In the past, it would often take an hour for a travel agent and airline representative to reserve a seat on an airplane due to paperwork and manual labor. Thankfully, those days are long gone. Airline reservation systems have made the process extremely efficient and user-friendly.
An airline reservation system is a middleman between a travel agent and an airline’s central reservation system. Travel agents, tour operators and travel companies can see real-time rates and inventory for a given airline via the system even though the system doesn’t actually hold its own inventory.
What Are the Benefits of Using an Airline Reservation System?
Airline reservation systems allow for flexibility and convenience as well as many other benefits, including:
Saving Time
The travel agent does not need to talk to anyone from the airline, and the airline reservations agents don’t need to enter any data manually. Airline reservation systems are automatic.
Easy-to-Compare Prices
Travelers can compare prices of different flights for the same route through flight reservation systems. Once you enter flight details, it automatically gives you a list of options.
Always Open
Customers don’t have to reserve airline tickets during regular business hours. They can book tickets on their own schedules. Using an airline reservation system means your business is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
What to Look for in the Best Airline Reservation System
Airline reservation systems all have pros and cons. It’s essential to look for the following factors when making your choice among the best systems.
Flight Inquiry Module
The flight inquiry module should be trustworthy and clearly display all flight options and flight deals.
API Integrated Booking Solution
Look for a system that does not require complex coding such as an application programming interface (API). An API integrated booking solution makes it possible for different programs to talk to one another. This makes airline booking move quicker.
Allow Passengers to Select Seats
Where passengers sit has become crucial to air travel. Choose an airline reservation system that allows passengers to choose seats and preferences.
Support of Frequent Flyer Programs
If customers cannot enter their frequent flyer numbers, they will not want to use your system. Make sure the system you implement can process frequent flyer programs from multiple air carriers.
Intuitive UI/UX
With the rapid pace of technology, customers will reject a platform that is not easy to navigate. Choose a modern and easy-to-use design to attract customers.
Integration of Online Payment and Different Gateways
There are multiple ways to pay nowadays, and the best airline reservation system will have the capacity to process various online payment methods from multiple ecommerce providers.
5 Best Airline Reservation Systems
It’s hard to call one airline reservation system the best because they all provide similar functionality and have their own unique differences. After doing some research, we chose the following 5 reservation systems to be among the top.
Amadeus: Modern user interface
Amadeus is the most extensive, most innovative airline reservation system worldwide. They are an online airline reservation system that allows customers to book from your website easily.
Pros: The biggest positive about Amadeus is the user interface. Amadeus has a simple and easy-to-use graphic user interface that makes the airline booking process enjoyable. It also has excellent customer support representatives who are trained and eager to clarify any issues you may behaving.
Cons: There are some reports of the software lagging a bit and being slow to load, especially on mobile devices.
Best For: Amadeus is best for travel agents, tour operators and travel companies.
Pricing: Contact the vendor directly for more details.
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Galileo: Connected to most major airline reservation systems
Galileo is among the best reservation systems connected to almost all the airline reservation systems of the leading airlines.
Pros: Galileo has a straightforward and easy-to-use interface that performs well on laptops, tablets or mobile phones. Galileo provides excellent training and support to get your reservation system up and running in no time.
Cons: Some users wish Galileo would develop the live social media support team as customer service can be slow to reply to emails.
Best For: Galileo is best for travel companies worldwide, including travel agencies, corporations, travel suppliers and travel websites.
Pricing: Pricing is not available online. Contact the vendor for details.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
TravelPerk: Includes low-cost carriers.
We chose TravelPerk because the flight inventory is top of the line and includes all the major airlines and low-cost carriers.
Pros: Users report excellent customer support services that are highly personalized, making it very easy to answer questions and make quick business travel arrangements.
Cons: Some users desire increased functionality. For example, TravelPerk does not allow you to check-in directly for a flight without being redirected to the airline website.
Best For: TravelPerk is best for those booking business travel.
Pricing: There is a Free, Premium and Pro version. The paid versions start at about $18 per month.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
SabreSonic Res: Provides data analysis.
SabreSonic Res is one of the best airline reservation systems as it is a fully integrated airline system with data analysis that can provide you with a greater understanding of your customers.
Pros: SabreSonic does everything it can to guarantee the safety and comfort of passengers during their flights. The system has excellent search, connections, offers, seat numbers and special request functions. A handy feature is customer data, which can help to identify premium passengers.
Cons: It can be a complex system to learn and requires a lot of training to use it properly. The interface also feels a bit outdated.
Best For: SabreSonic Res is a great airline reservation system for any size business, but you must have the capacity to train users.
Pricing: SabreSonic Res does not have a free version and does not offer a free trial. Additional pricing can only be found through the vendor.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Blue Sky Booking: Allows personal branding
Last but not least is Blue Sky Booking. This is a robust airline reservation system with scheduling, web bookings, freight calculations, activity reporting, email/sms confirmations and point of sale (POS) tools.
Pros: Blue Sky Booking has customization tools, which enable users to modify the booking platform with brand colors and display them on the business website.
Cons: Users report some lagging and performance issues, which can be frustrating. Also, sometimes pricing and flight information can be out of date.
Best For: Small and mid-sized businesses usually use Blue Sky Booking.
Pricing: Blue Sky Booking does not have a free version or a free trial. Pricing is available directly from the vendor.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Are You Ready to Take Off?
Airline travel is constantly evolving. It’s critical to implement an airline reservation system that will connect buyers and sellers of travel through a single, independent, unconflicted marketplace.