• Individual Travel

• Organization and Corporate Travel Management

• Funds Protection

Individual Travel

So you think getting a cheap airfare is as simple as calling your favorite airline or logging on to your favorite web site and forking over your credit card number?  Unless you are traveling on someone else’s dime, you couldn’t be more misguided.  Or perhaps you are a wishful traveler who scours the newspaper’s travel section looking for the lowest fares advertised, only to find none of them are ever available on the weekends you want to go.

Getting the lowest airfare from Point A to Point B can be an incredibly frustrating experience. The way airlines work failing to get the best fare happens more often than you would like to believe.  Beyond The Bay Travel will help guide you through the airfare nightmare to make sure you are the one with the cheapest airfare at time of booking.  Then, we continue to monitor tickets issued by BTB, and if a fare is lowered before departure, try to rebook your reservation to receive possible credit. Even if they go down, you can’t rebook Internet fares.

UNDERSTAND HOW AIRLINES SET THEIR PRICES IN THE FIRST PLACE

Airline pricing is a complex, unpredictable beast driven by three ugly words; competition, demand, and inventory.  Airlines call it “yield management”, but we doubt if even airline CEOs fully understand it.  How could they?  How can any rational person explain why a one-way flight is just as expensive as a round-trip ticket?  Or why the only one-way nonstop seats from Boston to San Francisco from now until eternity cost $1000.00?  Well you found us in the nick of time, because before you even attempt to buy an airline ticket, you must know the forces at work.  Only when you know the enemy may you fiercely slay him. 

So why is it so hard to keep track of the prices?  A multitude of reasons:

·         Internet travel sites and travel agents use the central reservations systems, which are updated periodically during the day.  The four reservation systems are not updated at the same time, which explains why different searches may yield different results.  In addition, because of other factors, fare differences can exist for the same route on different airlines. For example, if one airline has the market share for the route, and especially controls the nonstop market, it may not need to lower fares to attract passengers. BTB Travel has special negotiated discounts that don’t appear on the Internet.

·         Many consolidator fares, both domestic and international, are often the cheapest option.  These wholesale fares have been around for over 15 years and many are not available on the Internet.  BTB knows the wholesale consolidator market inside and out.  We have an established relationship with trusted vendors.  

·         Tour fares are another option.  These are offered on the Internet, but unless you are an expert you wouldn’t know where and when to apply this possible lower option.  BTB Travel does and in fact uses package travel on many occasions to save you money.

Because of all these factors, it is essential to look around and comparison shop. BTB Travel navigates through all these options.  Using FareChase software through Sabre and Worldspan we can now do in minutes what used to take hours by searching over 50 Websites at once.  We then compare our discount fare, to consolidator, to tour fares, and regular CRS (computer reservation system) fares.  Agency CRS providers are now establishing contracts with airlines to offer Internet fares through agency computer reservation systems.  This has been a recent switch from the airlines trying to change their ticket distribution system to the Internet.  The airlines are learning that travel agencies provide a valuable service that the Internet, and the airlines, cannot provide at a lower cost.

In January, the television news magazine, 20/20, reported the results of a test in which travel agents beat consumers at uncovering the best airfares.  However, it is much more than the “lowest fare” that provides the compelling argument for a good travel agent.

BTB Solves Problems

BTB serves as a consumer advocate in the event that something inadvertently goes wrong.  In the case of cancelled flights, weather delays and changes during travel, we can assist with our services.  Providing an emergency 24/7 service, we are here to help.  When a recent east coast weather delay caused complete disruption for many travelers, we could be reached to help.  Many Internet passengers had no one to contact, the airline phone lines were busy and airport lines were endless.  We were able to confirm needed hotel rooms for forced stay over and reschedule flights.  Hotel rooms were booked up by travel agents by the time many on their own passengers could get help, thus leaving them stranded in airports until service was resumed.  

BTB Provides Many Other Advantages

BTB has special negotiated hotel rates all over the world, many cheaper than Hotels.Com.  We also assist in car reservations with our own agency negotiated discounts, and can compare association and frequent flyer discounts that might apply. We also belong to a travel agent consortium in order to offer discount group block rates on Cruises and Tours that you cannot get on the Internet. Our agents have in-depth knowledge about your destinations and can provide the personal touch.  Just contact one of our travel professionals when planning your next leisure vacation and compare.