Tax Law Changes Mean Money for Education
and Retirement
|
|
Since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the travel landscape has never been the same. Travel consumers in Kansas City and across the country are facing increased airline security and safety measures, reorganization of tour companies and cruise lines and a mind-boggling array of advertisements for "bargain" trips.
It's enough to make your head swim.
Professional travel counselors--both for corporate travel planning and in- dividual leisure vacations--are more vital than ever in providing travelers with the most cost-effective and trouble-free trips available. Unlike many Internet travel sites, travel counselors can provide answers to questions, suggest cost-saving alternative routes and take into account any special requests.
However, whether you are the chairman of a Fortune 500 company or an individual wanting to visit an aunt in Akron, the thought of paying a travel counselor a "fee" to arrange a trip is not appealing. Yet you only have to be stranded at an airport, have a flight canceled or have a hotel turn you away because they are oversold once to understand the value that travel counselors provide. A savings of $100 on an airline ticket, $20 a night at a hotel and $3 a day with a rental car should eliminate any questions about fees.
What follows are a few simple--yet often forgotten--ways that travel counselors can assist Kansas City area corporate and individual travelers in saving travel dollars through their expertise and experience.
Purchase Tickets in Advance
All airlines offer additional discounts to travelers who are able to book a flight more than 14 days in advance of the scheduled departure. Savings can be as much as four times that of the fare. And if seat selection is a concern (aisle or window), the earlier you book, the more likely you'll get your first choice. Seats toward the front of the planes are kept available for airlines' frequent flyers.
Use Connections When Possible
Although direct flights are more convenient, travelers can save hundreds of dollars using connecting flights. For example, two recent travelers flew from St. Louis to Los Angeles. One traveler purchased a non-stop ticket on American Airlines that cost $1,752. The other traveler flew to Phoenix on American Airlines, then connected to Los Angeles on America West. While the traveler with the connection's trip took an extra 40 minutes, the ticket was more than $1,300 less than the direct flight.
Alternate Destinations
Travelers can take advantage of significant additional savings, as much as four times the fare, by using alternate airports close to their destination. A few cities that you can save at least 100 percent of the airfare flying from Kansas City are Baltimore ($412) instead of Washington DC ($1,102); Newark ($790) instead of JFK or LaGuardia ($1,780 to $1,559), and Seattle ($317) instead of Vancouver ($933). These are but a few of the cities where one can save substantially. A travel professional can sort these out, while most Internet sites cannot.
Verify Rates Are Lowest
When you check into your hotel or rent a car, check with the counter agent to make sure the rate you are paying is correct and the lowest available. Often car rental companies will have lower prices for a certain class of car, and hotels will offer lower rates to walk-up clients. Additionally, many times your own personal insurance will cover you when you rent a car.
Utilize A Travel Management Company
While travel planning looks easy to arrange on the Internet, there are hundreds of different options travel counselors know which Web sites will never show you. In repeated studies and surveys, professional travel counselors capture the absolute lowest airfares 97 percent of the time, versus the Internet offer- ing savings only 3 percent of the time.
Rick Halterman, is Director of Western Division Sales, AAA Missouri. He can be reached at 816.931.5252 or by e-mail at rhalterm@aaamissouri.com.