Air Booking Engines should be convenient and easy to use

There are so many different places that consumers can go to purchase some products, so why would someone choose to purchase an identical product from one retailer verses another? The answer usually comes down to price, service or convenience. Whether you are selling a bottle of designer perfume or a ticket on an airline, chances are consumers will base where they choose to make their purchase based on one or all of these criteria. Choosing one airline booking engine over another is no different for today’s savvy, online traveler.

Make sure you offer the best value and price if you want to reach price driven consumers. Your online booking engine must be able to search the best sources for content quickly and cost effectively for you to offer a competitive price. This includes the ability to adjust the selling price quickly and easily as well as offering value add offers right in the fare availability display. Accessing the low rates offered by air consolidators is another way to get the best fares for your clients. Different air consolidators specialize in different regions however, so you may look for an airline booking engine that allows you simultaneously search multiple air consolidators for the best fares.

Provide the expertise and service that only a professional travel agent can offer. Travel agents can be a great resource to consumers trying to make sense of all the options available and find the best deal possible. You are your customers travel expert, so make sure your clients get the VIP treatment they deserve. Make sure your application allows them to select seats, request meals and add loyalty program information to their airline reservation. Negotiate the best deals possible with the airlines and promote any special deals or amenities that are available.

Make sure your airline booking engine is convenient for customers to interact with how and when they choose. Today’s consumer has become accustom to shopping using a variety of devices. Some exclusively use their smart phone to research and purchase travel online. Others may start their initial search using their handheld device but switch to a tablet or laptop to complete the purchase. And you will always have the more traditional consumer who may research options online, but prefer to speak with a travel agent to make the actual booking.

To serve all these customers, your online booking engine must allow you to distribute your products and serve your customers via several online channels. You will need an application that supports Business to Business (B2B) for those customers using call centers. For this, you will want to consider an application that is easy to use and requires little agent training. For those consumers shopping via your website, you’ll need a Business to Consumer (B2B) application that allows you to promote special deals and value add offers. And of course for those always “on the go” mobile consumers you’ll need a mobile ready application that adjusts the screen display to fit any device.

Ease of usse and convenience are important when deciding on the right airline booking solution for your travel business, choosing the right technology partner can be even more important.

In this article author writes about Odysseus Solutions.Different air consolidators specialize in different regions however, so you may look for an airline booking engine that allows you simultaneously search multiple air consolidators for the best fares.

Travel Agent Software Needs Flexibility

The internet has changed the way that the world researches and shops for everything from clothing to cruises. The ability for consumers to shop online means retailers now have the opportunity to sell their products or services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Today's online retailer virtually never closes their doors!

So today's travel agent software must be designed to provide the flexibility to serve these 24/7/365 consumers when and how they choose. You'll need an application that allows your travel business to serve customers via multiple channels including Business to Business (B2B) for those consumers that still like to speak with a travel agent call center to discuss and book their travel arrangements. For consumers shopping online, you'll need an easy to use Business to Consumer (B2C) online booking engine, but make sure it is a mobile ready so you can easily serve consumers using any device, including their smartphone.

The internet has also made the world a smaller place for retailers and the travel industry is no exception. No longer limited by “brick and mortar” store fronts, today's travel agent can serve customers anywhere in the world with the right travel agent software. Those who are looking to reach Latino consumers may want to consider an online booking engine that has multi-language capabilities so they interact with these customers online in Spanish. For those looking to expand beyond their country's boarder, the online booking engine needs to easily support multiple currency types. It will also need to consider any local requirements and regulations for online commerce in a specific market.

Your travel agent software will also need the flexibility to easily define business rules and promotions for each specific market so you can easily take advantage of market specific deals and promotions. Easy to use business rules will allow you to manage and localize what your customers are offered in each market. Choosing an online booking solution that has the flexibility to quickly define business rules using a wide variety of criteria can help any size business compete with even the largest online retailers.

The ability to quickly and easily customize a sub-website's “Look & Feel”, including unique headers and footers for each can be a powerful tool when working with an affiliated agency or group. Flexibility to choose the language or currency used as well as products offered can be critical to your success in a new market.

So whether you are looking to serve a new customer group, expand your service into new geographic markets or just distribute online to multiple websites, flexibility is key. Flexible & fully scalable applications can help you grow your business to serve new customer groups as well as new easily expand into new geographic markets and still allow your business to maintain it'sown unique brand identity.

Flexibility to grow and expand your business is key when deciding on the right software for your travel agency, choosing the right technology partner can be even more important.

In this article author writes about Odysseus Solutions. So today's travel agent software must be designed to provide the flexibility to serve these 24/7/365 consumers when and how they choose.