Guides to Series Fares and B2B Airline Inventory

What Are Airline Series Fares?

A plain explanation of series fares: seat blocks on recurring departures, bought in advance by a supplier and resold to travel agents.

How Do Airline Series Fares Work?

The full lifecycle of a series fare block, from the airline contract through name lists, release dates, ticketing and reconciliation.

Series Fare vs Published Fare

How pre-held series inventory differs from the public fares an airline files for anyone to book, and when each one makes sense for an agent.

Series Fare vs Group Fare

Group fares serve one party on one itinerary; series fares serve many unrelated buyers across many dates. Here is how the two differ in practice.

6 min read

Series Fare vs Private Fare

Private fares discount the price; series fares secure the seat. Here is what that distinction means for suppliers and travel agents.

Series Fare vs Consolidator Fare

A consolidator fare describes who sells the fare; a series fare describes how the seat is held. The overlap explained.

Series Fares for Travel Agents

What travel agents need to know before selling series fares: sourcing, pricing, booking rules, payments and the situations where they make sense.

Series Fares for Tour Operators

The three ways tour operators work with series fares, and how to price, protect and distribute air seats inside a package business.

Series Fares for International Flights

The extra checks international series fares need, from passport names and visa timing to baggage, seasonal demand and currency exposure.

How to Sell Series Fare Inventory Online

A step-by-step approach for series fare holders who want agents to search, hold and book pre-held seats online instead of through calls and spreadsheets.

How to Manage Unsold Series Fare Inventory

A decision framework for series fare holders facing unsold seats, built around release dates, pricing, distribution reach and reporting.

Fixed Departures & Allotments

6 min read

What Are Blocked Airline Seats?

Blocked seats are taken out of general sale and held for a supplier or group before names are known. What that means for buyers and sellers.

What Is Airline Seat Allotment?

An allotment is a share of seats an airline allocates to a trade partner under agreed terms. The types, terms and how allotments are measured.

How Airline Seat Allotments Work

The process behind an allotment, from airline allocation and sub-allotment to release-back, ticketing and post-season reconciliation.

What Are Fixed Departure Flights?

Fixed departures are flights on pre-set dates with seats already held, sold as packages or flight-only. How they work from the trade side.

How Tour Operators Manage Fixed Departure Seats

From pre-season planning to final name list, the airline seat workflow behind a fixed departure tour programme.

Airline Inventory

What Is B2B Airline Inventory?

The seats and fares sold trade-to-trade rather than to travellers directly, where they come from and how they flow between businesses.

B2B Booking

How Travel Agents Access Wholesale Airfares

The practical routes an agency can use to buy airfares at trade prices, with the paperwork, credit and checks each route involves.

B2B Flight Booking System Explained

The building blocks of a B2B flight booking system and the difference between live GDS portals and pre-held inventory platforms.

Consolidators

What Is an Airline Consolidator?

A clear definition of airline consolidators, the inventory they hold, how they earn margin and the role they play for travel agents.

Airline Consolidator vs Travel Agent

A side-by-side comparison of consolidators and travel agents, covering customers, inventory, ticketing, pricing and risk.

How Consolidators Distribute Airline Inventory

The channels, pricing layers and controls consolidators use to move contracted fares and pre-held seats through a network of sub-agents.