OUR POINTS EXPERT

Long ago we realized that if we were to be a successful travel agency, we’d have to pay attention to what our clients really want from us. One need that stands out is our clients’ wish for someone to help them with their points bookings. Most travel agencies seem to just wish these pesky frequent-flyer programs would go away; but The Travel Group offers a specialist in mileage plans. Our expert is Tara. Our clients love Tara because she is knowledgeable, thorough, and persistent in her efforts to secure the best points seats.

We thought that you might be interested in what her job is like and what tips she can offer.

1. What is it like handling all of the frequent-flyer bookings for The Travel Group?

It's a challenge! And a bit like a puzzle: if I can’t find the seats on the preferred airline, I have to figure out what other partner airlines or combination of airlines might work. Generally, the frequent-flyer desks are not very helpful (their reservations agents are often not that well trained), so I’m usually on my own to find something that fits a client’s needs.



2. What is your biggest frustration?

Hold times. Sometimes they can be 45 minutes or longer. That adds up to enormous chunks of time to spend without being able to take calls from our clients. I guess my clients would say, “Better you than me!”



3. There seem to be endless changes in frequent-flyer programs and their rules. How do you keep up?

Whenever I have a moment (usually while I am on hold!), I visit airline websites and review their frequent-flyer pages. For 2005, I see there are quite a few changes in store for some programs, including Aeroplan.



4. Obviously Aeroplan is the biggest plan for our clients. Which program is second biggest?

I would say that American Airlines’ AAdvantage Program would be the second most significant plan for our clients. It is a partner on several Gold credit card programs, so it often comes up as a good alternative to Aeroplan.



5. Who has the best plan in terms of ease of redemption and availability?

Aeroplan is best. I know that some will disagree, but because it is part of the Star Alliance network, Aeroplan offers a lot of excellent partner airlines to choose from that cover the globe. The runner-up is definitely Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan. It compliments Aeroplan nicely because of its range of airline partners, which are mostly from the competing One World Alliance.



6. Which plan is the most complicated and/or difficult to handle?

British Airways is the most difficult. They are not very travel agent friendly, meaning that unless you have set up your frequent flyer account to allow us to have access, BA will not let us handle your points booking. Most of our clients are very busy people who would rather pay an expert to do this difficult job than handle it personally. Unfortunately, British Airways just doesn’t get it.



7. Do you have any tips for frequent-flyers?

Book early and buy Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance. I recommend the latter because points tickets are almost never changeable once you have started your trip. If you have to make an unexpected change to your return trip, you will almost definitely have to buy “full fare” tickets, which will cost a fortune! Cancellation/interruption insurance is designed to reimburse you for these expenses in many cases, such as for medical emergencies and family medical situations.



8. What is the craziest points trip you've ever booked?

It was a last minute trip. Our client needed to fly to the east coast of Canada, and the only way to get him there was with two connections plus an overnight in each direction! He actually booked it.



9. What is the toughest points booking you've ever successfully completed?

The toughest would be an Aeroplan booking for three business class tickets to Vietnam, with a stop in Singapore, in peak season. I only had a couple of months lead time, and for those of us in the points game you know you just can’t get business class seats, let alone three of them, to Asia unless you book 10 years in advance. I still can’t believe I pulled that one off!



10. Where is the most exotic place you’ve ever booked on points

Well, I can’t say what the most exotic place is, but in the past six months I’ve found seats for clients to Bogotá, Kuala Lumpur, and Ho Chi Minh City.



11. How can you tell if I am using my points wisely or frivolously?

We have a little formula: we estimate that a frequent-flyer point is worth 2 cents a mile. If you can’t buy a ticket for that value (or less), then you are using your points wisely. The best value of all is for business class. Of course, those are the most difficult to come by. Business class to areas such as Asia, Africa, or South Pacific would be the absolute best way to spend your points, because these destinations do not ever seem to have discounted business class fares. You either pay full fare, or use your points.



12. Is Aeroplan really as bad as most people think?

No, I don’t think it’s that bad. I believe people get frustrated with Aeroplan because seats often are not available for when and where they want. Aeroplan has millions of members and, like any other frequent-flyer program, only a limited number of points seats allotted per flight. The trick is to book well in advance and use a specialist like me.



13. What’s the best and worst part of your job as frequent-flyer program manager?

Best: I get to book travel to fascinating destinations all over the world and I get to have great conversations with our clients. In addition to booking the free tickets, I get to research these interesting places and book tours, car rentals, and hotels.

Worst: Travellers seem to want to go to the same places at the same time, and that makes it tough to find free seats. I don’t like to disappoint a client.