<B> OP-ED: Evaluating Self-Booking</B>
By Richard Spradling
<i>Richard Spradling is corporate vice president of information technology for Maritz Travel Co., St. Louis.</i>
Are self-booking solutions right for your company? Ever since travel reservation products emerged on the Internet, travel managers have viewed them with curiosity and apprehension. Curiosity, because they quickly identified electronic
booking as a way to streamline the reservation process. Apprehension, over issues of user buy-in, policy compliance, preferred supplier utilization, data management, technical compatibility and system reliability.
Many organizations are turning to travel management companies for help in evaluating perplexing--and often costly--options and advice on ways self-booking solutions can deliver bottom line results.
Clearly, the rapid expansion of online bookings indicates that self-booking has struck a resonant chord with the consumer.
One reason, quite simply, is convenience. By having access to travel-related information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, travelers have an easy way to conduct transactions when and where they want.
Another advantage is accuracy. The more steps in a cycle (traveler, travel arranger, travel consultant, etc.), the greater the risk of miscommunication. Self-bookers are more likely to get the itinerary they request while reducing cycle time. More efficient processes reduce hard and soft costs for organizations as well as the frustration that comes from inefficiency.
While there are many benefits associated with self-booking solutions, they do not work for every company, and the possible downsides are also a consideration.
The first question to ask is whether travelers using these tools are giving up cost savings for convenience.
Self-booking booking tools are, by their nature, easier to navigate than computer reservation systems because they are less complex. However, the flip side of simplicity can be limited functionality. These tools do not necessarily make the lowest fares intuitively obvious and what appears at the top screen may not be the best fare or itinerary. Other problems may include: the displayed class of service not being within corporate policy, awkward stopover requirements, inconvenient airports, flights not on designated carriers or designated carriers that are not offered.
The second question is whether "agentless" electronic booking works with complicated itineraries. If a business traveler needs a roundtrip ticket to Frankfurt with a stopover in Amsterdam and is not familiar with hotels in either city, then the time savings can quickly evaporate. Is it efficient to have executives surfing the Web for international fares, entry requirements and alternative locations, then tracking down accommodations and car rental data when an experienced travel agent could offer information in a fraction of the time?
One way a travel management company can assist is to help determine if a self-booking product is right for the company and if it is, which product is the best fit.
Questions that may be asked include:
<ul><li>What's the degree to which you want the self-booking product to mandate or encourage policy compliance?
Steering self-bookers to preferred suppliers gives the company more purchasing leverage and helps meet supplier agreements. Filtering choices, using predefined parameters, also can ensure that bookings are within policy. An incentive cost is minimal compared with the savings that can be attained by reaching or exceeding the policy objectives.
<li>What about technical issues?
Different self-booking products have varying degrees of CRS compatibility. Many do not include all airlines, a problem if one of your preferred suppliers is not available online. You also may need to address the complex issue of integrating a self-booking product with other information systems, such as expense management, travel reporting, accounts payable and general ledger applications.
<li>Are you locked into a certain platform or are you flexible?
Many agencies recommend Internet or intranet-based applications. They are easier to implement, update and manage with all of the application software residing in one place. Updating the application server means everyone has instant access to the updated software via browsers. However, a key consideration is the existing technology infrastructure of the organization.
<li>Does your corporate culture support electronic commerce?</ul>
In organizations where employees are accustomed to using the Internet, e-mail, word processing and spreadsheet application, users tend to learn new applications such as self-booking quickly. In other organizations where this is not the case, it is not likely to be successful if self-service travel is not the main application used. Travelers also may balk at self-booking systems because they feel it is an added responsibility someone else used to have.
Self-booking is a distribution channel with great potential for travelers, travel managers and organizations. It is unlikely that self-booking will replace the value that can be created by a travel management company. However, self-booking products can complement travel consultants the same way ATMs complement bank tellers.
By automating the components of a transaction where travel companies add limited value, time can be better spent fulfilling the role of consultant, advocate, partner and advisor throughout the entire travel management process. Self-booking products are tools that should be evaluated by every organization in an effort to obtain bottom line results.