March 2008 - The American Bar Association this month begins its next journey with online travel as it launches two new Orbitz for Business booking portals for member and staff travel. In addition to "superior technology," ABA hopes the OrbitzTLC customer care program will entice more of its 413,000-plus members to book their own business and personal travel through the new portal so the organization can better leverage its buying power.
As its existing contract for online travel neared expiration this spring, ABA in late 2007 began a competitive bid process to take its offering to the "next level."
ABA director of travel services Mary Bleakley led the request for proposals process during a four-month period. Responses were reviewed by staff and the recommendation to switch to Orbitz for Business from Travelocity Business was made to a standing committee on meetings and travel.
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Organization:
The American Bar Association, the largest voluntary professional association in the world with 413,000 members, providing law school accreditation, continuing legal education and programs to assist lawyers and judges |
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Volume:
$1.7 million annually for business travel for staff, leadership and speakers; $5 million booked by staff and members for ABA-related work and personal travel as part of membership benefits |
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Challenge:
Improve existing service levels, adoption rates, usage and member benefits with a new contract for online booking tools |
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Approach:
Begin competitive bid as contract signed in 2005 neared expiration; responses reviewed by staff and standing committee on meetings and travel during
a four-month process |
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Solution:
Selected Orbitz for Business to provide as of March 10 two online booking portals for staff and member travel, dedicated agents in Fargo, N.D., call center and its OrbitzTLC customer care program for automated monitoring of flights, notification of delays or cancellations and rebooking |
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When comparing bidders, ABA found better booking technology with Orbitz, as well as dedicated agents to handle increasing levels of complex, international travel and a new level of service with OrbitzTLC, according to ABA director of meetings and travel Marty Balogh. "Staff and members who reviewed responses were very impressed with the ease of using the Orbitz site," he said.
Orbitz Keeps Its Eyes On The Skies And Competitors
To distinguish its product offering from competitors, Orbitz created a customer care program that sends electronic schedule reminders to travelers and also monitors weather, air traffic conditions and emergencies to provide advance notice of delays and cancellations.
In 2007, Orbitz sent more than 30 million alerts to travelers. That included more than 3 million sent to Orbitz for Business corporate travelers. The care center employs former air traffic controllers, weather forecasters, reporters and others to monitor travel conditions around the globe. Specialists in Chicago and Denver monitor every flight in the United States and focus on problems caused by security, weather or natural disasters. The goal is to provide more predictive analysis of delays and cancellations to help travelers achieve their travel objectives, said Orbitz for Business senior vice president, COO and general manager Dean Sivley.
"It's the level of service that travelers expect," said Balogh. "The frustration that people have of being at an airport and their flight is canceled and they are sent off to some line" to wait for rebooking is one that Balogh hopes to eliminate with the new contract.
"The fact that there is in place a whole electronic system that will alert you and rebook you" enhances the value of the travel program that ABA can provide to members, Balogh said. "The more we learned, the more we were impressed with the technology we could be delivering to our members. We were also impressed with how aggressively Orbitz went after the business."
Shut out of several bids from organizations that sought onsite, designated or dedicated travel agents, Orbitz for Business in the second half of 2007 "made enhancements to our offering," explained Sivley. The company announced that it had onsite, dedicated and designated travel agent capabilities, in addition to technology. It also announced plans to help small businesses source hotels and all-size companies manage meetings.
Orbitz partnered with others to provide service fulfillment. According to Sivley, "There were a number of deals that we felt like we got excluded [from] because we didn't have that capability. They weren't looking for 20 or 200 onsite agents, but needed some level of capability of either onsite or designated agents to couple with online [tools]. Even for professional service customers who are thought of as really high touch--they are--but they're looking to drive the majority of their business online."
Tale Of Two Portals
ABA's 900 employees book about 90 percent of $1.7 million in annual travel spend online. ABA staff and member bookings on its two existing booking portals total about $5 million. The current site has about 10,000 profiles of members who have booked travel.
"We have a core group of people who are involved in the governance of the association," Balogh said. "That group alone is probably 4,500 or so members, who have leadership roles in the ABA." This group represents a key market for the member booking portal, as leaders book their travel to various association meetings.
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"The frustration that people have of being at an airport when their flight is canceled and they are sent off to some line to wait for rebooking ... The fact that there is in place an electronic system that will alert you and rebook you, it's the level of service that travelers expect."
— Marty Balogh, director of meetings and travel, American Bar Association
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Yet, ABA is optimistic that the enhanced level of service could boost usage by more of its 413,000 members. Through the ABA booking sites, leadership and officers, law students, speakers, guests and staff book ABA-related travel. But any member or staff may use the second site to book any travel to take advantage of ABA's negotiated air, car rental and hotel rates, and negotiated rates for meetings.
Through the portals, members may book travel to any of ABA's more than 320 meetings, including its annual conference, which typically draws 16,000 attendees, and midyear meeting, which hosts about 4,000 delegates.
ABA first moved to online booking in 2005 and "cut its travel service fees by 63 percent," slashed its average ticket price 31 percent and achieved an 80 percent to 90 percent adoption rate, according to a case study compiled by former provider Travelocity Business. Travel agents based in San Antonio also were available by telephone to book complex travel.
Prior to 2005, ABA had operated an inplant travel agency, but "haven't had agents onsite for four or five years," due to the cost of providing them, Balogh said.
With the new Orbitz contract, ABA staff and members can reach designated travel agents based at Upstream's Fargo, N.D., call center. Upstream operates the Fargo call center for Orbitz, as well as other travel clients.
While the interface and name will change, ABA expects staff and members to easily migrate to the new booking portals.
"There's definitely value in the brand," Balogh said. "One of the beauties of Orbitz is the solid brand and ease of use." Nevertheless, ABA staff was trained and member messages were sent to virtual and physical inboxes.
"It was important for us to identify a solution that takes our program to the next level, while giving travelers an easy-to-use and reliable interface," according to Balogh. The "biggest change" to its existing travel management program, Balogh said, "is the TLC program."
