Go To The Front Of The Plane

By Kate Rice

HARIWORLD HAS JUST RELAUNCHED ITS WEBSITE (www.hariworld.com) AND IS MOVING BEYOND ETHNIC MARKETS TO BROADER ONES.

HOW TO USE CONSOLIDATORS TO WIN UPGRADES AND GIVE YOUR CLIENTS A LIFT

Tough times mean that the airlines' revenue for the seats in the front of the plane - first and business class, those high - ticket, fat - margin seats - are plummeting. The number of the passengers buying premium seats fell 19.2 percent in March alone, following 21.1 percent decline the month before, according to the international Air Transport Association.

But that spells opportunity for you and your clients. Airlines are making these seats available at lower pricesand in greater quatities than usual. they are doing son two diffrent ways. One way: These are compnaies that negotiate with airlines to get fares thatcan sometimes ba as much as half off the published prices. You're essentially booking a net fare and that means you can pass on a substantial part of the savings to your customers while adding in your own service fee.

Airlines traditionally used consolidators for fares to ethnic markets, says Kamini Cohly, president of Hariworld (www.hariworld.com), which has just relaunched its website. But the company has moving beyondethnic markets to broader ones, especially in the past six or seven months, sha says.

The availability of these lower fares or moderately priced upgrades can greatly by date and route, as airline use their sophisticated yield management systemsto decide when and where to make these fares available.

"The airlines are in complete control of the game and oue pricing," says Greg Rholl, vice president of distribution for Centrav. "An airline might offer an attractive fare on a flight six months in advance through a consolidator, thenup the fare again for months because the flight is filling up, then drop it again closer to departure if the flight isn't as full as the airline would like."

Though consolidators usually offer business-and somtimes first-class ticket at lower prices mainly oninternational route, may offer published domesticfares-fares you would see on a GDS - on their websitesto make it easy for non-ARC agents to book air. Leisure agents are flocking to consolidators because of this; Centrav's business with cruise-only agents tripled after cruiselines stopped paying commissions on the air they sold toagents who booked clients on their cruises.

In addtion, consolidators are adding ancillary services. Hariworld, for example, has added a hotel booking engine to its air engine; it will add insurance later this summer and is exploring cruises. Its Hari Holidays division does group and land tours.

The first stop you should make when deciding which consolidators to choose is the U.S. Air Consolidators Association's website (www.usaca.com). USACA members have met a variety of criteria - all have been in business at least 10 years, sell at least $20 million in air sales annually, accept major credit cards and allow your clients to earn miles on their bookings. You can also find consolidators fares through such booking tools as VAX VacationAccess and Amadues' Vacation Link.

The second way airlines are filling these seats is by offering upgrades to check-in, sometimes for as little as $50. These are being offered via a computer during advancecheck-in or at airport kiosks. You can't book these for your clients, but you can give them a head's about it.

Again availability of these upgrades can vary depending on the route and what's happeing with bookings. if business class on a particular route is usually pretty full. an airlines is not going to undermine its pricing integrity just beacause a few seats are going empty, says Marc Rosenberg, an airline consultant with Marsalyn Creative and a former vice president of sales and product distribution for Air Canada. That's because carriers don't want their customers to quit booking business class because they think they can pay for an economy ticket and upgrade at the last minute for $100.

Continental Airlines, for exmaple, offers such upgrades to first class within 24 hours of departure upon check-in and depending on seat availability. The cost can range from $50 to $250, depending on the number of flight miles. This practice is really aimed at non-elite members, since its eliteflyers have other ways to upgrade.

On occasion, AirTran has announced the availability of such upgrades at the gate. In addition, United Airlines offers upgrades with availability and pricing varying according to the route.