Corporate travel glossary
GDS and LCC fares
Also called: global distribution system · low-cost carrier fares · direct connect
A GDS — global distribution system — aggregates airline inventory for agencies and booking tools. Low-cost carriers frequently sell outside it, through direct connections or aggregators. The distinction decides what a booking tool can see: one connected only to a GDS cannot show part of the market at all.
In practice
- Full-service carriers distribute through GDSs and usually sell direct as well
- Low-cost carriers may publish only on their own channels or through an aggregator
- A large share of Indian domestic capacity is low-cost, so GDS-only coverage is incomplete here
- Negotiated corporate fares may load into a GDS, a direct connection, or both
- Ancillaries — bags, seats, meals — often price differently by channel
Why it matters
Channel coverage decides whether a traveller can find the cheapest reasonable fare at all. Comparing booking platforms on their interface while ignoring which channels they connect to compares the wrong thing.