GRS - that's the new acronym being adopted to describe global distribution systems and their evolution - admittedly by the GDS themselves.
It stands for global retailing system as the technology giants push further into the world of airline ancillaries.
Amadeus now has 17 airlines signed up to its Amadeus Airlines Ancillary Solution, 12 are European carriers.
Perhaps Ggggrrr would be more appropriate as a mark of the frustration many are feeling when confronted with prompts, tick boxes and questions about things they shouldn't be charged for separately or don't really want.
The GDS aren't to blame, they're just taking advantage of the potential revenue opportunity if they can deliver technology to help airlines unbundle the various elements (read, add value) in getting from A to B and back again.
And the revenue opportunities are very real if a report by IdeaWorks for Amadeus, which reveals that ancillary revenue hit $32.5 billion in 2011, up 43% on the year before, is to be believed.
The context of this post is twofold:
- Two recent flight bookings have thrown up two very different experiences - one with a tour operator airline (never used before, likely to avoid in future) which seemed to make a point of flagging up additional (but not optional) charges and the other with a scheduled airline which is now including everything in the price.
- The second is a discussion during an Open Travel/Travel Technology Initiative session back in November at World Travel Market centred on the impact of Google on the airline distribution landscape.
There was no doubt from the panel, that airlines need to do better in their CRM efforts, but as Timothy O'Neill Dunne of
T2 Impact (and a Tnooz node) pointed out, Google has the advantage in that it knows so much more about the context of a consumer's search.
A quick discussion with Amadeus distribution director David Doctor last week on the evolution of airline ancillaries reveals a view that as long as airlines ensure transparency and improve usability, customers will understand and be more accepting of the process.
The context of search idea was also mulled over during the conversation and while Doctor pointed to strides made by airlines in using their frequent flier knowledge to improve personalisation, whether airlines could ever really hone in on individuals wants and needs is highly debatable.
Here's a very naive approach - when airlines are gathering all that customer information about our search and buying habits why not fire passengers a quick email and ask them if they want or need the ancillaries.
This would not necessarily have to be right down to an individual level, it could be done by groups of customers with similar habits.
It could be a win-win approach – airlines would get even more information on customer likes and dislikes and have another opportunity to sell to them and customers might feel a bit less aggrieved and a bit more valued.
A proportion of people will want to buy additional services and be prepared to pay. For everything else, i.e. elements that they see as being part of flying from A to B - just include it in the price. Otherwise, it seems like, well, lipstick on a pig.
For the next three years Amadeus and others will continue to invest in and focus on shopping and merchandising technology and says Doctor, airlines will continue to push ancillaries as long as customers adopt them. He also maintains the sector will respond to any backlash.
"We're seeing a typical learning phase so things that bring value to customers is what you will see. The number one thing is information about the customer. It requires changing the way you address the market, calling them customers instead of passengers, some early adopters are doing really well."
So, what next in the evolution of ancillaries - hotels where you're charged for your sheets? Not just a pillow menu but an a la carte pricing one or perhaps a non-negotiable fee for a hot shower?
NB: Image via Shutterstock