Amadeus vs Sabre vs Travelport vs Duffel for travel agencies
There is no single best flight provider: the right one depends on whether your agency has an IATA licence and which airlines you sell. Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport are the three GDSs: one contract, one terminal, most full-service airlines. Duffel is a flight API that sells on its own accreditation, with NDC and low-cost content, and charges per order. NDC aggregators and consolidators fill the gaps in between.
Where does a travel agency get flight content?
Five channels, and most agencies use more than one:
| Channel | What it is | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| GDS (Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport) | One system with schedules, fares and availability of hundreds of airlines, sold through a terminal and APIs | IATA agencies selling mostly full-service airlines |
| NDC | Airlines sending their own offers in IATA's newer standard, often with richer fares and extras | Agencies that sell airlines which put their best content into NDC |
| Flight API (for example Duffel) | One API on top of NDC, GDS and low-cost content, paid per order | Agencies and travel startups without an IATA licence, or that want an API first |
| NDC aggregator (for example AirGateway, Verteil) | One connection to many airlines' NDC and low-cost content, often with a booking portal | Agencies that need NDC or low-cost fares their GDS doesn't show |
| Consolidator | A wholesaler that issues tickets on its own licence and sells to agencies through a portal | Small agencies without IATA, or for special net fares |
Who pays whom and who services the ticket in each channel: GDS vs NDC vs low-cost carriers vs aggregators. Why the same flight can show in one GDS and not another, airline by airline: Why does a flight show in one GDS but not another?
Amadeus vs Sabre vs Travelport: how do the three GDSs differ?
Less than their brochures suggest. All three sell hundreds of airlines, all three have a terminal for agents and APIs for developers, and all three now carry NDC content next to the classic one.
| Amadeus | Sabre | Travelport | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share of GDS bookings | About 40% | About 35% | Third |
| Terminal for agents | Selling Platform Connect | Sabre Red 360 | Smartpoint |
| NDC in the terminal | Yes, next to classic content on one screen | Yes, in Sabre Red 360 | Yes, through Travelport+ |
| APIs for agencies | Enterprise APIs, Quick Connect | Offer and Order APIs | TripServices (JSON APIs) |
| Contract | With your local Amadeus office | With Sabre | With Travelport |
The market shares are from Travel Distribution News (17 July 2026). The rest is from each GDS's own pages, linked under Sources.
What decides it in practice:
- Your market. Each GDS has a local office, local training and local airline deals. Ask what your colleagues and the agencies around you use: people who already know the terminal are worth more than a small price difference.
- Your airlines. Check that the carriers you sell most are bookable in that GDS, and whether their NDC content is there too.
- The contract. Incentives, booking targets and fees differ by office and volume. Only the local office can quote them.
What is Duffel, and when does it beat a GDS?
Duffel is a flight API. It says it searches "flight content from all major distribution channels: NDC, GDS, and LCC" and gives access to "300+ airlines", using "our accreditation and ticketing authority" (Duffel). So you can sell flights without your own IATA licence or a GDS contract.
You pay per booking, not per month. On 9 October 2026 Duffel's pricing page listed:
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Per confirmed order | $3.00 |
| Managed content | 1% of the order value |
| Per paid ancillary (bag, seat …) | $2.00 |
| Excess searches | $0.005 per search above a 1500:1 search-to-book ratio |
| Currency conversion | 2% |
Agencies with their own IATA or ARC accreditation are asked to contact Duffel about pricing.
Duffel beats a GDS when you have no IATA licence, when you build your own website or app, or when your volume is small and a fixed GDS contract doesn't pay off. A GDS beats Duffel when your agents work in a terminal all day, when you sell many full-service and corporate fares, or when your contract pays you incentives per booking.
What about NDC aggregators and consolidators?
NDC aggregators connect you to many airlines' NDC and low-cost content in one place, usually with a booking portal and an API. Two examples:
- AirGateway offers "35+ NDC and low-cost airlines", with bookings made "under your IATA/PCC, and recorded in your BSP" (AirGateway).
- Verteil offers a portal and "Unified API offering for travel agents that gives them access to all 40+ airlines on a standard interface" (Verteil).
Consolidators are wholesalers. They issue the ticket on their own licence, so an agency without IATA can sell flights through them, often with net fares you can't get yourself. You book in their portal or by email, and the consolidator keeps the margin.
What is NDC, in short?
IATA describes NDC as "a data exchange format based on Offer and Order management processes for airlines" (IATA). In plain words: the airline builds the offer itself and sends it to you, with its own fare bundles, seats and bags, instead of the GDS assembling it from filed fares.
Airlines push agencies towards it with price. Since 5 May 2026 Lufthansa Group charges $22 (€19) per ticket booked through Amadeus, while its NDC Partner Program "offers a significantly lower fee" (Travel Market Report, 6 April 2026).
Whether you see NDC fares in your GDS depends on your office: Amadeus, for example, enables NDC per office. Ask your GDS account manager what your office has. The longer version: What is NDC? Explained for travel agencies.
Which one fits your agency?
| Your situation | Usually the best fit |
|---|---|
| IATA agency, mostly full-service airlines, agents used to a terminal | A GDS: the one your market and your staff already know |
| No IATA licence, a few tickets a week | A consolidator |
| No IATA licence, your own website or app | A flight API such as Duffel |
| Airlines with their best fares in NDC, or many low-cost carriers | NDC in your GDS if the airline is there, otherwise an NDC aggregator |
| Corporate clients with negotiated fares | A GDS, with NDC from the airlines that move those fares there |
Most agencies end up with a GDS plus one or two of the others. The hard part is then working across several screens.
Can you connect them to Claude or ChatGPT?
Yes. That's what GateRoam does: it connects Claude, ChatGPT or any MCP client to your agency's own supplier contract, so you search, price and send client offers from one chat.
| Provider | In GateRoam |
|---|---|
| Amadeus | Works today, on your own Enterprise or Quick Connect keys: flight search, prices, fare families, seats, client offers and holds. How to connect Claude to Amadeus |
| NDC on Amadeus | Works today: Amadeus NDC fares next to classic fares, on the same Amadeus keys, once Amadeus has enabled NDC for your office. |
| Travelport+ (Galileo) | Works today, on your agency's own Travelport TripServices access: flight search with your own public and private fares, prices with bags and rules, fare families, seats, holds and client offers. With Amadeus connected too, one search covers both. Travelport+ (Galileo) MCP |
| Sabre, Duffel, NDC aggregators, consolidators | Any of these can be connected through GateRoam. We build the connector on request, on your own contract, and more NDC sources will follow. Tell us which one |
The rules are the same for every connector: your agency's own keys, stored encrypted and never sent to the AI; the owner chooses what the AI may do; prices are computed in code, never guessed by the model; and every option ends in one branded client offer. More on how connectors work: Custom travel API connectors for Claude and ChatGPT.
New to AI connectors? Read Is there an Amadeus MCP server?, see all features, or start free. GateRoam is free during early access.
Sources
Checked on 9 October 2026.
- Travel Distribution News: Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport market shares and strategies, 17 July 2026
- Amadeus: NDC in Selling Platform Connect, 17 October 2019
- Amadeus: Quick Connect product page
- Sabre: NDC in Sabre Red 360 and the Offer and Order APIs, March 2025
- Travelport: NDC through Travelport+ and Smartpoint, 13 October 2025
- Travelport: JSON APIs documentation
- Travelport: TripServices, its API platform, launched 11 June 2026 (checked 16 October 2026)
- Duffel: flight content and accreditation
- Duffel: pricing
- AirGateway: NDC for agencies
- Verteil: products
- IATA: NDC
- Travel Market Report: Lufthansa Group distribution cost charge, 6 April 2026
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