WITH travellers able to
go online and arrange
every step of their trip
themselves, it is increasingly
important for travel consultants
to offer service that goes
beyond clients’ expectations.
A recent discussion on agent
collaboration platform, Open
Jaw – whether or not agents
should check in their clients –
brought mixed responses.
While some consultants said
they checked clients in as an
extra value-add, not all agreed.
“I am happy to offer checkin
when clients are struggling
with it or if it is a good repeat
client and they ask me to help
with it,” says Bronwyn Pienaar,
consultant of Trav Essentials.
“If we offer it as a free service,
though, clients will expect
it. Often it has to be done
outside work hours and on
weekends and I am not always
in a position to perform this
service, especially when I am
away with no signal,” she says.
Another agent, who wishes
remain anonymous, says:
“I would rather spend my
time sourcing the best travel
deal and if they want the full
service, it is there for them at
a fee. I am running a business
at the end of the day.”
Marco Micci, fares and
technical manager of XL
Sandown Travel, says because
of the number of tickets
issued on a daily basis, doing
online check-in for all would be
too time consuming.
So, just how much is the
service worth? According to
Marco, it’s R228. “We have
agreed fees with clients
who want us to do it on a
contracted basis.” Bronwyn
charges R150 per person
per leg, while the anonymous
agent charges R100.
Bronwyn says if clients do
it themselves, they are in a
better position to request their
preferred seats. “We pre-seat
on window or aisle as per
passenger request, and email
the boarding pass to them,
which you can do from the
check-in website,” says Marco.
But according to the
anonymous agent, sometimes
there are technical issues,
particularly when a codeshare
is involved, that can take time
to sort out. Another concern
raised by Bronwyn is that by
doing the check-in on a client’s
behalf, the agent is accepting
responsibility for what is in the
passenger’s luggage.
