Let the train take the strain, says Amadeus
Amadeus has come up with a solution which it claims will make it easier for UK travel agents to book tickets on French National Railways (SNCF).
It says that agents can now use the Amadeus Selling Platform to book French train tickets with the booking merged back to the Amadeus Passenger Name Record.
In addition, agents will soon be able to build a booking interface on their online portal that will incorporate rail into packages, it says.
Amadeus says the improvement in SNCF rail content distribution follows the recent deployment of e-ticketing technology, which is now available on most French domestic routes and will soon be extended to international trains.
With e-ticketing, rail passengers can receive a PDF file with a 2D bar code via e-mail. This can be printed at home or at the office as with air or car travel. Travellers show the e-ticket to the on-board controller.
To benefit from the changes, travel agencies must get an SNCF accreditation via Rail Europe .
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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