Expedia Inc. is expanding its agreement with Routehappy, which operates a rich content platform for airline shopping, to include integration of Universal Product Attributes (UPAs) and Universal Ticket Attributes (UTAs) – via the Routehappy Hub API.
Currently, Expedia’s brands – Expedia.com, Travelocity, Orbitz and Egencia—use Routehappy Scores & Amenities, which displays flight amenities such as Wi-Fi, inflight entertainment and food.
The amenities are displayed alongside scores, which are determined by criteria such as aircraft type, seat, inflight amenities and trip duration.
The company aims to provide scores for every cabin on every flight in the world.
With the expanded agreement, Expedia will prioritize the additional integration of Routehappy Hub UPAs and UTAs.
UPA is a standardized rich content format developed by the company.
It allows sales channels to display relevant information about airline products and services, including personalized descriptions, photos, videos and cabin tours.
UTA, a newer category, is another Routehappy rich content format that transforms ATPCO and airline raw data into consumer-friendly information about airline fare benefits and restrictions, including seat selection, baggage allowance, boarding priority and other items associated with a ticket that don’t always lend themselves to photos.
The company says these tools airlines to describe their products in a meaningful and targeted way and provide a more informed shopping experience for flyers.
Expedia plans to launch the UPA and UTA products on Expedia Inc. brand sites in the near future. While the integration is under way, Expedia visitors will continue to have access to the Scores & Amenities element.
Greg Schulze, an Expedia Inc. senior vice president who describes his role as overseeing the company's relationships with “everything that isn’t a hotel,” said:
“Continuous innovation of our flight shopping experience is critical not only to consumers but our airline partners, too. Working with Routehappy makes perfect sense, as we share the same goal of helping flight shoppers search and book flights with confidence.”
Among the other companies that work with Routehappy are Sabre, United Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Skyscanner, Airbus, ATPCO, OpenJaw Technologies and Farelogix.
Related reading:
Talking ecommerce with Routehappy's first marketing chief
Inside the United Airlines content deal with Routehappy