Welcome to the Fall edition of Yale Travel Services News:

What’s new at Orbitz for Business
Did you know that if you use Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes you can add your OFB trip directly to your calendar? You also have the ability to rename trips and request smoke-free hotels … more…

New Delta Airlines Contract
Delta digs deeper to offer Yale discounts off lower priced tickets, lowers group minimum requirements, and expands international fare discounts … more …

2008 Hotel Program
Please let us know if you have preferred hotels outside of the New Haven area you would like us to negotiate discounted rates for 2008 … more…

Rail Europe and Japan Rail.
New additions to the home page! Yale travelers now have a short cut to book Rail Europe and Japan Rail using their PCards … more…

2007-2008 Car rental program
Avoid unnecessary and potentially costly insurance claims… Yale’s three preferred car vendors now provide collision and liability coverage … more…

World Clock Meeting Planner
Do you need to schedule a conference call with attendees scattered around the globe? Let “World Clock Meeting Planner” help … more…

And the winner is...
Those taking Yale's quarterly travel survey are eligible for a drawing to win a $25 Gift Certificate to Anna Liffey’s … more...

 

What's new at Orbitz

ADD TO CALENDAR - Overview

Travelers can now send their travel information to their calendars from the purchase Confirmation or My Trips page. Travel Arrangers booking for others must save appointment files to their computer and then forward them to the Traveler(s). The Traveler(s) can then add the appointment to their calendars. The following reservation types can be synched to your system's calendar:

• Air
• hotel
• Car Reservations
• Hired Car reservations
• Attractions and services reservations

HOTEL ENHANCEMENTS SEARCH OPTIMIZATION - Improvements have been made to hotel search criteria that make it even easier for travelers to find properties that suit their needs. Smoke-Free Hotel Amenity A new Smoke-Free Hotel amenity option is now available on the search robot and Choose your hotel amenities page. This enables travelers to refine their hotel search criteria to properties that are smoke-free.
VENDOR CONFIRMATION NUMBER A traveler's hotel confirmation number now appears in the Booking Confirmation Page, My Trips, and in travel confirmation e-mails. This provides travelers with both online and offline printable sources for this important hotel itinerary information. Please note: The hotel confirmation number is not available for Merchant hotel bookings (OMH).
Rename a Trip Travelers and Administrators can rename an existing trip in My Trips. Simply click the Rename trip link, enter a new trip name, click Save and your reservation is now available in My Trips under the new name. Adding Travel to a Trip After you make your initial travel reservation, you can add more itineraries to your trip such as air, car and hotel travel. You then receive one unified e-mail with all of your trip details. You can add additional travel to a trip from the Driver Preferences page for a car reservation, Guest Preferences page for a hotel reservation or Review and Purchase page for an air reservation.

New Delta Airlines contract

Travel Services has negotiated a new contract with Delta Airlines, valid through June 2008, that expands Yale's 25% discount on selective fares for all destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India. Additionally, international discounts at a 35-40% level will apply on some of the higher tiered fares.

Our domestic discounts have been improved to now include the economy fares (K &L) and the discount on higher coach fares (B,M,H,Q) have been bumped from 2% to 6%. Less restricted full coach (Y) fares enjoy discounts of 8-15%.

Please remember that these discounts are not valid through Delta.com, but through our preferred supplier, Orbitz for Business.

Delta offers the additional benefit of allowing name changes on unused tickets for a $50 processing fee. Please remember all reservations must be cancelled prior to flight departure to retain any value.

Delta University/Sports Program

Did you know….that in conjunction with our university sales agreement with Delta Air Lines, we are also offered flexibility in booking university group travel……

• Some of the highlights of this program include the following:
• Groups of as few as six or more per record locator may use the program
• One free name change per ticket is allowed by the authorized ticketing agent.
• The program offers flexible zone fares
• There is a dedicated Sports & University Travel Desk to assist in bookings
• Final names and ticketing not due until seven days prior to departure. Note: 30 day advance names/ticketing required for groups blocked on Delta Connection Carriers.

Group utilization is tracked as follows:

IF BLOCKED SEATS ARE CANCELED	AND	THEN:
90 days or more prior to departure		No penalty will be assessed
60 to 89 days prior to departure	The group has maintained 90% utilization	No penalty will be assessed
60 to 89 days prior to departure	The group has dropped below 90% utilization	A per seat penalty will be assessed for each canceled seat as follows: Y compartment - $20
59 or fewer days prior to departure	The group has maintained at least 90% utilization	No penalty will be assessed
59 or fewer days prior to departure	The group has dropped below 90% utilization	A per seat penalty will be assessed for each canceled seat as follows: Y compartment - $40

These are zone fares, and though there could be lower published fares in the market, if you only find high fares during your research, or need the name change flexibility, this program may provide savings opportunities for your department.

 

 

2008 Hotel Program

Travel Services will be posting the 2008 New Haven Hotel rates in our next newsletter. If there are any hotels outside of the New Haven area that you would like us to include in our preferred rate negotiations, please let us know.

Japan Rail Passes and Rail Europe

New additions to the home page! In addition to Amtrak, Metro North and Shoreline East, Yale travelers now have access to Rail Europe and Japan Rail.

The Japan Rail Pass is a special ticket that is available only to travelers visiting Japan from foreign countries for sight-seeing. To be eligible to purchase a Japan Rail Pass you must meet one of the following two conditions.

1. You are a foreign tourist visiting Japan from abroad for sight-seeing, under the entry status of “Temporary Visitor"
2. You are a Japanese national living in a foreign country

A JAPAN RAIL PASS can not be purchased inside Japan .

Please note that it may take approximately 5 business days (excluding all US National holidays) to process and ship your order. You must purchase an EXCHANGE ORDER from an authorized sales office or agent such as Kintetsu before you depart to Japan. The EXCHANGE ORDER must have your name as it appears exactly on your passport (including all first, middle, maiden and last names.) After you arrive in Japan, you will need to go to an applicable JR station that has a Japan Rail Pass exchange office and turn in the EXCHANGE ORDER to receive your JAPAN RAIL PASS. Please click here for more information, or visit our web site

Rail Europe

Rail Europe is North America 's official distributor of European rail passes and train tickets. In addition to the products listed below, you may also view schedules and pricing and order tickets for point to point travel. Please click here to enter the Rail Europe site

Yale’s Preferred Car Vendors

Yale Travel Services has negotiated new car rental agreements for 2007-2008 business rentals with primary supplier Hertz Corporation (effective 6/1/07), and secondary suppliers Avis Rent A Car System (effective 6/15/07), and Enterprise Rent-A-Car (effective 7/1/07) These new agreements will provide collision damage coverage and supplemental liability protection inclusive with the rates. In order to receive the coverage, the unique Yale ID numbers shown in the table below must be provided at the time of the reservation. Coverage will apply at all participating locations of the respective companies for rentals in all 48 contiguous United States for university business travel only. Hertz is Yale’s primary car rental vendor and should be booked as first choice when in accordance with your business needs. Avis and Enterprise are secondary suppliers. All three companies provide collision damage and liability insurance coverage for business rentals when the respective ID numbers (provided below) are used.

It is recommended that all car rental reservations be booked through Orbitz for Business to ensure that the Yale contract rates and benefits are applied.

The World Clock Meeting Planner

World Clock Meeting Planner” can be found on the Yale Travel services web page, under “Tips and Information” Here is an example of how it works. Click on hyperlink to go directly to site.

Need to make a call to someone far away? Need to arrange a videoconference, telephone- or net-based meeting with several people spread around the globe? This utility should help you find a convenient time so that no one has to be up during the middle of the night.

(If you have set the time for the meeting already, use the Fixed Time-tool instead.)
For up to 6 cities, and a greater range of cities, try The Advanced Meeting Planner instead.

 

 

And the winner is……

Travel Services is pleased to announce the results of Yale's quarterly travel survey, and the winner of a $25 Gift Certificate to Anna Liffey’s.

Congratulations to Cathy Orcutt of the Law School whose name was drawn from all those who completed the survey!

To be entered into our next quarterly drawing, please watch your email for our survey. Each survey response will go into a quarterly raffle drawing for a $25.00 Gift Certificate to a local restaurant or establishment.   Winners will be contacted.

August 2007 Survey Results

89% of Yale respondents feel that Orbitz for Business offers low fares and competitive rates

Based on 181 responses, or 18% of the 1000 users of the tool when surveyed

87% of Yale respondents feel that using Orbitz for Business is a positive experience

Based on 181 responses, or 18% of the 1000 recent Yale users of the tool (both arrangers and travelers) randomly surveyed.