Welcome to the May 2009 Issue of Travology Today

In a volatile economic climate, when expenditures are being examined even more carefully than in recent past, most company’s travel budgets are being scrutinized for maximum ROI and value achieved. Topaz International, an independent consulting firm, recently presented research findings that show once again, if saving money on your travel spend is important to your company, your best bet is not an online travel site or even an airline direct website.

Topaz found that business travel itineraries booked by a designated corporate travel agency averaged $61 less than the same itinerary booked on a public internet site.

“The challenge of travel management professionals during difficult economic times is to ensure their travelers are spending precious resources wisely, and airfare is one of the highest expenditures in many corporations,” said Bradley Seitz, president and CEO of Topaz International.

At Directravel, we stand by our guarantees to provide our clients with the lowest fares, along with superior customer service from seasoned professionals who know and understand the travel industry. Our strength lies in our commitment to building long-term partnerships with our clients through this combination of cost savings and personalized service.

Beginning this year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will assume responsibility for checking airline passengers against the government’s watch list, which is normally the No Fly and Selective Lists, under a program called Secure Flight.

How will Secure Flight affect you?

Under the Secure Flight program, you will be required to provide your full name (as it appears on your government-issued ID), date of birth, gender, and Redress Number (if available – those who encounter misidentification are invited to apply for Redress at www.dhs.gov/trip to help prevent watch list matching misidentifications in the future) when making a reservation. The airline will send the information you provide to TSA and TSA will match it against the government watch lists to identify known and suspected terrorist. By providing this information in advance, most passengers will not experience any differences from the way they traveled before as a result of Secure Flight.

What are the benefits of Secure Flight?

Secure Flight will provide numerous benefits to the traveling public. First, it will enable officials to address security threats sooner, keeping you safer. Also, by creating one watch list matching system, the program will provide a fair and consistent matching process across all airlines, and reduce your chance of being misidentified. Lastly it will offer an improved redress process, so that those who are mistakenly matched to the watch lists can avoid further problems in the future.

Protecting your privacy

TSA understands that personal privacy is important to you. That is why they want to assure you that the privacy of individuals’ information is a cornerstone of Secure Flight. TSA collects the minimum amount of personal information necessary to conduct effective watch list matching. Furthermore, personal data will be collected, used, distributed, stored, and disposed of in accordance with stringent guidelines and all applicable privacy laws and regulations.

The US Transportation Security Administration believes that the Secure Flight program will greatly increase your safety by focusing efforts on legitimate threats to security. If you would like to know more about these changes, visit TSA’s Secure Flight Web site (www.tsa.gov, Keyword: Secure Flight) where you can find a detailed program overview, travel tips, frequently asked questions, and more.

Over the years, Topaz International has done numerous independent studies that evaluate various airfare booking alternatives in an independent and objective manner, always trying to keep a level playing field when completing the analysis. In early 2009, Topaz International did a similar study looking at whether purchasing airline tickets in advance made financial sense. As many of us know, historically one of the best ways to obtain the lowest airfares was to purchase your tickets in advance. As you got closer and closer to your travel dates, the prices tended to go up.

Then, there were changes in the marketplace where advance purchase discounts did not seem advantageous and Saturday night stay discounts seemed to disappear. The net result of this was good for the business traveler; we felt like we were being treated equally and were not subsidizing the leisure traveler. It now looks like that may have changed.

Flying domestically in the United States yields the greatest savings by buying earlier

Topaz International evaluated over 900 city pairs to determine if purchasing in advance yielded lower priced airfares for typical business trips. As part of the analysis we also looked at whether a Saturday night stay-over yielded any additional savings. Remarkably, you can save up to 51% of the cost of the airfare by booking 21 days in advance with a Saturday night stay over a 3 day advance ticket with a Saturday night stay.

The advantage of booking 14 days in advance versus 21 days in advance does not seem to yield as great a benefit to the price paid as the other alternatives. But changing the behaviors of your business travelers by encouraging them to book farther in advance could yield some savings to your company.

Booking airfares early when flying internationally will save you up to 24% in the cost of your ticket

There were some bigger savings when booking domestically compared to booking international trips. However there was still some savings found in booking earlier and booking a Saturday night stay. In most cases having a Saturday night stay for domestic trips could cost you more, but for international travel there was a clear trend for cheaper fares when using advance purchase options with Saturday night stays.

The net results would suggest it makes sense for corporations looking to save money on business travel to always book as far in advance as possible. When feasible, staying over a Saturday night may yield additional savings, but each trip should be evaluated on the savings versus the additional cost (i.e. hotel, meals, etc.) of staying any extra days.

For more information, click here.

In spite of the global economic slowdown, business travel seems to be holding up in Europe, and will do so for at least the next 12 months. That’s the overriding message from the results of a survey of 600 European business travelers, commissioned by the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) in association with Vanson Bourne.

Published following Crossroads Paris – a unique pan-European business travel conference, co-hosted by 12 business travel organizations from around the world and the Paragon Partnership alliance of business travel associations held on May 14th-15th– the research shows that 52% of travelers expect to continue with their current level of business travel over the next 12 months, while 22% believe it will actually increase. 26% expect it to decrease.

However, the commitment by companies to safeguard what is viewed by many as a vital business function (50% of those who said they expect to travel less believe this will have a negative impact on their business) is dependent on travelers adhering to cost cutting measures when they travel. According to Kevin Maguire, President and CEO of the NBTA, companies must effectively communicate business travel goals to employees.

Says Maguire: “While the majority of business travelers understand the need to be prudent around costs, the most important issue for them when booking travel is convenience. That’s why it is so vital that travel managers work with their communications colleagues to inform employees how travel changes are designed to meet both goals – cutting costs while offering convenience.”

62% of travelers cited convenience as the most important factor when booking travel, compared to 25% who said cost. Over a third of respondents (36%) indicated their companies have mandated cheaper travel over the last six months. Of these, 35% have moved to cheaper airlines and tickets, 29% have mandated a cheaper class of travel and 36% have moved to cheaper accommodation options.

“Getting employees to adhere to corporate travel policies can lead to significant cost savings,” adds Maguire. “But stricter policies are most effective as part of a broader approach to maximizing travel value. It’s a balancing act to find the right mix of preferred supplier arrangements, travel polices, employee communications, and enforcement.”

From the survey it is clear that while meeting alternatives have their place, there’s no substitute for getting in front of customers, colleagues, partners and prospects. Almost 20% of travelers have never used conference call services, while of those that have, 50% use them to complement face to face meetings rather than replace. The stats around video conferences are similar with 35% having never used them, and 41% again using them to complement the flesh press. Webinars and Virtual meetings also have low levels of awareness and usage.

For more information, click here.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is proposing to rescind plans for slot auctions at New York-area airports. Under the proposal, the Department would halt plans announced last October to withdraw a number of slots from airlines operating at airports in the New York region and auction the slots to the highest bidder.

“We’re still serious about tackling aviation congestion in the New York region,” Secretary LaHood said in New York City in remarks to the Association for a Better New York. “I’ll be talking with airline, airport and consumer stakeholders, as well as elected officials, over the summer about the best ways to move forward.”

The plans for the auctions for slots at New York’s JFK and LaGuardia Airports and Newark Liberty International Airport were announced by the Department on Oct. 10, 2008. The auctions were proposed as part of a plan to reduce congestion and delays at the region’s airports, along with caps on the number of flights per hour at each of the airports. Due to litigation over the rule and a court-ordered stay, the auctions have not taken place.

In proposing to rescind the auctions, the Department noted that the rulemaking was highly controversial and that most of those filing comments opposed the slot auctions. The Department also noted that circumstances have changed since the rules were issued, including changes in the economy.

For more information, click here.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reiterated aviation’s commitment to responsibly addressing the challenges of climate change and called on governments to deliver a global and sectoral approach to reducing aviation emissions in Kyoto 2.

“Air transport is a global industry with a good track record and ambitious targets for environmental performance. But to achieve them, we need governments to take a global approach,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO in a statement to the World Business Summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen.

Bisignani called on governments to define a sectoral approach in Kyoto 2 with global accounting for aviation’s emissions through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and open access for airlines to properly regulated carbon markets. Such an approach would maintain a level playing field for all airlines and replace overlapping national and regional schemes.

A global approach is already underpinned with three ambitious industry targets: (1) a 25% improvement in fuel efficiency by 2020 compared to 2005, (2) to use 10% alternative fuels by 2017 and (3) a 50% absolute reduction in emissions by 2050. “We are already working to set an important fourth target: a date for carbon-neutral growth beyond which our emissions will not grow even as demand increases,” said Bisignani.

Bisignani gave a progress report on the aviation industry’s efforts to reduce emissions. “Aviation’s emissions will fall by 8% this year. Some 6% of this is from the recession and 2% is directly related to IATA’s four-pillar strategy,” said Bisignani.

Pillar 1 Technology: Fuel efficiency improved 70% over the past forty years, 23% in the last decade alone. This is mainly due to better aircraft and engines.

Pillars 2 Operations: “How we fly makes a difference. IATA’s Green Teams are working with airlines around the world to implement best practices. This work is now saving around 30 million tonnes of CO2 each year,” said Bisignani.

Pillar 3 Infrastructure: IATA’s work to shorten routes is saving at least a further 30 million tonnes of CO2.

Pillar 4 Positive Economic Measures: Some 30 airlines have carbon offset programs. In June, IATA will launch an industry offset program so airlines can offer this option even more broadly.

Biofuels: Bisignani made special note of the industry progress on biofuels. “One of the most exciting recent developments is the progress being made in sustainable next generation biofuels. These have the potential to reduce our carbon footprint by up to 80%. Three years ago nobody thought biofuels could be applied to aviation. Four successful test flights in the last year prove that biofuels work. For the first time aviation could have a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. Airlines did this work without government involvement. But we could achieve much more, much faster, with a fiscal and legal framework to accelerate research and reward investment. Governments must get on board,” Bisignani said.

“Working with governments, a united industry - airlines, airports, manufacturer and air navigation service provider - made air transport the safest way to travel. By working together with a coordinated global approach we can make aviation the first global industry to achieve carbon-neutral growth and a model for others to follow,” said Bisignani.

For more information, click here.

On June 1, American Airlines will go cashless onboard flights within the continental United States, as well as flights to and from Hawaii, Alaska, and Canada. For inflight purchases such as headsets, fresh meals, snacks and alcoholic beverages, American will accept major credit or debit cards only. Cashless cabins will not be implemented onboard American Eagle and AmericanConnection flights - only cash will continue to be accepted onboard those flights…Continental Airlines announced the availability of online check in using a PDA via the website pda.continental.com. You can also choose to receive your boarding pass electronically to your mobile phone or PDA from that site…Delta Air Lines announced that it has installed Wi-Fi on nearly half of its domestic mainline fleet, making the airline the world’s leading provider of in-flight connectivity.…Russia’s leading domestic airline, Siberia Airlines, will become part of the oneworld alliance during 2010…United Airlines is adding an extra $5 charge for travelers who pay their baggage fee at the airport instead of online. The move matches a change announced by US Airways last month…

in March ‘09 decreased to 78.4%, up 0.3 points vs. the running 12 month average of 78.1% but down 4.2 points from February’s 82.6%. To view the USDOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics' (BTS) Air Travel Consumer Report, click here.

The United States Government has posted recent travel advisories and warnings for Algeria, Burundi, Central African Republic, Colombia, Cote d’lvoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Georgia, Haiti, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.