| C I Travel Meetings & Incentives Now On Facebook |
| C I Travel's Incentive & Meeting Department is now available on Facebook. Click here to see the contents and comments and to add your own. Become a FAN!
Looking for a change in direction? Contact Valerie Rauh if you are interested in improving your programs and enhancing your value. Email her today! |
| Quick Hits | | |
Airline Fees - Congressional Hearings Begin
The proliferation of airlines' ancillary fees has hindered travel agents' ability to serve clients because the fees have made it difficult to determine the full price of an airline ticket as well as compare ticket prices. A recent congressional hearing helped clarify the ongoing issue. Travel industry groups, including ASTA, and the Department of Transportation and Government Accountability Office are seeking greater transparency. Ancillary revenues earned by the world's airlines jumped from $10.25 billion in 2008 to $13.5 billion in 2009, according to preliminary results published Wednesday for the "Amadeus Guide to Ancillary Revenues"by IdeaWorks of Shorewood, Wis. The figure, based on the 2009 financial filings of 96 airlines worldwide, includes not only unbundled charges-such as for baggage or food-but also commissions from other travel suppliers and partner revenue generated by frequent flyer schemes.
New High Speed Rail Service Connects Central Tokyo with Narita
Keisei Electric Railway Co, has introduced a new model of the Skyliner train, which runs at 160 kilometers per hour, among the fastest on a conventional line in Japan, and cuts the minimum travel time between Nippori Station in Tokyo and Narita by 15 minutes to 36 minutes. A ceremony to celebrate the opening of the new railway line was held at Nippori Station.
The new Skyliner, based on the design concept of fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto, features high dome ceilings, spacious seats and ample luggage space. Keisei said first-day tickets were sold out on the day of their release on June 17 after being sought out by many railway enthusiasts. Keisei will operate 54 services a day to and from Narita, with a one-way ticket costing 2,400 yen for an adult.
Dept of State Warns Against Travel to Some Mexican States
The State Department is advising Americans to defer any unnecessary travel to several states in Mexico, including Tamaulipas, Michoacan and parts of Chihuahua and Durango. The warning does not include Sonora, although it references the city of Nogales as the site of frequent shootouts. The updated travel warning also mentions the Mexican highways along the border with the U.S. Read the State Department's travel warning for Mexico
Kenya Travel Warning Issued by State Department
The State Department is warning U.S. citizens about traveling in Kenya, while the U.S. Embassy there urged Americans to avoid public demonstrations and be cautious in public areas. "Since the July 11 bombings in Uganda, for which the Somalia-based, U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization al-Shabaab terrorist group has claimed responsibility, there have been increased threats against public areas across East Africa," the State Department said.
|
iJet Risk Intelligence Report
Travel Security Intelligence, from iJET
|
|
Online Travel Tips
Some companies continue to let their employee-travelers book through any website they'd like. Reasons vary from the thought that the traveler will get the lowest prices that way to 'we don't want to mandate travel because it's not our company culture.'
You can have it both ways - really. You can have your travelers book their own travel through a 'managed, company website' and you'll find that they will use it without mandates because it offers them the best in class technology including the number one mobile platform plus your company policies and corporate discounts are built right into the platform. They still have access to an experienced travel consultant should they need assistance booking the trip, during the trip or after the trip.
See the link to the demo below and give us a call! Also check out the story below the contact information.
Click here to see the CI Travel Flash Demo on our online platform powered by ReardenCommerce.
To contact your CI Travel Account Executive, click here to send an email or call 757-461-0022.
Travel Websites Failing Customers
Online travel websites are delivering inadequate customer service, according to recent research.
The survey by Edigitalresearch revealed that airline websites don't answer more than half of all email enquiries, with hotels and online travel providers also performing badly.
Some 43 out of the 47 websites reviewed ranked low on customer service scores, falling under "satisfactory", "poor" or "very poor" categories.
While many websites ranked high on initial travel searches, with people able to search by budget, timeframe or destination and get detailed information about their chosen destination, consumers were later let down by a lack of support.
According to Lloyd Viney, associate director of eDigitalResearch, said it is vital that the travel sector addresses the online customer journey, as this is where more business can be won.
"More online travel sites are looking to reduce traffic through their customer service departments by increasing the amount of information they put on their websites," he said
But, people tend to rely on customer service contact to give them confidence in the booking process. "A poor experience here will ultimately result in customers retracting their business." |
Travel Benchmarking Figures for First Quarter 2010 versus First Quarter 2009
Below are the first Quarter results for AMEX Card Holders versus the universe of C I Travel Corporate Travelers.
| | | 2010 | | | | AMEX | CI Travel | | Domestic RT | 472 | 416 | | INTL RT | | 1726 | 1316 | | Domestic Hotel | 171 | 111 | | Intl Hotel | | 227 | 140 | | Domestic Car | 73 | 53 |
| | | 2009 | | | | AMEX | CI Travel | | Domestic RT | 426 | 409 | | INTL RT | | 1680 | 1277 | | Domestic Hotel | 153 | 115 | | Intl Hotel | | 252 | 148 | | Domestic Car | 73 | 46 |
C I Travel continues to compare favorably with AMEX card holders. Our clients' average spend per each category is less and the increase from First Quarter 2009 versus First Quarter 2010 is less for C I Travel clients.
Your company will soon be receiving the data from the first two quarters of 2010, comparing AMEX Card Holders versus our C I Travel travelers. Your Account Executives will be sending out your first half of the year figures and will help you analyze your figures versus the averages. Caution - it is more important to look at the rate of increase or percentage increase than the raw numbers. Your travels may be taking you to different cities this year and therefore your values could have wider swings. Trust your C I Travel Account Executive (AE) to help you interpret the figures.
Thank you for your business!
|
| No Brag - Just Smiles | |
Recently our management team recieved the following customer comment. - FYI - Your comments go directly to and are read by our senior executives! | |
I recently planned out a pretty aggressive trip last month for my boss, a three star Admiral, that involved ten flights, six countries, five hotel stays and a rental car; all of this in a one week time block. At first I was a bit overwhelmed at the complexities of this trip, however your travel office proved I could rest at ease by providing a tremendous amount of time and help with the planning. The office that I work in stays quite busy and the friendly/helpful customer service provided by your travel office proved most useful during crunch time.
Every time I have walked into your travel office, I've been greeted with a smile. Every time I have called your travel office, I've been greeted by a cheerful voice. This travel office is by far the best I have worked with and I thought it was important for you to hear how well they have been providing their services here at the headquarters.
|
|
|
|
C I Travel
Business Travel Newsletter
July 26, 2010 |
Greetings!
In a few weeks, more than 6,000 travel professionals will attend the annual National Business Travel Association (NBTA) Convention in Houston, TX. I will be there to listen and learn and to talk with colleagues about the business of travel. If you have any topics you'd like more information on, please email me and I'll make it a point to gather the information and bring it back to you.
Last week Delta, American, USAirways and United Airlines reported huge earning gains. It was Delta's best quarter in a decade. JetBlue is starting an interlining agreement with American Airlines and the E.U. and our D.O.T. made a final decision to allow the American Airlines - British Airways alliance. April's Load Factor, a measure of how full planes are, was 81.6%, the highest on record.
Change is constant and comes at you fast in the business of travel. The lead article in this newsletter looks at transparency of airfares and how carriers, lead by an American Airlines initiative, want to force travel management back in time to a place where full airline content is available only through a 'direct connect' with the airline's system. The goal would be to force Travel Management Companies to opt in to the connection - and to pay a price for it. Is their goal to compete or to control choice? Transparency or obfuscation? What would this do to a travel distribution system that has made giant leaps forward this decade? Global Distribution Systems (GDS) should be just that, global. GDS systems should have full content so that clients can get as much information as possible from one source.
I'm sure that there will be a lot of discussion in Houston around this topic. We will work hard on your behalf so that you don't have to hear, "Houston, we have a problem."
Chris Nicholas and the Employee/Owners of C I Travel
|
|
Airline Fees Make It Hard to Shop for Best Deal, Report Says
The article below is by Roger Yu from The USA Today
U.S. airlines should be compelled to give customers clear information about extra fees for services that used to be part of the ticket price, a government watchdog says. The Government Accountability Office said in a report Wednesday that extra fees the airlines charge aren't "fully disclosed" through all methods consumers look at for booking flights, which makes it difficult "to compare the total cost of flights offered by different carriers." And, the GAO said, "Airlines are not likely to disclose them unless compelled to do so."
The Transportation Department currently doesn't require airlines to disclose optional fees other than check-bag fees. But it's proposing greater disclosure. The group that represents most big U.S. airlines, the Air Transport Association, says otherwise. Airlines already provide "comprehensive listing" of their fares and fees on their websites, says association spokesman David Castelveter.
Airlines have moved aggressively since 2008 to impose "ancillary" fees - for checking bags, meals, blankets, early boarding, seat selection and changing reservations - to make up for falling revenue. Last year, U.S. airlines got $5.1 billion in revenue from fees. They got $1.86 billion in the first quarter of this year, including $769 million in bag fees. That doesn't include income from the sale of food and drinks, pillows, blankets and in-flight entertainment or fees charged for seat assignments.
The GAO report says consumer confusion can stem from the varying pricing policies that the airlines use. Depending on a traveler's method of booking flights, certain fees - such as bag-check fees - are disclosed and assessed during booking. But others - such as paying for an unaccompanied minor, pets or early boarding - may not be possible until a traveler gets to the airport. "It's very difficult to tell somebody what they're going to pay if they haven't made a decision to buy the service (airlines) provide," Castelveter says in the airlines' defense.
Customers currently can buy certain ancillary services on some airlines' websites. But that's not possible through travel agents or on online travel agencies, says Michael Premo of Airlines Reporting, which handles airline payment settlements.
The people who book corporate business travel also have problems with fees. The National Business Travel Association told Congress Wednesday that it supported the Transportation Department's efforts to require the clear display of all airline fees at "every point of purchase."
End of article one and beginning of second article which will give you a more complete view of what's happening now
TMCs Reject AA Direct Connect
By Jay Boehmer - Business Travel News Online
When American Airlines last month launched an option for passengers to pay an extra fee in exchange for priority boarding, discounted change fees and more flexible flight standby, it sounded like so many other fee-for-service initiatives airlines have deployed in recent years. However, American's move is different in one key way: It is the first a la carte offering the carrier is selling exclusively through direct channels at the time of booking, effectively leaving the new "Boarding and Flexibility Package" out of the hands of corporate travelers unless their agencies opt into the controversial American Airlines Direct Connect.
Depending on your view, the move is either the only efficient way for American to sell ancillary services, renewed posturing by the carrier before its global distribution contracts expire next year or an inefficient workaround poised to bedevil GDSs, travel management companies and travel buyers.
The Boarding and Flexibility Package is only one component of AA's newly branded Your Choice suite, announced last month, which AA director of merchandising strategy Cory Garner described as the carrier's "umbrella brand for our optional services." The suite also includes such previously available optional services as inflight Internet access, Admirals Club day passes and confirmed flight changes, among others. However, those services still can be purchased before boarding, or in the case of inflight Internet access, on the plane.
"This is one element of our Direct Connect plans," Garner said of the Boarding and Flexibility Package. "You're starting to see the specific products rolling out under what we've been saying for quite some time: We'll be reserving merchandising through our Direct Connect. We think that's the best way to go about marketing to customers going forward. That's also the best way to work with GDSs, ultimately."
The American Society of Travel Agents and the Business Travel Coalition lambasted AA's Direct Connect plan as a way to flip the distribution model and ultimately charge agencies for content, a charge AA disputes, while mega agencies that spoke with BTN had little interest in embracing AA's strategy.
Carlson Wagonlit Travel said it doesn't plan to access the direct connect at this time, saying instead, "What CWT continues to emphasize and advocate for with all suppliers, including American, on behalf of its clients are consistent, industry-wide standards for all content."
BCD Travel also prefers ancillary services to flow through the GDS, instead of through a multitude of direct connects, adding that the agency has no intention of accessing AA's direct connect.
"We still view the GDS channel as a very efficient channel, one that provides the level of service that our clients and corporate customers need," BCD Travel senior vice president of global supplier relations Rose Stratford said this month. "We're really not an advocate of direct-connect channels. We all know we went down this path in 2006 and really only found that it was a leveraging tool for airlines to renegotiate their new GDS agreements, which, quite frankly, is what this feels like right now."
Stratford is referring to the direct-connect and GDS-bypass rhetoric that surged in 2006 amid contract negotiations between distribution providers and airlines. If American's Direct Connect is yet another round of posturing, then the carrier has put a slightly different spin on it than it did in the last round of negotiations, since the carrier is inviting even the GDSs to plug in.
Another difference from 2006 re-negotiations: American is the lone legacy carrier to aggressively pursue such direct-connect efforts, at least for now, as Delta Air Lines and United Airlines extended their GDS agreements to 2013, while Continental Airlines has a proposed merger with United to contend with, a priority that likely trumps distribution costs, Stratford observed.
American isn't presenting its direct-connect strategy as leverage for negotiations, or even GDS bypass, but rather as the only viable option to sell its growing suite of ancillary services. "Our desire is to continue distributing through GDSs," Garner said. "It's just that the direct connect gives travel agencies and us more options than just the GDS for distributing our content. For that reason, our direct connect has been billed as a GDS-bypass strategy, but that's only if the GDSs and American can't come to any commercial arrangement for distribution of these services through the GDS via the direct connect."
Those discussions are ongoing, the GDSs said, with American's GDS contracts expiring at the end of summer 2011. Sabre, for one, in a statement said, "It's difficult for us to provide you any insight on this issue because AA has provided us with few details about its proposed approach." Sabre said it already supports the sale of some ancillary services with United Airlines, with which Sabre can upsell economy passengers to the carrier's Economy Plus cabin, and Canada's WestJet.
"I can't answer to you right now whether we're going to connect directly with them to sell ancillary services," said Amadeus head of marketing and airline distribution Cyril Tetaz, "but we are in engaged discussions with them, and we do want to find a solution to distribute American's ancillary services. Our goal, in the end, is to enable all the airlines to distribute through the travel agency channel. If it means having different solutions, we have to get there, so long as the solution we find is amenable for all parties and works for all parties."
Sabre and Amadeus each pointed to ongoing efforts-embraced by ATPCo, ARC and other bank settlement plans, as well as many travel agencies-to distribute ancillary services through the GDS, a solution that in part is based on the electronic miscellaneous document. Both Sabre and Amadeus said to expect solutions touching down in the corporate marketplace by the end of this year. "We are also prepared to support shopping, booking, fulfillment and reporting of ancillaries filed through ATPCo, fulfilled using EMD for travel agencies and airlines," Sabre said.
Meanwhile, American is moving ahead with Direct Connect-offering it up to any agency, or even GDS, that is interested in plugging in, and making some content unavailable to them if they don't.
Asked last month if any agencies were yet enabled to sell the offering, Garner said, "At this point, no," but added, "At the end of July, agencies using Direct Connect will be able to sell this option. It would be up to them. Even on AA.com, we had to do some programming to upsell this to customers, so every agency will have to determine whether doing the development to offer the upsell is the right thing for them to do." Garner said some agencies are using the direct connect "for basic GDS-style technology for managing fare content." Still, the number of agencies using it remains small, Garner noted.
Meanwhile, AA plans to add many more Your Choice offerings, Garner said, including some only available through Direct Connect. "This is another step in an evolution, and something we see as giving the customer more choice, more control, more visibility, more ways to personalize their travel," he said. "This is a point along an upward trend." My Comments -
Notice how the AA spokesperson used the word "upsell"? The only thing going up here is your travel costs. That's what is on "an upward trend" should AA's Direct Connect become an industry standard.
The survey results reported on in the July 13, 2010 Special Alert clearly states corporate travel managers' nearly unanimous preference for having full content available through the GDSs and their TMCs. 95% of the 188 respondents support this position.
Contract your elected representatives and senior airline executives and tell them that your company needs all products and services sold through your preferred channel of distribution - your TMC and their GDS systems! |
Ground Transportation News
NBTA Calls on Congress to End States' Car Rental Tax Bites
It's high time the federal government took some steps to prevent state legislators - in their mad dash for cash - from treating the car-rental operations as an omnipresent cash cow by unfairly yoking them indiscriminately with taxes that, more often than not, are diverted to pay for non-related items. Such was the call to action issued by National Business Travel Association (NBTA) executive director and COO Michael McCormick in support of H.R. 4175 (the "End Discriminatory State Taxes for Automobile Renters Act of 2009") at a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law.
In the course of his testimony, McCormick stated the association "recognizes that an effective transportation system requires sufficient funding from taxes [but] believes taxes and fees on the industry should be: proportionate to the cost of travel; applied consistently across the country; and re-invested to improve and maintain travel infrastructure and not diverted to non-travel spending."
The NBTA executive director went on to note the heaping of additional taxes on travelers, combined with the earmarking of such monies collected to fund non-travel-related endeavors, "hurts not only the business travelers and their companies, but also the overall economy and especially the U.S. travel industry, which is just now seeing business travel begin to increase (back) to pre-stock crash levels."
Echoing testimony by the NBTA were similar sentiments voiced by ASTA chair/president Chris Russo, who reported the organization "has consistently expressed alarm at the trend of taxing jurisdictions levying discriminatory car-rental taxes. Left unchecked by Congress, this practice has grown to staggering levels as states and localities have seen out-of-state consumers as an easy, low-risk source of funding special projects such as sports arenas, cultural attractions and other municipal improvements."
According to Russo, "the proliferation of discriminatory car-rental taxes threatens to have a widespread suppressive effect on the demand for travel services... particularly during times of economic distress such as the current recession." He added: "New and discriminatory taxes serve as a disincentive to the economic recovery that could result from increased travel."
Even closer to the problem is Bob Barton, ACRA president as well as president and COO of U-Save Auto Rental. "We're well aware that governments are under intense pressure to raise revenue these days," he said, "but it's certainly not meant to be the responsibility and burden of tourists to fund non-travel-specific activities and projects."
Elaborating on non-specific projects, Barton cited as examples: Charleston, SC's proposal of additional car-rental taxation as a means to fund a marketing campaign designed to persuade Southwest to fly into that city... "with no one on hand to defend the car-rental industry's interests;" as well as an aborted attempt at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, AZ to similarly raise money via car-rental taxes in order to fund the construction of a new spring-training stadium for (baseball's) Chicago Cubs.
"We're determined to put an end to this practice [of indiscriminately taxing car-rentals for myriad non-industry-specific purposes]," Barton pledged, "not just because we feel it violates interstate commerce statutes but because we believe there must be proportionate sharing [of the pain wrought by taxation]."
Summing up, ASTA's Russo contended: "By extending to rental cars the same protection that Congress has already applied to railroads, buses and passenger airlines, H.R. 4175 would serve to halt this trend before it can act as a further drag on economic recovery." |
|
DHS Introduces Full-Body Scanners at More Airports
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that advanced imaging technology (AIT) will be rolled out at 28 additional airports nationwide, with more locations lined up in the near future. More than 142 AIT scanners are already functional at a number of airports, with the new batch funded by the Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
AIT scanners are used to detect both metallic and non-metallic items that may be concealed under clothing; however they've sparked debate over privacy issues and, lately, over possible radiation exposure. In a release issued by the DOT this week, the Department restated that only airports with the capacity to ensure privacy protections that include a separate, remotely located room for viewing images, are deemed ready for AIT units, and that all images are immediately deleted once they've been viewed. Moreover, the release reports that the amount of radiation from such a scan is equivalent to two minutes of flight, however the screening is optional to all passengers, who may request alternative screening, including a physical pat-down.
The new airports anticipating AIT scanners include:
-Bradley International Airport (BDL)
-Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
-Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)
-Dulles International Airport (IAD)
-Fresno Air Terminal (FAT)
-General Mitchell International Airport (MKE)
-Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR)
-Greater Rochester International Airport (ROC)
-Harrisburg International Airport (MDT)
-Honolulu International Airport (HNL)
-John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
-Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport (MSP)
-Nashville International Airport (BNA)
-Palm Beach International Airport (PBI)
-Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
-Saipan International Airport (GSN)
-San Antonio International Airport (SAT)
-Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
|
Airline News
Airlines Do Less For Stranded Passengers
In the past, airlines offered passengers stranded by canceled flights a free hotel room and food, along with a seat on the next available flight. This year, carriers have surprised passengers with how little they are willing to do for their stranded customers. They have made their contracts of carriage vague and difficult to decipher, while leaving themselves a way out in almost every circumstance.
News from Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines has reopened its Sky Club in Terminal 5 at LAX. Located on mezzanine level between Gates 53 and 55, the lounge (a part of the airline's $1 billion investment in customer service), now offers 35 percent more seats, two refurbished showers, an expanded self-service bar, updated computer work stations and new furniture and art. The LAX lounge is a model for three additional clubs slated to open later this year in Seattle, Philadelphia and Indianapolis.
For New York business travelers bound for Chicago, there's a new shuttle in town. Opening another front in the competition for high-fare corporate passengers, Delta Air Lines Inc. is operating hourly flights between New York and Chicago, courting consumers by offering three times the usual number of frequent-flier miles. The jockeying adds a Midwest leg to the East Coast shuttle flights from New York to Boston and Washington. Delta began its service in June after shifting operations to O'Hare airport from Chicago's Midway, putting the world's largest carrier in a head- to-head matchup with American Airlines and United Airlines.
News from American Airlines
The U.S. Transportation Department on Tuesday gave final approval to a trans-Atlantic joint venture between American Airlines and British Airways. The decision comes one week after a similar action by regulators in Europe -- and 14 years after AA and BA first applied for antitrust immunity. "We are pleased that U.S. and EU regulators have approved our long-sought-after alliance proposal," American CEO Gerard Arpey said in a statement. "We look forward to delivering enhanced competition for customers on trans-Atlantic flights." In addition to the joint venture, the airlines were cleared to "more closely coordinate international services" with three additional Oneworld carriers: Iberia Airlines, Finnair and Royal Jordanian.
News from United Airlines
United Airlines says a mass move to downtown Chicago will be delayed until 2012, about the time it receives a single operating certificate following its merger with Continental Airlines. Before the merger was announced, United planned to shift about 350 workers this fall to a new operations center in Willis Tower.
News from Southwest Airlines
Southwest has tightened its policy on unused tickets. Southwest, which does not charge a change fee, has allowed flyers to apply the price of unused tickets to any future purchase. Effective on January 28, however, travelers can only use the residual value for future tickets written in the name of the original flyer.
|
|
Hotel News  ASK YOUR CI TRAVEL CONSULTANT FOR AVAILABILITY AT GREAT CI SELECT HOTELS ACROSS THE COUNTRY! Contact Your CI Travel Consultant to Reserve Rooms at great hotels throughout the U.S.
Hotel Data Shows Rising Rates for Upper Tiers
Upper hotel tiers increased rates year over year in June, while lower tiers continued to see rates fall, according to data released on Wednesday by Smith Travel Research.
Overall for June, U.S. hotel occupancy climbed to 65 percent, up 6.9 percent from its levels in June of 2009. Average daily rate increased by 1 percent, and revenue per available room was up 8 percent.
"While this is certainly an encouraging sign, virtually all the increase in room rates was found in upper-end hotels and those in New York City," STR president Mark Lomanno said in a statement. "The industry's recovery will not be in full swing until room rate increases are seen in a much wider swath of industry segments."
In the United States overall, luxury hotel rates were up 4.7 percent, the largest increase among the tiers. Economy hotel rates, however, were down by 3.2 percent year over year, and midprice rates also were down slightly.
Occupancy, however, was up across all tiers as well as all of the top 25 U.S. markets, according to STR. The largest occupancy increases were in Oahu and in the Minneapolis area, both seeing increases of more than 15 percent.
Rates increased the most in New York, where they were up 15.4 percent compared with June 2009. As a result, New York hotels saw a 22.5 percent increase in RevPAR. Five other cities-Chicago, Minneapolis, Boston, Denver and Oahu-had RevPAR increases of more than 15 percent.
New Orleans had the largest drops in rates and RevPAR, down by 9.2 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. |
|
The entire team at CI Travel thanks you for working with us! Our goal remains to Improve your travel ROI one trip at a time. We sincerely appreciate your business and look forward to your next call!
Sincerely,
Chris Nicholas
CI Travel
757-640-9206 |
|
|
