CRSs Seek E-Tix Refund Solution

In an effort to mitigate the largest of several concerns travel managers have regarding electronic ticketing, Worldspan is developing the ability to generate a report listing all purchased e-tickets that went unused.

The Atlanta-based computer reservations system operator is hoping to make the free service available to travel agents around midyear, although there is no specific implementation date. Currently, agents can request such information only one passenger name record at a time.

"An agent could specify all travel in a certain time period and say, 'give me all my reserved e-tickets that are still open for use,' " said Gail Curcuro, senior product specialist at Worldspan. "Once the agent gets the information the following morning, processing refunds and exchanges is then up to the agency and corporate client working together."

Apollo and Sabre, too, said they are considering such a mechanism. According to a source at Apollo, "we're in the investigative stages of it." And Sabre spokeswoman Jennifer Hudson said, "we're aware of these systems and the help they provide for travel agents and are looking into the development of a similar Sabre system. For now, travel agents can access the unused ticket data on an individual basis."

System One could not be reached for comment.

Curcuro said the program is under way in part because of customer demand, expressed in a series of focus groups the CRS held over the past year. In a recent American Express survey of 300 corporate travel buyers asking for their impressions of e-ticketing (BTN, Oct. 28, 1996), 77 percent listed the refund issue as their biggest concern.

The fear is there despite the airlines' claim that there is no more risk involved with unused e-ticktets than there is with traditional ones.

"We've talked to corporate customers and to travel agents, and there seems to be an increased anxiety over unused e-tickets," said Northwest's managing director of distribution planning, Al Lenza. "The concern is that if you got a ticket and the trip didn't happen, there's no visible ticket to remind you to get a refund or exchange. But our data doesn't show the level of unused tickets is any higher whether they're e-tickets or not."

Travel managers interviewed by BTN about Worldspan's planned service were generally receptive to it, but most still felt that a lot of work remains before e-ticketing can become their preferred method of ticketing.

Robert Lichtman, travel services manager for Santa Clara, Calif.-based Bay Networks, was relieved to hear that someone is putting together a way to report unused tickets. "That's exactly what I've asked the airlines to do--it's a key point," he said.

Last May, Lichtman surveyed his travelers to find out whether they would be interested in electronic ticketing. According to the results, 75 percent of Bay Networks flyers said they would like to try either e-ticketing (i.e., Continental and United) or ticketless travel (i.e., Southwest and ValuJet). "Based on that, we felt compelled to roll it out," Lichtman said.

Lichtman directed the agency to use e-ticketing as the default method and had specialists explain the e-ticket process to travelers. But the travelers reported back that e-ticketing is more work than it's worth.

"For quick round trips or short-haul flights like between Los Angeles and San Francisco, it's OK," Lichtman said. "But for long-haul flights or trips where there is a potential for a change in itinerary, e-ticketing is still in its infancy. It's extra work for everybody."

He said travelers reported that gate agents for American Airlines--Bay Networks' number-one carrier--were not trained in how to make changes, and they couldn't find the ticket in the CRS. United was a little smoother, but problems were still reported, he said.

"The only good things about it are that it does away with prepaids and can save on shipping charges when it works, so now we're only using it in those situations," Lichtman said.

Other travel managers had similar concerns but still acknowledged the potential of e-tickets.

"We have a fair amount of travelers using it, though I have heard horror stories about making changes," said Dennis Dionne, corporate travel manager for TASK Technical Sciences, based in Reading, Mass. "Once they get the bugs out, I'm sure it will be fantastic."

For Charles Braswell, business travel department manager for Chrysler Corp., Auburn Hills, Mich., the key issue is interlining. "It seems inevitable that we're moving towards e-ticketing as the most popular choice--we'll probably see 50 percent usage by the year 2000," he said. "The only one we're using extensively now, however, is Southwest, and their ticketless product is so simplified. I have no negative comments at this point."

Cyndi Perper, director of corporate travel services at New York-based Colgate-Palmolive Co., said the lack of interlining and tracking mechanism for unused tickets have prevented her from promoting e-ticketing to her travelers.

"Everyone says they'll be doing these things, but I haven't seen it yet," she said. "Until they do, we have no incentives to implement it here.