Travel is My Life; Work and Pleasure

לקוחות פאטרא שלום
רב,

אם אתם נוהגים
להמיר את הנקודות מכרטיסי האשראי לנקודות הנוסע מתמיד אל-על הודעה זו חשובה ביותר!

במהלך חד צדדי
בסוף חודש מאי חברת כרטיסי האשראי שינתה את שיטת נקודות/מתנות.

מחודש יוני קיימים
2 מסלולים:

1.     
מסלול מתנות

2.     
מסלול תעופה

כאשר מסלול המתנות
הוא ברירת המחדל, ולא יהיה ניתן להמיר נקודות רטרואקטיבית.

קרי, מי שלא שינה
עד היום כבר הפסיד חודשיים נקודות .

הזדרזו
ליצור קשר עם חברת תשלובת ישראכארט - 03-6364302

נקודות כרטיסי
אשראי המומרות לאל על הן נקודות “צפות” וערכן רב

אשמח לעזור לכם
במימוש כרטיסי הבונוס בנסיעה עתידית,

ראם גרייבר

מנכ”ל
פאטרא נסיעות בע”מ

טל: 03-5604411 | פקס:03-5603910 | נחלת בינימין 63, תל אביב, ת”ד 1074, מיקוד 61009

These girls have wisdom, its a little long but worth the 4 minutes watch.

Bottom line, what seems cheap at first ends up very expensive.

Its hard to understand the relationship between the airlines and the online/offline travel agencies (online are expedia, travelocity Orbitz etc etc and offline are the conventional travel agents like myself - we both use same tools the GDS)

This short video will explain what’s all the trouble these days with American Airlines - who want to become SouthWest Airlines

Tel Aviv is changing, becoming a leading city in the world for young crowd.

Not until long ago when thinking of TLV the noise, pollution and crowded streets would pop up your mind.  Now days, TLV is known for being young, sexy, funky and wild.

I came across a cool shop which delivers the message across to what Tel Aviv is today.  It shows the old TLV with the new TLV, and the merger is amazing.

I suggest the visit to the two shops, and easier the website; Made In TLV,  take a look at Ziv koren the most talented photographers work, its unreal what he sees through his lens.

I took the liberty of sharing a few of his photos in my blog; 

I’ve received this by mail from a good friend, and thought it relates to travel, as in all issues of life these days:

“I am appalled that so many of my friends are against the mosque near
Ground Zero in NYC.

We should allow it in order to promote tolerance.

I think for the purpose of tolerance we should build accordingly
around the Mosque
I propose that two gay nightclubs be opened next door to promote
tolerance in the mosque.
We could call them “The Turban Cowboy” and “You Mecca Me Hot”.
Next door to the clubs should be a butcher shop that specializes in
pork and have an open barbecue with pork ribs.
And across the street a very daring lingerie store called “Victoria
Keeps Nothing Secret”.
And next door to that with flashing lights we should open an Adult Toy
and DVD Shop.

From

A tolerant new Yorker.”

Rome was always known to be the city of pickpocketing - with signs and adverts warning tourists; the number one cause of turnining your amazing spiritual vacation in Rome to hell in Italy.

now days the pleg is spreading all over Europe; could it be the summer vacation that causes it or is it the economic status, or maybe the fact that the old tricks still work well… so why work hard for cash when you can fool the tourists.

The new jocks are; The Rome Empire has turned to be Europe Empire

Barcelona is number one, followed by Rome, Paris, Madrid, Athens, Prague, Costa Brava, Lisbon, Tenerife and London (in this order)

I warn you guys, keep your things tight on you or at the hotel. And, a small note; NOT in your car… for those of you who called me lately about your stolen iPad - your rented car is a big billboard for tourist thieves.

Did you hear the latest from RyanAir CEO? 

“Lets Get Rid of Co-pilots to save money” says O’Leary; we have auto pilot systems + 1 pilot who can do the job, so why not?!

Would you go on a flight with 1 pilot?  Personally, i would; i have been on way too many flights where the pilot or the co-pilot just walks around or goes to snooze somewhere in business class or at the back of the plane chatting to some sexy stewardess.  So whats the big deal of having just one, we have only one bus driver, after all, that’s what RyanAir is; an “air bus”.

The pilots said in response; lets kick O’Leary out to save money.

Its been a while since I wrote and i have TONES to tell, but meanwhile for those who truly need it (like I do) i would advise to download the latest iphone app of Google / ITA Software - its AMAZING !!!

I like where the new era of internet is taking the travel industry - where travel agents need to become sophisticated and more intelligant to be useful to their clients.

There are a few ways to complain about an airline;

1) Write to them a letter - don’t expect too much unless you are a Platinum valuable member.

2) File it on Menogo - which is where guys like you and me share the “shit that happens” to us during our long travel.

3) Upload a silly song to YouTube and spam it - it rocks

Dave Carroll flew United Airlines, while on the tarmac he and his band found out that their gear / guitar is being vandalized.

He has tried to contact the airline rep and explain - no luck.  When has things changed? when he wrote a song and uploaded it to YouTube, with over 7m views and growing, United is now running after him to remove the song.

My point being - share your bad experience and share it in a way we can all learn about it; www.MeNoGo.com is the site i found growing towards being the right place to log it; Where Travelers Complain.

Use your experience, channel it to a positive way; Menogo

In the past few months airport security has become hell.  Especially “thanks” to the Nigerian terrorist, airport security has yet again taken a step up in its approach and now we are all considered as danger to society, and been treated as such.

My main concerns relate to the following main issues:

1) Travellers spend longer time while queuing for security lines.

2) The fact that all travellers need much longer connecting times at airports.

Those lines don’t get any sexier, at first it was belts then shoes, and now (take a look) 

3) New Advanced Technology “Revealing Secrets”; to all my friends who have “something to hide”; talking to you Lior&  Dudi, who just returned from Thailand - reason can be seen in the screen bellow:

4) Holiday destination; Travellers decide on a destination in a new manner:

So, take a deep breath, flying is not going to get any easier, so i suggest hitchhiking.

Have a safe trip and before you go on one, go buy a new set of cloths according to the new “regulations” your old ones may not be returned…The New D&G shop

I have met a cool start up with a very nice application which will duplicate travel agents and will learn their behaviour.  My first question was; are you looking to replace the agents? their answer was no no no, we are looking to empower them by giving them the ability to work 24/7 using their know how and by that allowing them to duplicate / multiply their workforce and work load.

In simple words, this is how Eva works using NLP - Natural Language Processing.

The clients will send simple text email;

“Dear Reem, i would like to fly with my wife; Shelley next Monday from NYC to LON and back after 3 days, i would need a hotel 4 starts in the city centre with 1 double bed, gym and parking as we need a car rental mid size automatic”.

Eva knows how to read this text and actually turn it into a booking !!! 

I have seen it, it rocks - so far in closed Beta mode as they seek funds - Good luck, its not easy these days, but i see great potential in such system.

Thats great news, i would even say the greatest news of the month, it finally happened and now you can gain and spend miles of Conti on Star Allience group, airliens such as Lufti, United, Austrian, Swiss, SAS, Thai, and more.

Have fun

RG

Has anyone in BA realized that there is more money in “non-regular” destinations rather than fighting over same routes with more airlines…

On one hand Its good news for us, the travellers, we get to reach new destinations easier.

On the other hand, that means we are going back 20 years where airlines had some sort of royalties / monopoly on specific routes, thus, prices are high.

The new British Airways routes are:

Maldives !

Punta Cana

Montego Bay

Sharm El Sheikh

Las Vegas

Have fun flying from London to exotic places.

My advise would be to travel to Maldives, Punta Cana & Montego Bay; try this supplier for further details: www.luxury-voyage.com

British Airways will launch a direct flight from London Heathrow to Las Vegas starting October 2009.

The BA daily flight will offer full service of 3 classes; including the flat beds.

I just read that Mr. Richard Thams, BA Head of UK Sales said; “Despite the difficult global economic conditions, Las Vegas represents new business and growth opportunities for BA”

I love the way they think; “bad economic” we all hear and read that casino businesses are doing better than ever (probably more leisure / free time).  So now they are bribing higher class clients to fly into Vegas - until now only Low Cost Airlines used this method, its time BA learn a trick or two in the trade.

Enjoy Vegas

I wonder how come the insurance providers have seen a rise of 300% in sales since the Swine Flu.

Do people who travel to infected zones really believe that the insurance policy will help them survive it…

Get real, travel to Mexico only if really needed, why not postponed the trip by a couple of weeks until you see whats happening?!

Who said the old China is over?

I recently read in the Travel Daily News that the Chinese government has decided to intervene in the travel regulations and habits of the Chinese People.  Who will suffer? the people of course.

Some operators have found the old system where you bring a group for shopping and enjoy lower prices, moreover, from vast experience I can say - when you have a group going shopping the shops will be subsidizing your tours / hotels / buses etc which means tour operators can under cut market prices of tours and become attractive price wise.

Whats this different from Ryanair or EasyJet or any other  low cost airline which is subsidized by the local city of arrival just to bring over as many tourists as possible?

Is it any different from the free nights you get if you come for a 1 hour speech about the hotel time share scheme?

Would you go on a tour if you know that its subsadized by a shop and you will be taken there as part of your tour?

Whats the major difference between buying online and buying through a travel agent?

When you go online you buy what you see on the spot; i.e. instant purchase, you insert your credit card and you guarantee the price you see.

The process with the travel agent is more like a stock option - you buy an option to purchase, usually 24 hours before you need to purchase (issue ticket) actually, its best valid until same day 23:59 (its a system issue, dont ask why…)

ClickAir, the Spanish Low Cost Airline, has come up with a new feature; come online; freeze your price, and you have it for 24-72 hours.  They believe this will allow users to better plan their holidays and will increase sales on ClickAir.

Moreover, I see the synergy between such a tool and social networks when you wish to plan your vacation with more friends, this is “must be” widget on facebook and others.

Alex Cruz CEO of ClickAir whom I met in person a few times is an amazing person, and he is always ahead of others - good on you mate.

I recently flew Royal Jordanian, yes yes, I flew coach for all of you who really wanted to know…

But at the airport I found a simple and relatively cheap way to up grade myself to business class; $300 upgrade for an 8 hours flight is a low price.

So i found myself sitting in an amazing Royal Jordanian business / first class sleeping bed all the way from Amman to Colombo (Sri Lanka) - and it was worth every penny.

Moreover, since in Muslim countries the ladies (married and single as far as I know) can not serve men, the air stewardess where Asians, which gave me a feeling as though I am flying in Singapore Airlines or Thai.

If anyone wants to upgrade to business, come buy the tickets from my office and i will tell you the secret :)

Flying cheap and in class is always fun… travel right means having a good travel agent who knows the small tricks.

Continental Airlines have just received a tentative approval from the US DOT (Department of Transportation) to join the Star Alliance Group.

IMHO (in my humble opinion) Conti is the strongest airline player in the Sky Team group of airlines;  guys, lets be honest; I hardly saw you flying Aero Flot, do you still trust Alitalia to fly? :) lets be honest from 1 to 10 dont we all suffer on an Air France flight…. 

How can one compare the quality of service of the skyteam to the great group of StarAlliance; Thai, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS, Austrian, United, Air Canada, Swiss, All Nippon…

As i was saying, Continental Airlines will soon leave the group and join the strongest airline group the Star Alliance.

For some of us its good news, but for those who fly a lot and keep 2 major millage accounts, thus, one in each group: Star Alliance - Lufthansa and SkyTeam Conti, what would you do now? where will your miles go? will they allow merger of accounts? what about status match?

If to say something good about SkyTeam is that they have a much nicer website - more appealing, business minded, action orientated.

I will keep you all posted with the situation, and if you need any advise please do not hesitate to contact me in regards.

Aren’t you fed up with this stupid behavior that you are asked to take off your shoes for security?

Security is for everyone? not really;

I have just visited Jordan; I was wearing Nike sport shoes and was not asked to take them off, though, my wife who was wearing high heals was asked.  I stood aside and looked at the other passengers; its very funny - i wanted to film, but was not allowed;

Everyone who had sport shoes was allowed to keep them on, all others had to take theirs off, even people from India who wore flip flops…

“Assumption”: Nike, Addidas, New Balance are anti terrorist shoes… and there is a chance a gun will be hidden in flip flops; where exactly?

Idea; come without shoes.

I returned a week ago from an AMAZING short vacation with my wife to the Maldives.

There are so many issues to write about; the holiday, the Maldives, the airports, the flights, tips on Royal Jordanian Airlines and so so so many more.  But I find myself in the past week trying to catch up with lost time at work, therefore, please hang in there, i will be back VERY soon with many tips and cool stuff.

RG

I can easily get you a status match on ELAL (Silver, Gold or even Platinum) on ELAL if you have a such status on one of the following airlines:

British Airways, Delta, Continental, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines (yes yes even them…)

Moreover, as a bonus you will receive 800 points to your ELAL account which is valued as $800.

This deal is valid for 2 weeks only.

I need a your details and i will be happy to do it for you.

Send me an email to reem@patratravel.com

Spice it up says Spirit; Spirit Air decided to go wild, they believe in the young crowd and the male dominated travelers.

Advertisers, bring out the big guns - we need to think out of the box to bring us new users or we drop dead;

Spirit Air came up with some nice, out of the box, sexy slogans:

Many Islands Low Fares = MILF - which is better known on the Internet as: Mothers I’d Like to Fuck

GET Low Airfare to International Destinations - look carefully again: Get LAID.

Red Light Specials - no words are needed here right?!

The Airline with Double D’s; Spirit says its Deep Discounts, the flight attendants believe they were hired for their double B’s: “big boobs” to promote sales and make travelers happier.

 And have you watched their:  “Spirit Air How Low Can You Get” VDO ad ?

Whats so wrong with promotional ads with sexual connotations?

www.Fly.comhas just cost TravelZoo $1.7M - and i was sure we are in difficult time or whats it called; Recession…

Its funny, as i read my favorit writers Phil Daviswho quoted TravelZoo Senior VP “The name is a perfect match for TravelZoo’s renowned approach; simple, fun and world class”

Can one teach me how Simple and World Class go hand in hand…

 Anyhow; I am selling a few domains if someone has some “change” to spare

Most of my friends in the travel business have decided strategically to approach the mass markets; isn’t that the old fart of the Venture Capitals (”Go get the mass users…”)

Myself, I realized that I will not be one of those lucky ones making the millions from the online travel, so i focus on niche markets which are profitable from day one; keep it simple, keep it focused, it might be small; but it is profitable.

Take an example from Honeymoon; its a simple window shopping site with one main purpose; channel users who are searching for honeymoon to call a professional who will make a sale.

I just opened a new niche, focusing on Philippine market for labor.  I had to learn how they think, learn who operates the market, learn about their buying habits, and social life.

Since I have the back end - Patra Travel, with agents who are experts, moreover, the financial means; its important to look for niche markets who will grow the off line main stream business.

Airlines have realized that travel agents are their best point of sale; reliable, knowledgeable, most of all; loyal.

In the current situation when economy has an enormous impact on air travel, I noticed that airlines are courting after travel agents; those same airlines who betrayed the agents point of sale and diminished their commission completely are now crawling door to door trying to promote their products.

I walked into my office this morning, finding a funny looking man and woman; dressed up in an old European fashion outfits, singing and dancing as if they are in the Moulin Rouge.

I felt sorry for them; they probably didn’t sign up for this job when they started working for the airline - but I guess in rough times its better become a pompom girl serving chocolates than open the newspaper and look for a new job.

Will American Airlines come as cheer leaders?   “Ouch”;  What will Lufthansa wear?

I hope tomorrow morning I’ll come in and the Lido girls will be acting as Air France staff…

Knowing the Air France staff; I hope they will NOTcome topless…

You’ll never guess that ear plugs are back in fashion;

More and more travelers are buying ear plugs for long haul flights; large groups and children are a pain when you have a full working day is a head of you having flown a red eye or an 11 hours flight across the Atlantic.

I found it useful - cheap, simple, light to pack :).  MensWay ship them worldwide.

Remember; its a small tip, a small “gadget” which can enable you a 10 hours sleep while your next seat traveler has an infant who is teething, though; it might not help you if the infant next to you is full of poo…

GRAB A BLANKET !!!

Airlines have been cutting on extras; and blankets are accessories which seems easy to be eliminated…

That been said; airlines are pumping more cold into the aircraft; in order to reduce passengers mobility - safety moreover, easier life for the crew.

Flights are getting chilly, grab grab grab… or freeze your ass!

I have been saying it for many years, now the so called “Travel Leaders” are saying it too: Travel Agent have a great advantage over the online service.

Advantage Travel Centres Colin O’neill says; “customers are looking for safety, security and reassurance which they can when booking with an Advantage Travel Agent”.

Hey dude, you forgot the main point !!!  Professional Agent.

Travel Agent is a profession, and you need to find a professional to deal with, its not the security; customers have SSL for that… what they lack is knowledge and someone who sees the wider picture not the buck making of the online system.  Yes, yes, trust me on that most online systems display biased results which base their results on income; like in all online marketing results; e.g. Google search results.

I personally know a few amazing agents (some even work with me), though, I know some stupid ones too.

When you are stuck in the middle of nowhere you need to know the basics; Emergency numbers !

I dont like to post long tables - but guys, cut and paste the countries you visit most, and send this list to your friends, its vital info, specially when you dont speak the language, or worse; where there is no tele-systems…

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