MONTREAL -- Travel technology provider Jacques Thibault rolled out
a product that converts an e-mailed itinerary or invoice into a
gateway to an online travel store where clients can buy additional
commissionable products.
Thibault is president of MagnaTech here, and the product --
iMagic -- began its public life last September as a service
enabling agents to deliver a printable itinerary or invoice to a
client based on the booked trip in the GDS.
Created in a Web-page matrix, the document is customized to look
as if it is a page on the sending agency's own Web site, and that
page can be used to promote the agency's services.
In the new release of iMagic, that page includes a Pretrip
Services button that leads clients to a "mini-Web site unique to
each agency," Thibault said.
It is here that clients can buy a range of ancillary services.
For example, he said, if an agency supports a specific travel
insurer or a provider of cellular phone rentals at its real Web
site, those options will be linked to the sponsoring agency's
Pretrip Services button.
For agencies without their own package of ancillary services,
MagnaTech is putting together a basic package that any iMagic
customer can use at no additional cost. That package includes
travel insurance, traveler's checks and foreign currency, and, in
each case, the sponsoring agency gets the credit and commissions,
Thibault said.
The company said iMagic -- in its manner of delivering
itineraries and invoices -- replaces the sometimes controversial
option of sending travelers to airline Web sites to see their
itineraries.
The iMagic product is a toolbar that floats in one corner of the
GDS screen above the PNR. When a booking is complete, the agent
clicks on the toolbar to generate the itinerary or invoice and to
send it out.
The cost of iMagic is $50 per agency to set up the software, and
$4 a month per user (up to 10 users) and $1 per user for all
additional users at the same location.
To contact Nadine Godwin, send e-mail to [email protected].