oneworld xONEx online booking tool [merged threads]
 

There's now a release on the OW website about the upcoming online booking tool (limited to xONEx tickets initially) -

http://www.oneworld.com/ow/news/details?objectID=14126

A couple of interesting snippets:

"The system will enable customers to plan oneworld Explorer round-the-world trips, which can be of up to 16 segments. As a customer builds his or her itinerary, it will verify flight availability, displaying only flights that have seats available for the date and routes selected. It will automatically validate that the itinerary meets all fare rules and conditions - and then provide an instant price. Once a customer has finalised his or her itinerary, he or she will be able to pay on-line using a credit card and print out all the details before his or her e-tickets are delivered by email."

In relation to xONEx tickets -

"It offers great flexibility and value, generating the largest portion of the US$725 million revenues earned by oneworld for its member airlines through its alliance fares and sales activities in 2007. It was used by around 50,000 people last year."

tt7, you work fast! I was going to draw this to the attention of FTers myself. All feedback on this project from FTers appreciated. We aim to have the on-line booking facility up and running very soon.

Sounds pretty interesting.

Will we be able to buy from any starting point regardless of where we are based?

I certainly hope so - and the ow release would certainly imply that .... so if that is not the case, then ow needs to kill that misconception immediately (and the online booking tool loses about 98% of its usefulness).

...

Sure reads like the price is based on point of departure.

So which point of sale is going to be used for the airline availability? I don't see how this will work effectively with, for example, CX who have completely different availability if you call HK reservations or US reservations.

I really hope that this system will allow ticketing with open segments since that is absolutely key to dealing with the mess that yield management creates (and also to be able to use the guaranteed seat privileges of MPC if booking in economy).

And do we get to chose whose ticket stock it goes on? This is absolutely key if you want to upgrade segments with miles.

But it's great news if we can buy online for any point of departure at the local price price for that origin.

Also what will it do with the surcharges some airlines charge and other don't? Are we going to end up with same price for all situation? You can bet which way that will fall too.

Very good if it works well. However I can see some potential pitfalls.

- surcharges vary by airline
- availability varies by origin, so be careful what sector you enter first if it is doing live lookup of availability
- availability can vary by status, will waitlists be possible or will it simply not show the flight?
- personally I'd prefer all flights be displayed even if there are no seats available at the time of checking (as they may become freed up later)
- availability can vary by married segment logic, will this be rechecked when you enter the onward leg?
- some of us prefer to ticket with specific airline(s), will we have a choice (like the *A tool)?
- will OW codeshares be available for selection as well as the operating airline?
- will it be coded correctly for all the fare rules (the *A tool has a long history of bugs)?
- if the tool has a bug in user's favour will it be honoured? what if the traveller is unaware of the bug and later needs to reissue?

Etc.

All of KF's concerns are valid, of course, but it's great that this is happening.

Can't wait to see the finished product!

Watch this space
 

Thanks for all your thoughts, observations and concerns aired about this project. All I can say, on behalf of oneworld, at this stage is wait and see the end result - which will not be long in coming. I trust all the key issues raised will be addressed.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...-23349,00.html

:)

If this works as promised and taking all possible permutations into account then this could become an invaluable tool to many real or fantasy explorers. Looking forward to it. ^

More questions about this new feature.
Are open segments possible after the 1st confirmed intl departure?
Will there be a listing of all taxes displayed on the e-ticket receipt?
What about carrier and date/time changes which are now free of charge?

Anyone when this tool will be available ... ?