oneworld first alliance to let round-the-world trip bookings via tablets
Tuesday, 17 September 2013 00:30
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oneworld has become the first airline alliance to enable customers to plan and book multi-airline round-the-world trips via their tablet computers.
The development comes as part of a series of upgrades to the alliance’s online booking engine for its flagship oneworld Explorer fare, which is among the most popular multi-airline tickets worldwide.
oneworld Explorer enables passengers to travel right around the globe using the flights of any of oneworld’s member airline or affiliates, who, together with recruits lining up to join the alliance in the coming months, serve almost a thousand destinations in 150 countries.
They include leading airlines from all major global regions, making oneworld Explorer just the ticket for anyone who truly wants to circumnavigate the globe.
oneworld is the only alliance with a carrier based in Australia, Qantas, and will soon expand its global reach as it becomes the only alliance with one of the Big Three Gulf carriers (Qatar Airways) or a member based in the Indian subcontinent (SriLankan Airlines). Other members include the leading airline group in Latin America, in LAN and, soon, its LATAM Airlines Group partner TAM, as well as the leading quality carrier in Russia, in S7. Other members include airberlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Royal Jordanian and some 30 affiliates.
Unlike other round-the-world fares, oneworld Explorer’s price is based on the number of continents visited (three to six), not the mileage flown, making planning and pricing journeys much more simple and flexible.
It is available to flights in Economy Class, Premium Economy where available, Business Class or First Class.
The changes to its booking engine make the tool easier and faster to use, drawing heavily on feedback from users since the original online booking engine was launched five years ago; which then made oneworld the first airline alliance, and the first in the travel industry, to sell multi-airline round-the-world air tickets online.
This latest version of the oneworld Explorer round-the-world booking engine is now accessible through iPads and tablets powered by Android as well as desktop and laptop computers and can be tried out at https://rtw.oneworld.com/rtw/.
The upgraded booking tool enables customers or their travel agents to plan their round-the-world itinerary and make their bookings, all online.
Customers can build their itinerary simply by typing a city name or clicking on destinations displayed on the alliance’s interactive map. The system automatically checks availability and displays only flights that have seats available for each route and date selected. It also validates that the itinerary meets all the oneworld Explorer fare rules and conditions and then provides an instant price for the trip.
Once customers have finalised their itinerary, which can be of up to 16 sectors, they can save and print out all the details. The e-tickets for the entire trip are then sent to the customer by email.
oneworld Vice-President Commercial Stephen Usery said: “oneworld was the first alliance, and indeed the first in the travel industry, to offer multi-airline round-the-world tickets for sale online with the launch of our original booking engine five years ago. Now we are the first to offer the facility via tablets, which are increasingly the computers of choice for the frequent international travellers who are oneworld’s prime target market.”
oneworld developed the on-line booking engine in cooperation with Innovata, the global leader in travel related content management and content distribution, and Amadeus, the global distribution system, which also supports nine of oneworld’s airlines.
