European travel managers, faced with exorbitant hotel telephone charges from travelers using in-room Internet access, have embarked on a wide range of remedies to bring this ballooning expense under control, including using hotels that offer free or flat-rate high-speed Internet access, negotiating with hotels as part of the annual rate deal, subscribing to global Internet roaming services, adopting wireless technology, e-mailing via mobile phones and modifying traveler behavior.
With some hotel guests spending hours downloading files and even falling asleep while still hooked up to the Web, costs have shot so high that the telephone bill even can be greater than the room rate. It almost has become a parlour game among both travel managers and travelers to see who has been stung for the heaviest telephone bill.
A buyer's first step should be to carry out a systematic survey of her preferred hotels, according to Charles Davis, CEO of U.K.-based networks and communications provider SAS Business Group. Whether or not the hotel provides high-speed Internet access is the first question a buyer should ask. Hotels that do not are far more costly in two respects: Downloading takes up to 50 times longer and use of the line tends to be at the standard, heavily marked-up hotel telephone rate. Paradoxically, hotels that offer high-speed access are far more likely to respond positively to the second question, which is whether or not their service is available either free or at a flat rate. Many of these questions are covered in the modular request for proposals format promoted by the National Business Travel Association.
Free Internet access is more common in the United States, but there are a few exceptions, such as the five-star Lanesborough Hotel in London. Others provide it with strings attached, such as Shangri-La Hotels offering free access under its Value Rate program of benefits and Wyndham Hotels giving complimentary access to members of its loyalty program. Others charge flat rates, such as Radisson SAS and Marriott U.K. hotels, asking $20 and $22 respectively per 24 hours of usage.
Davis said buyers need to take all of these factors into account from now on when building their hotel programs. "The group purchasing manager has to look at it because the cost of using telephone services now is very large," he said.
The next logical step is to hammer out an agreement with hotels that do not provide free or modestly priced access. "We are advising clients that when they negotiate their room rates they should also negotiate a waiver or at least a discount for telephone charges," said Lorraine O'Keefe, consulting services manager at American Express in London. "Hotels are responding to clients that have volume at the hotel and are able to say, 'If you want our volume, this is what I need.' "
"We are intending to negotiate," said Ian Hall, European director of travel for Unilever. "A lot of companies have been focused on room rate, but now we are focusing on the other hotel costs as well,"
(BTN, Oct. 14, 2002).While negotiation upfront clearly is more desirable, buyers may want to remind travelers that mediation after an outrageously high bill has been presented is a worthwhile last-ditch option. "One member of my staff ran up a four-figure bill through working online," said a senior travel agent. "He successfully argued for a substantial discount, but it was still very expensive."
Global Internet roaming—courtesy of such providers as Gric and IPass—is one of the technological solutions to the problem that is garnering more attention. Under this arrangement, travelers use pre-loaded software to dial into a local Internet service provider instead of directly into their company's own server or an ISP in their home country. Gric offers access to 23,000 different local access numbers in 150 countries, effectively ensuring that users never pay more than local rates or toll-free access charges on their hotel lines.
"I've used IPass all over the world, and it is brilliant," said Damian Belgeonne, director of administration and property services for Flag Telecom. "You only have to compare the cost of a three-hour international call and a three-hour local call to see what sort of savings you can make."
TQ3 Travel Solutions has introduced IPass for its own executives and estimated that it has cut its hotel telephone bills by 80 percent. TQ3 COO Toby Joseph said IPass also provides management information that can be broken down by city or user and can be used for further negotiation with ISPs.
Handling E-mail Via The PhoneTQ3 personnel also are starting to use Blackberry, the combined mobile phone and palmtop computer with keyboard that can be used for sending and receiving e-mails wirelessly. TQ3 reported that it works very well for text e-mails and also can handle attachments. However, it is not appropriate for such detailed, memory-hungry files as PowerPoint presentations.
Opinions vary as to the usefulness of sending e-mail from laptops via mobile phones with built-in modems. Belgeonne has managed it successfully on several occasions. Yet, according to Davis, "It offers very slow performance. You can't really run a virtual private network over a mobile phone."
Another option is wireless connectivity. As well as being available in lobbies and other public areas, a few hotels now are extending it to guest rooms. Charges for wireless have not yet settled down, but initial indications are that it certainly will be a cheaper option than regular long distance or international telephone charges.
Modifying traveler behavior is the final ploy for curbing costs. "It doesn't seem to have registered with travelers that when they use a data line, it is just as expensive as picking up the telephone in their room," American Express' O'Keefe said. "We suggest clients urge their travelers to download and replicate their e-mails in their office so they can work on them offline later." O'Keefe also recommended preventing employees from downloading files above a certain size when dialing into the company server remotely.
Hooking up onboard a flight is another alternative to using the Internet in the hotel room. Catastrophic financial problems have prevented U.S. airlines from pursuing this option but several Asian and European carriers have forged ahead during the past 12 months. Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic all offer the ability to send and receive text, and now Lufthansa and British Airways are piloting Connexion by Boeing, allowing full access to the Internet and e-mail, including corporate servers. BA is charging a flat rate of $25 to $30 to use the system, and Lufthansa will charge $30 to $35 when it rolls out Connexion across its long-haul fleet next year.