Sky Talk

Customers slightly less satisified with online travel sites in 2012

Online shoppers are a little less satisfied with travel websites in 2012, according to a new survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

The online travel industry's customer satisfaction score dropped 2 points to 76 out of 100 in the ACSI survey released on Tuesday. Fort Worth-based Travelocity lost 4 points down to 75 points.

However, the online travel space is highly competitive with all of the major sites separated by only 2 points in 2012.

"It’s not that they made their sites worst, they’ve just all leveled off against each other," said Larry Freed, chief executive of ForeSee, which conducted the survey.

Freed said the online travel scores are good but not great when compared to other e-commerce sites. Overall, e-commerce sites score an average of 81.1 points.

	Customer Satisfaction
	2011	2012
Online Travel Aggregate	78	76
Expedia	77	76
Orbitz	76	76
All Others	79	76
Travelocity	79	75
Priceline	76	74

-Andrea Ahles

DOT fines Travelocity $180,000 for not showing full fares

The Department of Transportation fined Travelocity.com $180,000, saying the Southlake-based online travel site did not advertise the full fares in its ads by not including fuel surcharges.

“Many consumers choose their flights based on price, which is why we require all airfare ads to include the full price consumers will have to pay,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The DOT said its investigation in September 2011 found that Travelocity's "flexible dates tool" did not always include fuel surcharges on international fares. The fuel surcharge was only listed on the final page consumers viewed prior to purchasing the itinerary.

In its report, the DOT said that Travelocity owed $90,000 within the next thirty days but if it does not repeat the violations, it will not have to pay the other half of the fine.

Travelocity spokesman Joel Frey said the firm disagrees with the DOT but agreed to settle the matter to avoid litigation.

"Neither we nor the DOT received any complaints about the issues that the DOT raised with our Flexible Dates tool - in fact the tool was widely recognized as providing a unique capability to allow consumers to find low fares," Frey said. "Nevertheless, we cooperated with the DOT and took the extraordinary step of disabling our popular Flexible Dates tool in December, because of the DOT's concerns."

-Andrea Ahles

A sweet sixteen for Travelocity and its roaming gnome

With pointy red gnome hats, a cruise giveaway and plenty of balloons, Travelocity turned sweet 16 last month.

But it hasn't been all cupcakes and champagne for the Southlake-based travel website.

Once considered a trailblazer, Travelocity has struggled for the past few years to keep up with competitors such as Expedia or Priceline.

"We weren't moving as fast as we needed to," CEO Carl Sparks said about newer, nimbler competitors. "We're 16 and so sometimes we think of ourselves as one of the elderly companies in the space because we were around since its inception. ... Yet 16 is quite young for a multibillion-dollar company."

Since Sparks took the top job a year ago, he and his executive team have refocused the company on hotel products, build-your-own-vacation packages and mobile devices. In February, the company launched its first iPad app, which allows users to book airline tickets, hotels and rental cars from their tablets and offers hotel deals exclusive to its mobile apps.

While industry analysts say Travelocity is still playing catch-up, they are encouraged by Sparks' initiatives and the disciplined approach he has brought to the company.

"He is refining the team and they are working on platform solutions now," Atmos Group analyst Henry Harteveldt said. "There is a lot they can do, and they have matured into a compelling company."

To read the full story that was published in Sunday's Star-Telegram, click here.

And if you want to know a little more about the roaming gnome's social media voice, Elaine Kubik, click here.

-Andrea Ahles

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/03/31/3849461/travelocity-works-to-get-its-magic.html#storylink=cpy

Sabre, Etihad Airways ink $1 billion deal

Sabre Airline Solutions will provide services estimated at $1 billion over 10 years to Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, the carrier said. Etihad will use Sabre's software for its reservations, inventory, marketing, planning, e-commerce, distribution and departure control operations. It said it expects to implement the software by February 2013. Sabre, part of Southlake-based Sabre Holdings, says it provides technology services to more than 300 airlines and 100 airports around the world. Sabre Holdings also operates the Travelocity online travel site.

-- Jim Fuquay

Business travel magazine readers like American Airlines

American Airlines receives high mark from the travelers that reader Business Traveler magazine. The magazine touts American as among the "Best in Business Travel" in surveys of its readers and took home top honors for "Best Airline for North American Travel" and "Best Business Class to Latin / South America."

Over the past six months, Business Traveler print, digital and newsletter subscribers were given the opportunity to vote for their top choices in a variety of categories. American was one of 35 companies chosen from around the world. 

- Bob Cox

 

Hanging with the Travelocity gnome at DFW Airport

It's the Thanksgiving travel season and on Tuesday I got to spend some time with the Travelocity gnome at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport as we watched passengers get ready for their flights.

DFW Airport is projecting that 1.83 million passengers will travel through the airport during the 13-day travel period (Nov. 17 through Nov. 29), up one percent from last year.

Walking through Terminal A and Terminal D on Tuesday, security and check-in lines were moving quickly.

Travelocity spokesman Joel Frey (and keeper of the gnome...) said average Thanksgiving fares are up six percent compared to last year and that the average fare out of DFW Airport was $350.

"The advice we give over and over again, if the ticket is there with a price in your budget, don’t hestitate don’t wait. There are fewer seats out there. There are still great fares out there but there are fewer of them," Frey said.

For travelers leaving DFW today and tomorrow, be prepared for full flights although the airport is not likely to be as busy as travelers will experience on their return on Sunday or Monday.

"People are spreading their travel out as they take the whole week off and schools are now off all week," Frey said. "The front end of the holiday is not as busy at the airport but Sunday it will be."

And for those still thinking about traveling during the upcoming Christmas holiday, consider this:

"If you haven’t booked your Christmas trip yet and you want a deal you are going to have to fly on Christmas day. That is what you’re looking at right now. Anything leading up to Christmas Day, the 22nd, 23rd, even Christmas Eve, those flights are going to be more expensive."

-Andrea Ahles

 

 

 

 

USAirways to bring call centers back to U.S.

US Airways is hiring 150 customer service agents for its Phoenix call center as part of a broader deal with its unions to bring customer service jobs back to the United States from overseas, according to the Arizona Republc.

The airline will hire also 400 customer service agents in Phoenix, Reno, Nev., and Winston-Salem, N.C. under contracts with the Airline Customer Service Employee Association , CWA and IBT. The jobs will be moving from a Philippines call center under an agreement to handle all service calls originating in the United States from U.S. call centers.

-Bob Cox

 

 

Analyst views AMR-Expedia deal as "generally good news"

Earlier this week, American Airlines' parent company, AMR Corp., announced a deal with Expedia that allows the travel site to display American airfares.

Hunter Keay, an analyst at Wolfe Trahan & Co., took a closer look at the deal which he believes was primarily about revenues and not costs.

The dispute between AMR and Expedia was related to distribution costs. AMR wanted Expedia to get its fare information directly from the carrier while Expedia was using the traditional global distribution system (GDS) to access the fares.

With the few details that have been announced about the deal, Keay said he expects AMR's fares to be initially re-listed on Expedia through the GDS but that in the future as a more "direct connect" system is developed, AMR's fares could be listed in a more customized manner, allowing the airline to charge for other services, such as bag fees, at the point of sale.

"We expect a similar compromise between AMR and Travelport/Orbitz and Sabre/Travelocity in the near future," Keay wrote in a research note. "Both have shown the desire to work with AMR’s competitors on similar solutions, and we believe [the Expedia] announcement is a precursor to future compromises."

-Andrea Ahles

Travelocity: Spring fares down

We've recently written about a larger-than-usual slew of fare sales for spring travel. Now Travelocity.com has a report out, based on its booking data, that shows average domestic fares for spring travel are $24 cheaper than the same period a year ago. The average fare dropped from $393 to $369, according to the travel firm.

Here are cities where fares have declined by more than 10 percent (and no, D/FW wasn't on the list):

1. Chicago -17 percent
2. Los Angeles -16 percent
3. Salt Lake City -16 percent
4. San Antonio -16 percent
5. San Francisco -15 percent
6. Denver -13 percent
7. Jacksonville -13 percent
8. Tucson -11 percent
9. Seattle -10 percent
10. Atlanta -10 percent

- Trebor Banstetter

Sabre, Travelocity downsizing

Like most travel-related industries, Sabre Holdings is feeling the pinch of the economic slowdown these days. The Southlake-based company cut its workforce last month - employees tell us several hundred jobs were eliminated, although company officials wouldn't confirm any numbers. We've also heard from employees that the cuts were at its Travelocity.com subsidiary as well as the parent company.

Here's a statement we received from spokesman Michael Brophy:

"Given current marketplace conditions, we are managing our business conservatively and taking steps now to ensure future investments and the long-term health of our business.  These have included some reductions in our workforce; however, we’ve worked diligently to identify other cost savings that have minimal impact to our customers, our employees and, naturally, the long-term health of the business.

"We have a sound strategy in place for 2009 and beyond and will continue to invest in the long-term health and success of our business, even as we have to make shorter term decisions to manage our costs."

Readers may recall that Travelocity's CEO, Michelle Peluso, just resigned, and was replaced by Hugh Jones.

- Trebor Banstetter