Continental Intros Group E-Tix

<H1> Continental Intros Group E-Tix</H1>By Cheryl Rosen

C</B>ontinental Airlines is focusing on the group market this month, rolling out the industry's first formal electronic ticketing program for groups as well as a new menu-based reward program that lets planners choose soft dollar savings instead of the traditional free tickets.

On Aug. 1, Continental began offering electronic tickets for meeting and convention groups through its three-year-old Meeting Works one-stop-shopping program, and soon will complete an e-ticketing product for other groups as well.

At Continental, as at most airlines, meetings are defined as 10 or more people from different origination cities flying to the same city, and groups are defined as 10 or more people flying together on a single plane, said Brenda Davis, Continental's group, convention and incentive sales manager.

E-ticketing offers meeting attendees the same benefits that it offers the transient traveler, including traveler convenience, no worries about lost tickets and lower cost to the agency.

For the planner, too, a ticketless meeting will result in fewer potentials for disaster. "Using e-ticketing will allow planners to get all the reservation numbers themselves, and eliminate them having to get tickets out to everyone," Davis said. "Travelers would then arrive at the airport, insert their credit card in the e-ticketing machine and check themselves in." And planners will never have to worry about attendees arriving at the airport ticketless.

Electronic ticketing machines are available in every major airport to which Continental flies.

In addition to the e-tickets, Continental soon will roll out a menu of productivity rewards that will allow planners to choose upgrade certificates, beverage coupons or airport club passes instead of the ubiquitous 1-for-40 (or 30, or 20) tickets, according to Davis.

"Some planners have told us they have more productivity tickets than they can ever use, and they would rather choose something else," Davis said. "So we will offer them other options, or allow them to mix and match. A planner whose group is entitled to four tickets, for example, might choose two tickets and two club passes instead. We're trying to listen to what our customers want."

At the other major airlines, interest in electronic ticketing in general, and for groups in particular, appears to be building. United Airlines spokesman Tony Molinari said electronic ticketing is available for group members as it is for any other passengers, although United has not put together a formal group program. "We have certainly had groups use electronic ticketing since we rolled it out; it's an option that offers less hassle to attendees," he said. "It's aimed at the business traveler not having to worry about tickets for everyone or losing anything."

And Delta Air Lines spokeswoman Jackie Pate said that the carrier's test of electronic ticketing, now going on in 45 markets, is proving "wildly successful," with 50 percent of eligible passengers opting to leave the paper behind.

"We are interested in offering electronic ticketing to meeting and convention customers, but it's not on our schedule yet," Pate said. "We expect to roll out electronic ticketing systemwide by the end of the year, and as that gets closer, we'll decide about a meetings product."

American Airlines, which will begin rolling out electronic ticketing in September, has no plans for the group market at this time, according to spokesman Tim Smith.

Others in the travel industry remain unperturbed about the Continental e-ticketing announcement.

"We do not find electronic ticketing very useful to us at all on the meetings side," said Maritz Travel marketing director Jim McCane. "They have very specific rule structures that make electronic tickets difficult to use, and we tend to hand-hold our meeting customers anyway, offering them boarding passes in advance."

Sunbelt Motivation and Travel's IT director, Tom Levine, also felt that a good agent can offer far more convenience to travelers than an electronic ticket can.

"We always send out bag tags and agendas and itineraries to every meeting participant, so not having to include a ticket in that package is not that much of a positive for us," Levine said. "Don't get me wrong, I love e-ticketing, and in the Southwest market, where we are, our travelers are certainly in tune with the concept. It should add to the convenience factor for travelers, allow them to walk right up to the gate without having to remember to bring anything. I think it's the wave of the future, and eventually we'll all go that way. But I don't see any huge advantage for meetings."

Levine suggested that while e-ticketing does not save money for the agency, it might be a negotiable point with the airlines. "You should be able to get a reduced rate from the airlines for eliminating the physical cost of ticketing, though at some point, as electronic ticketing begins the norm, I think they'll start charging for paper tickets," he said.

But Molinari said the airline would not negotiate discounts in return for groups going ticketless. "Sure, we save money using electronic ticketing, and the travel agency would save some money too, but we're just trying to cut our expenses," he said.