Navigant Launches Ticket Salvage Site
By SANDI CAIN
Travel agency Navigant International Inc. has come up with a way for corporate travel managers to salvage nonrefundable tickets in the face of new use-it-or-lose-it policies by big airlines.
The Englewood, Colo.-based agency, with its Southwest headquarters in Santa Ana, offers a Web page where travel managers can forecast and track the value of cheaper nonrefundable tickets. It also lets them recoup unused tickets, for a fee.
Dubbed RescueFLYR, the site aims to help travelers bank nonrefundable tickets for future use, even if the traveler doesn’t know when a trip will be reset.
“Business travelers don’t know where they’ll be going or when,” said David Buskirk, Southwestern regional president of Navigant in Santa Ana.
A nonrefundable ticket can be rebooked for $100. Even with the added fee, the cost often is lower than buying a pricier fully refundable ticket, the agency says.
“Reissuing the tickets can be cheaper than losing their whole value,” Buskirk said.
One airline said the system is OK under new rules, as long as the $100 change fee goes to the airline. In September, several airlines said they wouldn’t exchange unused tickets as a way to cut costs.
The policy was seen in the travel industry as a way to discourage business travelers from booking cheaper restricted fares.
Restricted fares,usually requiring a Saturday stay or are valid on certain days,have gained popularity with business travelers as last-minute business fares soared.
“Like everyone else, we made the decision months ago to use nonrefundable tickets more often,” said Jeff Wilson, travel manager at Huntington Beach-based clothing company Quiksilver Inc.
A few airlines have softened their stance and are allowing same-day changes for a fee.
Other travel agencies also are retooling ticket-tracking products.
RescueFLYR helps businesses forecast how many nonrefundable tickets they are likely to use in a year and what losses they could face if tickets aren’t used. It also reminds travelers of trips booked on nonrefundable tickets.
“Managing nonrefundable tickets is becoming a very important part of travel management,” Quiksilver’s Wilson said.
Navigant, the largest travel agency in Orange County, is testing another system,dubbed WebFLYR,that would display fares from Orbitz Inc. alongside fares the agency gets.
