VIENNA, Va. -- Some travel agencies may be reluctant to serve some
military accounts because the Pentagon is launching a self-booking
tool for its business travelers that may not be working properly.
According to some delegates at the recent annual conference of
the Society of Government Travel Professionals, the Defense Travel
System -- in development since 1998 -- is not functioning properly
at some of its test sites.
One DTS employee at the conference privately told
TravelWeekly.com that frustrated servicemen have complained that it
takes too long -- sometimes more than an hour -- to book their
trips on DTS.
The DTS employee added that the product's next release, due in
the spring, will be faster and more efficient.
However, some US Army bases aren't waiting for DTS to work out
the kinks before petitioning travel agencies to submit bids on DTS
contracts.
One consultant is urging agents to steer clear of bidding on
such contracts because adoption rates and quality control costs are
too unpredictable.
Alvin Chisik of Merritt Chisik Management Consulting in Topanga,
Calif., said 27 DTS contracts -- set aside for small businesses
only -- are up for grabs and bids are due by March 5.
Cumulatively, Chisik said, the contracts represent about $175
million in air sales, but he is advising his agency to avoid
bidding.
Chisik explained that the contracts require agencies to provide
quality-control processes for all transactions, a harrowing task if
the booking system isn't working properly.
Just as alarming, said Chisik, agencies are being asked to
submit bids based on assorted, assumed adoption percentages for
DTS.
For example, said Chisik, the contract will ask agencies to
submit a bid assuming DTS adoption is 40%, then another assuming
it's 60%.
Chisik said the Army will average the submitted bids to arrive
at one transaction fee that covers traditional and self-booked
transactions.
"There are too many unknowns," Chisik said. "There's too many
variables and too much risk."
Similarly, one agent said bidders would have no idea how to
staff an account. Flip Himmelreich, owner of CWT/Century Travel in
Spokane, Wash., said it would be hard to predict how many
transactions will require additional servicing.
Also, readying the agency to accept DTS transactions requires a
technology investment, Himmelreich said. If DTS is a bust and few
military personnel use the tool, the agency would have made a poor
investment.
"We must have a guarantee from the government that enables us to
recoup capital investments," Himmelreich said.
Jackye Alton, SGTP's president and owner of CWT/Almeda Travel in
Houston, said SGTP is working with DTS and the military to clear up
a cloudy picture.
"We want to change some things in the contract that would make
it more favorable to bid," Alton said. "We need to know how much
DTS will be used so we can make some intelligent assumptions."
DTS can't provide that answer now, Alton added.
"As far as we know, it's not even working," she said.