OP ED: Leave Reservations To The Travel Agent

Travelers have read about online-booking products, or have stumbled across them on the Internet, and have begun to put pressure on travel managers to implement new technology immediately. Many travel managers, who understand more about the complexities of the process and the risks of moving too fast too soon with products just emerging from beta test, would prefer to begin with a small pilot group, or to wait until the products are fully perfected.

So how can a travel manager placate travelers and management clamoring for new technology? One possibility is to examine the underlying reasons for the widespread interest.

While some travelers may simply enjoy playing with computers, many others are driven by concern that they are not getting all the information they need. These travelers see online reservations as a way of taking control of their own destinies. If your company is not ready to test new technologies, you can offer travelers alternatives using existing tools that have gone to waste for years.

Travelers requesting online reservations may question whether they are being told about all the options. We have often found that the travelers who question agency fares are those who usually work through travel arrangers. In countless client reviews, we have discovered that travel arrangers tend to filter the information that the agency provides, relaying only the options they think their travelers will consider. The traveler might have considerably more flexibility than the arranger believes, and will never know that the agency had offered alternatives.

Travelers also believe that online reservations will be faster and more efficient. Travelers who make reservations through a travel arranger are comparing the potential gains from online booking with one of the least efficient processes in business travel today. As a frequent traveler, working directly with a good agent, I can normally complete a simple round-trip booking, with all realistic savings options, in less than a minute. The same process going through an arranger would take at least three times as long:

* Traveler explains the trip parameters to the arranger: 1 minute.

* Arranger places the reservation with the agent: 1-5 minutes (longer if the arranger is not sure which options work).

* Arranger relays the information back to the traveler: 1 minute.

The process takes even longer if the arranger guesses incorrectly about the traveler's preference and has to go back to the travel agency with changes.

If travelers are eager for online reservations to save time and to be sure that they are making an informed decision, this is an excellent time to suggest working directly with the travel agency. They may be pleasantly surprised by how much faster and more efficient it is to eliminate the intermediary. Traditionally calling the travel agency indicated low status in some cultures, but this might be less of a concern to those travelers who are willing to check information themselves online.



Susan Stowe is a consultant at Caldwell Associates, a travel management consulting firm in Washington.