anyone at VA listening ? Anyone at all ?

[wholesaler]

If this "business" is a "BestJet" style "seller", which sells mostly discount/low yielding tickets (combined with the risks of going broke like BestJet), I would not be surprised if VA passed up on this "business" for that reason.

don't think you quite understand how a travel wholesaler works.

Unlike "no margin" bestjet, we are actually high margin & pass a good chunk of that margin onto agents, but we still have low overheads. We are not in some fancy street front location. Our rent is very cheap. We get very few walkins, except occasional person, who has "bags of cash".

We do better when clients book direct, as no agent commission. Unlike the expedias, we don't try & offer hundreds of hotels in 1 location, but rather the better ones in each star category + cars, tours etc. A one stop shop for agents. Agents do their own airfares unless we have something special, which we sometimes do, as some airlines offer us deals before going public, which is common with wholesalers, big industry groups.

 

[wholesaler]

And if that’s the case they’ll have to fly the airline dictated by their corporate policies, and/or will already have signed up to an FF program of their choice for the flights they’re already taking. A separate discretionary holiday purchase won’t change that equation.

Or iIf you’re suggesting there’s something to be gained from speculatively dealing with low value customers because one of them may become an FF in the future (and then won’t have to worry about which airline to fly policies, or that their selection may not be affected by routes, timing and pricing at the time) that’s an incredibly long speculative hope, and given the volume not worth worrying about – and moreover not something that’s going to help with actual revenue figures right now that you’re talking about.

not everyone has "corporate policies" & think many here overate the value of frequent flyer programs.

Who's talking low value? Some of our bookings are close to $100k. Most over $20k.

The client who flies SYD/MEL once a week for work purposes & doesn't pay for it out of own pocket, so pays top dollar for that, still might want a reasonable airfare to take the whole family to the USA for 3 weeks, especially when many kids.

 

[RisingPhoenix]

Just curious, I smell a sock puppet, how about we talk Corona, recessions, AKL, NAN, LAX? Maybe we can just have a session on the Coronas in AKL on the way to LAX instead?

 

[HS-TQE]

Just curious, I smell a sock puppet, how about we talk Corona, recessions, AKL, NAN, LAX? Maybe me can just have a session on the Coronas in AKL on the way to LAX instead?

I'm surprised talk of the "Ski Prices" in Colorado hasn't eventuated on this thread yet from the two accounts in question.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

If the OP's business name suddently came out, it would be straight out advertising.

 

[blankman]

I feel the OP's pain..

1) I have a friend that works as a BDM for virgin and morale has been low for years and only plummeting further. People that resign or transfer out are usually not replaced so it increases the workload of remaining staff considerably.

I also have friends that work for TMCs that often complain about their VA rep being unresponsive to the point of wondering whether they are still employed by VA.

2) Having used the group booking quote tool 15 times for SYD to LAX over the last 3 years, VA has been the most expensive by far every time- even when their published fares have been the cheapest on some occasions.

On the flipside QF and UA are always very quick to quote something competitive.

3) Even opening an accelerate account can be an administrative nightmare. It took 6 weeks to get mine opened though this is now supposed to be down to 1 to 2 weeks..

These examples I've heard about and experienced shows me they're not particularly hungry for new business.

All of this is such a shame as VA is generally fine in the air but it's bureaucracy and coughpy IT really let's it down.

 

[ozfflyer]

I feel the OP's pain..

1) I have a friend that works as a BDM for virgin and morale has been low for years and only plummeting further. People that resign or transfer out are usually not replaced so it increases the workload of remaining staff considerably.

I also have friends that work for TMCs that often complain about their VA rep being unresponsive to the point of wondering whether they are still employed by VA.

2) Having used the group booking quote tool 15 times for SYD to LAX over the last 3 years, VA has been the most expensive by far every time- even when their published fares have been the cheapest on some occasions.

On the flipside QF and UA are always very quick to quote something competitive.

3) Even opening an accelerate account can be an administrative nightmare. It took 6 weeks to get mine opened though this is now supposed to be down to 1 to 2 weeks..

These examples I've heard about and experienced shows me they're not particularly hungry for new business.

All of this is such a shame as VA is generally fine in the air but it's bureaucracy and coughpy IT really let's it down.

incredible. So VA is bleeding cash, but not getting out there to sell & at same time making it easier for travel agents. What do all their HQ staff do ?

 

[pauly7]

incredible. So VA is bleeding cash, but not getting out there to sell & at same time making it easier for travel agents. What do all their HQ staff do ?

About 800 of them are being walked out the door at the moment remember I expect morale isn’t exactly sky high nor productivity...

The ones left are working on cost cutting plans, route reductions and chicken sandwich menu planning for business class

 

[ozfflyer]

About 800 of them are being walked out the door at the moment remember I expect morale isn’t exactly sky high nor productivity...

The ones left are working on cost cutting plans, route reductions and chicken sandwich menu planning for business class

everything should revolve around sales, EVERYTHING & how to improve them, but there seems to be little emphasis on sales. Sending out a few emails isn't selling.

We had a retail business for many years & guess what, we bought more stuff from suppliers when their reps came knocking regularly, at the expense of those that didn't. Face to face is where it's at & always has been.

 

[Fortheloveofflying]

About 800 of them are being walked out the door at the moment remember I expect morale isn’t exactly sky high nor productivity...

They haven't got rid of the 750 yet. Whilst they have made quite a few people redundant, they have been hiring a plethora of contractors. A lot of their contractors have been working for many years at VA.

 

[ftm]

I’m going to be the odd one out here and say we have a great VA rep who is very proactive and responsive and we have private fares and enjoy working with them! Their agency support is so much easier to contact, and the people you get on the phone are more helpful than other airlines.

Everyone is different in how they work with reps and suppliers and what they expect of them. Our relationship with VA works well. Yes they’re not going to have the best systems or group fares etc, but you work with what you’ve got and you match the right client to the right supplier experience.

 

[wholesaler]

I’m going to be the odd one out here and say we have a great VA rep who is very proactive and responsive and we have private fares and enjoy working with them! Their agency support is so much easier to contact, and the people you get on the phone are more helpful than other airlines.

Everyone is different in how they work with reps and suppliers and what they expect of them. Our relationship with VA works well. Yes they’re not going to have the best systems or group fares etc, but you work with what you’ve got and you match the right client to the right supplier experience.

sounds great