Consolidator or GDS: which should a new travel agency start with?

Every new agency hits this question early. Where do the flights come from, and who issues the ticket?

There are two common answers. You connect to a consolidator, or you connect to a GDS like Amadeus, Sabre or Travelport. I have worked on both kinds of integration. My advice for a new agency is simple: start with consolidators.

What each one is

A consolidator sells you flights and issues the tickets for you. In the products I built, the tickets were issued by the consolidator on their own office ID, not ours. We had no ticketing authority, and we did not need it to sell.

A GDS is a big system with flight content from many airlines. You search, price and make bookings in it. I have worked on Amadeus GDS integration, and I have also integrated Sabre and Travelport.

So the real difference is this. With a consolidator, someone else carries the ticketing side for you. With a GDS, you carry more of it yourself.

Why I start new agencies with consolidators

Here’s the thing. A new agency has a lot to figure out already. Customers, marketing, payments, support. Adding a heavy setup on day one slows all of it down.

With consolidators the flow is easy to explain:

1. Your customer books on your site.
2. Your platform passes the PNR to the consolidator.
3. The consolidator issues the ticket. Usually it takes about 10 minutes.
4. Your platform tells the customer once the ticket is out.

You can automate all of it. I have built this, and it works well. I wrote more about it in Do you need IATA to sell flights online?

What consolidators do not fix

I will be honest, it is not perfect.

Sometimes a ticket takes longer than usual. The longest I have seen was 30 minutes. Your customer is waiting, and you have to chase the consolidator. It is harder when you work with several of them, because each one behaves a little differently.

You also depend on someone else for the fare you get. That is fine at the start. It is one reason some agencies move on later.

If you want to see how the waiting step works, read Why consolidators should send webhooks, not make us poll.

When a GDS makes sense

A GDS starts to make sense when your agency has grown and wants more control. Maybe you want more content in one place. Maybe you want to build your own ticketing flow with your own authority.

A few things to know before you go there:

• You need your own GDS contract. When I build a platform for a client, the client holds that contract, not me.
• The integration is bigger. Search, pricing, PNRs, ticketing and changes all need work.
• It fits better when you have the volume and the team to use it.

That last point is why I think the order matters. Get your first customers on consolidators. Learn what they ask for. Then decide if a GDS earns its place.

How the pieces fit together over time

This is how I would think about it:

• Start: consolidators, plus maybe an API like Duffel. I have not built on Duffel myself, but I know how to use it and I recommend it as an easy way to begin.
• Add: low cost carriers, so customers see a wider range of fares.
• Grow: more consolidators, so you are not stuck with one source.
• Later: IATA and direct ticketing, once your volume says it is time. My rough rule of thumb is around 400 to 500 tickets a month. That is my own estimate, not a fact, and your numbers may say something different. I explain it in When should a travel agency get IATA?
• Then: a GDS, if you need it.

None of these steps closes a door. You can add a GDS next to your consolidators and use both.

The mistake I see most

The mistake is picking the biggest option first because it feels more serious. A GDS looks like what a real agency uses.

But a real agency is one that sells. Spend your early money on getting customers, not on the heaviest setup. I wrote about that in Two ways to start selling flights without IATA.

What to do next

1. Pick two or three consolidators with an API, and test how fast they issue.
2. Build the full flow, including the wait and the message to the customer.
3. Sell, and watch where your customers and your margins really are.
4. Revisit the GDS question when your volume and your team are ready.

If you are at the stage where a GDS makes sense, or you want to move your platform from one GDS to another, take a look at our GDS integration service.