The Travel Quest team will go over everything included in your monthly access fee, the commission split options, and advantages of being associated with a Travel Leaders (formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel) franchise.  If you’re looking to join or speak more in-depth with a reputable host, don’t forget to mark your calendars for this event!   The webinar on October 15th begins at 2pm Eastern, 1pm Central, Noon Mountain and 11am Pacific.  See you there.

RSVP to https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/275111201

For more information on our host agency program for home based travel agents, please visit www.TQagents.com

If you attended the symposium, you may have been greeted by Bonnie Lee as  you entered the PATH panel discussion on Wednesday or if you stopped by the PATH booth at the Homebased Travel Agent Show which was also staffed by Bonnie Lee.  For agents looking for a host, a great resource to begin your search is PATH who requires host agencies meet certain financial requirements and stability before joining.

Bonnie Lee at PATH booth in Atlantic City

On July 20th, an unidentified number of agencies have been told that they will no longer be able to sell United Airlines tickets using credit cards via the GDS, as we have with every carrier from the time GDS have been introduced to us.  United Airlines will now be passing the costs on to us, the travel agents.  There are two ways around this new challenge.  First, travel agents would need to establish merchant accounts with credit card issuers and settle in cash with United via ARC.  The annual price tag for that would be approximately $171 million dollars in fees passed on to travel agents.  The second option that we have been given is to book United Airline tickets on their website, which eliminates the opportunity of truly servicing our clients, which is why they choose to book with a trusted travel adviser in the first place.

You do have a voice!

We, the travel agent community as a whole, must speak up and let our thoughts be heard.  ASTA is doing everything they can to help us from going to the Department of Justice as well as members of Congress for help.  They are asking for our involvement as well.   Below I have copied a sample email that ASTA has prepared for us so that you may forward this on to your Representative or Senator.  Please make your letter as personable and as specific to your situation as possible.  The more they see you/us as “people” and how these changes affect us, the better response it will receive.

You can find the contact information for your representative here and your senator here.

Dear Representative/Senator ______:

As the owner/manager of a travel agency in _________, _____, I am seeking your urgent assistance.

We have been in business for ___ years, employing __ full-time agents and contributing to tourism sales and the local economy. When we sell an airline ticket with payment by credit card (accounting for over 90% of sales), the merchant account for that credit transaction is owned by the airline. Among the many advantages that this system, in place since the advent of credit cards, is that consumers have the peace of mind in knowing they receive the full protections of the Fair Credit Billing Act in case of performance disputes, including airline bankruptcies.

United Airlines has just announced that, as of July 20, some travel agencies will be denied access to United merchant accounts and must get their own accounts and pay United in cash. If other airlines follow suit, which they often do, this policy will impose enormous costs and risks on our business and will defeat the protections that consumers get under federal law. If an airline service dispute arises, and they come up all the time, our agency will be the target for charge-backs even though the airline has the money. This is an impossible situation, unfair to us, unreasonable as a business practice and severely harmful to consumers.

We ask that you use your influence to persuade United to rescind this policy immediately before catastrophic consequences ensue. If your office needs further information, please contact Paul Ruden, ASTA’s senior vice president of legal and industry affairs at pruden@asta.org or call him at 703.739.6854.

Thank you very much for considering our views. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
(Your name and agency name)

Travel Trade recently published an article that asked the top host agencies their perspectives on what an agent should look for when choosing a host.  Obviously there is a bit biased towards our respective programs in our answers, but in the end, I do think it’s a great resource and worth checking out.  So take a look and hear some different perspectives from people that work with agents searching for a new host everyday! 

http://www.traveltrade.com/6349.news   

Travel agents interested in finding out more about our host agency can visit www.TQagents.com

In recent weeks there have been numerous articles and reports on safety concerns and violent crimes taking place in one of the most popular tourist destinations, Cancun Mexico and the Riviera Maya.

According to travel warnings posted by the US Department of Safety and updates from popular hotels in the area,  there have been no incidents in the Riviera Maya.  The isolated, drug-related incident that took place earlier this month outside of Cancun was more than 100 miles from the Riviera Maya and did not involve any tourists or “everyday citizens”

The travel advisories are focused on primarily the border towns of  Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, and Chihuahua.  Please keep in mind that these border towns are between approximately 1,500 and 2,000 miles from the Riviera Maya area. The Mexican Tourist Board maintains that “Mexico remains a safe tourist destination” and that the popular tourist destinations of Los Cabos, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, and the Riviera Maya all remain safe for visitors.

For additional information on this topic as well as updated Travel Advisories, please visit:

US State department: www.trave.state.gov

For more information on our travel host agency please visit www.TQagents.com or call 800.392.6484

It is my pleasure to announce to you that ARC has decided to drop the same day void project.  Due to an overwhelming response from agents across the US, they have decided that now is not the right time to move forward with this project.

Their initial goal was to try to implement ways of transmitting data in a ‘cleaner and more efficient way’.  Fortunately, they have found ways to fulfill this need in other ways for the time being.

What this means to you is that business will continue as normal so you will still have the 24-hour window to void a ticket if necessary.

Let me be the first to extend a big sigh of relief!

For more information on our travel host agency, please visit www.TQagents.com.

Travel Quest agents have access into a great program through Travel Leaders (formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel) call the Excursion Society.  It’s a unique program that- in summary- gives our agents access to the lower rates of group space AND gives their clients free excursions.

This program sets agents apart from online travel agencies and local agents in two ways:

1) It is group space which means your agency is going to have access to the lower rates. 

2) On certain sailings, your clients can partake in free excursions!  These are arranged directly between Travel Leaders and the cruise line and are exclusively for Travel Leaders’ clients.  The types of excursions run the gambit- ranging from a salmon bake and wildlife cruise on an Alaskan cruise to a museum tour and wine tasting for a European cruise.  Now that is something to blow your competition out of the water!   

If you’re just starting to build your clientele or are ready to expand, this program is a great opportunity to attract new clients.  It’s easy to promote and- as you can imagine- sells itself.  Please feel free to contact me for more information: stephanie@tqagents.com

Bonnie and Steph will be at booth #119 the Chicago Home-based Travel Agent show next month so if you’re in the area, please stop by and say hello!  Rarely do we get the chance to meet our agents face-to-face so we always enjoy tradeshows as an opportunity to meet new agents as well as touch base with our agents in the area. 

Check out our webpage at www.TQagents.com for more information about our hosting program.

More information on the show can be found at www.spring.homebasedagentshow.com 

I receive a lot o questions as to what the exact relationship between Travel Quest, Travel Leaders, and Carlson Wagonlit Travel is.  In 2008, Carlson sold some of its assets including Carlson Leisure Group (CLG), which included the Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associate Division.  CLG was purchased by its leadership group, renamed Travel Acquisitions Group, and the operation moved about 10 miles south of the current Carlson HQ.

Newly independent from Carlson, the name change to Travel Leaders was implemented to distinguish the 500 U.S.-based franchised travel agencies (Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates) from the business travel management company (Carlson Wagonlit Travel) which is still part of Carlson.

Our host agency (Travel Quest) is a Travel Leaders privately owned franchise and since our independent contractors are under our ARC#, they reap many of the benefits associated with being a Travel Leaders franchise.

We’ll do a quick 3-part series as to what some of the main advantages are to joining Travel Quest, the largest Travel Leaders host agency.

Travel Leaders Advantage #1

As a TQ agent, you’ll have access to negotiated Travel Leaders rates on cars and hotels.  If you’re an agent familiar with the GDS, you can go ahead and pull them up.  If you’re not familiar with a GDS, you can give a call into our office and when we book it for you, we’ll let you know if there is a better negotiated rate than what you can find!

You’ll also have access into extra amenities through our Luxury hotel program.  When you book a client into specific resorts you’ll automatically receive value added bonuses like complimentary upgrades, free continental breakfasts, etc.

For more information on our host agency program, please visit www.TQagents.com

**ARC has recently advised us that they have dropped the soft date of March, 2009 to implement the Void reduction window.  They have not announced a new effective date at this time.**

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Hello fellow Travel Professionals!

The Airline Reporting Commission (ARC) is going to be implementing the same-day voiding initiative by late February or Early March 2009.  What this means to us as agents is that we may need to review and or change some of our current business practices and procedures.

Currently, we are able to void a ticket that has been issued in the GDS system within 24 hours of ticketing.  Now, if you find yourself needing to void a ticket, you must do it by 11:59pm on the same day the ticket was issued. Also,  ARC has said that all tickets that have been processed via the GDS, must be voided through the GDS.  So making any voids via IAR will no longer be an option since those tickets aren’t “seen” in IAR until the next business day.  You may still make modifications to tickets in IAR such as commissions, tour codes, certificate numbers and ticket designators for 1 business day after ticket issuance, however.

Further information on the new void initiative  may be found on the ASTA website.

For more information on our host agency program, please visit www.TQagents.com