Welcome to the Flips and Flops column. We are able to do what we do here because of your input and information. If you want a supplier or a res agent or DSM to get special recognition, let us know. If there is something amiss with a company’s policies or actions, share them with us, as well. Let us know which booking engines and Web pages are hits and which are misses! E-Mail your suggestions to packagedeals@comcast.net.

A FLIP to the Jamaican Tourist Board and its wonderful presentation that thanks travel agents for their support. We book 80% of the travel there, and one in four residents work in the tourism industry.
A FLOP to Tauck World Discovery. Many of you have complained that Tauck hasn’t entered the real world and keeps faxing out confirmations — pages and pages of them for a simple booking. Come to the real world, Tauck, and offer E-mail confirmations. We know you’ll send the hard copy soon enough. Same with Viking River Cruises: mini books of paper, over and over.
But on the FLIP side to Tauck. If you read their insurance policy carefully, airfare — even if not provided by them — is covered in case of cancellation. Other companies don’t offer that.
My Big FLIP is to GOGO Worldwide Vacations. They truly are a friend to the Travel Agent. If you or your client finds a package for less on Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia or even competitors, just print out the info and provide it to your GOGO res agent. They will match the rate — and, this is the part I love: they will pay your full commission. Ask more suppliers if they will do that, as well. But don’t ask Tahiti Legends. A FLOP for them, since they profess to match rates, but they lower the commission to the agent in order to do so.
A FLOP to agents! Yes, to those agents who complain about the card mills that pass out IATAN cards or replicas. Then when IATA takes a stand to combat the situation by implementing testing for IATAN agents, the same complainers protest. If bona fide agents don’t want to be bothered by answering a few simple questions, once every couple of years, then stop complaining about neophytes pretending to be agents. The sample questions were no-brainers for agents anyway.
Is it a FLIP or a FLOP to Marriott? They are finally recognizing “some” agents and paying commission to members of a couple of associations. But CLIA agents are excluded. Since CLIA has dues triple the cost of the other associations, why can’t we be recognized as well? Is there no tracking system to see how many hotel nights CLIA agents book with all hoteliers? If we’re good enough for the major tour operators and the car rentals, why does Marriot look down on us?
An attached FLOP to Ritz Carlton, since they only pay commissions to IATAN/ARC agents. There are so many good bona fide agents out there who book hotels regularly, and should receive commissions.
A FLIP to US Airways Vacations. When US Airways merged with America West, lots of agents complained about the new Web site. It was not as user-friendly as America West. Agents recently received an E-mail stating the changes based on the suggestions of travel agents. And they encourage agents to continue to offer suggestions by E-mailing ustraveagents@usairways.com. Come to think of it, is it a double FLIP to US Airways. After consumers complained, are they hiring back U.S.-based res agents and lowering the amount of outsourced phone people. If so, it’s good to hear that someone is listening to the public, as well as agents.
A huge FLOP to a certain consortium. In order to receive a much higher commission, you must book Royal Caribbean sailings directly with the consortium. You cannot have any contact with the cruise line — can’t even call to change a dining request. What’s the problem — agents are making more money? One agent booked three cabins and got confirmation numbers and gave those confirmation numbers to her clients. Then the consortium changed the bookings into a group — never notifying the agent about new booking numbers. The clients complained because they could not pre-register online and that created havoc. Plus, any bonus or amenity points were not disclosed to the agent.
Most Host agencies or consortia would take those bookings, start a group, and encourage the other agent members to book into the group. With a little spiff of course. Is this a case of what’s good for the goose is not for the gander???
A FLOP to all the small print that appears in a brochure and is not included on agent’s invoices they give to clients. Cross-referencing three bookings on one cruise line with air should be easy. Documents arrived and the families were split up on different flights, even though the bookings were made nine months in advance. What’s worse, seats were not available on all flights. Four people were in single middle seats, and the flights were overbooked, so the third couple had no confirmed seats and were told to arrive early at the airport. When the agent called the cruise line to complain, she was told: “Read the small print in the brochure, flights are never guaranteed unless you pay for custom air.”
Well, brochures are not bibles. Many times agents deal with someone over the phone and never even hand out a brochure. And if the public books directly with the cruise line, are they sent a brochure so they can see the fine print before they book? I think not! So if you don’t give out a brochure, make certain your invoice covers the cruise line disclaimers.
A FLIP to Royal Caribbean’s new phone message. The recording says they recognize and value the use of their many travel partners. But is that recording on the phone number consumers use to call to book directly? Double FLIP, since clients did book directly with Royal Caribbean, paid the deposit and then called me with their booking number. RCI allowed me to take over the booking.