VelocityTours Travel Blog

http://apps.cbp.gov/awt/

I always get the question why should I use an agent versus book on line. I have always had an idea why but not really known how to put it into words. I have seen the big discrepancies in price with online booking sites versus what we can find as agents as well I have seen numerous times where hotels are sold out yet they erroneously show rooms available on various sites. The other gotcha with the internet is when you have a problem who are you going to call? Do you really have an extra hour or 2 to sit on the phone and be transferred only to be told no?

Having said that, we do have a booking engine. The great benefit of ours is that a live person goes through each booking and looks for better fares and options before ticketing what has been purchased on-line If we find something better we will call the client to offer them the other option

Recently I had a client that her father was diagnosed with leukemia. She made one phone call to us that lasted a minute and by the next day we were able to get a waiver and change the name on her fathers ticket so someone could accompany her. I wonder how that would have gone if she would have booked with the airline directly or one of the online sites? Now days you usually talk to someone in India or the Philippines when you call the airlines. Getting them to understand you can be difficult at times let alone getting them to change a name would be next to impossible. The airlines just don’t do name changes unless you know who to talk to.

Trent –Velocity Tours and Travel 801-296-8687

Since 2001, Topaz International has conducted comparative studies of corporate travel airfares between actual corporate travel agency booked itineraries and various public internet sites, including Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity and airline direct websites. During the most recent results from 2006, Topaz found that business travel itineraries booked by a designated corporate travel agency averaged $75 less than the same itinerary booked on a public internet site, one of the largest margins since 2002. In addition, the average agency fare and average internet fare were the highest they have been since 2002.

Business Travel Comparisons

Average Agency Fare

Average Internet Fare

Differenc

YEAR AGENCY FARE // INTERNET FARE // DIFFERENCE

2001         $458         //         $629     //         $171

2002         $594         //         $748     //         $154

2003         $503         //         $572     //         $69

2004         $478         //         $558     //         $80

2005         $427         //         $483     //         $56

2006         $508         //         $583     //         $75

2007         $442         //         $498     //         $56

 Easy to earn, frustrating to use.

FICTION - airlines release a specific number of seats per flight for purchase with frequent flier miles.

FACT - airlines make available seats for purchase with miles that they wont sell otherwise.
FICTION - The earlier you book the more likely you will get the flights you want.

FACT - Seats for mileage are not available 330 days from departure when the flight first comes available. Seats for miles are released periodically depending on the demand for any particular flight. Seats for miles come from the same inventory as seats for sell, so if there are 2 seats for miles available and someone purchases 2 tickets then the 2 seats for miles will most likely be gone unless more are released. If a flight is undersold then the airline will release more seats the closer you get to the flight. People love to use their miles for Hawaii yet the seats are almost never available unless you can plan 3 to 4 weeks prior departure. NOTE: try to avoid booking within 14 weeks otherwise you will get hit with a booking fee. The fee goes even higher for booking 7 days or less prior departure.

Suggestions:

1. check for availability on line.
2. call and check availability. If you get a good agent then chances are they will find you an option. While working for a major airline, I recall many times that I was able to find options for people who asked why the other agents they had spoken to could not. They always asked why I could find them yet the other agents could not.
3. Ask the airline agent to look at their partners availability. Many agents will only look at their airline and not the partners.
4. If it is imperative you travel on specific flights then use double miles.
5. Ask for a waitlist. Many airlines will waitlist a flight if you ask.
6. Just because it is not available today does not mean it wont be available in a few days. Persitance is the key when using miles. Availability changes constantly.
7. Above all other, PUT it on hold if you find something. Chances are it will not be available when you call back.

BEST AIRLINE MILEAGE PROGRAMS

- CONTINENTAL -

• no expiration date on miles. Customer service is excellent.

BEST ELITE PROGRAMS

- DELTA -

• Qualifying for Silver Status is by far the easiest. Other airlines restrict accrual towards Elite status based on the class of service you book. Delta does not. 3 round-trips to Peru or Chile in one year and you qualify for free upgrades for the rest and following year(with other airlines you would have to take twice as many trips to qualify for silver).

- UNITED -

• Upgrades on international flights tend to be easier to get with miles. There are no extra fees with upgrades however you do have to purchase specific class fares. Customer service is excellent.

We would like to thank all those that contributed to the items that we took to Peru. We were overwhelmed by the generosity of people. Clothing, bath items, and money were all donated.

When we arrived in Chincha it was a very somber experience. My best description is a bulldozer going through your neighborhood and not cleaning up. The streets where mazes with the piles of rubble. There were many communals set up in a U shaped form to create a sense of security within the tents. They had schedules for cooking, washing dishes, and other daily activities. For most of these people this is the way life will be for the next couple of years. Their resources are zero. There is no bank to loan them money. There is no FEMA to clean up. There is no resource of money/taxes to tap into to rebuild the infrastructure. They pretty much have been left on their own. Yes, the Red Cross is there as well as several churches however the magnitude of damage is far beyond these organizations.
When we first arrived we easily found one the several chapels of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. They stand as an oasis in a sea of destruction as well as a place of peace where you can feel the Lords spirit. Most chapels in Chincha sustained little or no damage. There are some members of the church that are still living in the chapels because they have nowhere to go. People that were renting are the worst off because their homes were destroyed and the owners are not rebuilding thus far so there is nowhere to rent. Those that owned their home are slowly rebuilding with the resources that they have. Many are using the very same adobe bricks that fell in the earthquake. The majority of homes are makeshift shelters put together with woven mats, plastic, wood, and what ever part of the structure that remains. There are many tents as well as a few prefab homes that have been put up. The week before we arrived, a construction crew of 5 or 6 from Salt Lake City had put up 19 of these prefab homes. The cost of these homes is about $450. Those that have received them are usually in better off conditions than they were previously. Because 95% of the homes originally were made of adobe, there is dust everywhere.

After finding the first chapel we were informed that there was going to be a meeting among the church leaders (Branch Presidents) that evening at 7pm. We opted to stay and distribute the 5 suitcases of donations we had brought to the leaders because they would know who could use the donations the most. We tried to find a hotel in the meantime. Some were unstable and others just weren’t worth staying in. We did find one hotel that was very nice that cost $40 however they were full with workers from a company that was working in a paper plant (nothing to do with the earthquake). So we went back to the chapel and stayed there until 7pm. While there we met Eduardo Torres and Audencio Sihuas. Both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We spent some time speaking with them and hearing about the awful destruction and experiences they went through. Eduardo Torres lost his 2-year-old daughter.

Finally the branch Presidents arrived and we distributed the clothing and goods. They were very grateful.
After that we drove back 2.5 hours to Lima. The drive was a bit scary because it was dark and there were a lot of big trucks coming from the opposite direction with their brights on. They didn’t like to turn them off. Half way to Lima the road turns into a 4-lane highway that is divided by a median. This was much safer and easier to drive.

I don’t know how these people are going to manage yet they will. They are a faithful people that know God will take care of them. From what they told us Pisco and Ica were far worse in destruction having about 95% of the buildings and homes destroyed.
Here are some photos of our adventure. Once again thank you to all that donated. We couldn’t have done it with out you. It was a very memorable experience and it was a huge blessing to our less fortunate brothers and sisters.