When you sell your own flight inventory, you decide the price. That control is valuable, but without a clear structure it quickly leads to inconsistent prices, wrong invoices and lost margin. This article explains how to set up pricing in a flight extranet so every channel shows the right fare.
Start with a clean cost structure
Every extranet fare should store its components separately:
- Base cost: what you paid or agreed with the airline per seat.
- Taxes and airport charges: kept separate so invoices and tax reports are correct.
- Passenger types: adult, child and infant costs, which often differ.
Keeping components separate also makes it easy to update taxes without touching your margins.
Markup rules by channel and agent
Sale price equals cost plus markup. Markups can be set at several levels:
- A default markup for each series or flight.
- Different markups for B2B agents and for direct B2C customers.
- Special pricing for top agent groups.
- Route- or date-specific overrides for peak periods.
Rules should follow a clear order of priority, for example, a date override beats an agent-group rule, which beats the default, so everyone understands which price applies.
Fixed amount or percentage?
Both work, and many extranets support both. Fixed amounts are easy to understand and common for short routes. Percentages scale naturally with higher fares on long routes. Whichever you choose, make sure the admin panel shows the resulting sale price and margin before you save a rule.
Demand-based pricing
Since you hold the inventory, you can adjust prices as demand changes:
- Raise prices on departures that are selling fast.
- Lower prices as deadlines approach and unsold seats remain.
- Run time-limited offers for specific agent groups.
Reports that show seats sold against time to departure help you make these decisions with data rather than guesswork.
Rounding and currency
Decide how prices are rounded, for example, to the nearest ten rupees, and apply it consistently. If you sell in several currencies, set a clear source for exchange rates and how often they update, and show the currency on every price.
Showing the fare clearly
- Display the total price including taxes in search results.
- Show a fare breakdown on the booking page.
- Display baggage, meals and cancellation rules next to the price.
- For agents, show their cost, commission and suggested selling price separately.
Protecting margin
- Set a minimum margin so no rule can push the sale price below cost.
- Restrict who can change prices and log every change.
- Review margin reports weekly during busy periods.
In practice: pricing one departure
A seat costs the consolidator a base amount plus taxes. The default rule adds a fixed markup for agents and a higher markup for direct customers. Agent group A, the consolidator's top performers, has a rule that reduces the agent markup slightly. Two weeks before departure, with many seats unsold, the admin adds a date override that lowers prices for all agents on that date. The system applies the override first, then the group rule, then the default, and shows the margin for each channel before the change is saved. Every agent sees a consistent price, and the consolidator knows exactly what it earns.
Common mistakes
- Mixing taxes into the base fare, which breaks invoices and tax reports.
- Overlapping rules with no clear priority, so the same seat shows different prices.
- Changing prices without checking the margin impact.
Frequently asked questions
Can agents add their own markup on extranet fares?
Yes. Agents typically add their own markup when selling to customers, and the portal prints it on their branded tickets.
Should B2C customers see the same price as agents?
Usually not. Direct customers normally pay a higher price than agents, who need room for their own margin.
Key takeaways
- Store cost, taxes and passenger types separately.
- Use layered markup rules with a clear priority order.
- Adjust prices with demand and protect margins with minimums and logs.
Our flight extranet system includes layered pricing rules, margin protection and agent-specific fares.
