In order to manage its yield management system a little more finely and adapt to a changing market, the more open rail competition on its most profitable linesthe SNCF The changeover has taken place in successive stages since 26 September on a new booking platform to replace the ageing system ResaRail. The migration began with BtoB bookings for groups, and was completed a few days ago for individual tickets. Guillaume Confais-Morieux, the SNCF's travel agencies director, describes the operation as "a real success. a real success ". " The booking tool is undergoing a technological transformation thanks to this innovative platform "he explains, acknowledging that this migration may have worried some travel agencies ".
The difficulty of making changes
Feedback from the users concerned seems to have been more 'mixed', particularly from the business travel agents (TMCs) present at the recent tourism trade fair. IFTM-Top resa which took place from 3 to 5 October at Paris Expo. " Evolution and innovation must add value and not be synonymous with regression, particularly in multipax. "says Grégory Baumann, Deputy Managing Director at Havas Voyages which said it had raised its concerns with the rail company. " The system has to be easy to use, but for the moment it's a problem. "he added. Yorick CharveriatVice-Chairman and Managing Director France ofAmerican Express France Global Business Travel (GBT). He also mentions the multipax which would be impossible to carry out on the same reservation number (PNR) in order to have two employees travel side by side, or the difficulty of modifying a section for a passenger making a round trip booked under the same PNR. " The entire file has to be cancelled, but trains may then be full and tickets more expensive. "he says. The solution may be to issue a PNR for each journey, but the customer will then see his agency fees doubled... A point that doesn't seem to pose a problem on the neighbouring stand of Selectour Affaires. " That's all there is to it. "bénef for the agency, because we charge more for all these changes that we have to process offline" says one manager. " This is not a competitive problem between the TMCs on the market, as we are all experiencing the same content and after-sales service problems with SNCF. "Cédric Lefort, Senior Director of Engineering Solutions at BCD Travel. At aAFTM on the theme "OBT and rail, why such a disenchantment?" which took place during IFTM-Top Résa, the SNCF nevertheless justified its commercial policy of not offering certain services to agencies. The seat map, for example, is available for booking in 1st class rather than 2nd class, in order to promote sales of 1st class to business travellers and justify the price - and associated services - of 1st class.
Offering the widest possible choice
" Our customers find it hard to understand why two colleagues can't travel together easily. What's more, they compare this with the tools they use in the airline industry and in BtoC when they make a personal reservation with just a few clicks on SNCFConnect. There's a major gap in the customer experience that we need to make up, either by offline actions or by using aggregators. "adds Cédric Lefort, BCD being connected to Trainline for rail bookings in Europe. In addition to Britain's Trainline, SilverRail, Benerail, Rail Europe and Kombo are the aggregators most used by agencies. A new intermediary whose cost of use will have to be taken into account by TMCs...
In order to offer its customers the most comprehensive rail inventory possible, Havas Voyages works with Trainline, but also directly via technological developments (via APIs) with a number of companies, including Trenitalia and soon the Deutsche Bahn. The train has become an essential responsible transport solution in the context of our concerns about the environment. CSR companies using the TGV on increasingly long journeys, often exceeding 3 hours. " Whether directly or through aggregators, we have to seek out more content because of the opening up to competition and the arrival of new operators such as Trenitalia and the Renfe "explains Yorick Charveriat, who draws a parallel with the airline industry and NDC. " The rail industry is undergoing a real revolution, which will take full effect in the coming years. 2024. The entire inventory must be bookable, but above all it must be easy to exchange and cancel. We can't degrade customer service for the sake of a carrier who wants to change its distribution system. "concludes Amex GBT's CEO for France, who does not despair that the SNCF returns to the path of exchange and partnership with its distributors.
