Galileo International introduced an array of initiatives the
company says will offer its agency subscribers moneymaking and
money-saving opportunities not all of which relate directly to
travel.
The new program, dubbed Galileo Business Builders, offers
exclusively negotiated products for Galileo agencies to sell, along
with tools that help agencies build loyalty among clients and
cost-saving partnerships with vendors such as AT&T and a
high-speed Internet service provider.
The company splits the Business Builders program into three
components:
" Revenue Builders, consisting of commissionable offerings
including some provided by Cendant Corp.-owned suppliers (Cendant
also owns Galileo).
Offerings include exclusive access to the inventory of RCI
Holiday Network, which rents out 80,000 condominiums, villas and
vacation homes in more than 100 countries. Galileo agencies receive
pay of 20% on RCI bookings through the new program.
Another Cendant holding, Avis, now pays Galileo agencies $100
each time they enroll a small-business account into Avis’ License
to Sell program for small businesses through 2002. Avis typically
pays $25 per enrollment. Avis also will pay agencies 10% on each
U.S. rental generated from these accounts during their first year
in the program.
" Loyalty Builders, which Galileo said will enhance agent-client
relations and encourage client loyalty. These include discount and
upgrade coupons for Avis and Hertz car rentals, and Get Up and Go
certificates for free three-day hotel stays throughout the United
States.
" Efficiency Builders, geared toward reducing agencies’
overhead. Galileo’s negotiated rates with vendors include discounts
on copiers and fax machines, savings on office supplies and
preferred pricing on DSL.net high-speed Internet services.
The company also now offers rebates to Galileo-agency employees
when they buy or sell a home (on a $250,000 home, the agent gets
$900 back) through the Real Estate Assistance Program operated by
Cendant Mobility, a mortgage and real estate services company.
Galileo has developed an online value calculator, with which
agencies can determine the money they can earn and save through the
new program. The calculator can be found at www.galileo.com/
businessbuilders.
Web Fares Update
The Business Builders program arrives on the heels of Galileo’s
June announcement that it was beta-testing Web fare search
technology that lets agents locate Web fares and book them through
direct links to the sites where they are located.
Those beta-tests, involving 20 agencies in the United States and
Britain, have ended, and Galileo executives learned that Web fares
apparently aren’t as high a priority to their subscribers as had
originally been assumed.
“For most of the beta period, there were zero online bookings
generated, because these fares come with significant restrictions,”
said Todd Dubner, Galileo’s vice president of product innovation,
adding that the technology would be rolled out to all Galileo
agencies in October. “The customers want to be aware of what’s out
there but don’t necessarily want to purchase it.”
Dubner said Galileo’s Web fare search tools, provided by
developers AgentWare and TRX, are something agents want even if
they don’t necessarily book many of the fares, given their
restrictions and a closing gap between Web and published fares.
“It’s important to provide that information, but the agencies,
acting in the best interest of their customers, have not had to
book those transactions,” he said.
Dubner added that Galileo still is moving forward with plans to
make several of its airline customers’ Web fares available for
booking directly in the GDS in the coming months.
