American Airlines and Expedia Group combine to offer travellers more choice
Move significant milestone in industry adoption of NDC connections between suppliers and sellers
Travellers booking American Airlines flights on Expedia Group sites now have more options to customise their travel and choose elevated offers, such as Main Plus, following a renewed partnership between the two companies.
The fare products are now available thanks to a direct connection through New Distribution Capability (NDC) technology, making all of the airline’s offers available to travellers on Expedia Group sites.
The integration scales up the collaboration between the airline and Expedia Group, which is the airline’s largest third-party agency.
The addition of North American points of sale builds upon several years of successful flight bookings thanks to an existing connection through NDC technology between the two companies on certain European points of sale.
The collaboration will result in two of travel’s biggest players being able to offer travellers around the world more opportunities to customise their travel experience.
American Airlines Managing Director of Commercial Partnerships, Neil Geurin said the airline is proud to expand on its strong relationship with Expedia Group to bring customers more choice.
“NDC technology creates opportunities for travellers to customize their travel experiences, including premium travel options. We’re eager to hear about their positive experiences made possible through this integration” he said.
The renewed partnership means millions of travellers who shop and book flights on American Airlines with Expedia Group will now enjoy more options to customise their travel with ease.
Travellers can purchase elevated offers like Main Plus, which is exclusive to NDC and aa.com.
The offer includes complimentary access to Main Cabin Extra, preferred seats, preferred boarding and a free checked bag in addition to the Main Cabin baggage allowance.
In the future, the collaboration will also result in the ability to offer additional elevated offers and ancillary options such as carbon offsetting.
Expedia Group Vice President of Global Air Partnerships, Julie Kyse said the company was excited to bring our travellers the best range of content possible via this NDC capability with American Airlines.
”Expedia Group is uniquely positioned to be able to offer this because of our scale, in order to better serve the end traveller, Ms Kyse said.
“This move is a significant milestone in the industry’s general adoption of NDC-enabled connections between suppliers and sellers, and we look forward to continuing to work with our travel partners to determine the best connectivity options.”
Mike Parker-Brown is a UK-trained and qualified journalist and an award-winning travel communicator with more than 30 years experience.
Since 2002, Mike has worked as a freelance writer and PR consultant providing his services to major organisations in Australia and internationally in the tourism, aviation, hospitality, recruitment and export marketing sectors.
