The Biz at BTN Podcast · Business Travel News

NDC Ecosystem Update 2024 Part 3 The Buyer Journey

·37 min·2 clips

Steven Mandelbaum says the industry should stop focusing on NDC problems and turn it on.

1. The Biz at BTN Podcast episode focuses on NDC adoption in corporate travel and the buyer journey after American Airlines moved fares out of EDIFACT channels. 2. Michael Baker introduces Donna Iroldi, and Donna speaks with Suzanne Boyan of ZS Associates, Stephen Mandelbaum of EAB, and Rita Visser of Oracle, who are all veteran travel managers. 3. The episode asks what NDC has actually changed for buyers, what still breaks in servicing, and whether the industry has moved from talk to implementation. 4. Suzanne Boyan says ZS Associates books through Zeno under a traditional channel and direct channels, with United enabled and American paused in the traditional path because of servicing and ticketing issues. 5. Stephen Mandelbaum says EAB books through Balboa, has NDC turned on for American Airlines, and is waiting to enable United through Certify and Sabre. 6. Rita Visser says Oracle uses Sabre Red 360 through GetThere and has NDC turned on for United, American, Singapore, and Qantas. 7. Suzanne says NDC has been a "terrible" user experience because buyers had to force OBTs, TMCs, GDSs, and Travel Fusion to work together. 8. Rita says the industry was not collaborative enough, and agents on the servicing side needed training to understand the differences between Sabre Red 360 and the regular Sabre platform. 9. Stephen says American Express published a list of 162 things that had to go right, but buyers can cherry-pick the items that matter and launch with an MVP. 10. He also says EAB simplified the rollout by booking domestic travel as one-way tickets, which avoids PNR division and makes servicing easier. 11. Rita says seat assignments remain a challenge and unused ticket tracking still needs a third-party fix that validates ticket utilization and returns value to the ticket bank. 12. Stephen says the biggest gap is coupon management and that Delta is lagging behind while buyers want a united industry front. 13. The panel says Delta's later approach may work better on the first shot because it can learn from what has already happened in the market. 14. Suzanne says American moved content out first, while Delta's approach looks more customer-focused and collaborative to small and midsize programs. 15. Rita says the industry has been talking about NDC for 11 years, and she blames intermediaries as much as airlines for dragging their feet. 16. Stephen compares the rollout to backend plumbing and says the real value comes only when buyers can access new content, fares, or bundles. 17. The tone is blunt and practical, with frequent cross-talk, corrections, and direct disagreement about who was ready and who was not. 18. The format is a moderated panel interview led by Donna Iroldi, with Michael Baker opening and closing the episode. 19. Buyers managing airline distribution, policy, and servicing changes will get the most from this discussion. 20. Listeners looking for an introductory airline-tech overview without operational detail may skip it.

As heard by us

A practical final installment in BTN's NDC series, strongest when it stays with buyer priorities.

This final BTN NDC installment shifts the lens from suppliers and TMCs to travel buyers, and that change gives it real focus. Donna Iroldi leads a three-person panel through the practical questions around NDC and the effect on travel programs over the past year to 18 months,…

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Hear how travel buyers are weighing NDC after a year of airline content change.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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