OneLink Travel Services: You Reap What You Sow and That's Good News!  top

By Jim Day, Vice President, Operations, OneLink Corporation

For the past fifteen months, since the acquisition of Reservation Center, Inc. by OneLink Corporation, a good deal of effort has gone into planning for the future. How much investment was needed, how much was justified, how much did we want to make? These were all questions that needed answering as the new ownership and senior management team surveyed the company it had just acquired: its people, its client base, its infrastructure and its opportunity for success.

Subscribing to a bullish outlook for both corporate and leisure travel, OneLink saw the value that a revitalized Reservation Center could bring to its clients and prospects in the after-hours niche of the rebounding travel industry. The commitment was made to:

• invest in technology upgrades, increased staffing, and expanded training;
• price the business competitively;
• ask (rather than assume) what products and services our clients placed value on; and
• deliver the goods better than our competition.

The execution of this strategy has not come cheap. Computer and telecomm equipment upgrades, with the promise of increased processing speed, greater system stability and enhanced productivity, require large outlays of capital. Hiring the right people and the right number of people is a challenge in any business; in the travel industry, the competition for travel agents with the right balance of aptitude and attitude has never been keener. Expanding our training department, in terms of both curriculum and staff, and making recurrent training the norm for all agents has been a critical ingredient in improving and maintaining quality service. With today's focus on ROI, it's important to remember it all starts with the "I." OneLink has made the “I," and our clients -- both those who have been with us for over 20 years and those recently signed -- have been the beneficiaries.

During a recent review with one of our top clients, a senior executive for the client remarked, “You're our incumbent and, if you keep performing like you've been performing of late, you will be, for a long time to come." When you've been working as hard as we've been at OneLink Travel Services to revitalize our brand, those are heartwarming words. Let me just share with you two factors that have helped us stabilize and grow our current client retention rates.

When our clients' travelers call us, they are interested in two things: getting help and getting it fast. Hold times are the bane of any caller's experience. One dramatic effect of the “I" that OneLink has made is a significant improvement in our average hold times. The good news is that our hold times for the second quarter were exactly 50% of what our callers experienced in the first quarter. The bad news is that the first quarter numbers weren't much to write home about. The better news was that in July we saw that average drop to 60 seconds. That might not seem like much when you're comparing it to daytime call center averages, but, having managed both sides of the business, I can assure you that the challenge of the after-hours market is not for the faint of heart. And, finally, the even better news: August to date has shown continued improvement over July. The “I" is paying off!

When our callers cry “Help me and help me fast," they're quick to add “And please get it right the first time!" Experienced and professional agents with the benefit of the right rules and tools, properly managed and motivated, can be counted on consistently to provide the best service. OneLink Travel Services processed over 130,000 billable transactions in the first half of this year; our agents made fewer than 200 mistakes. This translates into an Agent Accuracy Rate of 99.9%. The “I" is definitely paying off!

If you would like to have an informative, hassle-free conversation to learn more about what OneLink Travel Services can do for your agency, please contact Regional Sales Director Nina Mays at nina.mays@onelinkcorp.com. Mention this article and receive a 10% discount off your first month's billing on any and all services!  Toll-free: 800.533.8883
 

The CCRA International Hotel Booking Portal Has a Brand New Name!  top

On August 12th, we changed the name of the CCRA booking portal to www.CCRAtravel.com. Our new portal name more accurately reflects our relationship to the travel industry and you! This should not affect your current username or password. If you have the old CCRA International portal bookmarked, you'll automatically be re-directed to the new url without any effort required on your part. Vacation.com agents can continue to access the CCRA portal through AgentNet.com.

At the same time that we're changing our url, we're also upgrading our IT network and adding some more functionality to the CCRA portal. The new enhancements include: Improved agent and agency reporting and the ability to choose your Primary Consortia affiliation.

In the coming months you'll also be seeing even more improvements to the CCRA International hotel booking portal:

• Live, real-time 'Chat' support
• Display of rates in one of six currencies for non-USA based travel agents
• Improved search by Landmarks
• Control of PayPal designation at an agency level for some or all agents of an agency
• Pre-paid wholesale hotel supply from three more wholesalers
• The ability to sell multiple rooms for one party of travelers
• Electronic commission payments to agencies in the agency's choice of local currencies
• Passive segment integration to Galileo
• Integration to Trams Client Base, and much, much more.

We're investing lots of time and effort into all of these improvements to provide you the best hotel booking tool within the travel agent community. We're listening to your feedback and working hard to provide you with the best tools you need to maximize your profits and fulfilling your clients needs.

CCRAtravel.com - built by travel professionals, for travel professionals.

What Strolls In Must Wander Out top

We all know how to create a deficit with our bank accounts. Here's how it works with calories.

• You create a safe and healthy caloric deficit when you cut back on calories consumed and increase calories burned.
• You must be in a deficit of 3,500 calories before you can lose a pound of fat (1 pound of fat = 3,500 calories)
• If you take in more calories than you burn off, those extra calories will be stored as fat.

It Ain't Heavy, It's My Muscle

Here's why you don't want to complain about carrying muscle weight around..

• Muscles need to be worked in order to maintain their size and vitality. If they just lay around, they'll shrink.
• It is the working (or exercising) of your muscles that burns the fat.
• The more muscle you have, the more fat you'll burn.
• Muscle is three times more dense and heavy than body fat. A pound of fat takes up three times as much space as a pound of muscle. In other words, muscle takes up only one-third the space of body fat.
• You will become more fit only by gaining more muscle, which burns more fat and calories. The only way is through proper exercise, combined with healthy, low fat eating.

Chip Off the Ol' Block

There are many reasons why shedding some pounds often feels like you're only losing ounces.

• Your genetics play a big part in predicting your body's shape and function. But that does not mean you cannot reprogram your body to shed even though your gene pool may have caused you to spread.
• The more fat you have, the longer it will take to change your body's chemistry. Be patient and keep exercising because this will eventually rev up your fat burning engine.
• Each of our bodies has a tendency to remain at some constant weight, which is known as the body's set point.
• Certain factors can raise your set point. The primary ones are lack of exercise, high fat foods, overeating, and not eating enough.
• Exercise is the ultimate way to lower your body's set point.
• It is perfectly normal to experience plateaus when you are trying to lose weight. This may be a good time to change your exercise program (i.e., frequency, intensity, duration, variety). Eventually your body will continue to shed pounds.

DON'T EVEN GO THERE

There are some places you should not set foot. The first in on the road to starvation, and the second is on the bathroom scale.

Don't Bother Fasting: It Isn't Very Lasting

Ever wondered why going on a fast helped you gain weight instead of losing it?

• When you do not give your body enough energy (calories), it reacts by lowering the amount of calories it needs.
• The most efficient way to lower the body's energy requirement is by getting rid of the tissue that costs the body energy – that means your body gets rid of your muscle. When you lose muscle you lower your ability to burn fat.
• Your body also conserves its energy by storing more fat. It produces more fat-depositing enzymes to enable you to store as much fat as possible from what little fuel (calories) may be coming in.
• After fasting, you are fatter than before, and it is even harder than before to lose weight.

Don't Get Weighed Down

Here's why you should not be a slave to the bathroom scale.

• Remember 1 pound of fat has 3,500 calories. Therefore, you cannot lose a pound of fat overnight. It takes time to melt away your fat stores.
• As you exercise and get fit, you will gain muscle, which is heavy and dense. Even though you may be losing fat, the scale can show a gain in weight due to your increased muscle mass. The good news is your clothes will show you've lost inches.
• Your body's water weight can fluctuate up or down, 3 to 5 pounds or more depending on how hydrated/dehydrated you are, your salt intake, or your hormone levels.
• Daily weighing will just frustrate you and can lock you into a vicious, negative cycle. Monitor your progress instead by taking tape measurements and only weighing your self once a month.

YOUR EATING: IT'S HOW THE COOKIE CRUMBLES

Throw the food scales and calories counters out the window. There's no time consumption or mind consumption involved. Take away the 'time' and 'mind' and all you have left is consumption. Now that can't be too bad, can it?

Welcome to the Garden of Eatin'

If it's an apple you want, then by all means have it! Take a peek at why you won't feel so temped.

Tracking the Fat in Just One Lap

Want a shortcut to shedding the pounds? They key is to focus on fat (pat by pat).

• It's important to know where the fat hangs out in food to avoid having it hang out somewhere on you. Here's a hint: Animal products (cheese, eggs, whole dairy, butter, meat) are loaded with it.
• When you get rid of fat in food, you also lose taste and texture. But you can fix this without having to go to cooking school.
• Instead of worrying about a slew of complex counting methods to lose weight, just try to have one focus – concentrate on fat. Fat really does count because it has more than double the calories of other nutrients (protein and carbohydrates).

YOUR EXERCISE: DON'T SWEAT IT!

Well, there's no getting around it – you have to exercise. But there is exercising, and then there is exercising The Lazy Way. Either way will make you fit, even though the latter might take you a little longer. But what's the hurry?! As long as it's livable, right?

In Just a Heart Beat

You won't have to make your heart beat overtime to get results.

• You don't have to wear a heart monitor or count your pulse, but you do have to get to the point when you become a little heated, breathless, and sweaty.
• If you want to increase your fat burning engine, just crank up your motor and add a few spurts of higher intensity into your workout. Not the whole workout, just a few spurts.
• The more muscles you use, the less time you have to move them.
• Exercise makes your body burn more calories even hours after you have finished.

The Winning Combination

If you play the right cards in the game of exercise, you'll have a winning hand every time.

• To get fit, you need a bit of strength training (to build muscle), aerobic training (to burn fat), and stretching (to stay loose). Now, we did say just a bit.
• Thirty minutes a day is all it takes. And not even all at once. You can accumulate your exercise throughout the day, a little here, a little there.
• You don't have to give up your car or your riding mower, but if there's a way to be a tad more physical in your day you should just do it. Expending a little extra energy with everything you do can add up to a bigger fat deficit.
• Your exercise program should be comfortable, convenient, enjoyable, and effective. This way you can continue with little effort and lots of longevity.
• Exercise makes you feel great inside and out! Being active helps burn fat and calories, builds stronger muscles and bones, increases your energy and endurance, relieves stresses, and reduces your risk of chronic disease.

YOUR ATTITUDE: MINOR ADJUSTMENTS

How you feel about yourself plays an important role in how successful you are at shedding the pounds. For instance, a chip in your mouth doesn't have to become a chip on your shoulder. Changing your attitude is about letting go and lightening up. It's about how you are going to live the rest of your life . . . it sure won't be on a diet!

The State of Address

There are just a few things that will make you 'stand at attention' before you can 'stand at ease.'

• You need to know what situations trigger your taste for certain foods, (i.e., popcorn at the movies, pastries at work, etc) so that you can plan how you will deal with them.
• Stress is the primary culprit for mindless eating. Luckily, the last thing you're going to be is stressed out when you shed pounds The Lazy Way.
• It's important to line your goals up in your sights. That way you'll hit your target every time.

You've Gotta Swap to Drop

Bad habits will only weight you down. Are you ready to lighten your load?

• Once you are aware of your less desirable eating and exercise habits you can substitute them with more desirable ones, whether it's what you do, what you think, or what you say.
• The lazy approach leaves no room for negative thoughts – they're just a waste of energy. Instead, get ready to pack the positive thoughts in. You can never have enough of those.
• You'll be more successful at shedding the pounds if you focus on gaining new habits rather than losing the weight.

As you can see, there's no much mystery after all to shedding some pounds The Lazy Way. There's no distress, difficulty, or deprivation either. Of course, you're not going to see quick results, but when it comes to weight loss, the results that come quickly never last. The lazy approach is about plugging along, making little, livable changes, shaping up effortlessly, and not letting anything get out of hand. The best thing is, you'll never have to shed those pounds again!

Annette Cain – Health Catalyst Annette Cain is a graduate of the University of California at Davis, with a Baccalaureate of Science in Nutrition Science. She received her Masters Degree in Health Services-Wellness Promotion from the California College of Health Sciences. Annette has also completed her certification program for the Treatment of Eating Disorders at John F. Kennedy University. The Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA) has certified her as a personal trainer, and she has fourteen years of experience in weight management and exercise programming. Annette has dedicated her career to promoting wellness and preventing disease through exercise and healthy habits.

Making the Best of Air Travel  top

There are many important things by considering which you can easily make your air travel more easy, convenient and smooth.

1. You should select your seat before you fly
The worst thing is to arrive at the airport where they only have a middle seat and you like to have a window seat. So try to book the seat online because nowadays almost each airline has its website whereby you can get online seating chart to choose from when you book your flight.
 
2. You should discuss your meal options before you fly
If you are a vegetarian or have your own special dietary needs, you should talk with your travel booking agent so that the airlines could make some adjustments. Some airlines also have the option whereby you can state your personal menu requirements online at the time of booking.
 
3. Its better if you bring your own snack food
If you carry your own snack food with yourself it would suit you in case you don't favor the snacks provided on board.

4. You can carry water with you
If you have your water along with you it would be great to dehydrate yourself on a flight to re-hydrate yourself on a flight and it is so important for your health too.

5. Try to move in the cabin
If you stretch your legs and move about in the cabin when you can and staying mobile for hours on one end wont do any wonders for your muscles.

6. See for yourself
If you are wearing contact lenses then it would be better if you wear glasses while in the flight as your eyes will dry out and become red because of the altitude.

7. Take your shoes off
Your feet shall swell during the flight and as such it would be great if you give them freedom and room but you should not take off the socks unless you get some feedback from the cabin.

8. One tag at a time
You should not leave your previous flight baggage tags on your baggage.

9. Wear comfortable clothing
You should wear comfortable clothes and the best suggestion would be a t-shirt and comfortable loose pants.

10. You can even bring some games
It might be possible that there is no movie or music arrangement in the flight and as such it would be in your favor if you bring some entertaining games with you..

Olivia Andrews, writer of www.southwest-airlines-guide.info, is a freelance journalist and has written many reviews on subjects such as finance, education, health, entertainment, music, gifts, crafts, travel, apparels and mobile phones.

OneLink Corp. Updates Agencies
With Pre-Paid Travel Products  top 

By Bill Guerin, Chairman and CEO, OneLink Corporation
As seen in the August 14th issue of the Travel Distribution Report

If there's one thing agents depend on, it's their commission checks. But what is a speedy process for most industries could take weeks for travel agents — and that's what OneLink Corp. wants to fix. Through their Computerized Corporate Rate Association (CCRA) International subsidiary, the company has introduced CCRAtravel.com, an online portal that allows travel agents to book hotels and, eventually, full travel itineraries, including activities and event tickets online. The catch: Travelers pay travel agents upfront — which means immediate commission for agents.

Agents Grab The Reins With Retailer Model

A staunch supporter of the agency channel, OneLink has built its business model around transforming how agents do business, says Bill Guerin, chair and CEO of OneLink.

Old way: Agents have long relied on a referral model in which they collect information about travelers and then pass that information — and the sale — on to a supplier who cuts them a check for their hassle.

New way: OneLink's pre-paid model turns the old style on its ear. Under a pre-paid approach, suppliers give agents a price for their products and then agents determine how much they'll mark the price up for their income, Guerin explains. Then agents charge the new price and collect their payment upfront.

OneLink's new model transforms agents into retailers who control their revenue, profitability and cash flow, Guerin says.

OneLink Relieves Agents' Processing Tasks

'We want to be an agent of change for the retail travel channel,' Guerin says.

While OneLink wants agents to take control of their commissions and customers, the company doesn't expect them to also handle transaction processing. As an integrated booking and settlement service, OneLink “processes the booking and makes sure that every-one gets paid instantly" -- that includes the travel agent, the supplier and any third party who is involved in the booking, Guerin says.

Bonus: OneLink is able to pay each party in their currency of choice. That means if an American traveler uses a travel agent to book her Indian vacation, that agent could use OneLink to pay the Indian travel companies in rupees.

Non-Airline Segments Steal Spotlight

For now, OneLink is tuned into the hospitality industry, but the company plans to soon expand into car rentals, Guerin reveals to TRB. However, OneLink has no plans to compete with airlines' payment systems — even though airlines are the most traditionally pre-paid product in the industry. “We really want to focus on the areas that need our services," Guerin says.

Agencies Testing OneLink Portal

OneLink piggybacked its service on a long-standing agency consortium to gain an industry foothold, Guerin says. OneLink acquired and rebuilt CCRA, a marketing preferred hotel program for travel agents, to feature a portal for agencies that allowed them to book both pre-paid and traditional products. The firm also wanted an agency home base on which it could test ideas and see what worked — as well as what didn't. By pushing agents to book through the portal, OneLink is able to monitor and audit bookings and ensure that agents receive commissions on the traditional products booked as well. Current suppliers for the traditional products include Amadeus and Hotels.com; wholesale travel companies provide the pre-paid inventory. The ultimate goal: “We want agents to comparison shop so they can see how much money they make by booking pre-paid," Guerin states. The portal also helps agents understand the immediate gratification of commission upfront versus weeks down the road. Next step: OneLink is working to launch its pre-paid travel product service in other travel agent portals as well.

Travelers Not Put Off By Pre-Paid Products

The biggest misconception that OneLink faces from agencies is the idea that consumers will refuse to buy into the pre-paid model. But that's outdated thinking, Guerin believes. “Consumers have already been converted to thinking in pre-paid terms by the Internet," he assures reluctant agents -- “it's travel agents who are hesitant." However, Guerin is hopeful that as agents test out pre-paid products, they'll become more confident both with the ease of booking and the success of the model. And for those who refuse to accept the change, he offers a stern reminder that “travelers are already pre-paying -- and they're probably doing it now with your competitors."
 

Chef Sal Donato of OSSN  top

Sal Donato OSSN Advertising Director.

In the early 1900's my Nonnino (Grandfather) was a master chef. He instilled the passion for the art of cooking fine cuisine in his son's and daughters. This love was past on to the next generations.

When I awaken every morning I thank God I am alive knowing that I have three exquisite meals to consume during the day.
Whenever I speak to any family member (six months or a year may have passed since seeing or talking to them last) invariably the topic turns to food … and the first phrase you hear is "Whatcha makin?" This question invokes a passionate feeling, a feeling of excitement and a sense of warmth, especially during the holidays. It invokes a yearning (a "woolie") or just a taste for something you have not eaten for a long time.

Years ago when the family sat down for dinner, the conversation varied from world politics to food. Ah, but food dominated the discourse. Discussions of what we were about to eat, or what we had for dinner a week ago or what we planned to cook in the future was paramount.

Growing up in a gourmand household was as exciting as going to Disney World. The aromas from the kitchen were aphrodisiacs that are incomparable – from fresh greens cooking to cheeses, breads, meats and pastas with every imaginable sauce. I was exposed to so much that as I entered adulthood I realized I was a connoisseur of fine foods. Who knew that squid and swordfish (then considered "trash" food) would become today's popular delicacies, or that plebian lentil and fava beans would become health food staples? However, most people do not know how to cook them, but we Donato's do.

I traveled extensively during the course of my career as a Creative Director. As a result, I had the good fortune to eat in some of the best restaurants in the world and back alley dives that equaled the finest cuisines. Everywhere I went I sought out the chefs for recipes. Most of them gladly gave me their secrets, (while leaving out at least one ingredient or omitting a step). I can also claim the distinction of being thrown out of some of the finest kitchens!

As Advertising Director for OSSN for the past five years I continue to travel, collect recipes and share them with other passionate gourmands.

"Remember Skinny Chefs are not to be Trusted" …MANGI BUONO.