American Airlines and Expedia Group offer travellers more choice via scalable direct NDC connection

Travellers booking American Airlines flights on Expedia Group sites now have more options to customize their travel and choose elevated offers like Main Plus, following a renewed partnership between the two companies. The fare products are now available thanks to a direct connection through New Distribution Capability (NDC) technology, making all of American’s offers available to travelers on Expedia Group sites.

The integration scales up the collaboration between American and Expedia Group, which is the airline’s largest third-party agency. The addition of North American points of sale builds upon several years of successful flight bookings thanks to an existing connection through NDC technology between the two companies on certain European points of sale. The collaboration will result in two of travel’s biggest players being able to offer travelers around the world more opportunities to customize their travel experience.

“We’re proud to expand on our strong relationship with Expedia Group to bring customers more choice,” said Neil Geurin, Managing Director of Commercial Partnerships for American Airlines. “NDC technology creates opportunities for travelers to customize their travel experiences, including premium travel options. We’re eager to hear about their positive experiences made possible through this integration.”

More options for travellers
Millions of travelers who shop and book flights on American with Expedia Group today will now enjoy more options to customize their travel with ease. Travelers are able to purchase elevated offers like Main Plus, which is exclusive to NDC and aa.com. The offer includes complimentary access to Main Cabin Extra, preferred seats, preferred boarding and a free checked bag in addition to the Main Cabin baggage allowance. In the future, the collaboration will also result in the ability to offer additional elevated offers and ancillary options such as carbon offsetting.

“We’re excited to bring our travelers the best range of content possible via this NDC capability with American Airlines,” said Julie Kyse, Vice President of Global Air Partnerships for Expedia Group. “Expedia Group is uniquely positioned to be able to offer this because of our scale, in order to better serve the end traveler. This move is a significant milestone in the industry’s general adoption of NDC-enabled connections between suppliers and sellers, and we look forward to continuing to work with our travel partners to determine the best connectivity options.”