Travel agencies using TRAMS ClientBase software can now manage their CCRAtravel.com bookings more easily than ever. Introducing TRAMS Live Connect, a new feature that enables access to the portal through TRAMS ClientBase software. All portal booking data will be integrated directly with your TRAMS ClientBase system.

• Saved client profile data, including credit card information, is passed directly to CCRAtravel.com
  
  
• Portal reservations can be retrieved for cancellations
  
  
• Agents can print itineraries, generate invoices, store travel history and perform other functions
  
  
• Agents can store their portal log-in information once and log in thereafter automatically  

To enable TRAMS Live Connect, your agency administrator only needs to update the agency profile in the portal.  TRAMS Support will be happy to assist with set-up needs.  Visit www.trams.com for more information.

Thrifty is a value-oriented car rental company that has a significant presence both in the airport and local car rental markets, a marked difference from many of its major competitors who focus almost exclusively on the airport market.  In the U.S., approximately 70% of its business is focused on the airport market, 30% in the local market.   

In serving the airport market, Thrifty operates "in-terminal" in every major airport in Canada and Australia, and in over 100 airport locations in the U.S. with the balance of its airport rental centers located just off airport grounds.  Thrifty is also located in-terminal in most major cities in the Caribbean, and Central and South America where Thrifty has a presence.  Thrifty also has a significant presence in the Middle East. 

Travel Agents
Thrifty greatly values its relationship with travel agents and is a longstanding and active member of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA). 

Blue Chip Benefits
The company's Blue Chip Express Rental Program® offers members the benefits of expedited pickup and return.  Members provide Thrifty with a profile that indicates which credit card the customer would like to use, vehicle type and options, insurance coverage and other preferences.  Membership in Blue Chip is free and the service is available at most locations in the U.S. and Canada.   Members also have the option to sign up for Blue Chip Rewards and earn free days by receiving credits for every rental day. 

Global Positioning Satellite (GPS)
Thrifty offers GPS-enabled navigation via the Garmin® StreetPilot® c330 at 138 popular locations in the U.S. and Canada.  The StreetPilot c330 features an easy-to-use color touch screen with detailed street data including nearly six million points of interest.  With turn-by-turn voice-prompted directions and the ability to choose between a three-dimensional or bird’s-eye view, getting to a destination is easy.  StreetPilot features the ability to display text directions in 17 different languages and spoken directions in 11, including English, Spanish, French, German and Italian. 

Parking Facilities
Thrifty provides airport parking with 10,000 parking spaces at 24 Thrifty locations across the U.S. Parking operations can be found in a number of major metropolitan cities such as Chicago, Dallas (Love Field), Kansas City, Seattle and Orlando, Fla. 

Automation
Thrifty maintains state-of-the-art reservations connections with all major Global Distribution Systems (GDS).  Thrifty established the highest level of connectivity, commonly referred to as 'seamless' with Worldspan, Sabre, Amadeus, and is scheduled to implement with Apollo.  This provides Travel Agents using the GDS's with real-time access to inventory and instant booking confirmations by way of direct interaction with Thrifty's proprietary reservations system.  On the voice side, Thrifty offers state-of-the-art natural language speech recognition to provide its 1-800-THRIFTY callers the option of shopping rates by interacting directly with the reservations system through a user-friendly, voice interface.  When ready to confirm their reservation or to speak with a "live agent" for any reason, at any time, callers can simply say "help,” at which point they are connected with a Thrifty reservationist. 

Corporate Account Programs
Thrifty guarantees 100% participation in
its corporate account program. 

Topaz International conducts comparative studies of corporate travel airfares between corporate travel agency booked itineraries and various Internet sites, including Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity and airline websites. Results from 2006 show business travel itineraries booked by a designated corporate travel agency averaged $75 less than the same itinerary booked on a public Internet site, one of the largest margins since 2002. In addition, the average agency fare and average Internet fare were the highest they have been since 2002.

Further evaluations were conducted to determine if volumes of corporate airfare spend influenced the results. Smaller corporations generally have higher priced airline tickets compared to corporations with larger volumes of air spend. However, and very telling, some small corporations spend less per ticket than some of their larger counterparts who should have greater volume discounts.

“The five years of comparative airline purchasing patterns indicates that the online alternatives are not always cheaper, but in fact are higher than the past few years,” said Bradley Seitz, President and CEO of Topaz International.

“The game of distribution continues to be fragmented and a great cause for headaches all over the world. Full content is not full content, availability is not consistent, and as I have said in the past, the overriding desire of the airlines is to control and price their product where they can obtain the most value.”

“The complexity will continue. Airlines must raise their rates to compensate for recent losses in the industry and the continuing rise of fuel costs. The challenge of every corporate travel leader will be to ensure that they have processes in place to locate and book the lowest alternatives, and validate that their service providers are giving the levels of contracted offerings that have been agreed to.”

“What travel management companies have proven here is that they continue to show value to those that use them in both price and in service.”

For a complete comparative data, visit www.etopaz.com/news

Topaz International provides strategic support to corporate travel management professionals. With over 25 years of experience analyzing travel expenditures, Topaz is a world leader in airfare & hotel auditing, and a member of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) and the National Business Travel Association (NBTA).

CCRA International presented at two of the industry's top events, Cruise3Sixty and the Home Based Travel Agent Show and Conference.  Below is a report from each of these well-attended events.

Cruise3Sixty

The premier event for Cruise Lines International Associations (CLIA) featured a dynamic business oriented trade show with one-on-one appointments, technology training and a great opportunity for CCRA to network with other cruise selling professionals.

Provocative programming, gold standard educational opportunities and dazzling entertainment were just a handful of ingredients that ushered CLIA's Cruise3Sixty 2007 into a third consecutive year, with a record-breaking 2,000 delegates in attendance, including 1,250 travel agents, 300-plus trade show exhibiting companies and over 250 exhibitor booths. The trade show had its most successful year.

Held March 30 – April 1, 2007 in Ft. Lauderdale, two days of educational opportunities were preceded by CLIA seminars on March 29th. CCRA International's hotel booking experts took part demonstrating the power of the portal for pre and post cruise bookings. For information from the CCRA training, contact Liz Badras, Manager of Global Membership Services.

The extraordinary popularity of Cruise3Sixty 2007 has prompted CLIA to offer both East and West Coast conferences in 2008. We look forward to participating at both next year!

Home Based Travel Agent Show and Conference

CCRA International participated in the Home Based Travel Agent Conference, April 12-14 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

An impressive record-high travel agent turnout was reported this year.  Combined with universally high marks for the conference program, the training sessions were among the highlights of the Travel Niche Marketing Showplace.  The three-day event, which included the much-acclaimed Home Based Travel Agent Show, drew 820 travel agents from forty-one states and Canada as well as several hundred blue-ribbon suppliers, both domestic and international. 

The successful CCRA presentation in the Technology Forum helped make CCRA a must-see supplier at the tradeshow.  CCRA was a popular booth with over 150 agents stopping to talk one-on-one with our portal booking experts.   For information from the CCRA training, contact Liz Badras, Manager of Global Membership Services.

Special thanks to Carey International which sponsored CCRA at both events by donating gift certificates for Carey chauffeured services up to $100.