Airfare Consolidators have been
saving Travelers hundreds of dollars on airline tickets for
years. The big question for most consumers is: Where do you
find these Consolidated Airfares?
You guessed it, your Travel Agent.
More and more travel agencies are developing a relationship with
Consolidators. It is up to you to locate a trusting Agency that
will purchase these tickets for you without adding a huge
markup. These fares are called "unpublished airfares" and not
all travel agencies provide these types of tickets to their
clients.
The Consolidated airfares change
from minute to minute and are based upon demand. Its like an
"Airfare Stock Market"
Very few companies take the time
to up date the Consolidated Airfares online through out the day.(This
is changing each month)
Its just too time consuming. So when clients need a ticket, the
Travel Agency calls the Consolidators, gets the rate directly
from the wholesaler (in many cases they are the wholesaler) and
relay the information to the Travel Agent. The Travel Agent then
relays the information to the consumer. Any delay in the
purchase results in a lost of the airfare at the quoted price.
This process can take a half a day to complete. Most consumers
want their Tickets NOW. When dealing with Consolidated Airfares,
patients is a virtue.
Of course you want to locate a
Travel Agent that you can trust. The credentials that you would
look for when searching for a reputable Travel Agent are:
1) Does the Agent have an ARC
Number? ARC stands for the Airlines Reporting Corporation This
is an airline-owned company offering travel products and
services, ticket distribution and settlement through a variety
of channels in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Virgin Islands.
2) Or, Is your Agent a member of
THE INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES TRAVEL AGENT NETWORK? IATAN's mission
is to promote professionalism, administer meaningful and
impartial business standards, and to provide cost-effective
products, services and educational programs that benefit the
travel industry
3) Or, does your Agent have a
TRUE Identification? TRUE (Travel Retailer Universal
Enumeration) System's sole purpose is to help provide sellers of
travel with the assignment of travel industry numeric codes that
are recognized by the travel supplier community, including
cruise lines, tour operators, hoteliers, and car rental
companies.
4) As of the date of this
article, if you live in California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois,
Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York,
Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia or Washington, your
Agent would need to be registered with the States Attorney
Generals office as a Seller of Travel.
5) And/Or is a member of OSSN,
(Outside Sales Support Network) The International Association
for Independent contractors and Home Based Travel Agents
The highest standards in the
Industry for consolidators are set by the United States Air
Consolidators Association. (USACA) However, many of the
Consolidators only sale to Certified Travel Agents with any of
the qualifications listed above.
This article is written by
Cassandra Ingraham, Webmaster for travel360degrees.com Travel
is Education at Its Best A travel site with choices for
discount travelers
