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Lloyd's Travel Letter May 1995, Issue 7
Serving theVery Frequent Traveler
In This Issue:
Page 1....Rating the Airline Clubs
Page 1....Travel Vendors on the Internet
Page 1....TWA Drops Agent Commission Caps
Page 2....Letters to the Editor
Page 2....Currency Exchange Rates
Page 3....Travel Vendor Partnerships
Page 7....Tidbits
TWA Drops Agent Commission Caps
TWA agreed to drop the cap on travel
agent commissions in exchange for being dropped
from a class-action lawsuit that had been filed by
the American Society of Travel Agents against the
seven major airlines. The biggest reason for the
change is an attempt by TWA, who is suffering
from financial problems, to generate additional
traffic.
The cancellation of the controversial caps,
$25 for one way flights and $50 for roundtrips,
may convince travel agents to push TWA flights
over the competition. Travel agents typically
make a 10% commission on the price of an airline
ticket. The cap was instituted by Delta in
February and quickly copied by other carriers.
TWA, which flies more short haul trips
than the big three (American, Delta, and United),
has less to gain from a cap and could certainly use
the additional business. Look for US Air and
Continental, which also fly many shorter routes, to
also abolish the cap. The American Society of
Travel Agents is still suing American, Delta,
United, US Air, Northwest, and Continental.
Travel Vendors on the Internet
You have heard all the news about the
information superhighway and the explosive
growth in online services and the Internet over the
last few years. Far from being a competitor to the
travel industry, online access to data by computer
is a natural compliment for travelers. Independent
of location or time, all its takes to pull out on the
information superhighway is a laptop and a
modem.
For years travelers have been using
conventional online services such as America
Online and CompuServe to get weather reports or
make reservations using Eaasy Sabre. Now many
travel vendors are going a step further and actually
setting up their own home pages on the Internet.
This allows the vendor to provide its customers
with up-to-date information wherever they may be
traveling. With the conventional online services
providing or planning to provide Internet access,
everybody will be able to get to these Internet
home pages.
You can view these home pages with a
web browser such as Netscape, Mosaic or with the
latest versions of the America Online or Prodigy
software. Some airlines that have made the
investment are Canadian Airlines
(http://www.cdnair.ca/), Cathay Pacific
(http://www.cathay-usa.com/) and Northwest
Airlines (http://www.winternet.com/~tela/nwa-
info.html). Best Western International has created
a home page advertising their hotels that can be
reached at http://www.travelweb.com/bw.html. At
least one airport is on the Web. You can find out
what's new at the Norfolk International Airport
(ORF) at http://www.infi.net/orf/whatsnew.html.
Expect more vendors to use this method of
communicating with customers in the near future.
Rating the Airline Clubs
Airline Clubs are generally a nice place for
the seasoned traveler to escape the masses and find
a comfortable place to wait for a flight, get a drink,
and maybe catch up on some business. These
private clubs are located at airports, provide
comfortable furniture, telephones, a bar, and are
staffed with personnel who can assist you with
your travel plans. Many clubs offer some basic
business services such as fax machines and
conference rooms. For a yearly membership fee
of $150-$275 the major airlines offer an annual
membership into their club.
However, some clubs are better than
others. You can join some clubs for free. Just
cash in some frequent flyer miles. The number of
locations is also an important way to differentiate
because this translates into how often you will be
able to use your membership. The table below
shows a basic comparison of these airline clubs.
The table omits data on Northwest's Worldperks
Club and TWA's Ambassadors Club. Calls to
these two airlines to gather information were put
on hold for more than 15 minutes, perhaps
reflecting the establishments philosophy on
customer service.
TABLE IN SUBSCRIPTION VERSION OF LLOYD'S TRAVEL LETTER
Recommendations:
If an airline club is crowded and the cost of a
drink is more than it would be out in the airport, you are
probably better off not joining that club. If you could
join any club, then Delta's Crown Room is clearly the best
choice. A large number of locations, free drinks, friendly
personnel and nice furnishing make the Crown Room a perfect
place to wait for your nice flight. Of course, if most of
your travel is on a single airline, then membership in that
airline's club will make the most sense.
Letters to Lloyd's
Dear Lloyd's,
I have just read the new program details for
the Delta Air Lines frequent flyer program,
SkyMiles. There is a small paragraph that states
that miles are lost if you don't fly at least once
every three years. While this may not mean much
to many of your customers, it could be important
to some. I suggest that you pass this information
on and recommend that they complain if they don't
like it. I doubt that it will matter, but....
-Rick Rosenbaum via CompuServe
Dear Rick,
You pass along some valuable advice.
While we mentioned this change in the Delta
program in our January issue, there are still a lot of
Delta flyers that are unaware of this policy who
could get burned.
Formerly, miles earned on Delta were good
for a lifetime. Now, as you mention, they will
expire if you don't fly once every three years.
This policy is better than American and United's
where your miles simply expire. But the change
could be costly for former travelers who are sitting
on large stashes of miles who no long fly.
-Max
Letters to the Editor
Lloyd's Travel Letter welcomes editorials and
letters to the editor. Letters may be edited for brevity,
clarity, etc. Address correspondence to LTL, Editorials, PO
Box 13842, Research Triangle Park NC 27709. You can
also reach us on the Internet at max@isscad.com, on
American Online at L L Max and on CompuServe at
74710,1177.
Currency Exchange Rates
The following table lists the exchange rates
per US Dollar on May 19, 1995.
TABLE IN SUBSCRIPTION VERSION OF LLOYD'S TRAVEL LETTER
Staff: Editor - Max Lloyd
Managing Editor - Denise Wilson
Lloyd's Travel Letter is published monthly by Lloyd's
Travel, PO Box 13842, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709.
Contents copyrighted * 1995 by Lloyd's Travel. All rights
reserved. Small quotations allowed if reference to Lloyd's
Travel Letter is included. For advertising information and
address changes, write to the above address.
You can also contact Lloyd's Travel on American Online at
L L Max, on CompuServe at 74710,1177 or on the Internet at
max@isscad.com.
Subscription rates: Single issue price: $2.75. Yearly
subscription (four issues): $10. Canadian yearly
subscription: $14 in US funds. All others: $20 in US
funds.
Travel Vendor Partnerships
The following table gives partnerships between
travel vendors in three categories: airline, hotel, and
rental car. You may find it handy to carry this list with
you when you travel. This is a partial list for the
largest vendors as of May 1995. The data is believed to be
accurate, but check with the vendor for complete details.
Vendors can send updated information to Lloyd's Travel.
Flights are no longer required to earn Delta miles
when renting a car from Alamo or Avis. South African
Airways has linked up with the American AAdvantage
program. American members earn miles on all SAA flights
and South African Airways Voyager member can accrue miles
on all American flights.
TABLE IN SUBSCRIPTION VERSION OF LLOYD'S TRAVEL LETTER
Tidbits...
United is expanding the number of Red
Carpet Clubs. New clubs have opened or will be
opening up in O'Hare, Frankfort, Rio de Janeiro,
and Sao Paulo.
The fee for changing flight times on many
low fare basis tickets is going up. To change
departure times for a 14 day advance, Saturday
stayover flight is slated to increase from $35 to
$50.
Watch out for National car rentals that
have a cancellation penalty. On some rentals there
is a $50 fee for canceling your reservation less
than 2 hours before pickup time. If National is
successful with this program, look for other
vendors to copy it.
Stay longer in Taiwan now that the
maximum amount of time for a visit without a visa
has been extended from 5 to 11 days. An up to
date passport is required and a visa is necessary
for longer stays.
The ten busiest airports in the USA
based on numbers of takeoffs and landings:
1. Chicago O'Hare (ORD)
2. Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW)
3. Los Angeles (LAX)
4. Atlanta (ATL)
5. San Francisco (SFO)
6. Denver (DIA)
7. Miami (MIA)
8. New York Kennedy (JFK)
9. Newark (EWR)
Detroit Metro (DTW)
In Upcoming Issues:
-The Real Value of Miles and Points
-Comparing Frequent Stayer Programs
-Business Travelers Guide to Major Cities
-Traveler Safety Tips
Get the most from life on the road
Subscribe to Lloyd's Travel Letter
8 issues for only $19 !
Let LTL's advice and valuable tips
save you money and show you how to earn those extra miles.
To get your subscription, send a check along with your
name and address to:
Lloyd's Travel
PO Box 13842
Drawer N1
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Introducing the latest software from Lloyd's Travel
Weather for Windows, version 2.1
Priced at only $25 Weather for Windows quickly and easily
gives you the average historic high and low temperatures
for hundreds of major cities, along with expected
rainfall. You can view information in either standard or
metric formats and even graph the temperatures to get a
visual overview. Use Weather to plan and pack
appropriately for your trips.
Requires Windows 3.1 or higher. 3.5" diskettes will be
shipped Add $4 for shipping and handling. Send a check
for $29 to along with your name and address to:
Lloyd's Travel
PO Box 13842
Drawer N1
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709