have nominated its preferred Approved Technology Partner/s via Qantas Agency Connect.
