Do you use search engines for your shore excursions?

This article interested me quite a bit! I’m sure you will like it too.

Don’t Google the Shorex!

By David Vass

Published on: August 18, 2009

Although cruise industry big wigs don’t like to admit it, they can be short sighted like the rest of us and slip into a false and misleading bottom-line mentality. Mandated profit margins can swim before their eyes and cloud their common sense. Sometimes this works against their best interests. It can work against the best interests of their passengers as well. Then there’s trouble.

Yes, stuff happens on the cruise supply side — and this same stuff can happen on the cruise seller’s side as well. What I’m suggesting here — rather sacrilegiously, I suppose — is that travel professionals and cruise passengers can be shortsighted as well. I’m going to use Google to illustrate this.

The ubiquitous search engine is indeed an exciting electronic tool for us to work and play with, but it’s not a revolutionary cruise concierge program by any stretch of the imagination. What I mean by that is that by using Google or another search engine to purchase shore-side activities, many things can go wrong. Let’s consider this from three points of view — that of the cruise line, that of the conscientious travel agents working hard to sell cruises, and that of the seasoned FIT travelers who make their own shore-side arrangements.

First, let’s look at the cruise lines. Some cruise line shore excursion planners are intent on seeking out the most basic shore excursions and land programs they can find and then slapping on unrealistic, super-sized markups. To say there are pitfalls to this kind of thinking is an understatement. Such over-the-top prices drive many passengers as well as travel agents to what they perceive to be the new cruise travel concierge — the Internet search engine.

Now, let’s turn to the travel professionals. Frequently, in a misguided effort to help their clients save money, they find and sell bargain basement they find online to stretch dollars. But cheap seldom equates with good. Here are some pitfalls to this kind of short-sighted thinking that apply to both cruise suppliers and travel agents.

First, in an effort to circumvent what they believe to be the high prices of cruise line shore excursions that may displease clients, both suppliers and agents source unqualified operators — frequently mere bus companies that are not equipped to do a good job.

Second, some bus companies are not even allowed within the port. This can force passengers to take long hikes to locate their so-called guides and their transportation. It’s a bad start to what should be a wonderful shore side experience.

Third, sometimes the bus driver doubles as guide and has limited language skills. Again, this is not a favorable situation for cruise passengers.

Fourth, buses can be without air conditioning, sound systems, liability insurance or even adequate brakes.

Fifth, arrival and departure times can change and piers frequently change at the last minute. The bus sometimes winds up at the wrong cruise ship.

The worst case scenario to what I am outlining here is lost clients for both the agent and the cruise line. Their get up and go does just that – they get up and go to another cruise line or even to a land-based resort.

So what’s a good cruise line planner or a perceptive travel agent to do? Cruise line land program executives are, for the most part, seasoned and knowledgeable. But they are frequently pressured from the top of the executive food chain to increase the selling price of the onboard tour product while at the same time they themselves are pressuring responsible tour operators to decrease their profit margins.

This trend frequently results in a loss of sales for the cruise line as the passenger accepts the first, over-priced tour and then opts to cancel the remaining four or five. Instead, that passenger goes to the onboard Internet Café, and books tours directly online for the remaining ports at a less expensive price. This is dangerous to the passenger for the several reasons I cited above. As you can see this also is counterproductive for the cruise line since anticipated revenue is being lost at the very place where it is meant to be made — the point of sale.

Unfortunately, it is the quality tour operators that suffer most. Already reduced to single-digit profit margins due to pressure from the cruise line, these responsible tour operators watch the preliminary participation numbers dwindle throughout the cruise. As passengers become disgruntled with the land experiences and cancel onboard tours, they leave the operators with guides, meals, admission tickets and transport that must still be paid. And, of course, it is the responsibility of the tour operator — not the cruise line — to pay for these costs..

As you can see from this scenario, everybody loses — that is except the bottom feeder tour “operator” who may, as I have outlined above, not have insurance or brakes. This operator stands at the port gate and scalps the cruise lines, the responsible tour operators, the travel agents and the passengers.

The solution is not a complicated one. It is to reduce the selling price of the onboard land programs, bringing them back to a realistic level, which will, in turn, increase participation numbers. That, in turn, will create by volume more profit and more commission for all involved. Only this will provide a safer, more creative passenger experience than the current trend toward the Internet as cruise concierge.

David Vass is vice president-worldwide cruise development and vice president-product research and development of Abercrombie & Kent, the destination management and luxury tour operator.

 

Worst Part of a Trip may be booking it Online

August 4, 2009, from New York Times
Worst Part of a Trip May Be Booking It on the Web
By SUSAN STELLIN
If you dreaded sitting down at your computer the last time you made travel arrangements or felt frustrated
by all the time and effort it took to sort through pages of results for flights and hotels, join the crowd.
A new report, to be released Tuesday by Forrester Research, found that far from embracing the do-it-yourself
era, many consumers were fed up with the complicated process of planning and booking travel.
“What we’ve seen is growing frustration,” said Henry H. Harteveldt, a Forrester travel analyst. “Consumers
see other Web sites becoming easier to use — retail Web sites, banking Web sites, media Web sites. But travel
is treading water as a category. There are very few travel companies that are really looking to improve the
planning and booking process.”
Instead, customers are forced to figure out extra fees, wade through fine print and understand industry terms
like the difference between a deluxe and a standard room, in addition to educating themselves about
destinations, flights and hotels, Mr. Harteveldt said.
“Travel companies expect the consumer to behave like a travel agent,” he explained. “The question I always
ask these guys is, ‘Could your mother-in-law use your Web site without having to call you for help?’ The
answer is always no.”
In fact, Mr. Harteveldt said a growing number of consumers appeared to be interested in using an offline
travel agency, if they could find one.
“The fact that there are more people now who would consider using a good offline travel agent is telling me
people are saying, ‘Enough already,’ ” he said.
Frustrations with various aspects of the travel experience are showing up in other

Looking for answers?

By Mark Murphy

Published on: August 6, 2009

Looking for answers? Maybe it’s time you looked to travel agents. Whether you’re a consumer interested in exploring your next trip, or a supplier or destination trying to get the most out of your shrinking marketing budget, travel agents should be the answer.

First, how big is the travel agent market today? When it comes to selling leisure travel on cruises and tours, as well as direct to resorts, travel agents produce the vast majority of revenue. Suppliers in these segments know their actual numbers first hand, but research companies like PhoCusWright have confirmed these facts as recently as the Travel Agency Landscape Survey, which produced in 2008.

Indeed, travel agents produce more than 70 percent of all cruise, tour and resort bookings, according to that survey (and often much more than that depending on the category. Again, suppliers who track their actual revenue sources can confirm these numbers themselves. PhoCusWright estimated the total revenue booked by travel agents at $110 billion annually just 15 months ago.

Of course, it’s not just a matter of knowing how much revenue agents are generating. The real issue has always been how the decision to travel is actually made. Put another way, who or what influences the consumer to choose an actual travel product or a destination? Well, for those people who have used a travel agent, the influence that agent has on their decisions is growing, contrary to what some suppliers or destinations might believe.

The recently published 2009 Yankelovich Travel Monitor answers the question about agent influence once again. Of those consumers who used a travel agent to book a trip, 62 percent stated that the agent was “extremely or very influential over their choice of vacation components.” That’s up from 56 percent in the same survey last year, a substantial increase in the degree of influence that travel agents have on their customers’ travel decisions.

Let’s take a look at the economic impact of that influence. If travel agents sell $110 billion in travel, as the year-old PhoCusWright survey stated, you could quickly apply the 62 percent against that for a rough estimate. To be truly accurate, you’d have to take that influence, break it down by category, and apply it to the revenue category to truly get an accurate picture. No matter you approach it, however, travel agents are driving a significant amount of revenue to specific suppliers and travel product categories — period.

So how do you account for the still pervasive feeling in this industry that travel agents remain outdated and unable to market or sell travel, as some would have you believe? It is a truly remarkable perception given the stream of facts and numbers that continue to come out of research companies like Yankelovich, PhoCusWright and others. The word delusional comes to mind when I think of some of the comments I’ve heard over the years from those who were truly convinced of the impending demise of travel agents.

For those suppliers and destinations that still sit on the sidelines when it comes to effectively marketing to travel agents, let me point you to one more article that just appeared in Monday’s edition of The New York Times. The title is “Worst Part of a Trip May be Booking It on the Web”. In it, Henry Harteveldt of Forrester Research states: “Travel companies expect the consumer to behave like a travel agent. The question I always ask these guys is, ‘Could your mother-in-law use your website without having to call you for help?’ The answer is always no.” In fact, Harteveldt said a growing number of consumers appeared to be interested in using an offline travel agency, if they could find one.

Bumped from your flights?

DALLAS – Airlines are operating fewer flights this summer, meaning that planes are packed even with the slump in travel.

Often the airlines sell more tickets than there are seats on the plane. Last year, more than 63,000 passengers were bumped, according to government figures, and this year is shaping up as more of the same.

So what should you do if you get bumped? What if your flight is delayed so long that you miss your niece’s wedding?

Before bargaining with the gate agent over travel vouchers and upgrades, it pays to know your rights and the airline’s responsibilities.

The federal government sets rules on bumping and occasionally fines airlines for breaking them. This month, the Transportation Department fined Delta Air Lines $375,000, although it may waive about half if Delta improves its procedures for handling oversold flights.

Airlines must ask for volunteers first, and pay passengers who are bumped against their will.

If you are bumped from a domestic flight, the airline must pay you the price of a one-way ticket up to $400 cash if you are rescheduled to reach your destination between one and two hours of the original arrival time. The maximum doubles to $800 if it takes longer.

Some passengers with time to kill don’t mind getting bumped. They hope to get cash, travel vouchers or an upgrade to first-class in exchange for taking a slightly later flight.

A travel consultant in San Francisco, says the best flights to haggle over are late-afternoon or evening ones popular with business travelers who can’t afford to be stranded overnight. Airlines are likely to offer more for passengers who give up a seat on a New York-Chicago run than on a flight full of vacationers from Atlanta to Orlando, he says.

Gate agents may put out a sign or simply tell passengers that they’re looking for volunteers to skip the flight. McGinnis says it’s often best to ignore their first offer and wait until departure time nears.

“The bidding gets stronger,” he says. “That’s when it goes from $100 off your next flight to maybe $300 and a business-class seat on the next flight out.”

Experts warn about accepting travel vouchers. They might be hard to redeem, especially at peak travel periods. Make sure you understand any limitations.

Travelers are often baffled why airlines can sell more tickets than they have seats. Airlines oversell flights because some passengers buy costly fully refundable tickets on more than one flight and then only use one. Other flights are overbooked because the airline had to substitute a smaller plane with fewer seats.

While there are federal rules on bumping, there is no sweeping requirement for airlines to provide hotel rooms and meals for passengers who are stranded overnight, even if it’s the carrier’s fault, according to the Transportation Department. But you can haggle.

“It’s up to the discretion of the carrier and the (gate) agent,” says George Hobica, who operates airfarewatchdog.com. “Some airlines will do their best if you ask nicely and you ask privately you’ll do better than if you make a scene.” He says when a long delay appears obvious, you should ask to be rebooked on another airline.

Charlotte, N.C., real estate broker Mathew Bessette says Delta put him up in a hotel after his flight home from New York was canceled and a second flight spent four hours on the tarmac. He says he gained bargaining power by knowing the cause of the problem with his first flight: No flight attendants were available for the flight.

“If their plane breaks down or their crew doesn’t show up, that’s their problem and it’s their responsibility to accommodate you within reason,” he says.

Veteran travelers say if a long delay will cause you to miss the reason for your trip a wedding or business meeting, for example ask for a refund. However, there is no law requiring the airline to give you a refund.

Airlines and passenger-rights groups are fighting over how the carriers handle long delays, and Congress may settle the issue. This month, a Senate committee passed a bill that would require airlines to let passengers off planes that are stuck on the tarmac for three hours.

The airlines say such a law would make things worse by forcing planes that might be near the front of the takeoff line to taxi back to the gate, then go to the back of the pack. More flights would be canceled, says David Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association, a Washington trade group for the largest U.S. carriers. Consumer groups aren’t buying it.
“No one believes that the airlines will fix the problem themselves,” says Kate Hanni, a California real estate agent who created a passenger-rights group after being stranded on a grounded American Airlines jet for more than eight hours in December 2006. “They haven’t yet.”

Since airline travel is often stressful, and summer always brings many delays, experts advise you have a Plan B. Know what flights are available if yours is canceled. If your flight is pushed back or scrubbed, hop on your laptop or phone to see if you can rebook.

“Prepare for the worst,” says Hobica, the travel expert. “Bring a good book.”

Response to Why travel agents are so defensive about “One Bad Apple”

First of all, the real “values” are through professional travel agents. The client will never know what the agent could have “negotiated” on the client’s behalf. Why settle for a low priced resort when you could have stayed at a more luxurious resort for the same price! That’s value and a bargain! People think they can just do it on their own, book their own travel and get the best deal. Agents and clients creating a relationship obtain the best “deals”. If the client does not have enough respect for their agent to advise them of a lower fare they found, I say let them go. They are nicknamed by some agents as “tirekickers”. They call every agency, go on every website and find the “cheapest” package. Most true “professional ” travel agents will offer a better value, by getting an even better offer or sending their client a gift. The clients who booked themselves will never know what a better value their agent could have received. Its too bad people prefer to build a relationship with a computer site than a real person. How do they call if there’s a problem? Reservations agent # 244 or do they prefer the recording and the hold time? It amazes me how many people have all this free time to search the web. Having not heard the agent’s side of this, he may have acted ethically. If the agent suggested the resort and took the time to discuss the benefits of the property as well as their client’s preferences, they are entitled to something. Most agents I know, don’t use airline vacation packages since they get better offers from companies that work with all airlines, plus make better $$. This agent was probably a new agent if they used the airlines vacation site, unless there was no other option. Many agents charge fees so when things like this happen; they are not out of luck. It is proper protocol to take over a record if the client tried to reach the agent and was unsuccessful. Most considerate clients, understand travel agents don’t get paid like doctors and lawyers and make sure they let the company they use know that their travel agent will be calling them and the booking belongs to them.

I am personally glad there are less agents. Only the unskilled agents looking out for their own benefit are becoming extinct. There is and will continue to be a higher level of travel professional out there to service clients. It’s not the name of the agency, how high their revenue is or how large the agency is that will determine the travel experience you will receive. Like any other service professional you use, it is built on customer service and building a relationship that really matters. See my blog on cheap travel or value at http://tinyurl.com/mnrkl8 or Why you should use a professional travel agent at http://tinyurl.com/n6y44j

Girlfriend Getaway- Belize

Total package with local transfers, choice of one spa treatment per girlfriend,
1/2 day snorkel trip for two to Hol Chan Marine Reserve & Shark Ray Alley
$395 per person based on double occupancy

Your package includes:
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Residence includes full size living room, dining room and kitchen – great for girlfriend chats
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Choice of spa treatment at Serenity Spa & Wellness Center – one per girlfriend
Half day snorkel trip for two girlfriends to Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley
Use of Kayaks and Hobie Cats
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Does not include 19% gov’t tax and service charges. Contact: www.twitter.com/travelwize

Do you want cheap travel or value?

These days too many people think they can do what a travel agent does just by going online and booking their airfare, hotel and even vacation plans. The internet has enabled this for for you. Ask yourself, how much is your time worth? How long did it take you? You may have received the best price, but did you receive the best value? Instead of staying at that budget property, or sailing in an inside cabin,you may have been able to have obtained a nicer room at a nicer property/cruiseline for the same price, or have your breakfasts included, or resort/shipboard credit or receive other freebies.You may not know that hotel is inder construction or what is next door. Is it hurricane or monsoon season? Mosquito time? You will never know if you dont check with a professional travel agent. I can see a cheap airfare, since most airlines these days have forgotten what it used to be like to travel other than maybe Virgin or JetBlue but do you want to trust your hard-earned vacation dollars to a computer website? If you value your time, value the experience and  knowledge of a professional, you owe it to yourself to consult with a travel agent and let them book it for you!  Dont just use them for their info, let them do the best for you! You’re worth it arent you?

Experienced Travel Professional helps stranded entertainer

As you can imagine, after 25 years working with celebrities, entertainers,upscale & corporate travelers, one knows how to pull strings and get things done! I received a phone call last night that my well-known entertainer had missed her flight from Buenos Aires to La. She was told by the airline there was no business class seats available from Miami-La and was waitlisted. The airline only waitlisted her in ONE class of service. (There are sometimes 2-3). When I first viewed the flights, it looked grim. I had to go to an appointment so thought I would call the airline in route. I contacted the airline, to see if they could priority waitlist her and I was told by 3 different agents they do not do this. They didnt even know what I was talking about!! (I know for a fact that they can!). It’s the case of the “order-taker” reservation agent not wanting to go the extra step or not really caring. Remember the expression”there are 3 types of people, 1 who watches what happens, 1 who wonders what happens and 1 WHO MAKES THINGS HAPPEN!  Well, being the makes things happen person I am, when I was back in front of my computer, with a few moments,  I was able to maneuver my way through the system and get my client confirmed. She is now on her flight home to La as we speak . This is just one example of why you should use an expereinced, professional travel agent. This is one of the numerous examples of excellent customer service and knowing the business as well as I do that have made me successful for over 25 years and keeps a strong following of satisfied clients and referrals too! Become a “Wize Traveler”! (www.travelwizenow.com)

Why should you use a professional travel agent-part 1

Why should you use a travel agent??

 

Why should you use a travel agent? Here are just a few reasons…more to follow

1: Travel agents offer freebies, upgrades and special perks for the same or better price than you can find online

2: They are there for you when your flight is cancelled or your hotel is overbooked. Who are you going to call if you booked on an online website and just another number to them?

3: They have a network of options that far surpasses what you might find online

4: Many have been there, done that or know another agent who has and can give u the real scoop!

5: Most great travel agents do this for a living! They have the time to do the research, that is unless you are retired or have nothing better to do.

6: Will an online website let you know the price has dropped???

7: This is your vacation!!! Isnt it worth trusting a professional?

To be continued.