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A business travel industry survey reports that as many as 50 percent of all tickets are exchanged, refunded or canceled. Travelocity Business offers two easy-to-use tools, Unused Ticket Tracking and Enhanced Online Exchages, meeting the needs of its customers, while also becoming the first travel management company to create customized traveler unused ticket messages leveraging dynamic messaging capabilities from GetThere. These tools combined with Travelocity Business’ own mid office technology, help travel programs achieve incremental savings and efficiency. For example, in 2009, Travelocity Business data showed that 84 percent of ticket values were reused saving Travelocity Business customers more than $11 million.
Travelocity Business ranks among the top 10 travel management companies in North America, offering corporations a compelling combination of best-in-class automation and traditional travel management services. With the company’s online service tools, customers no longer need to worry about restrictions or what options are available. Travelocity Business’ Unused Tickets and Enhanced Online Exchanges features make these choices easy and accessible anywhere online – resulting in savings and efficiency for travel programs of all sizes.
“Most companies are beginning to think about online adoption in broader terms,” explained Yannis Karmis, president of Travelocity Business. “For so long, businesses were just concerned that travelers were booking their initial trips online, but now there is no reason that changes to tickets or taking advantage of unused air tickets can’t be done online as well. When travelers adopt these habits, it will end up saving them time and their company money in service fees. More importantly, it will ensure they maximize the value of any ticket they’ve purchased, but have not used.”
Travelocity Business’ Unused Air Ticket Tracking
Since 2008, Travelocity Business has offered an automated service that increases the use of unused, non-refundable air tickets. The combination of the Travelocity Business advanced technology handling all of the complex rules behind reusing these tickets plus the GetThere leading online booking solution drives increased use of non-refundable tickets allowing corporations to see savings.
A few examples of the Travelocity Business advanced technology include:
– Airline rule validation
– Customer savings thresholds
– Leveraging unused tickets across business units and not limiting to the original traveler
The Unused Air Ticket Tracking service alerts travelers that an unused air ticket is available with a message on the site’s homepage and throughout the booking path, helping them make a more informed buying decision. The entire process is done automatically for the traveler as the Travelocity Business technology determines which unused ticket is applicable and automatically issues the new ticket.
Enhanced Online Ticket Exchange
Travelocity Business developed Enhanced Online Exchanges to create a touchless, cost-efficient experience for travelers. Travelers needing to make a change to their ticket can go online, make the necessary changes and have all the details automatically calculated on the screen. Travelocity Business handles all of the processing with no agent intervention. Since the rollout, Travelocity Business estimates that online exchanges have increased by 50 percent and corporations have saved more than 70 percent off the service fees for each exchange.
By automating the electronic ticket processing for online transactions, Travelocity Business gives travelers the chance to exchange the following types of tickets, originating in the U.S., online:
– All trip types: one-way, round trip and multiple destination
– Tickets using one or more airlines
– Domestic and international trips originating and ticketed in the U.S.
– Online and offline reservations
– Partially used and wholly unused electronic tickets
– Tickets containing at least one open coupon
– Current reservations originally ticketed on a single electronic ticket
– Tickets not previously refunded, exchanged, voided or the result of an exchange
“These tools are easy to use and make updating travel plans fast and easy,” said Karmis. “As companies’ needs have changed, we have developed technologies to meet those needs in the online space, allowing travelers to make changes themselves quickly and efficiently online anytime.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
