WASHINGTON -- International Airlines Travel Agent Network president
Michael Maino said 217,996 people carried Iatan ID cards at the end
of last year, up 0.2% over 217,514 cardholders at the end of 1998.
The growth was caused by Iatan's travel service intermediary
category, designed for travel companies without airline ticket
stock such as cruise-only firms. Of total cards, Maino said 1,879
cards, or 0.9%, were held by employees of travel service
intermediaries, up 63% from 1,152 such cards at the end of
1998.
Maino said "a very significant" number of renewals are handled
via Iatan's toll-free automated phone service, resulting in a
turnaround of 10 days or fewer. "We have no backlog" of initial
applications and renewals that come by mail, he said. The process
has become "a well-oiled machine ... assuming we don't have to
chase someone for missing information," Maino said.
The automated phone service was installed in mid-1998 for
renewals; Iatan's renewal notices tell cardholders whether they are
eligible to use it. The card costs $15 for employees of firms in
the travel agency and travel service intermediary categories and
$30 for employees of corporate travel departments.