Latest news with #bookingfees

Travel Weekly

Beyond the Sabre Subscriber Agreement

Mark Pestronk Q: For the past several years, Sabre has periodically been sending our agency documents that it calls "programs." Some of these offer new (though small) incentives for new kinds of bookings, such as NDC, and some impose new fees for other kinds of bookings, such as those for low-cost carriers not previously in the Sabre system. I also note that Sabre posts its regular fees on a password-protected website called and Sabre reserves the right to change the raise fees or add new ones by posting them on the website. I have some legal questions about these programs and fees. First, do they constitute amendments to our existing Sabre contract; i.e., are they subject to the general financial and legal terms of our multiyear Sabre Subscriber Agreement, which we spent a long time negotiating? If not, why not, and is there anything we can do to make them part of the agreement? A: The standard Sabre Subscriber Agreement (the "Agreement") states that it cannot be amended without signatures. Two of the most important programs that I have seen do require signatures, but oddly, one is an amendment to the Agreement, and the other is not. For several years, Sabre has been offering Southwest Airlines incentives in an "Amendment to Sabre Agreement Southwest Airlines Opt-In" that is signed by both parties. The legal terms of the Southwest amendment differ from the Agreement in that either party can terminate the amendment immediately upon notice to the other party. Otherwise, the general legal terms of the Agreement apply to the Southwest amendment. For about a year, Sabre has also been offering an NDC program document called Global Agency New Distribution Capability (NDC) General Terms and Conditions. Unlike the Southwest amendment, this one isn't called an amendment, and it is probably not intended to have that effect. It is probably best viewed as a standalone contract. It can be changed by Sabre by posting the change on its website, and it can be terminated by either party on 30 days' written notice. Finally, as you noted, Sabre posts its regular fees on a password-protected website called and Sabre can change the fees or add new ones by posting them on the website, subject to any fee cap in the Agreement. So, what do all these developments have in common? Unlike the provisions of the Agreement itself, Sabre can change these deals at will, on 30 days' notice or no notice. Perhaps Sabre sees the need to retain the right to cut incentives and add new and higher fees as the way of the future for all parts of new Sabre contracts, given the decline in bookings that it is experiencing, according to a Business Travel News report. I imagine that Travelport and Amadeus see the same need and would concur with such a strategy. Your mission -- should you choose to accept it -- is to use whatever clout you have to limit Sabre's contractual rights to worsen the deal at will.