KarlB737 From United States, joined Mar 2004, 2379 posts, RR: 11 Posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 867 times:
With the hope of getting more passengers in the immediate and surrounding areas of Toledo to use their own airport a Rewards Plan is now available. This plan hopes to stimulate at least some additional flyers to use TOL instead to making the drive north to DTW. A similar program began at RFD in its first effort to attract flyers. Their program is called "Miles Ahead".
From the RFD Website:
"MilesAhead is our regionally-sponsored customer rewards program. Rewards range from cash rebates, free airline tickets, and other coupons and giveaways from supporting businesses."
The TOL Plan according to the article states:
"For their first Express Rewards round-trip flights, travelers registered on the port authority Web site will receive gift certificates valid for a large one-topping Marco's Pizza. The first-trip reward is valid only for trips on Continental Connection, Delta Connection, Northwest Airlink, or American Eagle flights.
After that, participants may accumulate travel valid for gift cards of rising value - starting at $25 for three round-trips and peaking at $300 for 20 round-trips - that may be redeemed for gift certificates at Marco's, Mancy's restaurants, The Andersons, or the Town Center at Levis Commons."
I think these plans are a good idea to spark interest and provide that extra incentive to initially get the ball rolling.
Jimi From United States, joined May 2007, 14 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 4 days 20 hours ago) and read 785 times:
Do you know if TOL passengers flying Allegiant can make their reservations thru the Port Authority/Airport web site and take advantage of this program?
Flyinryan99 From United States, joined Feb 2001, 1463 posts, RR: 14 Reply 3, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 758 times:
Quoting Jimi (Reply 1): Do you know if TOL passengers flying Allegiant can make their reservations thru the Port Authority/Airport web site and take advantage of this program?
From what the article said...no. I'll see if I can get some clarification on this. I am not sure if they will accept a copy of a reciept or not.
TOLtommy From United States, joined Dec 2003, 2611 posts, RR: 5 Reply 4, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 721 times:
I don't think you HAVE to make your reservation via the captive airport travel site. If you do, it will automatically track. My understanding is that if you purchase the ticket elsewhere, you can still get credit, you just have to do the legwork.
Pmk From United States, joined May 1999, 646 posts, RR: 3 Reply 5, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 698 times:
Well, as a travel agent in Toledo serving many corporate and leisure clients in Toledo I will tell you that this won't work. Fliers want direct flights, the only direct flights from Toledo are to Detroit, Cincinnati, and Chicago. With security and connection times it takes longer to fly than to drive and park in Cleveland, nobody wants to go Cincinnati and Chicago is a popular route but at $300 a ticket most people will drive it. So....nice try but in the end just a way to spend more of our hard earned tax dollars.
Oh and let us not forget Allegiant, it's great if you want to fly to Florida on a Thursday or Tuesday.
TOLtommy From United States, joined Dec 2003, 2611 posts, RR: 5 Reply 6, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 4 days 10 hours ago) and read 693 times:
Quoting Pmk (Reply 5): the only direct flights from Toledo are to Detroit, Cincinnati, and Chicago
Um, how about CLE and ATL?
Quoting Pmk (Reply 5): With security and connection times it takes longer to fly than to drive and park in Cleveland
When was the last time you cleared security at TOL vs DTW or CLE? I've spent more time in line at DTW (until I became a NW elite) than it takes to fly from TOL. There's NO WAY it takes longer to fly than it does to drive and park (and clear security) at CLE. DTW on a perfect day? Maybe. But my last trip from DTW took over 20 minutes to find a space in the Mac Deck alone. And DTW has raised long term parking rates to $18 per day! It's much easier to use TOL when everything works out.
Ouboy79 From United States, joined Nov 2001, 2881 posts, RR: 31 Reply 7, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 644 times:
I like the plan, but would also like to see additional rewards such as...
- Monthly drawing for a trip to Orlando, Vegas, etc...the old frequenty flyer program from the 80s and 90s use to have this.
- Add rewards for Visa gift cards that aren't restricted to a merchant.
- Offer free Wi-Fi and discounts on concession items for frequent travelers...not the one time users.
- Offer free parking to the elite crowd as well.
The key is to target the business traveler and offer incentives...nothing goes more than saving them $20 on parking for the week, or making that cup of coffee free or cheap, or allowing them to jump online and do some work without having to stuff Opti-Fi's pockets.
As far as PMK's comments...I think this just demonstrates the problems with the local travel agent crowd up there. He doesn't even know what cities are served nonstop from TOL - so how is he to offer the flights? Allegiant offers flights to Sanford-Orlando and St. Petersburg - does he offer those...and on the days they actually operate? What about the flights to Atlanta? The Toledo market has produced over 200 passengers a day on the route before, so the market is there.
The other part...if the nonstop flights are there, how likely is it for the local travel agents to push them? Or will they continue to send people north? Personally it just shows ignorance on their part and the lack of education on the local offerings. Also, if connections were such a problem, why do airports in cities of similar size do so well sending people to the larger hubs to connect? Personally when I fly into TOL, I have connected through DTW on several occasions. The main reason, when I get off the last plane - I want to be at the destination and not worrying about traffic. I also like the additional credit to my SkyMiles account thanks to the code-share. Then going the other way around, I definitely enjoy checking in, going through security, and being at the gate in about 10 minutes total.
Just another reason why Travel Agents are a waste of time and a source of misguided and improper information. Cut out the middle man and go directly through the airline...definitely saves on the headaches I have found.
FWAERJ From United States, joined Jun 2006, 811 posts, RR: 1 Reply 8, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 607 times:
Quoting Ouboy79 (Reply 7): I like the plan, but would also like to see additional rewards such as...
- Monthly drawing for a trip to Orlando, Vegas, etc...the old frequenty flyer program from the 80s and 90s use to have this.
- Add rewards for Visa gift cards that aren't restricted to a merchant.
- Offer free Wi-Fi and discounts on concession items for frequent travelers...not the one time users.
- Offer free parking to the elite crowd as well.
I came up with a similar idea for FWA, and I e-mailed the idea to my buddy at FWA. The rewards program would be similar to TOL's... but it would work like this.
-Rewards would be in the form of American Express-branded "universal" prepaid gift cards good wherever American Express cards are accepted in the US.
-You could book on any website or through any travel agent with any payment method offered (credit/debit card, PayPal, BillMeLater, etc.)... FWA and AmEx Incentive Services would take care of the rest.
-The first roundtrip flight booked after 60 days of enrolling would give you a $25 AmEx prepaid card. Then, every additional flight you would take adds $5 to your account ($3 for G4 flights). Rewards would be sent automatically every 6 months: if you have less than $20 in rewards, rewards would roll over into the next period until you accumulate $20 in rewards.
-Certain flights (new service routes, routes with lower volume) could have promotions with $10-$20 in rewards.
BTW, since FWA's Wi-Fi is free, there's no need to add that to the rewards program.
XJRamper From United States, joined Dec 2003, 2091 posts, RR: 54 Reply 9, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 4 days 1 hour ago) and read 588 times:
Quoting TOLtommy (Reply 4): Care to expound upon that deep thought?
With years and years of driving pax away with no consistency in route or fare structure in toledo, plus the lack of any sort of equipment that used to fly in here, the airport now suddenly is doing a half assed attempt to draw folks back in. The port needs to get something else in there, something exciting and new something different than the dolldrum of RJ's and props. People aren't as dumb as they seem when flying, they know what they are flying on. Not going to argue that they won't know that it is a Beech 1900D model, but the sure as hell know that it is a small plane and they would rather fly from DTW than TOL. And distance to DTW is a bullshit excuse, FNT has mainline flying into that airport along with a whole host of other airlines. The kicker? They are closer to DTW than TOL is! Tommy, I am preaching to the choir with you on that part. I hope I explained myself well enough. Personally, I thought "Oh TOL" sufficed.
Pmk From United States, joined May 1999, 646 posts, RR: 3 Reply 10, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 3 days 21 hours ago) and read 539 times:
Quoting TOLtommy (Reply 6): Quoting Pmk (Reply 5):
the only direct flights from Toledo are to Detroit, Cincinnati, and Chicago
Um, how about CLE and ATL?
I did mention Cleveland. Regarding Atlanta, no business traveler, at least not the ones from the large companies we book, or our wealthy clients are going to take any flight at 6:00AM and 1:00PM is too late. As for as Cleveland as I said they would far rather drive to Cleveland. The executives we work with would far rather drive to Cleveland from Toledo then pay the expense and fly.
Quoting Pmk (Reply 5):
With security and connection times it takes longer to fly than to drive and park in Cleveland
When was the last time you cleared security at TOL vs DTW or CLE? I've spent more time in line at DTW (until I became a NW elite) than it takes to fly from TOL. There's NO WAY it takes longer to fly than it does to drive and park (and clear security) at CLE. DTW on a perfect day? Maybe. But my last trip from DTW took over 20 minutes to find a space in the Mac Deck alone. And DTW has raised long term parking rates to $18 per day! It's much easier to use TOL when everything works out.
All our clients are elite status and parking is usually not an issue as they, for the most part, take a limo.
Quoting Ouboy79 (Reply 7): As far as PMK's comments...I think this just demonstrates the problems with the local travel agent crowd up there. He doesn't even know what cities are served nonstop from TOL - so how is he to offer the flights? Allegiant offers flights to Sanford-Orlando and St. Petersburg - does he offer those...and on the days they actually operate? What about the flights to Atlanta? The Toledo market has produced over 200 passengers a day on the route before, so the market is there.
You are showing your ignorance rather than mine. I book where a client asks me to send them to and from. The GDS tells me what flights are there, this is not the old days with an OAG and piece of paper.
Quoting Ouboy79 (Reply 7): Just another reason why Travel Agents are a waste of time and a source of misguided and improper information. Cut out the middle man and go directly through the airline...definitely saves on the headaches I have found.
The next time you get a cancellation from an airline and get a computer generated re-route that has you on an out bound a day after your return remember to call the airline and see what they can do. Also be very careful about what you say, check with people like TOPAZ before you say how big a waste of time agents are.
Ouboy79 From United States, joined Nov 2001, 2881 posts, RR: 31 Reply 11, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 3 days 18 hours ago) and read 501 times:
Quoting Pmk (Reply 10): All our clients are elite status and parking is usually not an issue as they, for the most part, take a limo.
Pretty small customer base then if you just serve Toledo.
Quoting Pmk (Reply 10): You are showing your ignorance rather than mine. I book where a client asks me to send them to and from. The GDS tells me what flights are there, this is not the old days with an OAG and piece of paper.
So is there no value added benefit to your service besides as an order taker that any airline customer service agent can do...including arranging ground transportation? Considering you are in your what...later 20s, early 30s...I don't think either of us had to worry about the old days with a copy of OAG. I would think that the benefit of using a travel agent is to have someone, who is familiar with the product offerings, to offer all available options. So a customer says they want to go from Detroit to Dallas - do you mention the Toledo option that (for hypothetical sake) is cheaper? Or do you just punch in the request and move on to the next one? I'm just somewhat concerned that a Toledo-area travel agent wasn't even aware of two other markets served nonstop from the city. How many people did you offer the Dallas nonstop flight when American offered it from Toledo?
Quoting Pmk (Reply 10): The next time you get a cancellation from an airline and get a computer generated re-route that has you on an out bound a day after your return remember to call the airline and see what they can do. Also be very careful about what you say, check with people like TOPAZ before you say how big a waste of time agents are.
Knock one wood...have never had a problem with that yet. Have experienced wonderful results from airport employees and CSRs over the phone on re-route issues due to weather or other problems.
Pmk From United States, joined May 1999, 646 posts, RR: 3 Reply 12, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 449 times:
Quoting Ouboy79 (Reply 11): Pretty small customer base then if you just serve Toledo.
No, we serve mostly the Toledo area, our clients are either Toledoans or are former Toledo area residents.
Quoting Ouboy79 (Reply 11): So is there no value added benefit to your service besides as an order taker that any airline customer service agent can do...including arranging ground transportation? Considering you are in your what...later 20s, early 30s...I don't think either of us had to worry about the old days with a copy of OAG. I would think that the benefit of using a travel agent is to have someone, who is familiar with the product offerings, to offer all available options. So a customer says they want to go from Detroit to Dallas - do you mention the Toledo option that (for hypothetical sake) is cheaper? Or do you just punch in the request and move on to the next one? I'm just somewhat concerned that a Toledo-area travel agent wasn't even aware of two other markets served nonstop from the city. How many people did you offer the Dallas nonstop flight when American offered it from Toledo?
There is of course more value to my service than just an order taker, we do offer flights, however almost to a person our clients request, and this is stored in their profiles, they will only fly from TOL if there is a direct flight. I do not mention the Toledo to Dallas option if their profile states direct flights when ever possible, offering that would be against our client's wishes.
I was aware of those markets but in all honestly I was scribing off a quick response and didn't mention them. I was not an agent when AA offered that direct flight however very few of our clients travel to or from Dallas.
Quoting Ouboy79 (Reply 11): Knock one wood...have never had a problem with that yet. Have experienced wonderful results from airport employees and CSRs over the phone on re-route issues due to weather or other problems.
You obviously didn't travel on NW this summer. Shoot, when I was traveling at the end of July I got re-routed to misconnects twice on a trip I took! Northwest's problems made us a lot of friends and brought us a lot of business when we were able to reaccomodate passengers when NW wouldn't or couldn't.
Before I became an agent I was in the same camp as you, why bother with an agent. I'll tell some of my clients for a quick hop from say Toledo to ORD they don' t need me for that short hop direct flight. However, when one of my clients calls up and needs to get to Krasnodar tonight, or one of our other clients who flies staff in and out of Iraq on a daily basis that's when an agent is your best friend and strongest ally.
Flyinryan99 From United States, joined Feb 2001, 1463 posts, RR: 14 Reply 13, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 23 hours ago) and read 396 times:
Quoting Pmk (Reply 12): There is of course more value to my service than just an order taker, we do offer flights, however almost to a person our clients request, and this is stored in their profiles, they will only fly from TOL if there is a direct flight. I do not mention the Toledo to Dallas option if their profile states direct flights when ever possible, offering that would be against our client's wishes.
Do you share any of that information with airlines and the Port Authority? If you don't, then there is something definitely wrong with that. I don't care if there is a "confidentiality agreement" is in place, all you have to do is say something like "we have XXX amounts of people going to here or there." If you aren't, you're just another person hurting the Toledo economy.
Quoting Pmk (Reply 12): However, when one of my clients calls up and needs to get to Krasnodar tonight, or one of our other clients who flies staff in and out of Iraq on a daily basis that's when an agent is your best friend and strongest ally.
This is a time when a travel agent is very worth it. I also think traveling internationally they are very handy because they are supposed to be the experts at it. However, I feel they are comepletely worthless to me (just to me) because I can do the same thing without the $30 per ticket fee. My wife wanted to book a ticket to Mexico and wanted to go through an agent. I researched the sites and stuff but she still wanted to go through the agent. The agent went to the *same* website I was using and booked the ticket right through there. Granted they may get some kind of discount/kickback but I don't know if it was worth the $60. How long have you been an agent? Just wondering so I can ask more questions down the road...
Getting back to the topic at hand. I think this is a good idea and it's definitely a step in the right direction. I also think they need to do a drawing for a free flight somewhere on any picked airline every month. Lately, I must say I have heard more advertisements for CLE then for TOL...oh wait I haven't heard a one in about 3 months, if not longer. Like I've said lately...I just don't think they (the entire Port Authority) care enough about the airport to really try hard to make passenger services work.
Ouboy79 From United States, joined Nov 2001, 2881 posts, RR: 31 Reply 14, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 369 times:
Quoting Flyinryan99 (Reply 13): I just don't think they (the entire Port Authority) care enough about the airport to really try hard to make passenger services work.
Where are the most union workers in the Port Authority properties? I have a feeling there is more water at that location than anything - which would probably explain it.
Pmk From United States, joined May 1999, 646 posts, RR: 3 Reply 15, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 308 times:
Quoting Flyinryan99 (Reply 13): Do you share any of that information with airlines and the Port Authority? If you don't, then there is something definitely wrong with that. I don't care if there is a "confidentiality agreement" is in place, all you have to do is say something like "we have XXX amounts of people going to here or there." If you aren't, you're just another person hurting the Toledo economy.
Yep! And so does Northwest when we negotiate corporate contracts.
Quoting Flyinryan99 (Reply 13): This is a time when a travel agent is very worth it. I also think traveling internationally they are very handy because they are supposed to be the experts at it. However, I feel they are comepletely worthless to me (just to me) because I can do the same thing without the $30 per ticket fee. My wife wanted to book a ticket to Mexico and wanted to go through an agent. I researched the sites and stuff but she still wanted to go through the agent. The agent went to the *same* website I was using and booked the ticket right through there. Granted they may get some kind of discount/kickback but I don't know if it was worth the $60. How long have you been an agent? Just wondering so I can ask more questions down the road...
I've been an agent for just under a year however I have become the lead leisure agent and leisure agents do far much more difficult itineraries than business travelers....
An agent that books a ticket off a website doesn't know how to break a ticket to get a good fare, I sometimes spend hours breaking fares and figuring out the best deals. Those ZRGO4FUN are tough to find....
DTW757 From United States, joined Oct 2003, 1241 posts, RR: 3 Reply 16, posted (2 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 7 hours ago) and read 294 times:
Quoting XJRamper (Reply 9): FNT has mainline flying into that airport along with a whole host of other airlines. The kicker? They are closer to DTW than TOL is!
No, that's incorrect. TOL is 43 nautical miles from DTW and FNT is 48 nm from DTW. That part of it is either here nor there. You have to look at where the buying power is in the Metro area. The real buying power is coming from the areas north and northwest of Detroit. Rochester, Waterford, Troy, and Auburn Hills among others is where a good portion of the people with disposable income in the Detroit area reside. From those locations, FNT is actually closer than DTW is and a whole lot easier to get to. So that is why you are seeing FNT thrive like it is. If FNT had to rely sctricly on their own city, FNT would be worse off than TOL.
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