AmTrav: 2023 Review of American Fare Differentials Since NDC Move in April

After publicly tracking American Airlines’ fare
differentials between corporate channels and direct or New Distribution
Capability-ready channels since the
carrier began removing its lowest fares from EDIFACT on April 3, AmTrav on
Wednesday released a review of its American fare findings for 2023.

Based on its customer bookings, the travel management
company found that over the past nine months, companies not using direct or NDC
channels were “missing at least 47 percent of the lowest fares” and
paid roughly 10.5 percent more for American flights, according to AmTrav’s
“Where are the fAAres?” report.

AmTrav also found that after American in August removed additional
fares from EDIFACT, the percentage of times that direct or NDC fares were lower
than corporate fares increased, ranging from 50 percent in August to a high of
63 percent in November, for an average from August to December of 55 percent
versus the 37 percent found between April and July.

The average percentage of fare differential between the two
periods—before and after August—also increased. Between April and July, direct
and NDC fares were 7.8 percent lower on average than fares through corporate
booking tools. From August to December, that average increased to 10.8 percent,
reaching as high as 11.9 percent in December, according to AmTrav.

The report also showed findings based on cabins and routes,
including domestic and international, as well as between select hubs, between
hubs and spokes, and between spokes.