Flexible Technology & Relevant Content Are Key To Success

The travel industry has been riding the e-commerce wave as more and more consumers turn online to research and confirm their travel plans. Keeping pace with consumer purchasing habits and making sure you are ready to serve customers how and when they choose with the relevant content they are looking for is key to success. The travel technology solution you choose for your business needs to be fast, flexible, responsive & relevant for your travel business to succeed.

Fast, easy to use applications should help your business reduce the amount of time it takes an agent or consumer to research and complete a travel booking. Applications should provide quick, live access to supplier content to ensure the most up to date availability and pricing is used.

Today's travel technology solutions need to be Flexible. With so many competitors offering so many special deals, your online booking solution needs to provide an easy and efficient way for you to manage the various special pricing or value add offers for your business to remain competitive. The application you choose should include the ability to easily define pre-set business rules to help you manage a specific products' content source as well as adjust a selling price or include any value add offers. And to reach today's mobile consumer, you'll want to consider an online application that is "mobile ready" so you can serve these clients regardless of the type of device they choose to use or when they choose to shop. Your travel technology solution also needs the flexibility to be easily customized to support your own brand identity and unique selling style. And if you are looking to expand your reach with affiliated agents, you'll want a solution that can quickly add affiliate Users and websites, perhaps with the ability to easily customize the look and feel for each.

The application you choose should have a quick response time and supported by a technology partner that is Responsive to your needs. Consider using a travel booking solution that uses a secure, scalable online booking platform designed to meet the demands of suppliers, travel agencies as well as the end user. This will allow your technology to easily expand with your business as it grows. Choosing a technology partner with experienced development and support staff available around the clock can be key when any issues do arise.

And of course, make sure the travel technology and content you make available is Relevant to your customer's needs and is competitively priced. So availability and pricing should be "LIVE" wherever possible so that you offer the latest information and best price available. The content source you use must include the suppliers and products your customers are looking for. Content relevant to your customer's needs which is competitively priced will be key to the success of your online business.

Finding a technology solution for your online travel business that is Fast, Flexible, Responsive and Relevant is an important decision for any travel business. Finding the right technology company to partner with can be even more important.

Does Your Airline Reservation System Support Your Brand?

Building a brand for your business in a way that allows you to take control of your niche market as well as expand into new markets is one of the keys to the success of any business. Selling travel is no different and in fact, a strong brand name is even more important when selling travel online. The airlines were the first in the travel business to successfully distribute their product electronically on a large scale. The evolution of the airline reservation system was key to this success and remains a key component in any of today's online travel booking engines.

Airlines have focused on building a strong brand for themselves and those that set themselves apart from the competition survived and those that did not are no longer around. A strong brand helps set your business apart from the competition in a crowded online marketplace, can create strong customer loyalty and may allow you to charge a premium for the services you provide your customers.

Your airline reservation system should help you increase your revenues, gain new customers and expand your business into new markets. The application you choose should be a flexible & fully scalable application that easily grows with your business while maintaining your own unique brand identity.

You'll want an application with easy to use tools to manage your business, including an administration section that allows you to quickly and easily define business rules that adjust a product's selling price, include value add offers right in the availability screen or determine what content source is used for a particular type of search. Business rules should even provide the flexibility to have your affiliated agent websites following a unique set of business rules that you predefine specifically for each.

If you plan to enter new markets or expand internationally, you'll need an application that meets the unique requirements of Global Marketplaces, such as an airline reservation system that can easily handle multiple currencies as well as multiple languages. And to reach today's mobile consumer, you'll need an application built using responsive technology that adjusts the display based on the type of device being used.

The strength of your "Brand" can be critical in the short term as well as the long term success of your business. Branding extends beyond your basic Marketing or Sales initiatives and touches every area of your business, including your online booking engine. So be sure to consider your online booking engine when developing and building a complete brand strategy for your business.

An online booking engine should result in operational efficiency and reduced costs for your business while helping you gain new customers and expand your business into new markets. The application you choose should be a flexible & fully scalable application that will help your business easily grow while protecting your own brand identity. Finding a travel booking application with the perfect combination of flexibility and features to support your brand is important to the success of your business. Finding the right technology partner to work with is even more important.

Is All Flight Booking Software The Same?

While much of the flight booking software available in the market today appears the same on the surface, there can be huge differences hidden in the flexibility and tools some provide that can give you an edge over the competition. When evaluating any travel booking software, you need to consider if it provides your business the tools it needs to succeed in today's highly competitive marketplace. Your business needs to be prepared for battle and have the right weapons and battle plan in place to win.

Your online booking engine can be your own "Trojan Horse" in this regard and help you increase your revenues, gain new customers and expand your business into new markets before your competition realizes what you're up to. A little research will help you find an application that provides the administrative tools you need to manage your business the way you want. The flight booking software you choose should be a flexible & fully scalable application that easily grows with your business while maintaining your unique brand identity.

It's no secret that today's traveler shops and purchases travel using a variety of methods and tools. Some may still call or visit their travel agent while others may choose to shop online using their laptop or even their mobile device. You'll need an application built using responsive technology that automatically adjusts the user screens to fit the type of device being used to capture today's mobile consumer.

Your travel booking engine needs to provide both "business to business" (B2B) as well as "business to consumer" (B2C) interfaces. You may even want to consider an application that allows you to extend your reach to affiliate agency websites via a "business to business to consumer" (B2B2C) interface. Make sure the booking engine you choose provides you the ability to extend your reach the way you require.

You'll want an application with easy to use administrative tools that allow you to quickly manage your business. For example, look for an application with an administration section that gives you the control to quickly define preset business rules to adjust a product's selling price or include value add offers right in the availability screen. This helps ensure you always offer your customers the best value. Business rules should even provide the flexibility to have your agents, affiliated agencies and websites following a unique set of business rules that you predefine specifically for each.

If you partner with another agency or use air consolidators, you'll want flight booking software that allows you to automatically simultaneously search multiple sources to make sure you are always offering your clients the best airfare available.

An online booking engine should result in operational efficiency and reduced costs for your business while helping you gain new customers and expand your business into new markets. The application you choose should be a flexible & fully scalable application that will help your business easily grow while protecting your own brand identity. Finding a travel booking engine with the right combination of flexibility and features can be critical to the success of any travel business. Finding the right technology partner to work with is an important first step.

Capture More Travel Dollars Booking Hotels

Booking your client's hotel reservation along with their airline ticket will help diversify the type of products you offer and capture more of the travel dollars spent by your customers. But the number of applications and methods to book a hotel room can be so overwhelming that some travel agents shy away from offering this potentially lucrative travel component.

While many of the hotel booking engines in the market today appear to be the same, there can be vast differences in everything from price to the accuracy of the information provided. Just like one business may be different from another, the same can be said for a hotel booking engine. When evaluating any travel booking software, you need to consider whether it provides the flexibility and tools your business needs to succeed in today's competitive travel marketplace. Any travel business needs to right tools and strategy to beat the competition and including hotels in your product portfolio should be part of your overall strategy.

Some initial research should help you identify a flexible & fully scalable application that can easily grow with your business while maintaining your unique brand identity. And don't forget about today's mobile consumer who shops and purchase just about anything using their handheld device. Be sure to look for an application that uses responsive technology so the user screens will automatically adjust to fit the type of device your customers prefer to use.

Your hotel booking engine needs to provide both "business to business" (B2B) as well as "business to consumer" (B2C) interfaces. You may even want to consider an application that allows you to extend your reach to affiliate agency websites via a "business to business to consumer" (B2B2C) interface. Make sure the booking engine can extend the reach of your business the way you require.

Your online booking engine should help you increase your revenues, gain new customers and expand your business into new markets. It should include links to media files & rich content to assist both agents and consumers with selecting the right hotel property during the shopping process. Pictures of the hotel public areas and sample guest rooms along with detailed descriptions of Hotel amenities can really help locate the right hotel.

The application you choose should be a flexible & fully scalable application that easily grows with your business while maintaining your unique brand identity. You'll want an application with easy to use administrative tools that allow you to quickly define business rules to adjust a product's selling price or include value added offers.

Adding hotels to your online booking engine can result in operational efficiency and increased revenues for your business while helping you gain new customers and expand your business into new markets. Your online booking solution needs to be a flexible & fully scalable application that allows your business to easily grow while protecting your own brand identity.

Finding an online travel booking engine with the right combination of features and flexibility can be critical to the success of any travel business. Finding the right technology partner to work with is an important first step.

Taking Flights Online with Flight Reservation System

As more and more people change how and where they shop, nearly every industry has seen a surge in online sales. The airlines were early pioneers in expanding their business online and helped pave the way for the rest of the travel industry. Today you can purchase just about anything online whether it be retail merchandise or making travel arrangements.

As more travel agencies are forced to close their traditional brick and mortar locations in search of more cost effective options, there has been a surge in online travel agencies or OTAs. One of the most important tools these new businesses need to succeed in today's crowded marketplace is a good online flight reservation system.

Whether a client is looking to buy an airline ticket for a business trip or family getaway, the right airline booking engine can help get it done quickly and easily. Today's online booking engines are equipped with amazing functionality and features that have been specifically designed to make the booking process with airlines quick and simple. The right flight reservation system can play an important role in streamlining the entire airline reservation process as well as provide the control a travel agent needs to manage their business.

Every online travel agency has it's own unique style and way that it prefers to conduct it's business. A complete online booking engine often comes with several flexible features that can be easily changed and modified based on individual customer requirements. Things such as website headers, footers and style sheets can be customized to provide a seamless online experience for customers. Complete private label version are also sometimes available that allow clients to change the complete layout of their online booking engine.

Today's travel software must be designed to provide the flexibility to serve consumers when and how they choose. Mobile ready applications that are built using innovative responsive technology can help with this since the template screens automatically change to fit the type of device the customer is using to access the booking engine. Some will even provide you with a dedicated air mobile app that takes full advantage of the powerful administrative features and functionality your flight reservation software offers combined with the flexibility and ease of use a handheld device offers.

The new breed of air booking engines can also equip travel agents with easy to use revenue management tools that allow them to quickly adjust a products selling price by website, airline, itinerary and even class of service. Many of today's travel booking engines support multiple languages and currencies, a critical feature for those looking to expand their travel business into new markets.

An online booking engine is an important investment for anyone operating an online travel agency. Choosing the right flight reservation system will not only help your business automate the airline booking process, but it will increase your company revenues while reducing the time and effort required to complete a transaction. Finding an airline booking engine with the right combination of features can be critical to the success of any travel business. Finding the right technology partner can be even more important.

Does Your Technology Partner Provide More Than The Latest Technology?

It's not just about using the latest technology, it's about using technology in a way that allows your business to sell more. Using the latest technology platform available may allow clients to take advantage of the latest innovations and often provide the increased flexibility for expansion that so many businesses require. Many technology companies boast about their platforms being built on "state of the art" technology, but have they designed their applications with the features and flexibility needed to help serve your customers quickly and easily?

Consider the actual technology platform used to develop your travel booking engine something like the canvas and paints an artist uses to create a painting. The real creativity and talent is in the hands of the developer (artist) who uses this platform (canvas) along with development tools (paint & brushes) to create a state of the art application.

While your technology company may use the latest platform and tools available, are you sure they have the insight into your business to help use these tools to develop the best solution for you? This is where travel technology companies that collaborate with both their customers as well as travel suppliers to identify the best approach are often able to design solutions with features that can really help a business compete and succeed.

A travel booking engine needs to provide live access to the content sources your customers are looking for and provide the ability to serve them via whatever device they choose to use. To service today's mobile customer, online booking engines need to be built using responsive technology that will automatically adjust the screen layout based on the type of device being used. And for those looking to expand their reach of their travel business with affiliated agents, an online booking engine needs to be able to quickly and easily add affiliated agents and websites.

It also needs to have easy to use business management tools that allow a business owner to quickly adjust a product's selling price or offer a special targeted promotions and sales. This is another example where technology companies that collaborate with customers and suppliers can help develop better features. What type of special promotions or offers does a supplier plan to offer it's most loyal customers and how will your travel booking engine be able to easily take advantage of these offers? These questions can be easily addressed when a technology partner collaborates with all the different parties involved and considers feedback from each when designing an application.

Robust reporting tools that help you analyze and manage your business can be another key feature to look for. Most travel booking engines come with some type of basic booking report tools to track customer bookings, but some tools go beyond this. In addition to quickly providing booking information for a specific market or customer, some tools provide similar detail information about what customers searched for on a specific site. This can be valuable information when evaluating the success of your online booking engine.

Finding a travel booking engine with the right combination of features can be a critical decision for any travel business. Finding the right technology partner to collaborate with may be the key to success!

Keeping Up With Airline Perks & Ancillary Charges

The airlines have found new and innovative ways to charge for special perks and ancillary services. Booking fees, baggage charges, even onboard purchase of drinks and meals in many instances. Advanced seat selection has been offered by the airline for quite some time and many airlines have even found innovative ways to charge additional fees to reserve the best seats. In many cases the amount of the additional fee will vary depending upon the where a specific seat is located within the cabin. Do you like to reserve that aisle seat in the forward part of the cabin? Be prepared to pay an additional fee. Except of course for the most loyal frequent flyer program members who are often given access to newly invented perks like "preferred seating" and can reserve these seats free of charge!

There was a time not too long ago when it was mainly frequent flyers who thought about things like advance seat selection or reserving an onboard meal. As more and more of the world's population travels more frequently, access to these ancillary services are now important to most customers and critical features for any flight booking engine to provide.

The airlines were early adopters of customer loyalty programs and have tried to cater to their best customers by providing special perks. Dedicated customer service lines to call, waiver of certain fees and complimentary upgrades to First class are all benefits airlines offer. Your flight booking engine needs to be able to capture and share a customer's loyalty program information to not only ensure individual customer loyalty programs are credited, but so that a customer receives the onboard service perks they are entitled to.

The importance of how these airline perks and ancillary charges influence a customer's individual experience became very apparent to me during a recent trip. I was travelling to a destination that my regular airline did not offer the best schedule to. I decided to try a different carrier since it offered the only non stop flight and the schedule worked well with mine. Booking my flight online was quick and easy and I received what I thought was a decent fare.

It wasn't until I arrived at the airport when I started to notice a real difference. It started with a long line at the ticket counter. I decided to carry my bag with me rather than pay the airline to check a bag. I thought to myself, priority access does make a difference, shorter lines and waived baggage fees.

When I got to the departure gate, I noticed I was in Boarding Group 6, one of the last groups to be called. I thought to myself, will there be room for my carry on bag? Once on board I made my way to my middle seat since the flight booking engine I was using did not give me the option to reserve a better seat in advance. Something I would have been more than happy to pay extra for if the airline reservation system I was using gave me the option to.

Finding a travel booking engine with the right combination of features can have a big influence on an individual customer's overall travel experience and therefore critical to the success of any travel business. Finding the right technology partner is a good first step.