Sabre vs Amadeus vs Travelport: Which GDS Fits Your Travel Business?

Closing a GDS is rarely as simple as comparing the 3 names and picking the one with the longest feature list. A travel agency might need reliable airline content for a specific set of international routes while an OTA might care more about API integration and search performance. B2B Travel companies might be more concerned with agent access and markups. That is the only reason why the real comparison between Sabre Amadeus and Travelport Needs to go beyond a basic feature by feature table. All 3 operate in travel distribution space but the right fit depends on your barcode airline content booking model and technology setup. In this guide you can learn everything about the Sabre GDS system, Travelport GDS system and Amadeus GDS system.

Amadeus Sabre and Travelport: what are you actually comparing?

Before comparing the 3 you need to understand what a GDS is actually doing inside a travel business. A global distribution system can sit between travel suppliers and travel sellers providing access to travel content and supporting booking workflow. The GDS is a part of distribution and resolution infrastructure; it is not the same thing as your website or booking engine. If you are running a travel company you might have several components working together: customer facing website booking engine payment gateway CRM and reporting system. So instead of asking which GDS is the best, a more useful question is which GDS aligns with the market’s airline content booking model and servicing requirements of my business?

Where does a GDS fit inside a travel booking platform?

For example your customer searches for a flight through an OTA. They enter their origin destination and dates. The booking platform then sends the request through its connectivity layer. The GDS returns available flight and fare information the platform represents the results the customer selects an option the booking process continues through reservation and ticketing. So GDS is behind the booking experience. Your business might still need separate technology for the customer interface payment pricing and customer accounts. This matters when comparing GDS providers because you are not simply buying access to the flight information, you are choosing a connectivity layer that needs to work with the rest of your travel technology.