Business Travel News - February 11, 2008 - (Page 34)

CORPORATE TRAVEL WORLD BTN NOTES Former FAA Head Marion Blakey To Address ACTE, BTN Crowd to be recognized for their accomplish- well discussing “The Living Travel Voments and receive plaques at the start cabulary: Changing Terms and Condiof the opening general session at 6 p.m. tions.” Attendees will receive a BTN glossary of terms. on that Sunday. A session on benchmarking and best New York Times political analyst David Sanger practices for small and midmarket buyalso is scheduled to speak ers will feature Omega World Travel CEO Gloria Bohan, HRG North during that session. Five CTW educational sessions will America president Tom Gleason and kick off May 19, with BCD Travel pres- consultant Tom Wilkinson. Another ident of North America Danny Hood, session on hotel negotiating with JohnMerck & Co. travel and card sourcing son & Johnson hotel program managmanager Cynthia Teufel, Wolff & Sam- er Maria Chevalier and Lockheed son’s Larry Smith and Martin director of corCaldwell Associates For more on Corporate Travel World, porate travel services Visit btnonline.com/ctw president John CaldRichard Wooten. ■ Marion C. Blakey, former U.S. Federal Aviation Administration administrator and now president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, will give a keynote address during the Association of Corporate Travel Executives Global Education Conference, collocated with BTN’s Corporate Travel World at the Grand Hyatt Washington, D.C., May 18-20. Business Travel News is inviting the 25 most influential executives in the business travel industry in 2007, as named by BTN editors in this issue, MARION BLAKEY, CEO Aerospace Industries Assn. ADVERTISEMENT BY STEVE ORENS SPONSORED BY THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF TRAVEL AGENTS No matter how far technology advances, there ductions and automate electronic itineraries with many valuable links for travelers. Advances in expense is no substitute for good customer service. In some reporting technology has allowed for airline, hotel cases, it is more efficient to have an experienced and car reservations automatically flow straight to travel consultant, with the knowledge and expetheir expense reports, and notification of discrepan- rience to satisfy the traveler’s needs, make resercies if the booked hotel or car rate vations. Travelers also need to be For more information, able to call on an experienced TMC is different then the billed rate. Corporations also can take adin time of need. When a traveler is contact vantage of valued-added benefits bumped from a cancelled flight that reduce costs. As upfront and and an airline employee tries to back-end discounts continue to deprotect 250 people on other cline, corporations should investigate whether airline flights, the value of a call to a TMC to reaccommosoft-dollar programs, in which they can earn a vari- date the traveler far exceeds any ticketing fee. When ety of benefits including free tickets, are more finan- a hotel doesn’t show your reservation, whom do cially beneficial. Corporations tend to fixate on the you call? Aside from unexpected situations, what is the upfront discount instead of actual value. A good discount that does not apply to most of the value of a managed travel program? Many compacorporation’s tickets has little value. nies feel their travelers find the best fares and rates, Many TMCs provide value with pre- but how does the corporation know? I find corporaferred airline, hotel and car relation- tions accepting travelers paying more to get full ships. A free daily breakfast, free Inter- mileage credit and maintain their elite airline stanet acess or other amenities travelers tus, and many let unused tickets expire. Without a traditionally pay for can offset rates. managed travel program, a corporation stands to Other programs include corporate ho- lose a large percentage of their travel budget to mistel discount programs, such as THOR, use and waste, and it happens every day. Hickory and Radius. Many TMCs are part of national consortia like SignaSteve Orens is vice president of Encino, Calif.ture Travel Network, American Express based Plaza Travel. or Virtuoso, which provide benefits and amenities at many hotels. TMCs WIELD TECH, SERVICE During the past few years, when visiting with current corporate clients and bidding on new ones, I find myself educating many corporate travel decision makers about the benefits available for their travel programs and budgets. Automated quality control, value-added programs and good customer service are some of the tools available that can help get the most from the travel dollar. For the travel management company, today’s challenge is that many corporate decision makers are shortsighted and view a $1 ticketing fee difference as the deciding factor in awarding their account. The ticketing fee is such a small percentage of overall travel costs. Corporations may actually be losing money by awarding accounts based on the lowest ticketing fee. There are great opportunities today to bring value and benefit to corporate travelers. Automated qualitycontrol products and applications have continued to advance, allowing TMCs to continually increase their abilities. These advances in technology are amazing. With the right programmers and innovative thinking, these technologies can clear space on oversold flights, clear the most preferred seat assignments, continually find fare re- CAhearn@astahq.com 34 Monday, February 11, 2008 www.BTNonline.com Business Travel News http://btnonline.com/ctw http://www.BTNonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Business Travel News - February 11, 2008

Business Travel News - February 11, 2008
Contents
Sabre, Travelport Embrace Air Delay Data
CWT Claims Sales Surpass Amex
Inside Track: Airlines Resurrect Saturday-Night Stays
Profiles In Travel Management: Royal Bank of Canada
RBC Banks On Alternative Carrier Balance
The 25 Most Influential Executives, 2007
Hong Kong - Asian Aspirations
Executive Dashboard: Carriers Apply Surcharges
Aviation: U.S. Airlines Limit Domestic Capacity
Carriers Plan Further U.S. Capacity Cuts
Hilton Eliminates Reward Blackout Dates
Lodging: Hilton Frequency Program Ends Blackout
Corporate Travel World: Blakey to Keynote
Car & Ground Transportation: EuroStar Growth
Destinations: Las Vegas, Asia/Pacific
Washington Wire: Border Crossings Tighten

Business Travel News - February 11, 2008