Sabre's IPO was spectacularly successful, time has shown

Sabre, the travel technology giant, saw its stock hit its highest point again today of $28 -- a significant jump over its $16 listing price at its initial public offering. (See its live chart.)

Investors had wondered how the giant company would navigate its return to the public markets. The answer has been spectacularly well, if one judges by the numbers.

The one headwind that investors continue to ask Sabre executives about is whether Lufthansa's plan to add a Euro 16 fee on bookings through global distribution systems (GDSs) like Sabre will be copied by other airlines and damage its air business.

But Sabre appears to have quelled concerns, suggesting that it doesn't expect much damage. Only about 2% of its bookings in Sabre's air system would be affected at most.

On the call today, CEO Tom Klein said:

"It feels like a bad strategy for Lufthansa, which books nearly two-thirds of its tickets through GDSs today. This is an airline that, I believe, if they're not at the top of the list they are near the top of airlines globally that extract the most value from GDSs. From a corporate travel buyer's perspective, ... the notion of a supplier telling you how to buy your process and to raise your costs goes against trends across industries for procurement. For consumers, they want transparency.... The notion of a family of four paying Euro 64 more for a family vacation in an industry where companies match a one dollar fare move, seems unpromising."