New DOT Rules-The Effect on Travel Agents

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has implemented new and upgraded rules to help consumers with airline issues. These include rules for protecting airfares for consumers, rules for delayed flight at the gate and on the tarmac, and lost and misplaced luggage rules.

These have been necessary changes waiting to be made. They went into effect on or before January 26, 2012. For travel agents, this means that airfares quoted must include all taxes and fees, including one way airfares. Links to the airline information must be provided for clients on the e-ticket confirmation to access free and paid baggage information, and plenty more.

When advertising airfares, travel agents must post from what city the airfare is from, plus a segment stating that flights from other cities may be higher.

These changes and others may have to be noted on ticket confirmations, and may include adjustments to agent training, including what they need to quote to the customer, and what needs to be put in writing. Some changes may need to be added to computer programming so the proper information is shown in the computer programs for the customer.

Once again, travel agents are called on to help the consumer understand new laws, and pass on significant information. This time, travel agents can be held responsible if they do not update and inform clients correctly.

Agents, what do you think about the new rules, and what changes will you need to make in the office to handle these?

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President Obama Offends Travel Agents

President Obama has now ruffled the feathers of the travel agent community, implying that they are now obsolete, taken over by on line travel sites. At a town hall meeting in Atkinson, IL, the President stated:

"One of the challenges in terms of rebuilding our economy is businesses have gotten so efficient that--when was the last time somebody went to a bank teller instead of using the ATM, or used a travel agent instead of just going online? A lot of jobs that used to be out there requiring people now have become automated."

The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), fired back with a letter to the White House, reporting that the U.S. travel agency industry "is comprised of nearly 10,000 U.S.-based travel agency firms operating in 15,000 locations. We have an annual payroll of $6.3 billion. Most importantly, our businesses produce full-time employment for more than 120,000 U.S. taxpayers."

That workforce is fairly large these days, particularly considering the many people unemployed and maybe wish they had one of those 120,000 jobs. Yes, it is true that on line travel sites have changed the way people around the world make airline, car, hotel, and cruise reservations. Travel agents have had to make major adjustments to stay in business, and stay viable in the travel world.

Many travel agencies have closed their doors with the constant changes, but those who have stayed are changing with the times and offer a valuable service to their clients. Remember, ASTA's motto, "Without a travel agent, you're on your own."

As a travel agent, what is your reaction to the President's remarks?

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Hurricanes-Travel Agents on Call

This may turn out to be a hectic weekend for those travel agents with customers traveling during this hurricane weekend on the east coast. Of course this is a big asset to having a travel agent that is a lifeline to realign travel plans gone awry by the weather.

Many agencies have the capability of doing a search for all clients traveling during this weekend, to help keep tabs of the clients travel

I, for one, have done just that. I monitored my clients' flights that I thought may be in a possible delay or cancel situation. So far, so good. But then the storm has not hit in a lot of areas.

As all travel agents should have been made aware at this point, most of the airlines are allowing changes at no charge to travel reservations during these storm dates, and may have to extend the waivers, depending on the overall damage after the weekend.

Cruise lines are a little trickier. They are having difficulties trying to decide where the ships can be, and for how long, dodging the hurricane. Some of the sailings are being cut shorter, or changing ports, and the turn around time for the ships have been cut short on some as well.

There again, the travel agent is involved helping their customers change plans or advising them of their best options. Customers usually do not forget the extra help they receive during these stressful times when trying to salvage their vacation. This is definitely a time when travel agents can show their true worth.

What experiences have you shared with your customers during the hurricane?

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Paris airport brings Star Trek holodeck to terminal with virtual boarding agents

ORLY, France (AP) — An airport in France is experimenting with "virtual" boarding agents in a bid to jazz up its terminals with 21st century avatars who always smile, don't need breaks and never go on strike.

The pilot project at Paris' Orly airport began last month, and has so far been met with a mix of amusement and surprise by travelers, who frequently try to touch and speak with the strikingly life-like video images that greet them and direct them to their boarding gate.

The images materialize seemingly out of thin air when a boarding agent — a real live human — presses a button to signal the start of boarding.

They are actually being rear-projected onto a human shaped silhouette made of plexiglass. Three actual airport boarding agents were filmed in a studio to create the illusion, which the airport hopes will be more eye-catching and easier for passengers to understand than traditional electronic display terminals.

"Bonjour! I invite you to go to your boarding gate. Paris Airports wishes you a bon voyage," the image appears to say, while the name of the destination flashes in front of him.

Airport authority AdP came up with the idea for what it calls "2-D holograms" earlier this year, when it was brainstorming ways to modernize Hall 40, one of the dozens of boarding gates at Paris' second airport, south of the capital.

"Children like it, it's fun. They're attracted to it and try to play with it," said Didier Leroy, the airport's director of operations. "There's finally very few who find it useless or just a gizmo."

The technology behind the images was developed by a Paris audiovisual marketing agency, L'Oeil du Chat. Similar virtual agents are in place in airports in London and Manchester since earlier this year.

Hall 40 serves about 30 or 40 flights a day, Leroy said. Around 1 million passengers a year pass through it, mainly on their way to destinations in the south of France and Corsica. The airport decided to make it a "laboratory" for testing new ways of organizing its boarding gates. It received an overhaul this spring that created 40 percent more space and 20 percent more seats so that it can now hold up to 400 waiting passengers.

As passengers boarded a flight to Bastia in Corsica, one small boy of about five years old approached the hologram, this one showing a middle-aged man in a striped shirt and neatly trimmed beard. "Hello!" the boy greeted it. The pre-recorded image smiled, blinked, folded his hands, glanced to the left but said nothing.

Leroy said the airport's experiment with virtual reality will be evaluated by the end of the year, after which it could be expanded to other boarding halls at Orly or to Paris' larger Charles de Gaulle airport.

Not all passengers were as taken with the virtual hosts as the boy.

"It spooks me the way his eyes seem to follow you," said Cedric Olivier, 32, an Air France pilot waiting for his flight. Other passengers hurried past with barely a glance at the hologram, more concerned about boarding the plane and finding space for their carry-ons.

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Greg Keller can be reached at http://twitter.com/Greg_Keller

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New Hotel Booking Engine for Agents

Something new and exciting is rolling out in July, 2011 for travel agents. The name is Travelport Rooms and More?, and it is a hotel booking engine exclusive for travel agents.

Rooms and More from the GDS provider, Travelport, will allow agents to book hotel, bed and breakfasts, and other accommodations through one web source with one log in. Aggregators such as Lowcostbeds and Laterooms.com will be available to agents to compare rates for clients.

If the new booking engine is as good as it sounds, this may be a great boost for travel agents. Sometimes it is hard for agents to uphold credibility of getting the best rooms and prices for their customers, with so many online hotel resources available to the public.

It will be important that clients can now have more confidence that their agent will find the best accommodations for them, thus hopefully bring in more customers for the travel agent.

Rooms and more will pay agent commission from Travelport, instead of agents receiving commissions from individual hotel companies. This may be simpler in the long run, but should we wonder if the commissions will be the same, better, or less than what is received now?

As an agent, I am excited to see this new product. It is good to know that an agent can be confident they are offering customers the best available property and price. It should save a lot of time looking and logging onto one website to search properties, rather than logging into several sites to search deals and descriptions.

What are your thoughts about the new hotel booking engine? Has any agents tried it yet?

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Training for Travel Agents

To make it in the competitive travel industry today travel agents really need to keep a knowledgeable edge on the competition. Stressing this is important because clients want to know and depend on their travel agent to give them good and accurate information. They want to know that their travel agent will be there for them in case any problems occur while traveling.

Does your travel agency offer free training courses that agents can attend? There are webinars from vendors, classes sponsored by American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), and many times agencies will have in-house training by tour operators and cruise lines. It is to the agency's advantage to keep agents up to date on travel news, tour operators, cruise line booking sites and more.

There is an abundant of free webinars and training opportunities to increase profits and agent knowledge. Some to consider for agents are:

• ASTA classes.
• Webinars.
• In-house training.
• Agent personal experience sharing.
• Sharing travel reports from satisfied clients to agents.
• Sending email updates from vendors.

Training is more important than ever now for travel agents to succeed and be profitable. New agents and experienced agents should ask for training from their company and take advantage of all training opportunities of interest.

How does your travel agency train employees? Do they offer in-house training? Please share ideas and training that have been successful.

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