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Travel Agency

A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of suppliers. Travel agencies provide outdoor recreation activities, airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, travel insurance, package tours, insurance, guide books, public transport timetables, car rentals, and bureau de change services. Travel agencies can also serve as general sales agents for airlines that do not have offices in a specific region. A travel agency’s main function is to act as an agent, selling travel products and services on behalf of a supplier. They do not keep inventory in hand unless they have pre-booked hotel rooms or cabins on a cruise ship for a group travel event such as a wedding, honeymoon, or a group event and business package. Travel agents sometimes receive commission and other incentives from the service providers and as well charge their customers for service rendered. Travel agencies (agents) are licensed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in some countries and Certified Travel Associate (CTA). Travel agency/agents take care of passengers booking, hotel accommodation arrangement, transportation and hangout spot for leisure . CATEGORIES OF TRAVEL AGENCIES                        COMMERCIAL Travel Agencies: These are agents that cater for business travelers, they specialize in tracking down deals for business travels to help companies manage travel cost. ONLINE Travel Agencies These are travel agencies that exist in cyberspace, they provide clients the convenience of online bookings and discount that are available to travel agencies In some cases they offer both online bookings and walk-in services. NICHE Travel Agencies They provide clients with specialized knowledge of a region, which helps to enhance the experience within the time of travel.    

US:11 air traffic control centers have been temporarily closed after workers tested positive for coronavirus, highlighting a vulnability in air travel

The Federal Aviation Administration released a map indicating that 11 air traffic control facilities operated by the body across the US have had personnel test positive for COVID-19, contributing to airport closures and flight delays while cleaning efforts commence. Chicago’s Midway Airport was the first to effectively close after an air traffic controller assigned to the airport’s air traffic control tower tested positive for the virus. Other major airports affected by the spread of the novel coronavirus include John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in New York and Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport. Most incidents outside Las Vegas have been restricted to the east of the Mississippi River with New York being the most affected region. Facilities with COVID-19-positive technicians have had to shut down for cleanings, closing down vital airspace and restricting access to major airports for extended periods. Aircraft continuing to operate to some airports without backup facilities during the closures have had to communicate directly with each other for separation.

How to understand and use a British Airways Future Travel Voucher

If you’ve canceled upcoming travel booked through British Airways because of coronavirus and its associated travel restrictions, you may have received a credit voucher for the amount you originally spent, which BA calls a Future Travel Voucher. It’s important to note that if BA canceled your flight, rather than you doing the canceling, you are legally entitled to a refund rather than a voucher. However, if you did the canceling, you’ll likely be given one of these vouchers for future travel. Here are some tips from British Airways help desk : How do I find my Future Travel Voucher? Vouchers are sent to customers by email only to the address associated with the canceled booking. A different voucher will be issued for each passenger (to the lead email address), so if you are canceling a booking for two passengers you should receive two vouchers. These vouchers are not displayed in your Executive Club account, so BA has advised us that the only way to find your vouchers is to check your emails. If you’re having trouble locating your voucher, try searching ‘Future Travel Vouchers’. This is a frustrating situation, as it means some travelers may forget they even have a voucher if it’s buried among hundreds of British Airways promotional emails. If you have canceled multiple bookings, you will have multiple different vouchers. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to collate them. You might want to consider entering the details into a password-protected spreadsheet or shared document for ease of reference. What information can I find on my Future Travel Voucher? About the only useful information in the voucher email is the voucher number, which begins with 125, followed by 10 unique digits (i.e. 125-1234567890). The email with your voucher does not show the value of the voucher or the expiration date. It does show the original booking reference number (PNR) that the voucher represents. Once you’re ready to redeem the voucher, you’ll have to call BA to do so — which, at this time, is not advisable given long hold times. You’ll have 12 months to use the voucher from the date of the first flight in your original booking. How much is my voucher worth? British Airways has advised us that the only two ways to determine the value of your Future Travel Voucher are to: Look up the value of your original booking it relates to, using the PNR in the voucher email. The voucher value is for the same amount; or Call British Airways to ask. If you are creating a spreadsheet for your voucher details, include the value of each voucher as you calculate it. You cannot look up the value online aside from entering the PNR from the original booking, and the information is also not included in the email with the voucher number. How do I use my voucher? You can only use your Future Travel Voucher by calling British Airways. Expect long wait times if you are calling anytime soon, as thousands of other passengers cancel and defer their upcoming travel. You can also use multiple vouchers per new booking if the new booking costs more than the value of the voucher. If your new booking does not use up all the value of the Future Travel Voucher you are using, just to add an extra layer of complexity, you cannot use that voucher for other bookings — a new voucher will be emailed to you for the remaining amount. What can I use my voucher for? Your voucher can be used to travel to any destination in the British Airways network including partner airlines, as long as it’s a British Airways-marketed route with a BA flight number. It can also be used on a British Airways Holiday. When does my voucher expire? Unlike a Companion Voucher that shows up in your Executive Club with a clear expiration date, you have to work out the expiration date of your Future Travel Voucher by looking up your original booking using the PNR in the voucher email. The voucher expires 12 months after the departure date of your original booking. And like with a Companion Voucher you must book and travel before the expiration date. I would recommend setting calendar reminders for the date that is three months before the expiration date of the voucher, and then another reminder for two months before so you don’t forget to book and travel before it expires. What happens to my canceled award bookings? In line with British Airways’ Book With Confidence policy, award bookings made with Avios can be canceled for no fee, just like cash bookings. If you cancel a redemption booking without paying a cancellation fee you will receive the fees, taxes and surcharges you paid when making the redemption as a Future Travel Voucher, as well as the Avios back into your Executive Club account. However, you can ordinarily cancel a redemption booking for a $44 per person cancellation fee and receive the fees, taxes and surcharges refunded back onto the card you used to pay for them originally. That has not changed. If you pay the cancellation fee, you can receive a refund back onto your card. If you instead want to avoid paying a cancellation fee you will receive this amount as a Future Travel Voucher. Bottom line We appreciate British Airways had to very quickly develop a system to allow thousands — if not millions — of bookings to be canceled as its IT systems and staff are swamped with unprecedented changes to how the airline operates. That being said, the current Future Travel Voucher system as it stands now is incredibly customer unfriendly. Between looking through your inbox for the voucher, having to look up the value of it, remembering the expiration date and having to call the airline to use it, there’s a lot of room for error in letting these vouchers go to waste. If you have been issued more than one voucher, I would recommend creating some sort of spreadsheet document and set calendar reminders […]

NIGERIA: Aviation Workers To Begin Strike June 15

Labour unions in the aviation industry have written a joint letter to President Muhammadu Buhari over cuts and delays in the payment of workers’ salaries and threaten to embark on strike on June 15, 2020. The unions include: National Union Of Air Transport Employees (NUATE); Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Association Of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Aviation Professionals; and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees. The unions in the letter to the President urged him to intervene in what they called “a looming crisis” in the aviation sector over inability of aviation agencies to pay full salaries to their members. The workers said they might be forced to stay at home if the situation does not improve by June 15, 2020. In the letter titled “To Avert Crisis in the Aviation Industry” and signed by the General Secretary, NUATE, Comrade, Ocheme Aba; Deputy General Secretary, ATSSSAN,Comrade Frances Akinjole; General Secretary, ANAP, Comrade Abdul Rasaq Saidu and General Secretary, Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE),Comrade, Babatunde Omotola, the unions lamented that the it took commendable effort on the part of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to pay salaries for the month of May, adding that the possibility of another such miracle for the month of June is rather bleak “We are compelled by the critical nature of our circumstances to alert you to the unfolding dire situation in the aviation industry in Nigeria. This situation requires urgent attention and mitigation to avert a looming national crisis. “As you may be aware, it took commendable effort on the part of the management of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to pay salaries for the month of May. The possibility of another such miracle for the month of June is rather bleak”. The unions added that the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has also informed its staff of its inability to normal salaries. “At the same time, the management of NAMA has informed its in-house unions about its inability to continue to pay normal salaries. And as is well within public domain, most aviation companies have sent their workers home without salaries for months now, while some are paying only a fraction of salaries to workers on essential duties compelled to come to work. “While the adverse socio-economic situation imposed by the COVID-19 is an act of God, there can be little debate that workers have been dealt a larger portion of the burden to bear due to no fault of theirs. This burden has become exceedingly telling on the workers, and the cost has become unbearable. Our Unions can no longer contain the wailings of our members; the aviation workers. “In the light of the above reality, our unions are constrained to serve notice that should the situation of no salary, or incomplete salary, remain beyond the 15th of June, 2020 the only option left for our Unions will be to ask all aviation workers to remain at home pending when their salaries can be guaranteed”. source: thisdaylive.com

NIGERIA: Airlines Need More Than Cash Bailouts

Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has said its members are not just requesting cash as bailout from the federal government, but necessary support to enable them go back to operation and sustain their businesses. The Chief Operating Officer of Dana Air, Obi Mnabuzuo told our reporter that Nigerian airlines are not necessarily asking for cash from the federal government, but the support that would enable them go back to operation as well as to ensure that they don’t lay off their staff. In addition, he said the airlines are seeking access to forex to help them pay for aircraft spares, conduct training overseas and maintain their aircraft. Furthermore, he said the airlines also want the right pricing of aviation fuel now that the price of crude oil has plummeted in the international market; yet, marketers still sell the product at the old prices as if nothing has changed. “We don’t know what nature of bailout government wants to give the aviation industry, but contrary to those speaking against the bailout, we are not really looking for cash. The last bailout was done with the banks; some airlines are still paying for it. AON has made its position clear in the request it made to the government. “We are looking at the removal of VAT, we are requesting for availability of forex. There was an effort to remove VAT but it was not gazetted; they have removed duty on aircraft spares but you still pay Customs duty when you import aircraft. “On the discussion that government should give airlines waivers, the agencies would say that it is their source of revenue but I think these things should be reviewed,” he said. He explained: “For example, we pay en route and terminal charges to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) but we do not utilise the service of NAMA en route; the airlines take care of that one because navigational aids do not work on the airways until you are on approach. The ground based navigational aids are not working. For example, there should be Voice Omnidirectional Radio Range (VOR) in Bida area but it is not working. Pilots rely on instrument onboard their aircraft. So we expect that there should be a review of those charges. They should remove enroute charges for domestic airlines.” He also requested that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) should review the policy whereby they charge domestic airlines in dollars when they fly West Coast and other international service, noting that local carriers sell ticket in naira and so they should be charged in the local currency. “The idea that once a local airline takes off to destination like Accra, Ghana it will be charged in dollars, $50 passenger service charge and $20 security charge is not good because we generate revenue in naira; so we expect that government should look into it,” Mbanuzuo added. Some industry stakeholders had canvassed that airlines should not be given fiscal bailout, while some out rightly don’t want government to support the airlines, insisting that they are private concerns. But AON insisted that airlines are catalysts for economic development of the country and employ over 100, 000 Nigerians. They association noted that the economy would be hurt without the airlines operating and taking people and goods from one part of the country to another. source:thisdaylive.com