Just months ago, OneTravel.com launched a renewed effort to draw travelers after being acquired in September 2007 from Travelogix Inc. Since then, Thomas Spagnola, senior vice president of OneTravel.com, says business has boomed.
The New York City-based firm has a large call center in Las Vegas with up to 150 agents which was at capacity early this year. It also launched a new Web site competitive with other online travel companies in agency commission rates.
Spagnola, the original founder of Cheap Seats in 1987, recently talked with TravelAge West about OneTravel.com’s partners and suppliers and his goals for the company in the years ahead.
When was OneTravel.com founded?
It has been through so many ownership changes, but essentially, August of last year when a New York group purchased the assets. It’s been almost a year now and the OneTravel brand had been dormant for awhile. But we started doing business in March of this year and we did $30 million in our first three months. That’s almost double what we expected.
About how many sales are you averaging every day?
We are predominantly an airfare site; that’s our core business. We average 40 hotels a day and 25 car rentals a day. Previously, we didn’t have the engine to really push it hard. Now we do. We hope to make a push with cruises and have a complete, dynamic package by fall.
Do you have an affiliate program?
Our business model was a big affiliate program so we capitalized on that and also offer a co-branded program with co-label, private-labels and service modeling language. You can download and sign up online. We also offer a CPA/banner program as well as co-label and private label programs. We have had tremendous success for the month of July.
What kind of commissions do you offer agents?
Commissions are more competitive than the majority of online travel agencies out there at this point. Air is about $8 per ticket with us, while the average elsewhere is $5. We have a tiered commission program that can go up to $10 and the program also allows mark-ups. Commissions on cars, insurance, hotels and other suppliers are also competitive.
Do you have targets on the numbers of affiliates and co-brands?
No, although we hope to get 50 to 60 affiliates a month. Recently, we had a soft launch and more than 12 companies signed up. We have more waiting.
What kind of platform are you using?
Fareportal in New York is our booking engine. It has the functionality and capacity and it has done great. It also has a lot more room to grow. We’re working with Amadeus and Sabre. But we’re also different than other online companies — what we call "click and mortar." We have a call center that operates 24/7 in Las Vegas with about 85 workers. We also have an 800-number on our site, and we like it when people call.
What does the future hold?
We just launched OneTravelIndia.com with a goal to keep the brand but offer different regions. With keywords and search engine management we can promote different Web sites that are highly focused. We have plans for Europe, Latin America, Hawaii, and the Caribbean later this year.
How much traffic are you getting?
We get 50,000 unique views a day and are spending about $500,000 a month in marketing, mostly online but also in some travel publications.
