Conference 7.286::digital

    Corporate Travel... Don't know their number off hand!!
    
    Bob G.
    

            - Digital Internal Use Only -      Questions?           
     digital                                            Contact
             U.S. CORPORATE TRAVEL SERVICES      POWDML::VTXOPER
    
    
                                  TRAVEL MANAGEMENT
    
       Joyce Flinn         Corp. Travel Manager          @MSO        223-7968
       Claudia Blass       Operations & Hotels           @MSO        223-7993
       Judy Spencer        Travel Manager                @MSO        223-7989
       Sharlet Trilling    Travel Manager                @MSO        223-7987
       Pat Lange           Corporate Charge Cards        @MSO        223-7996
       Alice Pillivant     Meetings                      @MSO        223-8542
    

       Re .0
       
       Not a big surprise to hear this!! In 1987 I had the sad occasion to
    fly to Minneapolis to attend my Dad's funeral... I called the current
    Digital travel supplier, and got a really bored indiviidual that told
    me in no uncertain terms that I'd have to go on American, via O'Hare,
    with a 4 hour layover at O'Hare, and that it'd cost me around $850.00
    round trip...
    
      I then called a friend who owned his own little travel agency, and he
    did some checking and called me back.... Direct from Logan to
    Minneapolis on a Northwest 727...$480.00 normal roundtrip, but since I
    was attending my Dad's funeral, a 15% discount was given....which
    brought it to roughly $425.00 with tax!! I was absolutely astounded at
    the difference in price AND route!!
    
      JMcD

Re .0

	Call Thomas Cook back and have them issue your tickets.  You will then
	avoid getting heat from the travel and finance police.

	You can try complaining to corporate travel.  They have been barraged
	with complaints from my office since day one.

    
    	Just went through this nightmare with Thomas Cook while trying to
    book a flight to Singapore. Was told by TC that no seats were available
    for the dates required. Our secretary called the airline direct and had
    reservations in 10 minutes. Why do we have to have our group do
    travel's job and then hand them the info so they can charge us for
    their service???
    
    ed

 If I'm not mistaken, Southwest Airlines may not be listed on the various
 computer systems available to travel agencies, thus Thomas Cook may not
 have been able to provide a quote.



 
 Jim

    Geee ... TC sounds a lot like AmeX to me.  I went through the same bit
    with AmeX; the best price you can get is XXX -- then finding out from
    my local travel agent that I can get something at about half that.  At
    the time, I was told that there was some sort of discount that Digital
    would get -- but my cost center manager never saw it.  So, I was left
    to believe that the rate quoted was already "discounted."  Then, I was
    told that the reason it was still high was that it was refundable.
    I suspect that is the reason why TC still comes off as being about
    twice as much.  No?
    
    Steve

Re: .6    Why not.   If its available via telephone to the average consumer,
then Thomas Cook should be able to dial the phone as well.   The integrated
systems are for their convenience, not as an excuse to overcharge Digital.

I've never had good luck with Digital's Corporate Travel services.   When I 
travel on my own, I usually call direct and get the HP rate.   It's always 
lower than Digital's.

I agree with the previous regarding making your own arrangements and then 
handing off to Digital's Corp. Travel.   It gets you a better rate 8 out of
10 times.

I also agree that I shouldn't have to do this...

My $.02.   You mileage may vary.

Bob

    
    Worst one was when they insisted that my tickets had been delivered to 
    our receptionist when I know they had not.  Took two Cook supervisors
    to realize their ticket printer was on the fritz and my tickets were
    never even printed!
    
    Got them at the counter and wasted a half hour getting them.
    
    Grrrr!!
    
    -Ed
    

    Why not go to the top...I believe Corporate Travel falls under
    Bill Steul's organization now.  They use to report to John Sims.
    
    Good Luck.
    

    RE: .6- Sorry but you are - mistaken that is about Southwest being
    listed on Thomas Cook's systems. I use both SW and TC frquently. They
    even volunteer info on SW to me.

   This is yet another system of a management team that believes the
   only way to do things is by central planning and control (see how
   great it worked in CCCP).
   
   This will always be a problem if Digital insists on contracting with
   a national travel agency.  The travel agent gets a 10% commission
   from the airlines on every ticket sold.  So the customer is in Denver
   and Digital travel is in MA.  Denver wants to fly, and your typical
   traveler assumes the best price is found (because that's what the
   travel agent promised the customer) so who's going to check?  So why
   not give a high-priced ticket?
   
   I've been married to the travel agency for 14 years.  That's how it
   works.  My mother-in-law refuses to do commercial travel because of
   the dishonesty that is required by the agency owners.  She sticks to
   vacation only (which turns out to be much more profitable for both
   her and her agency).
   
   Everyone should be required to find the best price and then get it. 
   The best way to do this is for everyone to have a personal travel
   agent (not a commercial agent) because these agents rely on repeat
   business.

    But Thomas Cook *does* help Digital: if it weren't for their inflated
    prices used as a comparison, do you realize how hard it would be to
    justify our shiny bizjet fleet...?  ;-)      

    The big question is why is Digital continuing to use this agency if
    such experiences as listed so far are more common than we can imagine.
    Someone at the corporate level must be aware of these problems. If so
    why is the company continuing to use TC? Would YOU if it was your
    decision? After seeing these stories you can bet TC will be the LAST
    agency I call if planning a trip. Thanks to those boxers who shared
    some interesting experiences for our enlightenment. And to help save us
    all some $$$ in the future.
    

RE:                   <<< Note 2690.11 by SWAM1::MORRISON_DA >>>
                   -< Southwestern is definitely listed... >-

   . RE: .6- Sorry but you are - mistaken that is about Southwest being
   . listed on Thomas Cook's systems. I use both SW and TC frquently. They
   . even volunteer info on SW to me.



     My apologies. It has been several years since I've used them (though
 I have great admiration for their success).




 Jim

    re: .6
    
    I don't think that SW pays a commission, thus they probably won't get as
    many calls from a commercial travel agent.
    
    cw

    Was the 1K+ cost for the trip based on NOT staying over a Saturday
    night and the lower ticket cost when you decided to travel home on
    Sunday?  That can make a WORLD of difference in pricing.

    RE: Southwest Airlines service out of Chicago.
    
    Southwest Airlines provides service out of Midway Airport, not O'Hare
    Field.
    
    Anytime I've travelled out of Chicago, I've always asked for the lowest
    available fare. I always received the lowest fare out of O'Hare. I
    believe the assumption is (and maybe in TC's contract) that people
    normally travel in and out of O'Hare. They may not be required to even
    look at airlines servicing Midway unless asked to.
    
    FWIW, I've never flown out of Midway, either business or personal. I'm
    not even sure where Midway is!
    
    Kevin

    If you're going anywhere in Chicago South of the Loop, Midway is much
    closer.  If memory serves, it's out West on Hyde Park Blvd.
    
    \dave 

    If you folks traveling on domestic flights think that you have
    problems, try going International!  It's a Secretary's worst nightmare
    trying to make arrangements with these people.  I just booked a series
    of trips for one of my Managers that included Tokyo.  His itinerary has
    him going to Osaka (which is not a cab ride away) and I can't even
    figure out how they could have even mis-understood the conversation! 
    But, I must admit, I was very fortunate, THAT TIME THEY ANSWERED THE
    PHONE!!!!
    
    Pat
    

    I travel a lot for digital (I'm in customer training).  In the short
    amount of time since we switched over, I have noticed the quality of
    service we get has gone downhill tremendously.  Here are two examples:
    
    On a trip to general Seattle area (Tukwila, to be exact), TC informed
    me that my room rate was within company guidelines.  When I go to be
    reimbursed, I find out that the room was not, but TC answers with
    "Well, there were no guidelines that define THAT city).  They
    eventually decide to reimburse me for what Digital will not.
    
    I tried to book a rental car for my vacation in Orlando through TC (air
    fare was being covered elsewhere).  I told them that I wanted a
    subcompact.  They told me they would fax me the confirmation
    information.  Two weeks later (just before going on vacation), I
    finally have time to check up on them, and discover that not only had
    they not booked an Avis car for me, instead booking one through Alamo
    (A company previous experiences have made me decide to never do
    business with again), they logged it that the customer refused the
    company-approved vendor in order to get a lower fare!  
    
    They were very polite about fixing their mistakes both times, but the
    sloppy attention to detail, the failure to return calls after telling
    us that they would is something that would make me decide to go
    elsewhere if I was allowed to do so.
    
    tom

    
     Document it, document it, document it....
     and then forward it to Corporate Travel Management (see VTX TRAVEL).
    
     If Corporate Travel doesn't have specifics on claims of 'poor service',
     then it's pretty tough for them to put in place & enforce arrangements
     to deal with these problems! 
     
     If you don't report failures to deliver service, then how can
     Corporate Travel 'lean on' the agency to deliver?   Travel used to, 
     and perhaps still does, employ 'outside auditors' to review that the
     'lowest available fare' was offered the traveler, but YOU, the
     traveler or travel arranger, are the 'first line of defense' in 
     reporting possible overcharges for service or poor quality service.
    
     If it gets documented and reported, problems can be acted on;
     if not, no one knows what things should be changed.

To give this discussion another angle (though, I may be in the minority,
it seems ;-):


    Recently I needed due to a family emergency to travel from Boston to 
    Finland with my family (which means me, my wife and our two kids), and 
    I used Thomas Cook.
    
    I started making the reservations Friday afternoon at 2. I had fairly 
    complex last minute arrangements and requirements done by four. Tickets
    were delivered home by Federal Express Saturday morning, and off we
    went.
    
    And I also had to make rearrangements for the flight back from
    Finland, and calling Thomas Cook's 24 hour emergency number took
    care of that (what was also needed was calls to U.S. 800 numbers,
    and I don't have a calling card to do that from Finland, but TC
    made the calls for me, and once patched me through to make the
    call myself).
    
I was most happy with the arrangements and service of Thomas Cook,
especially on such short notice.


...petri

  >  The big question is why is Digital continuing to use this agency if
  >  such experiences as listed so far are more common than we can imagine.
  >  Someone at the corporate level must be aware of these problems. If so
  >  why is the company continuing to use TC? 

  Because TC won the bid and Digital has a one year contract to provide this
  service.

  They'll be gone next year.

Doug.

    >>Because TC won the bid and Digital has a one year contract to provide
    >>this service.
    
    >>They'll be gone next year.
    
    I suspect any contract like this has an escape clause for failure to 
    perform.  Sounds like there may be grounds for getting out of the
    contract early.
    
    Coincidentally, I think the "move away from AMEX" was partly the result
    of them choosing another vendor (IBM??) for a huge project.  Sort of
    the ATT-->MCI change in reverse.
    
    I think we should be very careful about making business decisions based
    to such a large extent on "you scratch my back......"  Sometimes we
    need to select the *best* vendor even though they didn't buy *our*
    solution.
    
    Chet

Since May '93, I've travelled to the following locations from Rochester, NY:

	Atlanta
	Chicago/Milwaukee
	Cincinnati
	Cleveland
	Denver
	Houston
	LA/Irvine
	Miami
	Nashville
	Phoenix
	San Francisco/Oakland
	Tampa
	
All of the reservations have been made through Thomas Cook. Many of the 
reservations were made at the last minute, with little room for error, as I 
was on a tight customer project timetable.

I can't complain about anything, really. I deal with TC myself and  have to
trust that they are giving me the best deals as I don't really have the time to
go check with airlines myself.

Regards,

Jim

p.s.: Still have Seattle, San Antonio, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh & San Diego
      to go, so there's still plenty of opportunities for them to screw up!
      :-)

    Last week I had to travel from CYO to ALF.  Thomas Cook made the travel
    arrangements and did it just exactly as requested.  But, I had to
    change the flight, so... the Thomas Cook agent listened to me and
    supposedly made the changes.  Stupid me, I trusted them, went to the
    airport to board the flight, but guess what no seat.  I called Thomas
    Cook, they said they had no record of my call.  I know I called them.
    
    Today, I returned from my weekly trip to Atlanta expecting to find next
    week's tickets waiting for me.  No tickets.  I called Thomas Cook and
    was told that they were sent airborne and would arrive on Monday at
    1:00 p.m.  The agent then noted that I probably would not get them in
    time since the flight leaves at 6:10 a.m.
    
    Also, last week I stayed at the Atlanta Hilton.  Thomas Cook guaranteed
    the Digital rate of $69.00.  When I checked in I got the $69.00 rate,
    but the guy checking in next to me was ask to confirm his HP rate of
    $60.00.  His rate was less, AND he booked his travel through Thomas
    Cook.
    

    For what it's worth, I also thought Thomas Cook was a gross mistake
    until the last trip I had to organize for 4 engineers, most of whom
    didn't have corporate credit cards, etc.  I called 1-800-374-5858 and
    was lucky enought to get Arnold on the phone.  He had the entire trip
    arranged within about 5 minutes, and even left me a message that night
    about 7 pm telling me that he would be refunding my cost center money
    because he had found a cheaper fare.  I definitely let him know what
    a joy it was to find someone in his company that was interested in
    satisfying customers.

    I expect Arnold would appreciate it if you let his manager know what
    good service you had, too.

    
    	If you attempt an "Atta-Boy" please ensure that the employee
    	receives a hard copy for his/her records. We had a meeting
    	in Acton with the Account Rep and Digital Coordinator, I
    	personally praised one of their lead reservationists to the
    	hilt even suggesting that he hold informal classes for other
    	reservationists - did he ever hear about it? No way! I relayed
    	the conversation several weeks later when I spoke to him. This
    	was over 2 months ago and his own management still hasn't
    	said a word.
    
    	Heidi

    I just finished balancing this month's American Express (no new VISA
    card yet..of course, I'm still waiting on my MCI card) and noted that a
    $740 flight on American Airlines was charged by TC to my AE account for
    a trip I did not take.
    
    Before all of my accounts change completely, does anyone know who the
    proper contact is to help me resolve this (DEC, AE, TC)? 

    Contact AE - they'll contact the vendor and pursue it.  You need to
    tell them you're disputing the charge so as not to be obliged to pay
    it.
    
    

    Last night, my local travel agent quoted me a price of $358 (roundtrip) 
    for the lowest fare from Phoenix to Boston.  This morning, I called TC
    and gave them the same airline, dates, and times to see what their
    quote was and it was $441.  I figured maybe this was for business
    class, but they said no it was coach (just like the first quote).  
    
    With the situation the company is in, I can't understand why we are
    paying more than we need to on travel.  On a corporate basis,
    differences like this would add up to quite a large sum.
    
    Mike

	One thing to watch for is that the latest "fare war" tickets had to be
purchased by yesterday.  Sounds like you travel agent didn't tell you that.

	I called Thomas Cook yesterday with info from my travel agent and I
managed to not only get the same flights, but also Digital's volume discount.


							--Doug

    I just called my local travel agent to confirm, and the new rate is
    still lower than TC.

	Having tried to use Thomas Cook for personal travel, I just found
	out that we no longer get the corporate discounts for personal
	travel on any of the airlines. 

	Roy

    
    Thanks for the info....not that they're in a hurry for my business.
    I sent them an A1 on May 6th and as of today have yet to receive any
    acknowledgment.
    
    ---Marlene