DOI Travel Newsletter - September 2003
DOI Travel Newsletter
Volume 3 Issue 4
September 2003
Data Sources for DOI Travel Newsletter:
Much of the travel industry information contained in this newsletter was obtained from public domain sources such as newspapers and the Internet, and was current at the time of publication. Travel industry information is provided solely for the use and information of DOI employees.
IN THE NEWS
Non-Refundable Restrictions Eased
The big six airlines recently eased restrictions on
nonrefundable ticket policies, and left the industry with inconsistent rules.
American, Delta, Northwest, Continental, United Airlines and US Airways changed
the rule permitting travelers booked on a nonrefundable fare to apply the credit
of that fare to a future flight. Travelers will have a full year from the
original date of issuance to reschedule (less any applicable change fees),
without losing the value of the ticket. The variation occurs regarding
cancellations. American, Continental, United, and US Airways require travelers
to call in advance to cancel the original domestic reservation on or before the
scheduled departure date. Delta and Northwest have waived the requirement for
canceling in advance.
Hotel Surcharges
Hotel operating costs have continued to rise over
the past two years. A study recently released reported that insurance costs for
full service hotels rose 62.5 percent in the past two years. Hotels are trying
to increase revenues any way they can. The easiest way to boost profits is to
charge “hidden” fees.
These fees include housekeeping and turndown fees, fees for in-room safes,
resort fees and even parking. Parking can add 25% or more to your hotel bill,
especially in cities. If you must have a rental car, ask the hotel if it has
package deals that include parking.
Pilots Request More Authority
The Air Line Pilots Association is asking the
Federal Aviation Administration to grant captains greater authority to remove
threatening passengers and order bomb checks on planes. Captains would make all
safety and security decisions before takeoffs and after landings. Currently,
airline employees and security officials may overrule captains when a plane is
parked at the gate.
Southwest Airlines is Now the Largest
Domestic Airline
Southwest airlines carried more domestic passengers
in May than any other airline, marking the first time a low-fare carrier topped
the monthly rankings.
Southwest jumped ahead of Delta and American for the month.
Who gets Searched at the Airport, and Why?
When you obtain your boarding pass, take a close
look at your boarding pass. If SSSS appears on your boarding pass, you can
expect to be searched. A random number of boarding passes have this SSSS code
and if this appears you will be searched.
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D O I T R A V E L N E W S L E T T E R
DOI TRAVELER INFORMATION
Fiscal Year-End Travel
Travelers are reminded that transportation tickets
may not be purchased for travel commencing on or after October 1, 2003, until
funding authority for FY 2004 is enacted. This restriction does not apply for
travel involving no-year funds or multiple-year funds – since funding would
already have been appropriated.
Please note that GSA contract city-pair tickets are generally issued 5 days
prior to travel, while restricted fare tickets are issued (and charged) at the
time travel reservations are made.
E-Travel Contact
On August 14, the General Services Administration
announced the award of a 10-year contract to Northrop Grumman Mission Systems of
Fairfax, Virginia, and CW Government Travel Inc. of San Antonio, Texas. Each
company has created an end-to-end online travel-management system. These systems
will automate and consolidate travel processes involving travel planning,
authorization, reservations, payment of travel claims, submit/fulfill vouchers
for reimbursement, and voucher reconciliation into an end-to-end system. The
systems are expected to reduce costs by 50 percent. GSA will immediately start
testing both systems.
GSA opted for a two-system program to encourage competition and give agencies a
choice on which system best suits their needs. E-travel is expected to be
available for government agencies in December. A proposed revision to the
Federal Travel Regulation requires all civilian agencies to use E-travel by
September 30, 2006.
NOTE: On August 29, EDS filed a protest against the General Services
Administration's (GSA) E-Travel contract award. The General Accounting Office
(GAO) will hear the protest and will make a decision within 100 calendar days of
Aug. 29, which is Dec. 8. Once a GAO decision has been made, GSA will proceed
based on the results.
To find out more about eTravel, go to the GSA web page at: http://egov.gsa.gov,
click on eTravel News.
Reminder: Emergency Incident Travel Contacts
OWT has provided contacts to be used ONLY for
Emergency Firefighting and other National Emergencies. For immediate emergency
incident travel planning after hours, please call 866-785-5875.
2004 City-Pair Contract Awards
The General Services Administration (GSA) has
awarded fiscal year 2004 city-pair airline contracts, which are effective
October 1. The contracts are awarded following a review of average flight time,
pricing, flight distribution and number of flights offered by each submitting
airline. These tickets require no advance purchase and have no minimum or
maximum stay requirements, travel time limits, charges for cancellations or
blackout periods.
Capacity controlled fares offer prices even lower than the already discounted
standard city-pair rates for a limited number of seats (Table 1). The restricted
fares are less expensive than the standard city-pair rates. You must book early
to get a capacity controlled fare, as the reduced fares are available for a
limited number of seats on each flight. Capacity controlled fares do not have
cancellation fees.
Table 1
Comparison of 2003 and 2004 Awards for DOI Most Frequently Used City Pairs
Fiscal Year 2004 Per Diem Rates Announced
The General Services Administration has released
fiscal year 2004 per diem rates. One significant change to note is that
incidentals (IE) increased from $2 to $3 for all designated destinations. The
maximum per diem rate for Standard CONUS destinations increases to $86 ($55 for
lodging and $31 for Meals and Incidental Expenses) effective October 1, 2003.
Incidental expenses are fees and tips given to porters, baggage carriers,
bellhops, hotel maids, stewards or stewardesses and others on ships, and hotel
servants in foreign countries. Also, included are transportation between places
of lodging or business and places where meals are taken, if suitable meals
cannot be obtained at the TDY site. Mailing cost associated with filing travel
vouchers and payment of Government sponsored charge card billings.
The best way to search for hotels that offer government rates is to click on the
official GSA website at:
www.policyworks.gov. Another site that is GSA approved is hotelsatperdiem.com, which lists hotels
that offer a rate that is at or below the per diem for that location. Another
site that offers government rates is
www.cheaptripsnetwork.com.
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D O I T R A V E L
N E W S L E T T E R
DOI TRAVELER INFORMATION
Seating: Up to 40% can be Held in Reserve by
the Airline
There is a misconception regarding how airlines
regulate seating. Each airline has the option of holding up to 40 percent of
advance seating from travel agents. The airline holds these seats for "Premier"
travelers and for airport check in. All travel agencies see the same
availability of seats when booking a reservation.
What can the traveler do? The traveler should reserve the trip as far in advance
as possible. If the traveler does not receive the desired seating at the time of
reserving, the agent or traveler should follow up with the airline directly.
This advice applies to both the traveler with an unassigned seat as well as a
traveler assigned to a seat that is not preferred.
If you would like to send a complaint directly to the airlines, this link
contains airline websites:
http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Shopping_and_Services/Travel_and_Transportation/Airlines/.
Budgeting for Rental Cars - Know the Right Questions to Ask
Not too long ago, a Department National DOI Burned Area Emergency Response Team
- Southern States - was sent to Phoenix, Arizona, to assess the fire effects and
prescribe treatments to protect lives and property. One member of the team
reserved a vehicle for $68 per day. When he returned the vehicle, he was shocked
to see charges for $340 in taxes for an 11 day period. Combining the taxes/fees
with the daily rental fee the total came to almost $100 per day or $1,092 for 11
days. Table 2 shows the breakdown.
Table 2
The Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC) indicates these fees are
consistent with the terms of the car rental agreement and are acceptable.
Government renters must pay all fees and taxes imposed by the state governments
whenever the renter himself pays the bill for the rental (i.e. individual BOA
card).
This is true even though the Government itself must later reimburse the
traveler. Currently, all states tax car rentals except Virginia and Florida, but
this can change anytime a state legislature wants.
Upon further research, it turns out that several U.S. cities really do rack up
the fees and taxes. According to a study issued by Travelocity, the average car
renter pays an extra 24.4 percent when renting a car at a major U.S. airport.
The study found that the worst offender was the great state of Texas with six of
the top 10 airports with the biggest difference between daily rental rates and
the actual costs. California was ranked as the state least likely to surprise
visitors with extra charges. The study provided the top 10 U.S. airports with
the largest jump in price between daily rate and total price (see Table 3
following page):
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D O I T R A V E L N E W S L E T T E R
DOI TRAVELER INFORMATION
Table 3
Lighten the Load, or Pay More
Travelers continue to experience increased charges
from most major airlines. Increases include items such as paper ticket fees,
reservation change fees, and a “meals for sale” program. Another increase over
the past six months is a domestic excess-baggage fee most major airlines are
charging for every bag weighing over 50 pounds. Previously, the limit was 70
pounds. The new charges will help provide some extra revenue to cash-strapped
carriers (Table 4).
Table 4
* Begins 10/1
** for 51-99 lbs
*** Does not accept over 100 lbs
What Do You Mean You Haven't Been to a Trip
Manager Training Class?
Don't let that stop you! Get on board! Start making
your own travel arrangements now and control your own travel plans! If you're
one of DOI's many savvy Internet users, just take a few moments to familiarize
yourself with the DOI online tutorial. Log onto Trip Manager at: www.tripmanager.com/doi. Then click
on the TUTORIAL button and you’re on your way! If you have questions, please
contact your Bureau Trip Manager System Administrator:
http://www.doi.gov/pfm/tmc/tmc_system_admin.html. If you haven’t completed
an Omega World Travel profile, go to
www.doitravel.com.
Traveler Profile Registration Online
Go to
www.doitravel.com, then click on the ‘Profile Registration’ button.
Omega World Travel will ensure your information will be available online in
TripManager within 72 business hours.
. . . And start booking your own travel today!
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D O I T R A V E L N E W S L E T T E R
DOI TRAVELER INFORMATION
OWT Airline Ticket Data
The following table shows updated OWT airline ticket
data.
OWT Airline Ticket Data |
October
2001—September 2002 |
|
Tickets
Issued |
Dollar Value
(in millions) |
Oct |
17,713 |
$5.72 |
Nov |
15,364 |
4.93 |
Dec |
8.993 |
2.15 |
Jan |
16,670 |
5.58 |
Feb |
15,872 |
5.34 |
Mar |
18,197 |
5.76 |
Apr |
18,665 |
6.31 |
May |
18,923 |
6.49 |
Jun |
13,180 |
5.72 |
Jul |
17,487 |
6.24 |
Aug |
15,428 |
6.69 |
Sept |
14,661 |
4.69 |
TOTAL |
206,238 |
$67.95 |
Newsletter Topics
Are there any topics you would like to see in the
DOI Travel Newsletter? If so, please let us know at
http://www.doi.gov/pfm/travel_newsletter/feedback.html.
OWT Airline Ticket Data |
February 2002
— January 2003 |
|
Tickets
Issued |
Dollar Value
(in millions) |
Feb |
15,872 |
$5.34 |
Mar |
18,197 |
5.76 |
Apr |
18,665 |
6.31 |
May |
18,923 |
6.49 |
Jun |
13,180 |
5.72 |
Jul |
17,487 |
6.24 |
Aug |
15,428 |
6.69 |
Sept |
14,661 |
4.69 |
Oct |
18,406 |
6.77 |
Nov |
14,273 |
4.61 |
Dec
|
7,453 |
3.16 |
Jan |
13,609 |
5.5 |
TOTAL |
186,154 |
$67.28 |
|