Comments on: Lack of airport transfer information online http://www.travel-rants.com/2009/09/15/lack-airport-transfer-transportation-information-online/ Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:52:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Alan http://www.travel-rants.com/2009/09/15/lack-airport-transfer-transportation-information-online/#comment-153165 Alan Sun, 04 Oct 2009 10:06:45 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=4813#comment-153165 Savvy travellers should do a little web surfing to find airport transfers to suit their requirements. Having said that, I can remember landing in Lagos in pre-Internet days when gangs of 'fixers' would meet you as you stepped onto the tarmac (shows you how long ago it was). One would get you though the health control (remember those little WHO yellow booklets?), another through immigration, another through customs, and then one to 'arrange transport into the city'. Each fixer would get 'dash' money. Then the driver of the cab taking you into town would stop in some unsavoury spot and tell you he was going 'off duty' -- unless you renegotiated the fare: usually double that already agreed. Savvy travellers should do a little web surfing to find airport transfers to suit their requirements. Having said that, I can remember landing in Lagos in pre-Internet days when gangs of ‘fixers’ would meet you as you stepped onto the tarmac (shows you how long ago it was). One would get you though the health control (remember those little WHO yellow booklets?), another through immigration, another through customs, and then one to ‘arrange transport into the city’. Each fixer would get ‘dash’ money. Then the driver of the cab taking you into town would stop in some unsavoury spot and tell you he was going ‘off duty’ — unless you renegotiated the fare: usually double that already agreed.

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]]> By: Alex Bainbridge http://www.travel-rants.com/2009/09/15/lack-airport-transfer-transportation-information-online/#comment-152505 Alex Bainbridge Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:31:25 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=4813#comment-152505 John "Everything is itemised" when you buy from a travel agent (due to their UK financial protection requirements). Tour operators don't have to itemise everything if selling under an ATOL (as a package) Tour operators use the lack of itemisation to cross-subsidise individual elements. Thats a whole new discussion in itself! Cheers. Alex John
“Everything is itemised” when you buy from a travel agent (due to their UK financial protection requirements). Tour operators don’t have to itemise everything if selling under an ATOL (as a package)

Tour operators use the lack of itemisation to cross-subsidise individual elements. Thats a whole new discussion in itself!

Cheers. Alex

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]]> By: John http://www.travel-rants.com/2009/09/15/lack-airport-transfer-transportation-information-online/#comment-152420 John Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:35:51 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=4813#comment-152420 I think the basic problem now is that Transfers are now costed as a seperate item when you book a holiday. In days gone by you were given a price for your holiday, that included everything In flight meal, transfers, fuel supplement etc. You either accepted the price or went elsewhere but wherever you went the price was all inclusive. Now adays where evrything is itemised people refuse to pay some of the charges for meals and transfers (I see some companies are now charging for baggage. At most large international airports there are good transport options but at the smaller ones paying for the tour operators transfer option would be cheaper and more convenient. Convenience being the crucial point. I think the basic problem now is that Transfers are now costed as a seperate item when you book a holiday. In days gone by you were given a price for your holiday, that included everything In flight meal, transfers, fuel supplement etc. You either accepted the price or went elsewhere but wherever you went the price was all inclusive.

Now adays where evrything is itemised people refuse to pay some of the charges for meals and transfers (I see some companies are now charging for baggage. At most large international airports there are good transport options but at the smaller ones paying for the tour operators transfer option would be cheaper and more convenient. Convenience being the crucial point.

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]]> By: Joel Brandon http://www.travel-rants.com/2009/09/15/lack-airport-transfer-transportation-information-online/#comment-152418 Joel Brandon Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:17:13 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=4813#comment-152418 Return on investment? Well the point is surely that if you are going to expect customers to part with hundreds of pounds to fly to a destination, the least you should be doing from a customer service perspective is informing them how close to that city the airport is and how you get there and the various costs. That way they can make an informed decision about the purchase. There was a recent Foresster report saying that the dissatisfaction level with online travel was higher than other sectors and this is one of the many reasons. When you buy any other product you can find all the information you need to make an informed decision and it's seen as a basic part of the 'product description'. If you really want to look at ROI, adding airport and transport information will attract natural search traffic from people who are inevitably looking for the information (if they haven't had transfers included). So the ROI comes from low cost customer aquisition from search and loyalty. <strong>Further information:</strong> Frommer's Unlimited 'Content and User Experience in Online Travel 2009' mentioned in the article <a href="http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,47562,00.html" rel="nofollow">Using Digital Channels To Calm The Angry Traveler</a> <a href="http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/travel-usability-2009.shtml" rel="nofollow">Also see the webcredible usability report</a> Return on investment? Well the point is surely that if you are going to expect customers to part with hundreds of pounds to fly to a destination, the least you should be doing from a customer service perspective is informing them how close to that city the airport is and how you get there and the various costs.

That way they can make an informed decision about the purchase. There was a recent Foresster report saying that the dissatisfaction level with online travel was higher than other sectors and this is one of the many reasons. When you buy any other product you can find all the information you need to make an informed decision and it’s seen as a basic part of the ‘product description’.

If you really want to look at ROI, adding airport and transport information will attract natural search traffic from people who are inevitably looking for the information (if they haven’t had transfers included). So the ROI comes from low cost customer aquisition from search and loyalty.

Further information:

Frommer’s Unlimited ‘Content and User Experience in Online Travel 2009′ mentioned in the article
Using Digital Channels To Calm The Angry Traveler
Also see the webcredible usability report

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]]> By: Darren Cronian http://www.travel-rants.com/2009/09/15/lack-airport-transfer-transportation-information-online/#comment-152387 Darren Cronian Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:48:10 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=4813#comment-152387 @ Gary Ah that old chestnut again. Return on time and investment. What a cop out! Why is everything about revenue. Surely its about giving consumers a good experiences, so that they return and book a holiday with the company again. @ Gary

Ah that old chestnut again. Return on time and investment. What a cop out! Why is everything about revenue. Surely its about giving consumers a good experiences, so that they return and book a holiday with the company again.

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