HONOLULU -- Another agent will get the chance to win the use of a
Jeep Cherokee for a year in Runaway Tours' Three Is Key 2000
incentive program.
Ed Jackson, Runaway president, said the decision to repeat the
promotion reflected the success of the first program, in 1999.
Jackson recently hosted the five Three Is Key winners on a
weekend trip to the Kahala Mandarin in Honolulu, during which one
of the five -- Renee Westerberg of Patterson Travel in Gold River,
Calif., -- won the use of the Jeep Cherokee for a year.
"We have only one customer -- and it's you," Jackson told the
travel agents. "There are a lot of people out there going direct
and using other methods of distribution, but you are our only
distribution system."
Jackson said Three Is Key, which is conducted with its car
rental partner, Dollar Rent A Car, is designed to increase bookings
but also to give a boost to agent morale during a tough time.
Jackson, who serves on the U.S. Tour Operators Association
executive board, said he remains committed to using travel agents
as Runaway's only distribution system.
Three Is Key was launched at the beginning of 1999 to celebrate
Runaway's 30 years in business. The 2000 incentive is valid on new
bookings for travel from Jan. 10 to Dec. 14.
Agents will be rewarded each time they make a booking that
includes a minimum of five nights' lodging, roundtrip air fare and
Runaway's cancellation and revision waiver. It applies to all three
Runaway destinations -- Hawaii, Tahiti and Mexico.
There are three parts to the incentive:
With every three bookings, individual agents receive $30 in
cash; with 12 bookings, they earn a free ticket to Hawaii on United
Airlines plus $120 in cash; 24 bookings brings a second ticket to
Hawaii plus $240 in cash, and 30 bookings rewards the agent with
three nights' accommodations, a three-day car rental and $300 in
cash.The top-producing agency in 2000 will be rewarded with a
Runaway fam trip for up to 10 agents.Each qualified booking gives an agent a chance at the
grand-prize sweepstakes. Five agents whose names are drawn in the
sweepstakes will be flown to a Runaway destination for an
all-expenses-paid weekend. During the weekend, one of the five
names will be drawn to win the use of a Jeep Cherokee, courtesy of
Dollar, for a year.Runaway also introduced a three-tiered pricing structure on its
cancellation and revision waiver. The options are a $29 fee for
fly-drive packages, $39 for land-only packages and $49 for full
packages.
The waiver, which must be purchased at the time of booking,
guarantees price protection on vacation components, including a
refund any time up to 24 hours before departure, and a refund on
any unused portion of the trip if it is interrupted.