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Travelers have access to more websites offering the online purchase of airline tickets
(Romania.ro, March 18, 2004)
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The Internet allows for up to 50% reduction on the price of airline tickets or vacations. A round trip by plane from Bucharest to Paris can cost between 300 and 700 EUR depending on the airline, airport taxes, the number of days between departure and arrival dates, the day of the trip, or if there is at least one Sunday included in the stay. The price falls when the trip includes a connection and the flights are not in peak hours. Some travel companies offer an additional discount if the services are booked or paid online. AirTickets.ro was launched in September 2002 by Romania Online Networks S.A. and calls itself "the first Romanian website to allow online reservation of airline tickets on any route using any airline". Romania Online Network uses the Internet Booking Engine search system of TravelStoreMaker.com, an American company for e-commerce and software funded by Worldspan with headquarters in Sofia. "Romania Online makes about 100 reservations per month. We also offer Romanian market fares, which our Fare Entry team loads in a proprietary database," informs the PR Office of TravelStoreMaker.com. Andrei Robotin, Secretary General of the National Union of Travel Agencies, says that "the lack of online payment ability is an obstacle" for the development of the online travel market, but when direct online payment becomes possible the market will be greatly stimulated". After the end-user has made an online booking, an AirTickets agent contacts them by phone or email to confirm the details of the trip and finalize the reservation. In case that the client cannot be contacted, the reservation is canceled according to the conditions published on the website. Payment can be made in cash or by bank transfer depending on the customer's preferences and the currently valid rules and requirements. Millenium Tours, a travel agency in Bucharest, launched www.bileteavion.ro in August 2003 in response to an insistent request from the website of the agency - www.concediu.com, tells Vishan Remus, Executive Director of the agency. Unlike AirTickets.ro, the agency accepts credit card payments with Visa and MasterCard regardless of the issuing bank, but it requires, for security purposes, a credit card authorization form and a copy of both sides of the card. "If this is the first purchase for the client, the agency also requires a copy of their passport," explains Vishan Remus. "In Romania, the security of direct online payments is extremely low, and the existing security systems are still too expensive for the agency." "Through www.bileteavion.ro the agency sells 20% of its total airline ticket sales, compared to the 10% it used to sell online through www.concediu.com," says Vishan Remus. Airline tickets are delivered to the customer by a courier service within 24 hours if the customer is in Bucharest, or can be delivered by courier directly to the airport. The world travel market comprises USD 3.7 billion, of which USD 1.8 billion are online transactions, according to data from Isabel Arsher, Red Consultancy, representative of Expedia.co.uk, one of the largest international travel companies. Travel makes a perfect online deal, says Expedia.com, because the items are not kept in stock or transported to the recipient, while the customer relationship can be improved thanks to the real-time service specific to the Internet. Travel industry experts estimate that in the next four years the value of online sales of travel packages and vacations will reach 17.7 billion EUR. The Romanian websites, however, do not operate like the big travel sites in the EU and North America, such as Expedia.com and Orbitz.com, which are directly connected with the GDSs and where the entire process is automated, including direct online credit card payment.
The route, day and airline are selected online.
Bileteavion.ro is an IATA agency. "On the site, the client selects a flight depending on the price or the schedule," says Vishan, and then "the request shows up in the reservation system, we check it and issue the reservation." If there is no availability, the agents suggest several alternatives, taking into account what is most important to the client - the price, the schedule or the airline. Everything is done in real-time. Tarom launched an online reservation service on the company's website, www.tarom.ro, in June 2003. For the first six months sales reached over USD 1 million. "Currently Internet sales comprise approximately 1%," says Shefan Popa, Chief Executive Distribution, Tarom. When booking and payment are made online, customers receive a 5 % discount on the ticket price, and members of the company loyalty program receive 500 miles bonus for their first booking and respectively 100 miles bonus per booking for following online reservations. Online, again, the customer can buy an e-ticket, an electronic version of the traditional airline ticket, which cannot be lost or stolen. The client shows to the airport agent the ticket number or enters this code in an e-ticket facility. Air France and Alitalia are currently the only airlines that offer e-tickets in Romania. All flights Bucharest-Paris served by Air France use e-tickets. The service was launched last year and currently represents 3% of local sales. "The concept is gaining popularity," says Alexandra Sinn, Marketing and Sales Representative for Air France, Romania. The increasing number of Internet users and the growing purchasing ability create favorable conditions for the development of the e-travel service market. "As long as Easter Europe continues to develop economically, we will be more and more interested in this market," says Isabel Arsher. On the other hand, the PR Office of TravelStoreMaker says that the Central and East European markets have shown a good level of online travel sales. "Some of the countries prove to be attractive tourist destination which is a good basis for us to promote them with our booking engine," they claim, adding that the accession of these countries to the EU is yet another advantage. Even though it will take a while before Romanians are able to take advantage of the big deals and discounts available when paying online in a secure environment, foreigners are already contacting Romanian agencies to buy online vacations in countries other than Romania. "This is an incredible opportunity," says Vishan Remus. The agency had not expected such a situation, provided that the site is in Romanian, but last year for example several Americans purchased vacations in Greece, and this year there are paid reservations already.
Comparison between online deals / traditional agency
Airline ticket Bucharest-Paris, roundtrip, 8-15 March 2004
Bileteavion.ro:
Malev - 230 EUR, airport taxes 76 EUR, connection in Budapest
LOT - 275 EUR, airport taxes 89 EUR, connection in Warsaw, maximum stay one month, trip must include at least one Sunday
Tarom - 289 EUR, airport taxes 49 EUR, direct flight, maximum stay 14 days
Air France - 299 EUR, airport taxes 50 EUR, direct flight, maximum stay one month.
Payment by bank transfer, cash or credit card. Free ticket delivery by courier.
TravelStoreMaker.com:
Tarom - 416.75 EUR, tax inclusive, direct flight, maximum stay 14 days
KLM - 450 EUR, tax inclusive, direct flight. Maximum stay 30 days. Payment by Visa or MasterCard.Ticket delivery by courier, additional taxes between 12 and 36 USD.
ABS Trading, Bucharest agency - cheapest ticket - Tarom 355 EUR, tax inclusive, direct flight.
Ibis Interbusiness, Bucharest travel agency - cheapest ticket - Tarom - 388 EUR, tax inclusive, direct flight.
Payment in agency office. Offer valid for 8-15 March only.
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