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CCRA Has Got You Covered in Port Cities Worldwide
by Patti Free, Vice President of Global Membership Services
During the course of the year I have had many opportunities to speak with our agent members about booking pre and post hotel rooms for their cruise clients. I shutter when an agent replies, “I just send my clients online. I can’t be bothered with hotel bookings”. I always ask, "Why?" The usual answer is, "I just don’t make enough money, and if I book internationally, I’ll probably never get paid." My response is always, “We’ve got you covered.”
CCRAtravel has over 70,000 hotels in our portal and of that inventory over 22,000 hotels offer Net Rates. In a recent training class, we taught a group of agents how to get the most value for your client out of a Net Rate Booking on CCRAtravel.com in less than 4 minutes… Here is the inspiring example of a pre-cruise Net Rate Booking.
A couple is sailing on a Mediterranean Cruise, departing Barcelona on August 17, 2007. It’s their anniversary, they want to arrive on August 15 and they request a deluxe property.
Le Meridien Barcelona is offering a Net Rate of $294 (USD) per night, including breakfast and tax. Hotels.com offers a rate of $632.80 (USD) per night with tax with a 7% commission of $72.00.
We decided to mark-up the Net rate 35% or a commission of $213 and final sale rate of $822.00 for two nights compared to the Hotels.com rate of $1150.64 with a commission of only $72.00. Both rates are pre-paid.
In less than 4 minutes, we made $213, saved our clients $328 dollars and found the perfect hotel for our clients. Now you’re worried about getting your commission. We’ve got you covered. Your pre-paid commission will be sent to your agency within 2 weeks from the booking date.
So, what are you waiting for? Join your fellow agents who have already adopted to a new Net Rate booking strategy. The advantages are available to you, requiring just a few extra minutes for a lot of potential income.
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Visit CCRA International at Cruise3Sixty
 Cruise3Sixty is just around the corner. As always, we look forward to meeting you there. If you plan to attend in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, be sure to visit our booth for hands-on booking tips catered especially for CLIA agents. Our CCRA Travel booking experts will be demonstrating the power of the portal for pre and post cruise bookings.
- Learn the amazing income potential of multiple room booking
- Secrets to finding the highest possible commissions with Net Rates.
- How to calculate competitive rates
- Have all your questions answered in person
- Discover how much the portal inventory has expanded in all the Port Cities!
Daily Prize Drawing!
 You're invited to enter our daily Prize Drawings sponsored by Carey limousine services. All that's required is that you have signed up for the CCRA Travel booking portal. You can double your chances of winning the daily Prize Drawing by bringing proof of a portal booking in the month of March. Triple your drawing entries by bringing proof of a Net Rate booking.
Daily Prize Drawing courtesy of Carey
To schedule a custom presentation for your agency or group,
please email Global Membership Services in advance.
We'd be happy to arrange a meeting time to fit your busy Cruise3Sixty schedule.
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- Up to date, searchable references
- Chain codes, airport codes, calling codes & more
- Worldwide Travel Tips and resources for your clients
- Easy Search feature and live links
- Right at your fingertips, a click away, while you research online bookings
2007 CCRA International Travel Agent Reference Guide
2007 Reference Guide Sponsors
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ADVERTORIAL
Candlewood Suites Joins Forces with Habitat for Humanity
 Candlewood Suites hotels are proud supporters of Habitat for Humanity International. In honor of their 10th anniversary, Candlewood Suites hotels are building a total of ten Habitat houses in the United States, Mexico and India. Habitat is an ecumenical Christian ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Habitat invites people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together in partnership with families in need. Habitat has built more than 200,000 houses around the world, providing more than one million people in more than 3,000 communities with safe, decent, affordable shelter.
"We wanted to celebrate this milestone by giving back to the communities in which we operate, and do it in a way that reflected the passion, culture, and care that are the hallmark of Candlewood Suites," said Gina LaBarre, vice president, brand management, Candlewood Suites. "We want our Candlewood Suites guests to consider us their temporary home, and by joining with Habitat for Humanity we have found a way to help ten families build and buy a permanent home of their own."
Construction on the first of the ten houses began May 2006 in Wichita during a ceremonial wall raising event. Guests at the press conference including executives from IHG and Habitat for Humanity and employees from the Candlewood Suites Wichita-Northeast joined together with Wichita Habitat for Humanity's partner family to construct exterior walls of the house.
In addition to the financial sponsorship of the ten homes, Candlewood Suites and IHG employees and friends will contribute their time to the construction of each home. Guests of Candlewood Suites properties near one of the Habitat builds also will have the opportunity to participate, giving them a chance to do the volunteer work they normally leave behind while they're on the road.
For more information regarding Habitat for Humanity, please visit http://www.habitat.org/
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How to Beat Hotels.com Rate
The CCRA Travel booking portal displays all rate types, including Internet discounts from Hotels.com. But, is the Hotels.com rate always the lowest – no!
If you look out for Net Rates (N), you’ll find you can beat the Hotels.com rate even with the addition of a higher commission mark-up. Your client saves money, and you get paid more, guaranteed. |
In the example shown here, the Plaza 500 in Vancouver, Canada, offers a Net Rate (N) of $254.07 and an Internet discount rate of $538.71 for a three-night stay. The difference is so significant that an agent can mark up a 50% commission and still present a lower sell price than Hotels.com.
How to estimate the 50% commission? Three easy steps:
1. When you see a Net Rate (N) in your search results, click the Calculator icon
2. Type a target sell rate or commission in the calculator window, click “Apply Rates”
3. Compare the new Total to the Internet discount (I) total, adjust as needed, and “Book It” |
As you can see in the third image shown here, the Est. Commission went from 0% to 50%. The 50% commission is applied, and the total remains lower than the Internet rate. This competitive price is worth boasting about to your client. Your services will be appreciated even more when you provide your full services and beat Hotels.com pricing. |
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Outlook Tips and Tricks
Microsoft Outlook is a part of everyday business for the majority. However, many people are unaware of a few tips and tricks that will turn this great e-mail software into a daily self-marketing tool. With very little time invested, you can more efficiently manage your company message.
 Create a Signature
A key timesaver in Outlook, that regrettably many people have yet to figure out, is adding a default signature line on all your emails. These following steps will take you through the basics of setting up your e-mail signature.
From the Tools menu at the top, select Options, then click Mail Format.
In the bottom right corner of the dialog box, click Signatures
In the Create Signature window, click New
In theCreate New Signature window, enter a short descriptive name for your new signature.
Under Choose how to create your signature, selectStart with a blank signature , click Next
In the Signature text section, type your signature (include all your company contact information and even a promotional sentence about your services, using returns and text formatting appropriately). You can save more than one signature. Click FINISH
OPTIONAL: If you want to change the default Signature or set up a different version for replies and forwards, click on Signature for new messages and Signature for replies and forwards on the Mail Format tab. Select your options from the pull down menu, and click OK.
Add a Background Image or Color
For a high-impact e-mail message, on certain occasions, you can add a background image or color to make your message stand out. Be selective about using this feature because some recipients may only receive e-mail text, not the image. Also be careful not to create a background that makes your text too hard to read.
Start composing a new message. From the Format menu, select HTML
Click in the body of the message.
From the Format, select Background, click on Color and choose a color, or click on Picture
Choose a sample picture from the drop down menu, or click Browse to select an image in your files, in GIF or JPG format.
Report Spam from Outlook to Improve its Junk Mail Filter
To report junk mail to Microsoft for improving the Outlook spam filter:
Make sure the Junk E-mail Reporting Tool for Microsoft Office Outlook is installed.
Highlight the junk email you want to submit.
You can only report one email at a time.
Click the Report as Junk and Delete toolbar button.
Outlook has reasonably good spam filtering, but of course it is not perfect. To make sure little good mail is lost in the Junk E-mail folder, it's safer to use the Safe Senders list. These known senders are also used to automatically download remote images while the default is not to do that for privacy reasons. |
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Home Based Business Facts: Did You Know?
Author: Scott Lindsay
Did You Know...
* About 70% of home-based businesses will last over a three-year period, compared to 29% of other business ventures, according to the Home-Based Business Institute.
* Entrepreneur magazine estimates that $427 billion is generated each year by home-based businesses. Pittsburgh Business Times reports this figure is larger than General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler combined.
* According to Entrepreneur.com more than 50% of all home-based businesses have the following office equipment: personal computer, cell phone, ink jet printer, scanner and fax machine.
* Today, women run 70% of home-based business. That figure translates to nearly 17 million. (National Center for Policy Analysis)
* According to the IDC, The typical home-based business has been in operation for 10.7 years.
* 51% of home office users are college graduates with incomes more than $40,000 (IDC/LINK).
* The number of U.S. households that have a home-based business currently exceeds 12 percent. - Office of Advocacy, Small Business Administration
* According to IDC, a top national research firm, there are between 34.3 million and 36.6 million home office households in the United States alone.
Some believe that the phenomenal growth in home-based businesses and the sizable number of women who run home-based businesses can be attributed to the belief that traditional second income jobs actually do little to improve the quality of life for the family.
The evidence comes in the form of clothing purchases, automotive wear and tear, daycare, eating out more often and, of course, taxes.
The combination of these elements makes it difficult for families to get ahead - even with a second income.
With a home-based business many of the expenses go away. Certainly there remains the tax burden, but the expenses associated with commutes, business wear, day care and perhaps even the need for a second vehicle are reduced.
It is estimated that home-based businesses average more than ten years in longevity. This is a much greater statistic than brick and mortar counterparts.
An industrious stay-at-home mom is a business force to be reckoned with. In many cases the home-based business is lead by the wife while the rest of the family play some role in its ongoing success.
Home-based business isn't just a good idea, it has become the means whereby many families are finding greater closeness and family purpose by swimming out of the mainstream.
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites.com at: http://www.highpowersites.com Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: http://www.bookswealth.com |
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www.ccrainternational.com
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Jim Day
Chief Operating Officer
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Mai Meyaart
VP and Managing Director
Supplier Strategies
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Patti Free
Vice President
Global Membership Services
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Nancy Freigher
Manager
Global Membership Services
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Liz Badras
Manager
Global Membership Services
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Jeff Kirk
Portal Manager
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Jeanette Dvorak
Manager Marketing Services
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Rob Kunz
Advertising Coordinator
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Meet Your CCRA Team |
Jeff Kirk
Portal Manager
Jeff Kirk, Portal Manager, has been with CCRA for 4 years providing direct support to agents since the launch of the CCRA Travel booking portal. You can get Jeff's expert tips by attending one of his online trainings, available weekly.
What Jeff loves most about his person-to-person trainings with all of you...
"It's the A-HA moment. I can hear an agent's excitement over the earning potential of net rates and how easy they are to use. Agents get-it that they are in control."
Click here to contact Jeff
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