SOUTHLAKE, Texas -- Several agents reacted favorably to Sabre's
Travelocity Agent Program as details emerged about how it will
work.
Sabre agents are being offered the opportunity to gain access to
Travelocity-negotiated fares on hotels, vacations, cruises and
airlines that are not available in the GDS -- and earn money for
each booking.
Agents participating in the new TAP also will get a PNR they can
run through their agencies' back-office systems.
The expected benefit to Sabre: a stronger relationship with its
agencies and a growth in Travelocity bookings, said Alicia Gardner,
Sabre Travel Network's product marketing director.
Agents could begin signing up for the Travelocity Agent Program
April 7. Participants must complete an online agreement available
at eservices.sabre.com.
Agents can terminate the agreement at any time with written
notice, Sabre said.
According to Sabre, this is how the program will work.
Participating agents will be able to book a trip for their
clients on Travelocity via a link on their own desktops or Intranet
site; or they can place a co-branded link (identifying Travelocity
and the agency) on their agency Web site to let clients make the
booking themselves.
No matter the method, agents will be paid for each booking. The
amount will vary depending on the type of booking, ranging from $2
on published air to $25 on vacation and cruise.
Travelocity will handle the booking and fulfillment.
If the trip does not include an air travel component, the agency
will get a PNR via e-mail. If it does include air, agents will be
able to access the PNR in the GDS green-screen.
Gardner said the agency will be able to run a script to make a
copy of the PNR, run it through its back-office systems and send
the client a Virtually There itinerary.
"It's not perfectly integrated work flow, but it does help," she
said.
The program also includes a "no marketing agreement" that
stipulates that Travelocity "will not directly market to agency
customers who are participating in the program," Sabre said.
The Travelocity Agent Program is an expansion of the Travelocity
Affiliate Program, under which participants put a link to
Travelocity on their Web site and receive a referral fee for each
booking that originates from that link.
The affiliate program, in place for more than two years, has
about 20,000 participants, but only a handful of them are agencies,
Gardner said. Most of the participants are places such as tourism
bureaus and retail outlets, she said.
Travel agents contacted by TravelWeekly.com were in favor of
TAP.
"They are trying to make it easier for the travel agents to book
over the Internet," said Beth Barnes, owner of B. Barnes/Carlson
Wagonlit Travel in Austin, Texas.
"It has taken them a long time [to recognize travel agents]. But
it is a great idea."
Barnes, who was renegotiating her GDS contract with Worldspan,
added "I wish Worldspan had something like that."
"It's a good idea," said Micki Sander co-owner of Dallas-based
Leisure Travel Desk and Golf Spot. "But if Travelocity or Sabre is
interested in working with many more agents, there are thousands of
agents that are not on a GDS. They should think beyond the
box."
Sander said she dropped her GDS contract several years ago, so
the vast majority of her agencies' bookings are done over the
Internet or by telephone.
Sanders said her agents often log onto Travelocity, look up
certain packages and other deals, and then use them as a benchmark
to sell competing programs sold, for instance, at Funjet Vacation's
Web site.
"We use Funjet all the time because it is an easy way to make
bookings," Sanders said. "So if Travelocity has product similar to
that, it would be fabulous. But if they only offer it to Sabre
agents, they are losing their competitive edge."