Sabre Buys Nemesis Farelogix + Rome Restricts Tour Buses + India's Air Taxi Wars

The Travel Industry's Daily Agenda-Setting Newsletter

November 15, 2018

Editor's Note Sabre's $360 million acquisition of Farelogix, which the two companies announced Wednesday, highlights the changing airline distribution landscape. Once existential rivals, Farelogix technology will help Sabre better address the needs of airlines, which have for many years been looking for more agile and cost-effective ways of merchandising their products and services to both online and offline travel agencies. The fact that Sabre tapped a former airline executive, Sean Menke, as its CEO a couple of years ago definitely contributed to this deal getting done. For Farelogix CEO Jim Davidson, the agreement is a testament to the company's focus and commitment in the face of strong opposition over the years from Sabre and others. Let's see if this stays a happy and transformative marriage for the sake of Sabre, Farelogix, airlines, travel agencies, and passengers. — Dennis Schaal, Executive Editor Did You Miss Our Latest Skift Insights Deck? Sponsored by Rokt E-Commerce is a critical driver of travel industry business success. But despite all the time spent optimizing for online sales, companies aren't paying nearly enough attention to a critical piece of the puzzle: their booking confirmation page. Our new insights deck examines how travel brands can make better use of this under-utilized e-commerce asset. Download Now Top Stories Sabre to Buy Farelogix for $360 Million to Help Airlines Sell Better Sabre allegedly tried to kill smaller rival Farelogix years ago. But now there's peace in the valley. Farelogix's merchandising and direct connection technology will plug a gap in Sabre's offering and could accelerate the travel tech giant's growth. Rome Tour Bus Restriction Stirs Europe's Latest Overtourism Controversy Tour buses bring thousands of people to Rome each day, but many increasingly run on cleaner fuels than their passenger car counterparts. Buses also replace some of those cars and probably know the traffic laws better than the average driver, another reason that has us scratching our heads at Rome's plan. JetSetGo's New SkyShuttle Takes Off Ahead of Uber in India's Competitive Air Taxi Market India is ideal for aerial taxi services and while Uber decides if that's where its first Uber Air international city will be, local start-up JetSetGo simply gets going with a new SkyShuttle service that will provide it with insights for future air mobility. Capital One Adds Frequent Flyer Mile Transfer Option to Its Credit Cards A new tool coming from Capital One will make its travel credit cards more competitive with American Express and Chase. Only seasoned travel pros, however, may find it useful. Skift Forum Asia: First Speakers Announced We've confirmed top speakers to take the stage and our program is taking shape. Join us for the inaugural Skift Forum Asia, where the Future of Travel Will Be Tested. Hotelbeds to Buy HolidayTaxis to Expand Transport Offering While clearly not a game-changer in the same way Tourico Holidays or GTA was, the deal does expand Hotelbeds' ancillary portfolio, giving it greater reach in what is a growing market. Onefinestay CEO Departs to Lead Serviced Apartment Brand Sweet Inn We know what you're all thinking: Can Onefinestay be saved? Was AccorHotels' decision to buy a private rental business the right move? Or should it have partnered with one instead? When Airlines Auction Premium Seats, Some Passengers Win Airlines are trying to monetize their best products. Imagine that. More and more, airlines look like a sustainable business. We'll see if it lasts. What Eventbrite Tells Us About the Big Business of Events Eventbrite's rise should be a lesson for the overall event tech ecosystem: Make something that is easy to use and powerful enough to scale, and customers will come. Popular Now United Airlines Warns Pilots on Issue That Plagued Fatal Lion Air Flight It seems like operators were caught off guard about some advanced functionality on the Boeing 737 Max. This is both odd and unusual. Airbnb's Growth Is Slowing Amid Increasing Competition From Booking and Expedia: Report If Airbnb is indeed seeing a slowdown of its business in more mature markets like Europe and the U.S., that's all the more reason for the company to double down on its efforts in emerging markets like China, and to work on adding more professional inventory, ahem, hotels. Will Lola's New Partnership With AmEx Revive the Struggling Startup? Lola was a good idea with solid execution that fell flat. By partnering with the biggest company in corporate travel, Lola will find out whether its service is actually a fit for businesses around the world. And if not, maybe the mobile-first future isn't quite here yet. For Gmail users: If you are using the tabbed inbox, Skift emails may be pushed to the 'Promotions' tab. To get updates from Skift direct to your primary inbox, drag and drop this email to that tab. You received this email because you are subscribed to Skift Daily Newsletter from Skift.

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