RE: UKNM: why buying transatlantic online seems a waste of time..

[Sarah Clelland]

I think Leslie's experience is actually a positive thing (this ties into

Rachel's

comment as well).


It goes without saying that price is important, but for far too long the

Internet

has been treated as a bargain basement when it comes to the travel industry.

Hence

Leslie discovering the truth behind the myth - there are good deals, but the

Internet

does not have the monopoly on them. More importantly, the Internet offers

travel companies

the chance to do a great deal more than sell their flights to the bargain

hunting

hordes - as Rachel's experience shows, there is a lot more to a holiday then

low cost

and being able to book it from your armchair. Any chance of some customer

service? And

is it too much to ask that the hotel knows I'm coming?


I've also been disillusioned this summer with travel agents, but more in the

way they

see the phone/Internet/High Street as three completely separate entities -

Bloggs

Travel Hotline, Bloggs Travel Online, Bloggs Travel Chiswick High Road (on

the

District Line). If you book over the phone and then go into a travel agency

for

extra details they look at you as if you're the antichrist. If you go

on-line

there's nothing for you - I booked over the phone and then decided to see if

there

was any extra information about my resort/hotel on the Web. I couldn't even

find a

section on Italy, never mind my hotel.


Low prices are always welcome, and the Web will remain important to both

consumers and

businesses either looking for/offering good deals. But it really must be

time for the

travel industry to look beyond the numbers after the pound signs and start

to focus

on what else the Internet can do for them and their customers.


Sarah Clelland

Snow Valley

www.snowvalley.com

020 7250 1056





-----Original Message-----

From: Marcus Exall [

marcus [dot] exalladvertwizard [dot] com (mailto:marcus [dot] exalladvertwizard [dot] com)

]

Sent: 13 September 2000 12:28

To:

uk-netmarketingchinwag [dot] com

Subject: RE: UKNM: why buying transatlantic online seems a waste of

time..



The sites where you buy direct from the airline (such as go) tend to work

well - speedy, easy to use etc.  Although the savings are not that generous

(�2 discount for buying online) it works well if you come across an offer in

the press and want to buy into it pronto.


I actually received one of the best bits of customer service I have ever

experienced from the Go website's ring back function.  I put in my number

and selected 'ring me back now' my phone rang in a matter of seconds and I

was through to an operator in 10 seconds.


I have used travelocity as I find it convenient, but it doesn't appear to be

particularly cheap.


Marcus Exall


[Sam says: msg chopped]



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