HOTLINE: 16Oct

MARKETING NEWS   We Love Canada Save $20* per person each way on Air Canada domestic flights PLUS receive free meal on roundtrip flights.   *Conditions apply. Save $20 per person per direction when airfare is booked on Air Canada with Flight Centre. Airfare must originate in Canada with travel completed by November 15, 2015. Valid on new bookings only. Some restrictions and blackout dates might apply depending on seasonality. Valid for all applicable bookings made through a Flight Centre store, with offer available to online bookings made at www.flightcentre.ca post-booking. Not combinable with any other offers unless specified. Full terms and conditions apply to all bookings. Please ask your consultant for more details. Offer is subject to availability and may be withdrawn at any time without notice. Offer expires November 15, 2015.   Click HERE for more details.

PRODUCT NATION KTM Fuel Shortages Due to the recent fuel crisis in Nepal, there have been some cancellations of  flights to Kathmandu(KTM).  If you have a customer who is travelling to KTM in the next few weeks and have received a schedule change for later dates and they do not work for your customer please contact your PDM for further assistance.  Some airlines have provided PDM’s with a procedure to process a refund.

TTC NEWS   Does your passenger have a long name?   If your passenger has given you their name or someone they are travelling with and it is over 26 characters (this includes the salutation – Mr/Mrs/Ms, the slash (/) between the last and first name and any spaces), then you will need to call the airline to see how they would like you to make the reservation.   Some airlines will ask you to put the full last name and only some letters of the first name. They may advise you to drop some of the last name letters or ask you to only put the initial for the first name. As every airline has a different process, please make sure to call the airline first before making the booking.   For the Airlines A-Z go to: Airlines A-Z   Each airline has a maximum number of characters that will fit on the e-ticket and if you exceed that, you will run into issues where the ticket may not run or if it does run, the reservation will cancel. If this happens, most airlines will not assist with reinstating space.   AIRLINE NEWS   Air Canada Training Survey   We’ll be putting together a series of short (15-20 mins) on demand online training sessions on Air Canada over the next few weeks. We’d like to know what you’d like to learn about most, so please take this very short survey to help us put this program together.  Click HERE for survey . UA Eliminates Baggage Fees on 2nd Bag to Australia/NZ   United have eliminated 2nd checked bag charge for Australia and New Zealand customers. The 2nd checked bag charge for all customers traveling to/from Australia and New Zealand will be eliminated, regardless of point of origin or point of sale. Effective for booking and ticketing on/after November 4, 2015 and for travel on/after December 17, 2015, all passengers will receive two free checked bags. Married segments   This advice comes from Air France, but the same applies to any airline with married segments:   We wish to remind you that it is strictly forbidden to divorce any Air France married segments as well as introducing fictitious ticket numbers in order to bypass the ticket deadline notice system. In the event that these practices continue to arise, the files in question will be automatically cancelled without notice.   Since divorcing married segments result in loss revenue, any booking resulting from this malpractice will generate an Agency Debit Memo (ADM) of $700 per divorced segment. For instance, in a PNR of 2 passengers, if there are 2 pairs of segments being un-married (inbound and outbound for eg.), the total amount of the ADM will be 2 passengers x 2 transactions x $700 = $2,800 Air China to Havana   Air China is pleased to announce the addition of Havana, Cuba to the Montreal service (flights CA879/CA880).   This new development will result in changes to flight departure times for all sectors as well as the operating flight days for departures from Montreal. Please refer the below for details. The new flight schedules for departures 29 December 2015-25 March 2016 are now available in your GDS.   NEW SCHEDULE: 29 December 2015 to 25 March 2016   FLIGHT  DEP ARR DEP ARR OPERATING CA879 PEK 13:00 YUL 13:50 YUL 16:20 HAV 20:15 TU, FRI, SUN CA880 HAV 09:00 YUL 12:30 YUL 14:30 PEK 17:30 MO, WED, SAT     HOT TOUR NEWS   Cosmos European tours from under $1000   More and more Canadians are discovering the joys of escorted tours: a hassle-free way to make the most of your holiday while stretching your dollar, in the company of new found friends and an expert tour director.   Cosmos, the leader in value-priced escorted motorcoach tours, has designed six European tours (with an additional itinerary of Morocco) for 2016, starting at $999 Canadian per person (airfare not include).  Itineraries range from the Irish Explorer or Jewels of Spain & Portugal (each 9 days) to the 10 Sicily Discovery.   More than a third of Cosmos passengers are travelling on their own, so the company has come up with a few ways to make the most of your budget. The company offers a “guaranteed share” program, whereby they match you up with a roommate of the same gender in twin-bedded rooms, and you pay only the double rate. If no other traveller books a guaranteed share on your vacation, you get a single room for no additional charge.  However, if you’re a solo traveller who prefers the privacy of your own room, you can enjoy a saving of $200 off the single supplement when you book by November 24 this year.   Travellers who have previously travelled with any of the Globus family of brands are also eligible for an additional 5 per cent off every tour.

CRUISE NEWS   Celebrity Cruises Webinar   Learn about Celebrity Cruises in Europe 2016 so you can sell them confidently and earn great commission!   Click HERE to Register for webinars on either Oct 28 or Nov 14. Fathom Cruises -Webinars   Please join us to learn about our newest partner, Fathom, the pioneer of social impact travel. Fathom will offer your clients something very different in cruise travel: a mindful and meaningful journey grounded in the belief that even a few days out of a busy life can make a lasting contribution to the wider world we live in.   Oct 22 – 9am EST – Click HERE to register. Oct 22 – 9am PST – Click HERE to register.   After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

OTHER   BA LHR Terminal Moves   From yesterday, 14 October 2015, eight long-haul routes will be moving from Terminal 5 at London Heathrow, to Terminal 3. All British Airways services to and from Accra, Cape Town, Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, Nairobi, Phoenix and Vancouver will move from London Heathrow Terminal 5 to Terminal 3. The move of these long-haul flights is the last part of British Airways’ consolidation into two terminals at Heathrow, following the closure of Terminal 1 in June 2015.   London Heathrow Terminal 3 has undergone extensive refurbishment work over the past few months. Departing customers will use a new check-in area in, where there is a brand new dedicated area for premium customers. The airport has also enhanced its baggage system, which will ensure a smoother and faster transfer of bags between flights in Terminals 3 and 5.   There is a Galleries First lounge and Galleries Club lounge in departures Zone F. The Elemis Travel Spa within the Galleries Club lounge is reopening to coincide with the long-haul services moving into Terminal 3. The American Airlines arrivals lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 3 is available to all eligible American Airlines customers and eligible British Airways customers on flight numbers BA206, BA208 and BA218. All other lounge eligible British Airways arrivals at Terminal 3 are invited to use the British Airways Arrivals lounge in Terminal 5.

Hotline: Thursday 15Oct15

PRODUCT NATION TUD Air Shop Pricing Errors It has come to our attention that there are some fare storing and pricing issues while Air Shopping in TUD.  We have notified Travelport and they are working on a resolution. Once the issue has been corrected we will advise. This system error is causing the system to force and store a fare basis that may not be valid for travel. If you have built your Universal Record using Air Shop, you will need to cancel the fare stored during the Air Shop, and use the Best Price option to store the current fare. Here is an example of an incorrect fare: You MUST  delete/garbage your original fare and best price/add current fare to the booking in order for fare to be valid. Do not use the “thumbs up” to validate the fare.  TTC will now be Q/99ing them back if they come through that way for invalid fare.  Any further questions please contact your PDM.

TTC NEWS   TTC Exchange quote mask 101   When adding segments to your exchange quote mask, please be sure you are not using commas or any other punctuation other than periods or dashes to separate your required segments. It is important you list ALL of the segments you wish to appear on your reissued ticket – regardless of, if those segments are changing or not.  In addition, please list the segment numbers as you see them in terminal, not TUD as TUD does not count ARNKs.

AIRLINES NEWS   Lufthansa GDS fee reminder   The LH group have added a GDS surcharge (Called a distribution charge fee) of 16 euros on any ticket that is issued through a GDS on LH, LX, OS and SN ticket stock   By booking LH flights using the AC code, the ticket will plate to AC and the 16 Euro fee will not be added to the fare. You will still get commission on these tickets. Please remember to book all LH, LX, OS and SN transatlantic flights as AC codeshares.

HOT TOUR NEWS   Busabout Loops!   New for 2016 – Busabout have a hop on hop off loop pass.  Fantastic for those backpackers. Click HERE to view flyer with full details.

SUPPLIER NEWS   Air Transat USA baggage fee policy   Air Transat passengers travelling to the U.S. in Economy will now be charged $25 for a first checked bag, for travel as of Nov. 1.   Along with the charge, the maximum weight of the baggage will increase from 20kg to 23kg. Transat’s no-fee policy for checked bags for all other destinations in the South and Europe remains unchanged.   Travellers who book a cruise departing from the US through Transat Holidays will continue to be able to take advantage of the 25kg luggage allowance. Clients who purchase Option Plus for extra privileges in Economy are entitled to one piece of luggage with a total weight of 28kg when travelling to the US. Club Class passengers can take advantage of a baggage allowance of two pieces of luggage with a total weight of 40kg when travelling to the U.S.   The new first checked bag rates will apply to all of Air Transat’s destinations in the United States, including Orlando and Fort Lauderdale in Florida and Las Vegas in Nevada.   For details on Air Transat’s baggage policies, visit airtransat.ca.

Useful Contacts with ACV   Avoid the frustration of calling us & waiting on hold … free up your time by sending us an email instead for any of the following:   [if !supportLists]·         [endif]Add seat selection, an Aeroplan# or Hotel request to a file:  apfax@vacv.com [if !supportLists]·         [endif]Change or add a connector to an existing file:  connectors@vacv.com (must be done the same day as the original booking & the same class of service must be available) [if !supportLists]·         [endif]Add payment to cruise bookings online through our website:  www.aircanadavacations.com/agents OR call our dedicated cruise payment line at:  1-866-249-9876 [if !supportLists]·         [endif]Send SUN ITC package price match requests (including Las Vegas) over $50 per person to:  sales@vacv.com   It is our goal to respond to you within 1 hour, Monday through Friday. Are you receiving our once a day newsletter, the “Daily Buzz”?  If not, register today at www.aircanadavacations.com/buzz   Are you on Facebook?  Request to be our friend at Air Canada Vacations – Travel Agents.  This is a great way to keep up to date on our latest promotions, agent incentives & FAM trips.

$EN$E   INTRUDER ALERT!  BE AWARE; KNOW WHO TO CALL & STAY SAFE   A shop within the FC business experienced an intruder who had accessed an unlocked back door of the shop this past weekend. Luckily the intruder was scared off when there was no excuse available as to why he was there without authorization. Please ensure your team’s safety at all times by keeping back doors locked, discussing your shops BUDDY system; who is your buddy team? What are the emergency contact details of your shop including mall security? Having these discussions with your team regularly will create the confidence needed to react appropriately and quickly.  Please ensure all members of your team are aware and that you’ve posted an “Emergency Contact Form” in your shop. These forms and further information pertaining to Workplace Safety can be found on the Work Place Safety Intranet page or by clicking HERE.