1. What are the difference between travel agents, such as Orbitz, and travel searcgh engines suxh as Mobissimo? * Then there are the base differences around business model – OTA’s are retailers that charge cards and supply services. OTA (the retailer) owes their livelihood to the punter, to the customer. The person they get their money from is the consumer making a booking. OTAs build loyalty through deal hunting, sales, customer service, customer contact and building unique product.
Meta-search customers are media companies trading in eyeballs, clicks and page views. The meta-search company owes its livelihood to the advertiser, to the supplier. They get their money from the click buyers, suppliers and media companies that buy the eyeballs looking for travel. Meta-search companies build retention through convincing consumers that only meta-search can provide the best price. 2. Find examples of other travel suppliers that don’t list their services on OTA’s.
Travel suppliers that do not list their services with an Online travel supplier include: TravelSafe, Travel Insurance Services, TravelGuard, CSA Travel Protection, MH Ross, and Travelex Insurance Services. 3. From the perspective of travel suppliers, what are the advantages of travel search engines? * Computer savvy people don’t ever have to rely on travel agencies to book their vacations. Airlines have their own easy-to-use booking sites with real-time price updates. Aggregate sites are hooked into multiple airlines for easy comparison shopping.
There are many reasons why booking your travel arrangements online is better than going to a travel agent’s office. Convenience * Your computer in your home is always convenient, 24 hours a day. You can book travel online in the middle of the night without leaving home. You won’t spend any gas for travel to the office, and you won’t waste time finding a travel agent. Information * A travel agent will tell you what he can do for you, but there are no guarantees that there are no better deals that he didn’t find. Booking online gives you the opportunity to do your own research.
Comparing prices and offers from many different sites may come up with a better deal. There are no guarantees, but you are more motivated to save money than your agent is, so you may have a better chance of beating his deal. Airline Reservations * Optimize customer experience with an end-to-end reservation solution Comparison Shopping * Booking online gives you the chance to immediately compare prices from many different airlines or resorts. You can use one of the aggregate sites, like Expedia, Travelocity or Orbitz to get a range of prices from different sites all at once.
For even better prices, go to the actual airline sites themselves. Often the airline website has the absolute lowest prices anywhere. Online Specials * If you sign up for e-mails or updates from the airlines that you use most often, you will receive notification when the airlines have online-only specials. These special prices usually last only a few days, or for a few hours, but if the sale happens to fit into your travel plans, you can get substantial savings. Discount Sites * There are many sites online that offer discount coupon codes for travel of all kinds.
Whether your vacation is to a family amusement park or relaxing on a beach, there may be a discount code that applies to some part of your travel plans. Do a search in your favorite search engine for “travel discount” and see what sites you can find. Save on Fees * All travel agents charge fees for their services. The charges are built right into the prices. Some online sites may charge a nominal fee for booking, but if you shop directly with the airlines or other transportation sites, there will be no booking fees charged.
