This is the second blog article in our series about the airline offer and order life cycle. Modern airline retailing requires transforming to a world of offers and orders to deliver the right offer to the right customer at the right time.
Creating airline offers is the very first step in the airline offer and order life cycle, and it’s no secret that offer creation methods are rapidly evolving. As the airline industry shifts to focus on dynamically created offers and reduce the reliance on pre-filed static fares, it’s critical to understand how dynamic offers and personalization are shaping airline retailing, the role of pricing data and automation in offer creation, and some best practices for bundling products and Branded Fares into compelling offers.
Defining airline offer creation
Simply put, creating the offer is when airlines construct their prices, products, and pictures into fully formed offers that can be put in front of the consumer. The key components of an offer include schedule, seat availability, price, and product attributes. Put these together, and you get an optimized balance between revenue and customer experience. Until now, airlines relied on filed fares, which provided consistency but lacked flexibility. Today, the industry is shifting toward real-time, dynamic offer creation that responds to customer demand and changing market conditions.
So, it’s no longer just about setting a price. It’s about managing the growing complexity of options included in an offer, and using data, automation, and personalization to tailor offers to what travelers actually want—and ultimately value.
Dynamic offers: Shaping airline retailing
The airline industry’s transformation to dynamic offers and modern airline retailing isn’t just on a whim. It’s data-backed and in-demand by flight shoppers around the globe. Dynamic offers create more precise, more personalized, and more strategic offers to meet a customer’s wants and needs. It all goes back to getting the right offer to the right customer at the right time.
Just like Netflix doesn’t show the same movie recommendations to everyone, airlines are moving toward data-driven personalization. If a business traveler always picks extra legroom, the system can bundle that into their offer. If another traveler consistently checks in two bags, they might see a customized fare that bundles baggage and seat selection.
Dynamic offers aren’t just good for customers, they’re good for airlines, too. With the ability to construct more targeted offers based on a passenger’s needs at the moment of the shopping request, airlines can efficiently provide more value to the customer through bundling the options they want.
It’s all about anticipating needs rather than making travelers piece things together after booking.
Looking ahead, AI and machine learning are taking this even further as the industry moves away from manual fare updates to real-time, automated optimization. Let’s be real. This shift isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about staying competitive.
For example, if an AI/ML system detects a competitor adjusting fares or a spike in demand for a specific route, it can instantly tweak pricing and bundling in response. Airlines that embrace real-time data can stay ahead instead of playing catch-up.
So, how does ATPCO enable airline offer creation?
Since the start, ATPCO has always been about helping airlines create and maintain their offers. Not only do more than 450 airlines store their prices, products, and pictures with us, but we have solutions that make automating, simplifying, and streamlining the entire offer creation process easier.
ATPCO’s Community Participation membership is the key to unlocking the fundamental pricing data and automation in offer creation you require so you can put best practices for bundling products and branded fares into compelling offers into place.
- Architect Query for managing fares and automating pricing logic—Architect Query, a subset of competitive analysis features from our premier pricing management tool Architect, is a powerful way to access available competitive data and your own private data to analyze. Simplifying the overall experience, it consolidates various competitive analysis features into one solution that allows you to monitor and track changes in public fares, rules, add-ons, and carrier-imposed fees. Architect Query is one of the first steps you can take to optimize your pricing strategy with real market insights.
- Assembled Data for competitive and market visibility—The transformative role of Assembled Data cannot be overstated. As the amount of data in the marketplace continues to increase, you need access to comprehensive, preassembled datasets. That’s exactly what Assembled Data provides. With competitive analysis and predictive insights, it’s the future-focused solution that enables dynamic offers.
- Express Contracts for optimizing and automating corporate offers—Creating and distributing bookable fares and new pricing strategies has never been easier with Express Contracts. In fact, 70% of contracts arrive in the market in under 30 minutes (compared to the days it used to take). Its powerful automation can help meet and exceed customer expectations and commitments, improve accuracy, eliminate backlogs, and increase throughput.
- Branded Fares and Optional Services for upsell and merchandising—The simple way to start grouping fare attributes and creating clear, distinct products that highlight included and optional services, Branded Fares opens the door to untapped revenue potential. Follow best practices like targeting specific customer groups to create tailored offers by route and channel so you can meet the needs of both business and leisure travelers who are searching beyond just the lowest price.
- Dual RBD for advanced inventory and pricing control—When it comes to optimizing inventory and pricing, Dual RBD is the immediate solution you need. With the ability to seamlessly expand price points, optimize yield, and improve upsell potential, Dual RBD is a key step toward dynamic offer creation. Plus, the automation of manual processes and fare management ensures you’re always consistent and accurate within pricing and fare structures.
Understanding creating airline offers at a deeper level
With the right tools and practices in place, transforming to dynamic offers is possible (and it’s already happening).
By balancing automation with control, each airline can dynamically price and personalize offers without losing transparency or strategic oversight. They want to rely less on static, filed prices but they also need confidence that AI-driven pricing won’t erode profitability or market positioning.
The key is finding the right balance—automating where possible, while keeping guardrails in place to protect margins and ensure compliance.
ATPCO’s solutions provide airlines with the infrastructure to embrace dynamic offers while maintaining control over risk, compliance, strategic pricing decisions, and partner relationships. The future isn’t just about automation, it requires smart automation with control. That’s how airlines can scale, adapt, and stay competitive.
Airline offer creation may be the first step in the offer and order life cycle, but it certainly isn’t simple. That’s why we’re diving into even more details in our upcoming webinar on 13 May. We’ll cover how dynamic offers and personalization are shaping airline retailing, the role of pricing data and automation in offer creation, and more best practices for bundling products and branded fares into compelling offers.
Not only will we discuss in even greater detail the solutions you need, but we’ll share real use cases and measurable results so you can start assessing where you’re at and planning the steps you need to take to get to where you want to be.
Register for offer creation webinar
