New technology widened gap against all GDS competitors in the last two years.

Sabre Travel Network - the world's largest and most rewarding marketplace for buying and selling travel and the leading technology and services provider of solutions for corporate travel, announced the results of a new global study that showed that Sabre is the world's best global distribution system (GDS) at finding the lowest fares.

The study, an independent analysis conducted by Topaz International, the industry's leading provider of airfare analysis and benchmarking data, is an assessment of the low fare search capabilities across the four major GDS companies and consisted of fare searches in 207 of the top markets in key global regions, including: Asia-Pacific, Canada, Europe/Middle East and Latin America.

The study used origin and destination cities both fully within a region and international city-pairs, initiating within a region, terminating in other regions.

Sabre found the lowest fares significantly more often than any other GDS, and the savings that travelers can achieve across the globe are compelling:

• Asia-Pacific average savings: 29% per ticket
• EMEA average savings: 14% per ticket
• Latin America average savings: 19% per ticket
• In these results, Sabre not only found the lowest fares more often than any other GDS, it also saved travelers more money than any of the other GDS companies

These results are further validation that the investments we have made in our air shopping and pricing system are paying dividends for our customers. Combined with results from a similar study in 2006 focusing on North America, it's clear that Sabre is the world's best at finding the lowest fares across the globe.

In the North America study Sabre also found the lowest fare significantly more often than all other GDSs with potential average savings of 7 percent per ticket.

The findings are also an important aspect for both corporations and the agencies that service them: It validates that the Sabre system that powers corporate booking tools and travel management companies finds the lowest fares available for each trip. Based on the company's mix of domestic and international travel, a corporation based in the U.S. can save 10 percent or more on air travel when Sabre powers their corporate booking tool and travel management company. For every $1 million in air spend, that's $100k or more in savings.

Similarly, leisure travelers are more educated and have more options for arranging travel than ever. A key part of the expertise is being able to find the best options representing the best value for their trip. This study proves that agents using Sabre can be confident they are offering the best fares available for their client's trip – regardless of where they are traveling all around the world.

"Our goal is to provide the most complete and relevant capabilities for our corporate and leisure agencies and their customers," said John Stow, president of Sabre Travel Network. "This study demonstrates we are making the right investments in the right places to provide the best service and the best price.

"This foundation is really a two-fold effort: First we fought hard to ensure full content for our agency customers. In conjunction, we have been making investments to leverage the best technology for shopping and pricing this content, and then making this technology available to our customers in the most seamless way possible. In fact, in Asia-Pacific, we were the first company to provide a single solution for shopping and pricing that worked region-wide. The migration there, as it was for most customers around the world, was virtually flawless," Stow explained.

These statistics represent an improvement in Sabre's savings propensity and low-fare search strength from just two years ago. Since the last low fare search assessment in 2005, Sabre has invested significantly in open systems technology and migrated customers to this new technology to enhance their low fare search. The result is an average 15 point improvement against all competitors:

• In 2005, Sabre found the same or lower fare against its closest competitor 72 percent of the time. In the 2007 study, this percentage leaped to nearly 90 percent, with very similar gains relative to all three GDS competitors.
• In 2005, Sabre outperformed competitors in low fare search, with competitors finding a lower fare 26 percent of the time. In the new study, Sabre widened the gap relative to competing GDS offerings, with competitors finding a lower fare only 11 percent of the time.
• Additionally, Sabre's average win percentage increased from 37 percent to 44 percent of the time.

Topaz conducts independent audits of airfares, hotels and car rentals, in addition to internet studies, travel program audits and training for travel agents worldwide. Topaz data has been referenced in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Travel Weekly and Business Travel News.