Galileo launches groundbreaking 360° fares solution in Asia Pacific

Galileo International today announced the launch in the Asia Pacific region of Galileo 360° Fares, the next stage of a multi-tiered plan to replace GlobalFares™.

Galileo 360º Fares provides state-of-the-art capabilities to price airfares and makes it easier for agents and airlines to load fares and agents get full automatic rule validation. 

As part of an overall effort to completely automate fares loading, Galileo is releasing 360° Fares in Asia Pacific markets in three phases, with the full solution providing these major benefits: 

· Automation of agency-created private fares through a web-based GUI

· Full rules validation and a fully integrated display

· More accurate data entry of agency-created private fares

· Significantly fewer Agent Debit Memos (ADMs)

· Quicker-to-market fares- allowing agencies to be more efficient, more competitive

"This complete solution is a true industry first - the most significant product initiative Galileo has ever undertaken and a supremely competitive offering  to the travel industry," said Janie Kaung, executive vice president and managing director of Galileo's Asia Pacific region. "By working closely with our airline and agency partners, we now have a suite of fares solutions that considerably improves accuracy and speed of fare distribution. Galileo is dramatically increasing the level of automation of the entire faring process from the airline to the Galileo agency desktop. Total integration of fares is the paramount consideration. The major increase in productivity this will give  agents is a clear example of how Galileo is successfully helping customers reduce costs and increase value."

Galileo 360° Fares consists of:

· Agency Private Fares: available now, this focuses on travel agents and consolidators creating and selling private fares.

· Airline Private Fares: available soon this enables airlines to file private fare data to Galileo agencies using more automated Airline Tariff Publishing Company (ATPCo) categories than any other GDS. 

· Airline Public Fares: available in 2004 this will conclude the full automation of the fares process, with airlines able to provide published fares via ATPCo and SITA into the Galileo database.

Galileo has said it will announce Airline Private Fares and Airline Public Fares upon availability.

Beginning today, travel agents in the Asia Pacific region using Galileo automatically enjoy significant new advantages:

New web-based GUI makes data entry easier than ever

Galileo's new GUI ensures agents can load private fares and all associated rules directly into the Galileo database. Agents can do this in a user-friendly way that flows in a logical order and enables easier updating of existing fare contracts. 

Data fields replicate airline formats

While Agency Private Fares uses the same formats an airline uses when filing private fare data, Galileo's easy-to-use interface allows the most comprehensive contract information to be entered easily and intuitively.

Accessibility made easier for agents

Once private fares are entered, they can be made available for automated access, display and distribution to all branch offices within a travel agency group and/or to Galileo travel agents outside the agency group. As fares filed through Agency Private Fares reside in the Galileo 360º Fares database,  integrated fare displays, rule validation, and fare quotes are ensured through the Galileo® system. Agents benefit from major improvements in process efficiency.

Starting With Agency Private Fares

This distribution function allows agents to control exactly who has access to their contracts and the level of access, too. This could be an area as small  as a single branch of a travel agency or as large as a whole continent.

Consolidators can load their fares into the Galileo 360º fares database and control distribution to all of their Galileo sub-agents automatically. Galileo is the first GDS to integrate consolidator fares, allowing an agency to view them on the same screen as their negotiated fares and public fares.

Full validation for peace of mind

No matter how many city pairs, routing options, fare amounts or seasons are loaded - to name a few of the complex rule conditions a fares contract can contain - Agency Private Fares can accept and validate this data. Just hours after fares are loaded, travel consultants can sell fares with the peace of mind that the rule conditions have been fully validated by the Galileo 360º Fares database, and that they are selling the most appropriate fares for the itinerary booked. Baggage and tax information is automatically validated too.

Easy implementation

Agency Private Fares requires no software or hardware. There are no new Fare Quote or Fare Display entries to learn. Agency Private Fares can be up and running in an agent's office quickly.

Easy work of complex private fares

Agency Private Fares lets agents handle more complex private fares. Multi-carrier, multi-class, child, infant and youth fares can be processed, and Galileo's comprehensive routing functionality allows interline routings to be coded too.

Net and selling fares

Net level and selling level fares may be entered and displayed to the selling agent.

Added Janie Kaung: "Agency Private Fares has received unprecedented praise from key customers during beta testing. This easy-to-use platform for increased productivity will benefit both retail travel agents and consolidators. We are giving our customers more time for selling, more time for customer service."