ExpertFlyer Blog

One-on-One with Meredith Hanrahan, chief travel officer, Cheapflights.com

Each month, ExpertFlyer sits down with an executive in the travel industry to provide insight to changes in the industry and how it affects the way you do business.  It's another way ExpertFlyer is providing additional information to empower the business traveler.

 

This month ExpertFlyer sat down with Meredith Hanrahan, chief travel officer for Cheapflights.com.  Cheapflights.com is an online shopping comparison engine that makes it easy for consumers to research, compare and save on domestic and international trips.

“This is a good time to travel.  There are still deals out there for the early part of summer that are still at last year’s prices.”

 - Meredith Hanrahan, chief travel officer for Cheapflights.com

1)    As a leading US travel website for price search and comparison, what are some of the interesting and recent queries that are surfacing from travelers?

We’ve kept our eye on the how trends change search behaviors, such as the economic downturn, natural disasters and political transitions and we watch the rise and shift in popularity in travel destinations.  For example, we are seeing a downturn in travel to Greece and upturn in popular destinations, such as Cancun.  We just did a survey of emerging new summer travel spots around the world – ones that have seen a major jump in user interest from 2009 to 2010.  Highlights from the list include Minneapolis, Seattle, Dallas, San Francisco, Phoenix, Cancun, Manila and Dubai.

"Did you know?..."

Bonus Frequent Flyer Miles for Business Bi-Coastals on American
The war between airlines for business travelers on lucrative cross-country routes is heating up just as the busy summer travel season approaches, with American Airlines announcing a rare promotion featuring bonus miles for frequent flier members. Read more: http://bit.ly/akTNEP

Food Flight
Airlines keep coming up with creative ways to tick people off. Spirit Airlines announced this month that it will start charging passengers as much as $45 to bring a carry-on bag. RyanAir is getting ready to install coin-operated toilets. But there may be at least one upside to the current extra-fee-ganza: better airline food.  Read more: http://bit.ly/dd4sKt

Apple iPad for business: Three reasons to love it, three reasons to ignore it
Let’s look at why businesses and IT departments should keep an eye on the iPad, as well as the top reasons why it’s safe for the corporate world to ignore it at this point.  Read more: http://bit.ly/bPOC6B

One-on-One with Cory Garner, director of Merchandising Strategy, American Airlines

ExpertFlyer is proud to introduce its new One on One blog series of one-on-one interviews with some of the most knowledgeable and influential professionals in the travel industry.  Each month, ExpertFlyer will sit down with an executive in the travel industry to provide insight to changes in the industry and how it affects the way you do business.  It's another way ExpertFlyer is providing additional information to empower the business traveler.

This month ExpertFlyer sat down with Cory Garner, Director of Merchandising Strategy for American Airlines who discusses the "unbundling" of services in the airline industry.

“The most interesting part of the ‘unbundling’ trend has been underreported -- the airline industry is on the verge of giving the customer more visibility and control over their flying experience.”

-- Cory Garner, director of Merchandising Strategy, American Airlines

What exactly does a Director of Merchandising Strategy do at American Airlines?

If you have ever ordered a hamburger and been offered a combo meal, shopped for a new car and been tempted by the leather package or bought something on Amazon.com only to be prompted to buy something that similar customers have purchased in the past, you have experienced merchandising. As director of merchandising strategy, I place the right products at the right prices in front of the right customers for American Airlines customers to purchase.

US Air Rebrands and Changes Dividend Miles

The US Air frequent flyer program will now be called "GoAwards", however changes to the program may prevent its members from doing that any time soon.  The biggest change is the introduction of two additional tiers of awards. Now flyers have “Off-peak,” “Low, “Medium,” and “High” to chose from, when available.

However, according to the US Air website, the window of opportunity for Off-peak seats is sevearly limited, as will probably be for "Low" as well, which might result in more miles needed to fly then before.  You can compare the old award chart to the new one to see how the changes affect you.

The new changes go into effect January 6, 2010

Changes to Continental OnePass Program

Continental Airlines recently announced changes that are to take effect once it joins Star Alliance on October 27th.  Here's the breakdown:

• There will be no same-day change fees for Platinum Elite members for tickets purchased on or after Oct. 1, 2009.
• Reward travel will no longer require a Saturday night stay.
• Travelers will earn 100% Elite Qualification Miles and Elite Qualification Points on discounted fares regardless of where the ticket is purchased or issued.
• Elite bonuses will be based on the minimum mileage earned instead of the actual flight miles flown.
• Starting Dec. 15, Continental will charge $75 for non-elite frequent fliers to book a ticket less than 21 days in advance, as well as to redeposit miles or change a reservation. The fee is $25 for Gold Elite members, $50 for Silver Elite and no charge for Platinum Elite.
• Some mileage requirements for reward travel will change for travel booked beginning October 27, although coach tickets would continue to be available at 20,000 miles.
• Effective January 1, 2010:
  • All members worldwide will earn 125% base miles on F, C, J and D fare classes.
  • All members worldwide will earn 1.5 Elite Qualification Points when they purchase and fly in fare classes F, C, J, D, Z, Y and B on flights operated by Continental.