BY JERMAINE LEW
For many travel agents today, itinerary change requests translate as a tedious process of manual ticket reissuance eating up time and profits. Airline Tariff Publishing Company (ATPCO) estimates that up to 15 percent of airline tickets issued by travel agencies require re-issues or exchanges.
In a recent Sabre survey reviewing the ticket reissuance process across a series of Asia Pacific markets, Sabre found that agents performing a manual ticket exchange generally have two key concerns associated with the reissuance process.
1. The timely process required.
2. The potential for human error that arises.
We asked agents using Sabre’s Automated Exchanges to record how using technology to automate ticket reissuance had improved the process and addressed these concerns…
80% time saving
The average time recorded to perform a manual exchange is, on average, 14 minutes for a simple ticket itinerary, increasing to 30 to 60 minutes for a complex ticket. With Sabre Automated Exchanges, the average time taken to re-price and re-issue a ticket is reduced significantly to three minutes.
Talking about the time they save through automating the ticket exchange process, agents using Sabre Automated Exchanges added that they can handle more calls and eliminate redundant checks from their superior.
“I used to create dummy PNRs for partially-priced tickets so I could do some manual calculations before performing an exchange – wasting time upfront. With Sabre Automated Exchanges, I’ve streamlined this process and saved myself around 80 percent of the time previously spent on an exchanges.”
Lilian Chan of Jebsen Travel Management (BCD Travel), Hong Kong
Human error eliminated: 77% reduction in ADMs
Incorrectly issued tickets result in Airline Debit Memos (ADMs) – the cost of which travel agents often have to bear themselves, reducing profits.
The survey found that 14 percent of manual ticket exchanges result in ADMs, with each ADM amounting to approximately USD$46. If an agent issues ten tickets per day, the ADMs generated by just one agent over a year can amount to USD$3,542.
Agents using Sabre Automated Exchanges experienced on average a 77 percent reduction in ADMs received.
“Due to the risk of human error associated with manual exchanges, I used to receive about USD$30-50 for every ADM. With Sabre Automated Exchanges, costs incurred due to ADMs have been reduced by 90 percent! As a result, today around four in every five of our ticket exchanges are done through Automated Exchanges.”
Adnan Zainuddin Darbar of AEG Travel Services, Pakistan.
The nuts and bolts: how does Automated Exchanges work?
Referencing the airline-filed
Category 31 Voluntary Changes, the solution automatically calculates complex fare, tax and penalty information on reissues, expediting a previously lengthy process and ensuring greater accuracy. All tickets exchanged in Automated Exchanges are also covered by our Sabre Fare Guarantee Policy.
It doesn’t stop there.
Powerful pricing technology alerts the agent if it will actually cost less to buy a new ticket rather than exchanging. Automated Exchanges simultaneously checks both options, launching a pop-up banner message if a new ticket is cheaper – a feature only Sabre offers.
Do you want to simplify the ticket re-pricing and reissuance process to save time and eliminate room for human error?
Sign up for a FREE Trial Today!
From now until 30 June 2016, agents can sign up for a Sabre Automated Exchanges free trial! Click
here.
For more information on Automated Exchanges, head over to our
Automated Exchanges product page.
The average time recorded to perform a manual exchange is, on average, 14 minutes for a simple ticket itinerary, increasing to 30 to 60 minutes for a complex ticket. With Sabre Automated Exchanges, the average time taken to re-price and re-issue a ticket is reduced significantly to three minutes.
Talking about the time they save through automating the ticket exchange process, agents using Sabre Automated Exchanges added that they can handle more calls and eliminate redundant checks from their superior.
“I used to create dummy PNRs for partially-priced tickets so I could do some manual calculations before performing an exchange – wasting time upfront. With Sabre Automated Exchanges, I’ve streamlined this process and saved myself around 80 percent of the time previously spent on an exchanges.”
Lilian Chan of Jebsen Travel Management (BCD Travel), Hong Kong
Human error eliminated: 77% reduction in ADMs
Incorrectly issued tickets result in Airline Debit Memos (ADMs) – the cost of which travel agents often have to bear themselves, reducing profits.
The survey found that 14 percent of manual ticket exchanges result in ADMs, with each ADM amounting to approximately USD$46. If an agent issues ten tickets per day, the ADMs generated by just one agent over a year can amount to USD$3,542.
Agents using Sabre Automated Exchanges experienced on average a 77 percent reduction in ADMs received.
“Due to the risk of human error associated with manual exchanges, I used to receive about USD$30-50 for every ADM. With Sabre Automated Exchanges, costs incurred due to ADMs have been reduced by 90 percent! As a result, today around four in every five of our ticket exchanges are done through Automated Exchanges.”
Adnan Zainuddin Darbar of AEG Travel Services, Pakistan.
The nuts and bolts: how does Automated Exchanges work?
Referencing the airline-filed Category 31 Voluntary Changes, the solution automatically calculates complex fare, tax and penalty information on reissues, expediting a previously lengthy process and ensuring greater accuracy. All tickets exchanged in Automated Exchanges are also covered by our Sabre Fare Guarantee Policy.
It doesn’t stop there.
Powerful pricing technology alerts the agent if it will actually cost less to buy a new ticket rather than exchanging. Automated Exchanges simultaneously checks both options, launching a pop-up banner message if a new ticket is cheaper – a feature only Sabre offers.
Do you want to simplify the ticket re-pricing and reissuance process to save time and eliminate room for human error? Sign up for a FREE Trial Today!
From now until 30 June 2016, agents can sign up for a Sabre Automated Exchanges free trial! Click here.
For more information on Automated Exchanges, head over to our Automated Exchanges product page.