Airlines pay GDS $6–20 per segment; a founder shipped a flight-booking agent as a Claude connector
Efistoffeles · reddit · 2026-11-13
A long explainer of flight distribution plus a product plug. In the 1960s American Airlines built Sabre; it and peers merged into Travelport, which with Amadeus forms the big three GDS that still carry most agent-booked flights. Airlines load fares into the GDS, sites query it, and airlines pay roughly $6–20 per segment in fees — part of which the GDS shares with top-booking agents — which is why prices differ across sites. Airlines push the NDC standard to connect directly via API, turning GDS into pipes. The author built a flight-search agent (LetsFG) available as a Claude connector: it queries multiple sources, splits round trips for best combos, and books in-Claude with payments approved via a Revolut web checkout neither the tool nor Claude can see. The team has investor funding.
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