A Briggs Passport & Visa Expeditors

There was an interesting article on MSNBC’s website in which a former airline public relations executive “confesses” the inside skinny on how airlines make decisions about fares and how they cover their mistakes.

Here is a sampling:

It’s very hard to get a refund on non-refundable tickets unless you have a death or natural disaster.

Be suspicious of fare sales — only a “few people get the cheapest fares.”

The best deals are on the airlines’ websites.

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Planning a trip? Is your passport up to date? Click here to order a visa and check the requirements for entry.

Airports are installing services to reduce flight-related stress.

XpresSpa has day spas in 11 departure terminals, including DFW, Philly, and JFK. McCarran Las Vegas has a 24-Hour Fitness center where flyers can take classes. The Absolute Spa in Vancouver has yoga classes and a lap pool. Hotels at terminals in Detroit and Chicago O’Hare also have gyms for about $15 a day. Austin features local musicians weekday afternoons and a number of local restaurants have airport concessions. Vino Volo operates has wine bars in five airports and will add as many as 10 more in 2008.

The American Airlines Admirals Club at DFW has a kid’s room with computer games and cartoons. O’Hare has a play zone in Terminal Two operated by the Chicago Children’s Museum. San Francisco has Kids’ Spot in Terminal Three. Vancouver’s international terminal has a man-made stream that leads to an aquarium filled with 850 sea creatures and a 1,000-gallon jellyfish tank. Singapore’s Airport was named best airport in the world for the past two decades by Business Traveler magazine. It has exotic gardens, a two-hour tour of nearby Singapore, napping rooms, and a movie theater.

So, if you are stuck in a big airport with nothing to do or time on your hands, talk to folks in the know in the airport and ask them what’s available there for flyers who are going to be there for hours. You might find a pleasant surprise. And remember that if you are in one terminal, there may be something in another terminal.

Well, here is a new study that makes us a little suspicious of its conclusions. Topaz International reports that its study of business travel booked online on Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, and the airlines’ websites average $75 more per trip than those booked by a corporate travel agency.

Topaz, an independent research firm serving the corporate travel industry, has done this study since 2001, and concluded every year that corporate travel agency fares were equal to or lower than those offered through Orbitz, etc. in over 91% of itineraries.

Planning a trip? Is your passport up to date? Click here to order a visa and check the requirements for entry.

Forrester Research, a leading Internet research company, reports the number of travelers using the Internet is declining. We see this a typical of any hot new service: every body jumps on board and produces huge jumps and then it matures and growth slows and thens stops.

Does this mean it’s over? No. It’s maturing and the smart companies that offer good customer service will continue to grow. Remember, there’s always room at the top.

The decline Forrester reports is 9% from 2005 to 2007. The reason in our opinion: difficulty buying online; navigating websites; airline sites’ terms and conditions for rates; bad experiences; and smart moves by travel agencies and airlines to get customers to book by telephone.

Stay tuned. Whatever happens to make it better, the buy will benefit.

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Planning a trip? Is your passport up to date? Click here to order a visa and check the requirements for entry.

This article covers the subject of passports and visas very well. Porter Briggs, president of A Briggs, is quoted extensively. If you need a passport in a hurry, there is good information in this article.

You’ll find the article on pages 16 to 20 of the issue shown, August 6, 2007.

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Planning a trip? Is your passport up to date? Click here to order or renew your passport.