TRAVEL agents still trump Internet airline reservations.
Just ask Maria Paz Alberto, president of Ark Travel Express Inc.
While booking tickets over the Internet can be done quickly, at the click of a button, travel agents provide invaluable experience, allowing their customers to enjoy the best offers available.
"Travel agencies are a better choice because we can advice them of better options, passport and visa requirements, good hotels, travel insurance protection, modes of transportation, among others. These explain why a big percentage of people are still buying (tickets) from travel agencies,” she told Sun.Star.
She's correct -- at least partially. After all, not everyone has Internet access.
Only 33 percent of estimated 94 million Filipinos are online this year, which is five percentage points below than the Southeast Asian average of 38 percent, research firm Nielsen said in its soon-to-be-released inaugural Southeast Digital Consumer Report.
While online booking saves time and fuel and allows access to flight schedules, Alberto said Internet transactions also have their share of drawbacks.
Alberto, the former president of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTTA), said changing details in a flight itinerary could entail additional cost such as “high” surcharge for rebooking flights.
However, Alberto acknowledged that the advent of new technology also helped the aviation industry to offset costs on paper.
“Tickets are sent to clients by email and payments are done through online banking. We in the travel industry have been practicing that. But still, we have to print the tickets as this is a requirement in our airports,” she said.
Officials from the country's two biggest carriers Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific were unavailable for comment regarding their electronic ticketing services as of this posting Tuesday.
With more Filipinos getting accustomed to plane travel, some carriers, travel agencies, and airline technology providers come together to entice the riding public to take advantage of cheap deals during the lean season (October 2011 to March 2012).
Except for the last two weeks of October (semestral break) and the Christmas season, Alberto asked the public to take advantage of the promo dubbed "Travel Madness Weeklong Sale" which runs from October 3-8 and October 3-15 for booking and ticketing periods, respectively.
Aside from encouraging people to travel during the low season, Alberto said the project will further educate the travelers in making advanced purchases for their trips.
Participating airlines and cruises, meanwhile, are Air China, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Eva Air, Gulf Air, Hawaiian Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, PAL, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Star Cruises.
Source: (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex) SunStar
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