Travel is My Life; Work and Pleasure

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.

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.

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

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.

Air Asia X has confirmed first flight on the route London (UK) to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) will be in March 2009.

The advertised price is 99 GBP round trip… the airline will operate 5 times a week, carrying 286 passengers a direction.

I wonder what do; CEO Tony Fernandes & Owner Sir Richard Branson think they will be doing better than Oasis Airlines who closed their sole route London HongKong a couple of months ago.

Are there so many more Brits going to Malaysia - I thought HongKong will be a larger and by far more important hub of service.

Its not me who says it; you could all watch Ryanair CEO; Michael O’Leary saying it out loud;
Ryanair at a press conference talking about flying UK to USA - over the Atlantic for funny prices. Thus, if you fly transatlantic for 10 Euro you would probably have to pay for the BJ whereas, in his business class its gonna be for free…

Thats an airline i want to fly with tonight

A new UK based airline has opened by a private group of investors.

“Air Sylhet customers will always be treated with respect, due care and consideration and be offered a pleasant flight experience”

Having said, that there is great concern in the security community regarding the whole concept of a Muslim Only Airline; Air Sylhet.

Is it a pure tourism concept or a new terrorism highway between the British Muslim community and the Arab World?

How will they check who is a Muslim? I hope its a joke and we can all enjoy the airline service.

BTW: Sylhet, also known as Shilhat in the ancient times, was an expanded commercial center in Bangladesh

According to the latest USA Visa Weaver Program the following passport holders will be granted electronic US entry permit, thus, will avoid the long queue and interviews to receive a US entry visa.The online application must be done at least 72 hours prior to entry into the United States of America. https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov

Then, who is so lucky to avoid the hassle of getting a visa? Andorra; Australia; Austria; Belgium; Brunei; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Iceland; Ireland; Italy; ; Japan; Liechtenstein; Luxembourg; Monaco; Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Portugal; Sun Marino; Singapore; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; United Kingdom.

I actually read a cool post by Tony Wheeler (founder of Lonely Planet) comparing embassies attitude between encouraging and discouraging tourists through their visa departments.

Those are the moments I wish I had more than one nationality.

I have a few friends and clients who are going to be very disappointed from the hottest travel news; No more Porn on in flight WIFI.

Sorry guys: Lior, David, Alton, Amit, Ori and especially you Samantha, but you will not be able to view porn on flight anymore.

I wonder why not, after all, airlines have introduced the WIFI on flights to generate new revenues. I don’t see the reason why airlines don’t enjoy rev-share with porn sites to increase their revenues even more.

If you fly Low Cost Airlines, such as Ryanair, you will be allowed to gamble on their up in the air casino. So, what’s so wrong with some virtual sex? Does it harm anyone, on the contrary, I would assume it makes people stick to their seats rather than walk around the air craft - only line could be to the loo…

Does it mean Jet Blue will only be Jet from now on? They were my preffered airline thanks to their free porn access using the in flight WIFI

Come’on guys who is gonna unblock them?

lets open a statup, I bet you; we will make a fortune from Porn on flight.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i am fed up of this stupid situation.

Too many travel companies collapse, when will it stop? where will it take us? It has such a hugh effect on it all, its crazy.

We have heard and read a great deal about Iceland in the past month; the world’s financial situation has crashed the country to pieces, actually shreded it.

It has been publically announced today, that Sterling DK has shut its operation and all flights are cancelled.

What a shame, we have lost today an amazing low cost airline; Sterling, which served Europe greatly by connecting West and East with Scandinavia for reasonable prices.

I hope they will find an investor to lift them back up in the sky.

Today airlines charge for everything; overweight luggage, extra bag, a soft drink, a blanket, extra leg room, stereo ear sets, food, preferred seats, and of course alcohol. 

So, when I first heard about it I thought it was a onetime joke, then I dag into the issue and learned that indeed airlines plan on charging Obese passengers more for their air fare;

In the past 20 years being a travel agent, I have experienced the very odd feeling when I have had to advise a client to buy an “Extra Seat” because they could not fit into a regular economy class seat.

I knew the routes, the airline regulation, the aircraft seats configuration, and most importantly I knew those clients very well.
Having said that, it was all based on the size of the chair, nothing to do with the new trend which is based on economical reasons not physical.
Derrie Air was a marketing teaser by Philadelphia Media Holding, “demonstrate the power of our brands in generating awareness and generating traffic for our advertisers, and put a smile on people’s faces.

  When I read the words: Derrie-Air; two things came up my mind:

Sounds like the French word: Derriere; in simple English; ass / backside …  

Sounds like Dare Air - who will be the first to dare charge according to weight.

Nice play on words when you want to deliver a message about fat travelers.
The one thing I have learned so far is that the airlines are looking into categorizing weight passengers based on fat people not tall people.

A non official response from an airline spokesman is: “Height is genetic and you cannot fight it…”

The truth of the matter is that it’s not a pleasant experience to sit by an Obese a 12 hour flight.

I wonder what will the effect on the airline’s branding and who will be the first mover…

We have all seen how the grand XL Group UK has collapsed in a matter of days, and yet on its grounds here comes Kiss Flights and rises up from the same place, only looking into the profitable routes and destinations of its previous operator.

I wish them luck; http://www.kissflights.com//Agents/Default.aspx

I am not talking about the size of my shirt…

XL.com the UK largest tour operator has collapsed & stopped trading on Sep 12th.

There are over 100,000 Brits stuck overseas wondering how would they get home. The message on XL home page was not that clear about who will be taking them home, moreover, who will be paying their bills for the already paid accommodation, car rental and cruises.

The UK based company has closed all operations in the UK leaving the French and German divisions fully operative.

If I was to choose whom to book my next holiday I am not sure I would buy from a French or German subsidiary of a UK closed company… after they have left tens of thousands of their own clients / tourists stuck away from home.

The Travel Industry is definitely going through a rough stage, the smart operators will survive.

This time they have acquired OneTime.com & VirtualTourist.com (same ownership).

Its the 3rd purchase by TripAdvisor of Travel content websites in the past 12 months, latest was the European Holiday Watch Dog.

TripAdvisor-branded sites are; bookingbuddy, cruisecritic, independenttraveler, seatguru, smartertravel, travel-library, travelpod.

“TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 25 million monthly visitors, seven million+ registered members and 15 million+ reviews and opinions”

Who’s next?

A couple of months ago I have written about the Trans Atlantic Open Sky revolution, and here it comes; British Airways has announced to open OpenSkies new low cost airlines (www.flyopenskies.com). Not a surprise that they chose the French market to start with; (June 19th). Following the closure of 2 low cost airlines flying the Atlantic from the UK, British Airways has decided to compete with Lavion.

Prices are not bad at all, and divided to 3 categories; Business, Premium and Economy.

Round trip restricted fares; NYC PAR NYC: Business; $2450, Premium; $1525, Economy; $1155

Round Trip restricted fares PAR NYC PAR; Business; €1420, Premium; €1019, Economy; €706

A bug;

I tried to check one way prices and the site seems to display one way but the prices are of round trips.

Have a great flight; I like the Open Sky revolution.

A few months have passed since SouthWest Airlines have taken the big step and changed its homepage GUI (Graphical User Interface), shifting the booking engine from the left side position which is the conventional worldwide standard, to the right side panel - the first and only airline to do so.

The New look:
The Old Look:
I wonder what made SouthWest Airlines lead to such action to move the booking panel, which is the “Action Item” to the right which is known to be the users visibility dark side; also known as the Z shape Eye Tracking Methodology. Moreover, I am very curious to see actual website usability results, and I will be looking forward to see other airlines, especially Low Cost Airlines, following this step, if the results are positive.

The only other airline which I found to have moved the action item; booking engine, from the left side panel is the Indian Low Cost Airline SpiceJet;

Had I had to analyze the results only according to blog reports, I would say the change has done only good to SouthWest Airlines, though; blog comments can be adjusted and thus biased if needed. I have read the comments on the SouthWest Airlines blog, where consumers love the new look, and find it much easier to navigate.

It could just be that SouthWest Airlines have decided to dedicate the hot spot to strengthen their brand name and logo.

Other Airlines website to compare look & feel; left side booking panel.

I am sad to announce, yet again, of another airline which has closed down.

Eos, a 48 seats all business class airline, flew from London to New York, is the second all business class airline to close down operations in less than 4 months.
What have they being doing wrong? What should SilverJet do in order not to drop down like its ex-competitors?

Unfortunately, quality does not win it all.

Who doesn’t want to get points for his travel? We all do, and the more the merrier.

Most of us don’t even know the rules and regulations of the various clubs. We are not aware of the differences between the clubs, their partners, nonetheless, the differences within each group there are airlines rules which can favor one to another. For example; from London to New York you can fly American Airlines and British Airways, while both airlines partner in the same club; One World. You may not receive points if you have a BA club number and fly an American Airline flight on the same route British Airways operates too - internal competition on same routes.

The rule of thumb is quite simple; avoid duplicate memberships for the same partners; focus and channel all partner points into a single club membership. And remember, although most memberships are free you cannot mesh and combine points from a vertical club into a single free ticket.

Therefore, focusing on a group and centralizing most of your travel into a specific group where you will benefit with free travel, lounge access, preferred seating, and upgrade vouchers.

The 3 leading groups in the world will cover you worldwide and will take you anywhere.

One World; Airlines, British Airways, American Airlines, Qantas, Cathay Pacific, JAL, Iberia, Malev, LAN, Royal Jordanian, Malev, Finnair.

Star Alliance; United Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS, Austrian Airlines, Thai Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Swiss, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana, BMI, LOT Polish Airways, Singapore Airlines, South Africn Airways, Spanair, Shanghai Airlines, TAP Portugal, US Airways.

SkyTeam; Continental Airlines, Air France, Alitalia, KLM, Delta Airlines, Korean Air, Aeroflot, Aeromexico, China Southers, Czech Airlines, Copa, Kenya Airways, Air Europe.

If you live in Israel or travel frequently to Tel Aviv you must have a membership with ELAL.

ELAL has an airline partner; American Airlines, which as you may see is listed in the One World group. Which means if you fly with American Airlines you can choose whether to earn the points with ELAL or with One World (one or the other, not bothL).

How do you decide? I would say it all depends on your travel mix.

Having been in the business for over 17 years I could tell you that ELAL is an airline that gives its club members the most.

Low Cost Airlines in general do not give perks. Though, in the past couple of years I have noticed that even they have some loyalty membership. Example; the famous SouthWest Airlines have its Rapid Rewards. Even EasyJet has its loyalty membership for a fee though.

As I briefly stated, loyalty clubs have their own rules regarding earning and redeeming points, taking into account your country of residence in relation to your “travel mix”, example; if you register to British Airways as a US location based flying from USA to Europe and back, you will get different miles per flight than as you were registered as a Londoner, flying the same flight. Being an Air France member living outside France gives you more than someone living in France. It’s simple; the airlines are trying to convince you to fly from point A to Z via their home country; example; travelers who fly from Tel Aviv via Paris to Tokyo are worth more to than those who flew Paris to Tokyo, since the airlines managed to steal a potential traveler from flying other airlines such as ELAL, Lufthansa or British Airways who are not in their alliance.

I could say that choosing the specific inside the group of alliance; i.e. Continental vs. Air France, should be a decision based on the major airline which you will fly with, but I suggest you look into the details, learn the benefits of each airline and if needed find a friend who lives elsewhere and willing to receive the airline’s junk mail :) you may receive double miles easily.

In the past 3 years I have studied and specialized in the LCC industry (Low Cost Carriers), not only that, I was the founder of a startup which we had to close a few months back, called Skylow.com - allowing users to book low cost airlines under a single interface.

Whenever I had to speak about low cost airlines and whenever I presented the sophisticated algorithm which was developed to find the low fares of 0 (yes, yes Zero) + airport taxes air fares I was stopped and asked; “But how come…, you have an algorithm mistake”

Watch the clip, it will answer your question of how the Low Cost Airlines, such as Ryanair, EasyJet, Virgin Blue and many other make their money…

Farecast, founded by Prof. Yair Ezioni, is a smart Travel Meta Search with a sophisticated algorithm which predicts according to previous years, dates, days, hours and competition the price fluctuation and variation which will help the user to determine whether to buy now or wait as price is predicted to fall.

Currently prediction market is focused US market, and limited Canadian cities.

Personally, I believe in the concept, but it’s still very early. For example, low cost airlines such as; Virgin America, Jet Blue and SouthWest airlines who have a great impact on internal US travel prices, if not the greatest impact after fuel prices, are not included in the equation.

Having said that, I am very happy to see the growth of the online travel, and the growth in the travel industry buyouts, such as:

Kayak and SideStep

TripAdvisor and Holiday Watch Dog

TripAdvisor and SeatGuru

TripAdvisor and Cruise Critic,

TravelGuru & Desiya

ELAL Israel Airlines have decided to change its “goodies” policy - the use of frequent flyer points for upgrade to premium classes Business & First.

Just last week, ELAL has switched a GDS - Global Distribution System, or what is also known as a CRS - Computer Reservation System - system used to store, retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel.

The previous system, Carmel was owned by ELAL and the features were tailor made specifically for its needs. Now that they have shifted to Amadeus they have taken the opportunity to deteriorate the benefits of their club members use of points. A non-official quote by a highly ranked employee commented; “It was easy to hide behind the mask of; it’s a new booking system with no technical abilities to perform upgrades like we used to, moreover, we are only aligning our policies to other leading airlines such as: Continental Airlines, Lufthansa, United Airlines & Air Canada.”

ELAL Frequent traveler will be affected, travel agents will have to work harder, but at the end of the day; “users will get used to it, and we will make more money on each ticket sold…”

Example; an upgradable round trip ticket from Tel Aviv to New York costs:

Ticket (S class) $2544 + Add 700 points each direction (1point = $1) = 3944

Whereas, on the same class of booking (D class) the cheapest business class round trip costs: $4900. (For those who don’t know; S class is coach, D is business class)

That’s a $1000 profit per ticket - so why not?

Effective Sunday 30th March 2008 for the first time European Airlines will be allowed to fly from any point in Europe to any point in the USA without any restriction, i.e. European Airlines will be able to fly from anywhere, thus, not only from their home town , no limit on the number of times per day, at any given price!!!

Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Transports. “This agreement is the most ambitious air services deal ever negotiated. The two biggest aviation markets, encompassing 60% of world traffic”

I believe that we will shortly see airlines such as EasyJet, Ryanair, Air Berlin, Condor, Thomson Fly, Clickair, SkyExpress, and many others fly for crazy low prices, as low as $0.01 a direction + taxes.

Which will enhance the use of Low Cost Airlines Booking Engines who engage with lowest internet travel fares, such as Skylow.com

There are over 50 million passengers a year flying across the Atlantic, which means there is plenty of room for quality, low fare, low cost competition.

This will open up new destinations; I personally believe that destination such as Orlando, Dallas, Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Jose and mostly Seattle will see more direct traffic.

The effect of the US Dollar has a great impact on the Europeans travelling to the US, enjoying high return on their local currency; the Euro.

Having said that, this matter will enhance issues such as; Airport congestion (example; the fiasco of British Airways Terminal 5), the environment, secondary airports and most of all the security. On the other hand, it is estimated that approximately 100,000 new jobs will open up on each side of the Atlantic.

I was invited to the World Low Cost Airlines in London, where i met over 60 representatives of low cost airlines from around the globe - it was amazing.

After a couple of hours I have realized that business will not be conducted in the congress hall, but outside near the chocolate fountain…

You need to understand that the Low Cost Airlines revolution is changing the industry; numbers are increasing, and over 25% of the worlds travelers traffic is done on Low Cost Carriers. Many of those I have met in the conference; the leaders of the Airlines industry; Ryanair; EasyJet, Air Asia, Sky Express, Click Air, Jet Blue, South West, Virgin Blue, Aer Aerarann, Air Berlin, Air Arabia, Air Deccan, Jazeera Airways, Cimber, Mango, FireFlyz, FlyBe, Baboo, Who, Germanwings, Kulula, Gol, Central Wings, BMI Baby , Condor, King Fisher, Jet Star Asia, LTU, Monarch, Oasis Air, Sky Europe, Sterling, Vueling, Thomson, Norwegian, Iceland Express, HLX, Aer Lingus, Pegasus, Spring Airlines, Sverige, Tiger, Virgin Nigeria, Volaris, Wizz, Sama, Spice, Go Air, 1Time, Aegean, Jet 2, Zoom, 1 2 Go, Meridiana, Atlas Blue, Globespan, TUI, Helvetic, Rex, Volare, Sky Mark, Lion, Nok, Do, Virgin USA, Sky Bus, Liat, Nature, ATA, Sun Country, XL, Hooters, My, Indigo, Alma, Air Tran, Transavia, Blue 1, Ocean, Click MX, Corendon, Alpi Eagles, LAL, AirSouth, Daallo, and more.

The prices of the low cost airlines are hard to grasp, how can an airline fly so many people at $0.01 ?! And if they do how can they still be in business?!

Well, having studied the industry of the low cost airlines for many years I must agree with the airlines, and strongly support their actions, they manage to fly people for low prices and be very profitable.

My visit there was as the CEO of a startup which believes to have developed a unique booking engine system which aggregates low cost airlines into one simple website; Skylow: www.skylow.com . Skylow is the Global Distribution System (GDS) of the low cost airlines. Worldwide there are only 4 GDS systems which enable users to book flights. Those systems are for on line and off line users; i.e. main street travel agencies & online booking engines like Expedia, Orbitz & Travelocity. Having said that, the 4 systems; Amadeus, Worldspan, Galileo & Sabre, can only support Conventional Airlines; example; American Airlines, British Airlines, ELAL, Lufthansa, United Airlines and the many others. Therefore, the idea behind Skylow is to support the 220 airlines which do not appear on the systems, their bookings can only be done directly on the airline website.

I will elaborate more on the Low Cost industry soon,

Fly Low Cost - use Skylow.com