Best Airline Reservation System for Businesses in 2023

How does an Airline Reservation System Work?

Airline reservation systems work by allowing airlines to manage their schedules, flight inventory, and prices. They also allow airlines to communicate with customers about their reservations. 

It helps consolidate flight plans to show the available seats for specific destinations. Customers can then choose the most feasible option to book tickets. As soon as the payment is made, the system blocks the seat (if the passenger has booked a specific one) so no other customer can choose the same sitting space.

Airlines can also sell tickets offline, check in passengers, track their baggage, process flight plans, and monitor reservations. In addition to the essential functions of flight booking software, an airline may offer additional services such as frequent flyer program membership management and crew scheduling.

What are the Benefits of Flight Booking Systems?

The primary benefits of a flight booking system are it is cost-effective, helps you offer personalized experiences, delivers accurate, real-time data, and improves inventory management.

Let's look at the benefits of a flight booking system in detail.

1. Cost-effective

   Flight booking systems are cheaper than hiring full-time employees. Therefore, it will always be more beneficial and cost-effective when you consider what flight software can do (book tickets, manage inventory, send flight updates, accept payments, etc.). Besides, it is available 24/7 at no extra cost.

2. Provides a better customer experience

   Today customers want the convenience of booking tickets from anywhere in the world. And that's exactly what an online airline reservation system allows them to do. It lets customers choose their preferred seats and add meals and other add-ons.

3. Increase Revenue

   A flight reservation system helps you eliminate commissions that you'd otherwise pay to travel agencies or third-party booking solutions. Furthermore, it allows you to create a frequent flyers program to encourage passengers to book directly from you, thereby increasing your profits.

4. More Accurate and Timely Data

   The most important advantage of a flight booking system is that it provides your business with more accurate data. With this, you can make better decisions and be more efficient in your work.

5. Better Risk Management

   Risk management is an important part of your business. It helps you to protect both your customers and yourself. Risk management is even more critical when running a flight booking system as it helps reduce the possibility of fraud or human error. This means that it’s less likely that there will be any problems with the booking process and less likely that anything will go wrong on the day of travel.

6. Automated Fraud Checker

   One of the most crucial benefits of flight booking system software is automated fraud detection. Because this software is designed to manage and track bookings and other flight data, it can also help identify fraudulent bookings.

   Besides, it automatically analyzes passengers' ID proof (Aadhar, Driving License, etc.) to mitigate the chances of fraud.

What are the Features of Flight Software?

Travel is one of the busiest industries, making it crucial for businesses in the airline industry to choose a system that helps manage their operations and provide good customer service. Here are the key features to look for in airline reservations platforms.

1. Online and Offline Booking System

   Allow customers to book flight tickets conveniently online and offline. Your airline system should provide customers access to all the available routes and fares, enabling them to choose the best option. On the other hand, the offline booking process allows your employees to book tickets from anywhere.

   It should also generate a PNR number to identify the booking information of a passenger and other details related to the ticket.

2. Flexible Seat Selection

   A flexible seat selection feature in airline software helps make your service stand out from the competition. This feature allows passengers to choose their seats before they fly rather than being assigned at check-in and placed throughout the cabin based on availability.

3. Return or Cancellation

   The refund will follow the airline's terms and conditions if a ticket is canceled. However, if the passenger has bought a free cancellation or date change add-on during the booking, the flight booking software should allow them to cancel or change their schedule for free.

4. Offers and Promotions

   Airlines constantly look for new ways to attract customers, such as discounts and holiday packages. Therefore, your airline booking system must allow you to manage offers and promotions seamlessly.     

5. Payment Gateway Integration

   The last thing you'd want is customers going away at the last stage of the booking process. Therefore, ensure your system supports multiple payment options, including mobile wallets and UPI.

6. Customer Management

   It should have a database to store customers' information, including their names, phone numbers, email addresses, booking history, and interactions with the airline. This will enable you to send personalized offers and increase your conversions.

7. Analytics and Reports

   You should be able to view custom reports and data analytics on any aspect of your operation. These include customer behavior, transaction patterns, sales, and revenue reports. You can use these insights to drive decision-making based on customer behavior insights.

8. Flight Schedules and Status Updates

   Flight schedules and status updates are two essential features of an airline booking system. Flight schedules and status updates help track a flight's progress, including departure and arrival times, delays or cancellations, gate changes, crew assignments, and more.

What are the Types of Airline Management Systems?

There are three airline management systems: inventory control, airline reservation, and departure control. Let's understand them in detail.

1. Inventory Control System

   An inventory control system is a system that allows airlines to control seat availability in different cabins and manage group fares. The airline inventory system opens or closes fare buckets based on the rules set by the company.

   In most cases, the inventory system integrates with airline reservation systems and ensures constant information exchange for real-time updates.

2. Airline Reservation System

   An airline reservation system is a database for flight schedules, available seats, fares, and rules for each booking class and passenger profile. Apart from storing information, it also helps:

   • Manage reservation requests and cancellations
   • Display flight schedules, available seats, and prices to passengers and intermediates (third-party booking systems)
   • Generate PNRs containing passenger, baggage, and travel details
   • Issue tickets (both paper and electronic)

3. Departure Control System

   A departure control system is a tool that handles passengers in the airport. It helps airlines make the entire check-in to onboarding process seamless. The DCS system interacts with the airline reservation system to confirm and update booking information in real-time.

   With a DCS system, you can:

   • Process check-ins from all touchpoints: service counters, web-check in, kiosks, and self-check-in
   • Manage baggage (including checking weights and loading on flights)
   • Generate and print baggage tags
   • Share necessary information with security services
   • Generate load sheets that contain balance data and load weight of the particular flight (including aircraft's weight, fuel, crew & passenger details, baggage, cargo, mail, and pantry).

What are the Common Problems that can Face With Flight Reservation Systems?

The most common problem with an airline booking system is that it tends to get slow when many people use the software simultaneously, making it difficult to do the job. Other common problems include:

• It might not handle the high volume of passengers and flights.
• In addition, it doesn't always have an intuitive interface unless you customize it, making it difficult for customers to navigate.
• It has limited security measures, making it vulnerable to data theft. But, of course, you can implement additional security practices to minimize the risks.
• Flight reservation systems do not support multiple languages. This cannot be easy if you want to localize your business, especially in India, where hundreds of languages exist.
• It usually has a slow response time, even when you implement automation. This can have a significant impact on the customer experience.

However, it is worth noting that working with the vendor can resolve these issues with the airline management system.

Best Airline Booking Systems

The ten best airline booking systems are:

1. SabreSonic Res

2. Amadeus Altea Suite

3. Crane Pax

4. AeroCRS

5. Videcom

Let's dig deeper into the five best airline reservation systems so you can make an informed decision.

1. SabreSonic Res

   SabreSonic Res is a cloud-based airline management system that helps airlines manage customers, reservations, product merchandising, inventory tracking, and ticketing. Additionally, users can handle online bookings, call center operations, customer loyalty programs, and departure control from one place.

   SABRE (Semi-Automated Business Research Environment) was the first computer reservation system built in the 1960s. It has evolved significantly in the last few decades to offer advanced reservations management to airlines.

   Key Features of SabreSonic Res

   • Booking management
   • Customer database
   • Customizable reports
   • Departure control
   • Loyalty program
   • Multi-channel distribution
   • Self-service portal
   • Reservations management
   • Inventory tracking
   • Payment processing

   Pricing

   SabreSonic Res offers customized pricing. Please contact the company for a quote.

2. Amadeus Altea Suite

   The Amadeus Altea Suite is an end-to-end airline software that offers reservations, inventory, and departure control capabilities. Amadeus is used by leading airlines like Tata Group, Hawaiian Airlines, and Etihad Airways.

   Key Features of Amadeus Altea Suite

   • Reservation management
   • Inventory management
   • Departure control system
   • Ticketing platform
   • Ticket changer

   Pricing

   Amadeus offers customized pricing based on your requirements. Please contact the company for a quote.

3. Crane Pax

   Crane Pax is a modern airline management system that empowers airlines to deliver the best possible service to passengers via its rich features. Crane Pax integrates with all the major global distribution systems and travel agencies. In addition, this full-fledged web-based airline reservation system helps with airline ancillary services for better up-selling and cross-selling opportunities.

   Key Features of Crane Pax

   • Online and mobile reservation and ticketing
   • Inventory management
   • Fares management
   • Central reservation system
   • Agency distribution
   • Promotions management
   • Boarding card and bag tags
   • Web, mobile, and kiosk check-in

   Pricing

   Contact the company for pricing.

4. AeroCRS

   AeroCRS is a cloud-based airline reservation system that helps you efficiently manage and operate your routes. AeroCRS comprises interline capabilities, an embedded internet booking engine with a content management system, API, and more. It also comes with business intelligence tools that help you understand your business performance.

   Key Features of AeroCRS

   • Reservation management
   • Flight management
   • Departure control system
   • Business intelligence and reports
   • Fares and classes
   • Agents management system
   • Frequent flyer program
   • Airport operations
   • Distribution management
   • Charter operations
   • Website management

   Pricing

   • AeroCRS Plus: $713 per month billed yearly
   • AeroCRS Premium: $1,200 per month billed yearly
   • AeroCRS Ultimate: $2,175 per month billed yearly

5. Videcom

   Videcom is an IATA-compliant airline software that provides airlines and travel agencies with modern, flexible reservation and inventory management solutions. It has an easy-to-use interface and integrated departure control system for rapid passenger check-in and real-time access to reservations.

   Key Features of Videcom

   • Airline hosting system and services
   • Airline scheduling
   • Fare management
   • Booking management
   • Direct travel agent reservation
   • Reservation reporting modules
   • Mobile phone bookings
   • Frequent travelers management

   Pricing

   Videcom offers customized pricing. Contact the company for a quote.