Apps that make the travel agent's life easier

THERE has been an
explosion of new
apps over the past
few years that can help
travellers with anything
from boarding a flight to
hailing a cab to finding the
perfect restaurant at their
destination. As travel, by
definition, is mobile, it’s only
natural for app developers
to target this market.
For travel agents too, a
number of new apps came
on the market in 2014 that
could make their life a little
easier. TNW has listed four
of this year’s must-try apps
for travel agents.
1. Refund.Me
Calculating how much
compensation your client
is entitled to when he is
stranded on holiday can
be a daunting task for any
travel agent. Luckily, now
there is an app to help.
Refund.me, the
international passenger
rights specialist, has
now released a new app
for travel agents. The
app, which is available
to travel agents via the
Sabre Red App Centre,
will automatically monitor
thousands of bookings
and detect delays and
cancellations eligible
for compensation of up
to US$800 (R8 897)
according to EU law. It will
automatically alert agents
when a flight they have
booked becomes eligible
for compensation. The
app works for all flights
outbound from Europe,
regardless of destination.
It also covers flights from
South Africa to Europe if
operated by an EU carrier.
Eve Buechner, founder
and ceo of refund.me, said:
“This app is designed to
ensure passengers are
given the opportunity to
claim their compensation.
The straightforward
monitoring and alert system
we are offering travel
agents will go a long way
to increasing awareness of
passenger rights. It is the
first step in simplifying what
is often an unnecessarily
difficult process.”
2. mTrip Travel Guides
mTrip has been chosen
as an Innovator for the
PhoCusWright conference in
Los Angeles in November.
The company is expected
to present its new app for
travel agents, mTrip Travel
Guides, at the conference.
The new app offers a
mobile white label offline
solution for travel agencies
to improve customer
satisfaction, visibility and
relationships with their
customers. Travel agents
can send their customers
an invitation to download
a travel agency-branded
application for their iPhone
or Android instead of the
traditional paper printout.
Upon opening the app,
customers will have access
to their entire trip, starting
with a trip overview. The
overview includes detailed
trip information, including
their transportation and
accommodation details,
travel documents, a full
destination guide for each
stop on their trip, offline
maps and navigation and
other important information
to help them.
3. TripScope
TripScope is a new travel
app dedicated to helping
travel agents retail more
effectively via dynamic
itinerary sharing with
customers.
It allows travel agents
to create customised
itineraries online. Through
the agent website, they
can send these itineraries
directly to their clients’
smartphones for them
to view all their travel
information. Travel agents
can change the itinerary
in real time and send their
clients updates, chat with
them directly and help them
get the most out of their
travel experience.
4. Travelport Mobile
Agent
Travelport Mobile Agent
provides quick and easy
access to the GDS for
agents. The app is not new
but the latest revamped
version was released on
July 30.
The latest version (3.0)
uses touch interaction to
offer travel agents a faster
and easy mobile GDS
terminal. New tools include
Custom Quick Keys, Double
Window as well as Latest
PNRs, which is a quick
shortcut to access the
latest PNRs created, opened
or changed.
TTS has also introduced
the new TTS Web Agent,
bringing the full features of
Travelport Mobile Agent 3.0
to desktops.