Sabre Red Launchpad, a simplified booking platform designed for new travel advisors, is now available to all travel agencies.
Sabre developed the platform with Internova Travel Group (No. 11 on Travel Weekly's Power List), whose advisors have been using it since the spring. Launchpad supports the simple bookings of air, hotel and car rentals. Sabre calls the shopping experience "consumer-grade." No GDS codes are needed to use the system.
Launchpad is an extension of Sabre Red 360, Sabre's flagship interface. Launchpad was designed to get travel advisors booking with minimal training time.
Kathy Morgan, Sabre Travel Solutions' senior vice president of product management and distribution experience, said Launchpad "makes it easier to tap into Sabre's extensive and multisource travel content and generate revenue from day one."
Internova and Sabre announced their partnership earlier this year. Launchpad, which Internova co-branded Internova SNAP, began its rollout within Travel Leaders Network in April.
As of last month, Sabre said, more than 300 Travel Leaders Network agencies and 13,000 advisors were using SNAP. As a result, there was an uptick in sales volume.
"We needed a solution for advisors who were not using a GDS but wanted to enhance client service and unlock new revenue opportunities," said Peter Vlitas, Internova's executive vice president of partner relations. "By collaborating closely with our extensive distribution team, Sabre developed this intuitive booking tool, empowering our agents to not only thrive in modern airline retailing but also make more money."
Host agency 1000 Mile Travel Group was an early adopter of the system, launching it as 1000Access.
"Within six months of soft launch, 40% of North American advisors were onboarded to 1000Access, collectively earning over $120,000 in airline commissions -- and this is only the beginning," 1000 Mile Travel Group cofounder and CEO Ben Ross said. "Our goal is to save travel advisors time whilst providing an avenue to make more money and not leave anything on the table."