Difference between revisions of "Directory:Asaptickets.com"
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Revision as of 07:47, 21 October 2010
| ASAP Tickets | |
 | |
| Type | Private Company |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Template:Country data US San Francisco, California, USA |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Industry | Travel |
| Revenue | Private |
| Employees | 250 (2010) Travel Agents |
| Contact | {{{contact}}} |
| Reference | {{{reference}}} |
ASAP Tickets
ASAP Tickets is an online [agency] wholly owned and operated by International Travel Network, having its headquarters and offices in San Francisco, California.
The company offers both discounted economy and [class airfares], covering U.S. and international air travel markets.
Relying on a [service] business model, ASAP sells airline tickets primarily over the phone, utilizing internally trained [agents] – its core service workforce.
“ASAP” is an acronym, which stands for “As Soon As Possible”
highlighting the urgency of last-minute bookings, as the main concept of the brand.
Background
ASAP Tickets began to gain consumer recognition after its launch in 2004. At the time, traditional air travel-centered agencies had already been disintermediated or had diverted their focus towards leisure travel and cruise bookings. While a lot of businesses declared bankruptcy, ASAP Tickets emerged as a service-oriented alternative, which many consumers prefer to automated booking websites.
Today, the agency competes with such industry giants as Orbitz.com, Expedia.com, Travelocity.com and smaller travel companies that specialize in international travel.
Airfares
Growing sales volumes allowed the agency to negotiate private consolidator agreements and subsequently offer discounted fares, provided that these fares are not to be booked online by the general public, as stipulated by these wholesale contacts with airlines.
Due to the absence of direct online booking capabilities, ASAP Tickets' airfare search engine does not return any itineraries, therefore no total prices appear among search results. Instead, the website displays the lowest base fares the agency has access to, all of which are covered by its “lowest fare guarantee”.
At this moment, the agency offers international airfares from all major U.S. airports to several hundred cities worldwide, as well as flights originating in its key destinations.
Travel Agents
In order to complete the booking, customers are invited to call a dedicated reservation line. Each call is being answered by a live person and each customer is assigned with a personal travel agent, who has real-time direct access to airline seat inventories and airlines tariff displays using the leading Global Distribution Systems (GDS) - Sabre, Amadeus, Galileo and Travelport.
Contrary to common belief, ASAP Tickets agents are not divided into groups to service specific destinations or regions. The company develops and provides ongoing internal product training for its agents to ensure that they are able to switch from one destination to another. Compared to airline sales representatives, ASAP Tickets agents have a broader list of airline routes to check. On average, they are required to go through 12 routing/transfer options by at least 4 top-selling carriers on each call.
Every agent has a direct phone number, which they are free to disclose and thus initiate personal relationship with a customer. This practice is encouraged by company's management, because it allows the customers to get assistance from the same agent, regardless of the circumstances. Many ASAP Tickets agents are known to build their personal clientele this way.
Licenses/ Professional Associations
ASAP Tickets holds all the required certifications to operate as a travel service company in the state of California, being registered as California Seller of Travel (CST) under International Travel Network's registration. The company is also accredited by Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) and International Association of Travel Agents Network (IATAN). It's also a member of American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) and Better Business Bureau's (BBB) Online Reliability Program, with the current rating being A.
References
External links
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