“Travel agents are the true retailers of our industry, and launching Smartpoint Cloud on Travelport+ will help our partners to deliver more value to both their clients and suppliers,” said Tom Kershaw, Chief Product & Technology Officer at Travelport. “Like any good tech innovation, these tools are simple to use and tackle key challenges faced by the travel advisor community. Smartpoint Cloud will further personalize agent workflows, help drive more revenue, and most importantly, impress customers.”
Built with the insight that agencies need to train and onboard new agents, the graphical user interface (GUI) on Travelport+ is designed to provide a more user-friendly, simpler experience that speeds up agent workflow. Agents who prefer to work in a traditional (cryptic) interface have the flexibility to do so. Smartpoint Cloud’s retailing storefront helps agents understand offers and make more informed decisions within the robust offerings of air, hotel, car, and rail content available. It provides better criteria to allow easy comparisons from any source, including both NDC and traditional air content side by side. Smartpoint Cloud also helps provide more transparency on offers, enabling agents to have the relevant information for comparison shopping at their fingertips. Additionally, the newly expanded Trip Quote capabilities integrate both GDS and NDC offers, enabling agents to present more customized choices and better service, while offering travelers the ability to more easily compare prices. Smartpoint Cloud also enhances exchange capabilities to automate the calculation of accurate exchange costs and reduce errors.
Mike Cameron, CEO of Christopherson Business Travel commented, “Smartpoint Cloud allows our agents to have access to all travel content, including NDC, in a modern web-based interface that allows them to work anywhere, on any device, anytime. It also allows our operations to be streamlined and will dramatically decrease our training costs. It’s clear Travelport understands what modern retailing should look like and this will be a game changer.”
An Innovation for Suppliers Too
As Smartpoint Cloud equips agents with new tools that enable them to better understand the details of an offer, suppliers can expect to boost their sales by seamlessly showcasing their top brands and best products to their target customers. Supplier content is organized and promoted through concise and user-friendly matrix displays that enable effortless comparison of content from various sources, such as NDC and traditional airline content. The attribute-enhanced searches, that show agents exactly what is included, help agents to become better retailers and upsell travelers with options that are most important to them. Smartpoint Cloud also makes it easier for agents to service trips and manage exchanges independently.
Anthony Rader, Director of Airline Retailing Technology at American Airlines commented, “We have seen the direction Travelport is taking towards supporting modern retailing. The Smartpoint Cloud and Travelport+ solution is really compelling and advanced.”
Travelport was the first GDS to successfully offer a complete solution for American Airlines (AA) NDC content, first on Travelport+ nearly a year ago, and as of this week, across the entire Travelport portfolio. The company’s number one commitment has always been ensuring its customers have access to all the content they need, regardless of airline, channel, or technology. Delivering on that promise faster than its competitors, this latest integration of AA NDC content is a prime example of the company providing what agents need in a scalable, seamless, and serviceable manner.
Tags: Tom Kershaw, Travelport, Airline Retailing Technology at American Airlines, Anthony Rader
