Volume 7  -  Fall 2009

Welcome to the Fall edition of Yale Travel Services News:

Wyndham Hotel Group

We are pleased to welcome Global Select by Wyndham Hotel Group, a premier chain wide discount program. Enjoy the benefits with 7,000+ hotels across North America and in more than 25 international destinations!

This new chain wide discount program includes some of the industry’s highest-quality hotels along with a host of benefits that will assist you in meeting your business objectives and adding value to your travel experience. Benefits include:

■ 10% discount at Wyndham Hotels and Resorts
■ 15% discount at all other hotel brands

Participating brands:

HOW TO BOOK
It’s easy! When booking your travel you may access these rates for business using Orbitz for Business. For personal use you may call the 800# for each brand and ask for the Yale University rate or visit any of these brand websites, click on the more search options button and enter in the Yale ID 1000006682 in the field before searching for availability.

To further enhance the value provided by Global Select, Wyndham Hotel Group properties are able to offer Yale travelers membership in WYNDHAM REWARDS®, their frequent traveler program (subject to participating hotels). WYNDHAM REWARDS® members earn points that can be redeemed for free room nights at most Wyndham Hotel Group hotels worldwide.

Additionally, WYNDHAM REWARDS® points can also be redeemed for airline miles, car rentals, timeshare and resort vacations or retail merchandise and services.

Starwood offers travel discounts

Whether traveling for business or pleasure, Yale employees can receive discounts at the Starwood Hotel chain. By enrolling in the Starwood Preferred Guest program, employees receive 20% off the best available room rate, as well as a 4 p.m. check-out and complimentary room upgrades. Enroll online by clicking the “Starwood Hotel” link at www.yale.edu/travel.

Discounted rates are already available on the Orbitz for Business website. Be sure to add your SPG number to your Orbitz for Business profile to assure you receive additional benefits, such as room upgrades, and late check out. For more information, contact Yale Travel Services at (203) 432-9962.

FastTrack Airport Parking

Many of you asked for a discount on the “self-park” daily rate and now we have it! Yale travelers who wish to self park at Bradley Airport can now save a $1.00 a day whether parking for business or pleasure travel.

Yale University’s new agreement with FastTrack Airport Parking allows Yale University employees to receive discount airport parking in several other cities in the Northeast, for either business or personal travel. In addition, if you enroll in FastTrack's Premier Parker program, you can earn points toward free parking and use an express exit option.

Where the Discount Is Available
The discounted parking rate through FastTrack is available in the following cities:

What You Need To Show To Get the Discount
To get parking discounts, you must present one of the following forms of identification when checking in at a FastTrack lot:

• Company ID badge
• Business card
• Premier Parker card (recommended)
• Corporate credit card

Earn Free Parking Through FastTrack's Premier Parker Program. When you  register for FastTrack’s Premier Parker Program, you can earn points toward free parking. You'll also automatically receive the “ Yale University” discount every time you park and show your remier Parker card. When you register, be sure to reference “ Yale University” in the "Company Discount" section of the enrollment form. 

If you are enrolled in the Premier Parker program, you also can take advantage of the Platinum Express Exit feature. This feature eliminates the need to wait for a cashier when you pick up your car. The receipt and keys will be in your car when you return. To use the Platinum Express Exit feature, simply link your corporate card to your Premier Parker Card when you register. When you take this step between now and Dec 31 st 2009, 100 bonus points will be added to your Premier Parker card and the Express Exit annual fee of $15 will be waived LIFETIME!!

• Register For FastTrack's Premier Parker Program

 

Amtrak improves Yale’s discount

• Travel Services has successfully renegotiated the university's agreement with AMTRAK and our discount on Acela trains in the New Haven to Washington, D.C. market has been increased from 25% to 30%.
• This discount is available for business or leisure travel and may only be obtained by calling Orbitz for Business at 1-877-72-191, or Worldtek Travel at 203-772-0470.
• All other travel may be booked online at www.amtrak.com

Amtrak - Yale Discounts - effective May 1, 2009

Eligible Personnel shall receive a fifteen percent (15%) discount on Acela Express and Metroliner Business Class travel on the following travel segments:

Boston, MA (South and Back Bay Stations), Route 128 MA, and Providence, RI to/from New York (Penn Station), Newark, NJ and Metropark, NJ.*

*Please note: New Haven to Boston and/or New Haven to New York is excluded from the discount.

Eligible Personnel shall receive a thirty percent (30%) discount on Acela Express Business Class travel on the following travel segments:

• New Haven, CT, New York Penn, NY, Newark, NJ, Metropart, NJ to/from Washington DC
• Boston MA (South and Back Bay Stations), Route 128 MA, Providence RI to/from Philadelphia PA, Wilmington DE and Washington DC
• Stamford CT, to/from Baltimore, BWI and Washington, DC
• Providence, RI to/from Baltimore, MD, New York (Penn Station) and BWI

The Discounts are calculated from the lowest available K at the time of booking.

US Airways expands discount

US Airways, the only airline serving Tweed-New Haven Airport, has given Yale travelers greater flexibility in obtaining discounts on selected fares.

The discounts now apply to selected fares to all US Airways destinations in Eurpoe, South America and the Middle East from all US gateways.

All applicable discounts are automatically applied
when travel is booked on Orbitz for Business.

Please visit www.yale.edu/travel and see “Carrier Discounts” for full details of our airline discounts.

OFB Direct Bill Reservation Procedures

The option to have your guest’s room charges direct billed to your P-Card is now available at the following hotels:

The Omni New Haven Hotel
The New Haven Hotel
The Study at Yale
Hilton Garden Inn, Milford

• Log into www.OrbitzforBusiness.net using your Yale.edu email address and password. ( If you have never used Orbitz for Business before click the “Forgot/Don’t have password”)
  
• Change the name to the traveler you are making the reservation for, and search for your requested dates as shown in illustration, by either: hotel chain, street address or city.

• Choose room type from negotiated rates by clicking the associated “Select” button

• Proceed booking as required, being sure to give contact phone and email address for the guest

• From the “Review and Purchase” page, check the direct bill box, and choose which expenses (room, room and parking, room and breakfast, etc) Yale will pay for. These items will be charged to the credit card that you place in Orbitz for Business.

• Complete the reservation. The confirmation page that will be sent to you (as the arranger) and the guest will reflect the choices you made. Please remember, “Direct bill” refers to the credit card you have placed in the record, the hotel will not be sending an invoice). You must use your Yale Purchasing card in order to be tax exempt.

See example:

CIBT forms may now be filled out online.

On June 24, 2009 online order entry, an exciting enhancement to CIBT's website, became available to all Yale travelers. This new process will allow clients who use the CIBT website, www.cibt.com (http://www.us.cibt.com/), to complete the order form through a secure online system. The information that will be collected online is the same information travelers currently provide by hand on the "CIBT Order Form". We are pleased to announce this new functionality and believe that it will bring new efficiencies to the visa and passport procurement process for university travelers.

The benefits of this new online order entry to both travelers and travel planners are many. The easy-to-navigate online questionnaire makes it even easier for travelers to provide the information CIBT needs to quickly process their visa and passport requests. It will minimize the delays that sometimes result from the need to clarify hand-written information. Since the information entered online will seamlessly flow into the CIBT system, CIBT will be able to alert travelers via email the moment they scan their passports into their processing centers. This new system brings expediency, convenience, and accuracy to our customers without compromising any elements of the current process. Travelers who preferred the previous method of obtaining forms and instructions can still access this information without creating an order online.

Travel Services is pleased to announce this enhancement as it promises to streamline the visa and passport process resulting in a better overall experience for Yale travelers without compromising the integrity of any of the data that is submitted to CIBT. As always, we welcome your feedback.

 

-Are you ready for "Secure Flight"?

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will soon implement the Secure Flight Program. This letter describes the latest updates and its impact on you as a traveler.

Secure Flight overview
The Secure Flight program conducts pre-screening of passenger information against federal government watch lists for domestic and international flights. Secure Flight is designed to facilitate air travel and the screening and boarding processes, while adding additional layers of protection from security threats. The TSA collects the minimum amount of personal information necessary to conduct effective watch list matching (your full name, gender, and date of birth).

Secure Flight changes for OFB
As mentioned in an earlier communication, you should confirm that your name, gender and date of birth in your profile matches the full name of the valid, government-issued photo ID you use when traveling. Failure to enter Secure Flight information may result in additional screening at the airport and, potentially, denied boarding. Please contact your OFB site administrator at 432-9962 to facilitate any needed changes to your name.

Orbitz for Business masks all of your personal identifiable Secure Flight information. Secure Flight information includes:

> Gender
> Date of birth
> Redress number (if applicable)
> Known traveler number (if applicable)

By the end of the year, Secure Flight information stored in your profile will automatically be included in the booking path and transmitted to the airlines when you make a reservation. The airlines will then send this Secure Flight information on to the TSA.

If there is no Secure Flight information in your profile, then you must enter it on the Flight Details page in the booking path. If you select the Save traveler’s preferences to My Account option, the Secure Flight information will be stored in your profile for future flights.

OFB will also start sending Secure Flight information to the airlines for international flights by the end of the year.

Additional resources
For more information about the Secure Flight program, check these resources:

TSA Secure Flight overview
http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/secureflight/index.shtm

TSA Secure Flight press release
http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2009/0512.shtm

TSA Secure Flight FAQs
http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/secureflight/faqs.shtm#traveler_faqs