Major travel technology and solutions provider Amadeus announced on Tuesday the launch of Amadeus Exchange Relief, the industry's first all-in-one airline ticket exchange solution.
The new solution streamlines ticket exchanges for travel agents, offering them three choices in handling and processing, including the first and only full-service option available in the marketplace. According to a release, the solution virtually eliminates debit memos to exchanges, helping agents save time, sell more and better serve their clients.
"Complex, costly and confusing ticket exchanges and resulting debit memos are among the biggest pain points for agencies and have never really been tackled until now," said Vic Pynn, chief operating officer of Amadeus North America, via a release. "With Amadeus Exchange Relief, agents can now process ticket exchanges with ease, speed and confidence and without the worries of incurring costs. This new solution was driven by our customers and for our customers and is part of Amadeus' ongoing commitment to innovation that helps deliver success."
The introduction of Amadeus Exchange Relief is likely, well, a relief for agents.
In 2014, nearly 500,000 debit memos worth $138 million were issued, according to the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC). Half of those memos were related to fares, taxes or commissions. By the end of 2014, ARC had processed over 14 million refunds and exchanges, representing about 8 percent of their total transaction volume. Amadeus U.S. agencies revealed in a sample poll that they processed, on average, 40 exchanges per week, spending 28 minutes on each - that's more than 18 hours a week per agency spent just addressing ticket exchanges.
"It's fantastic that Amadeus is providing a solution for agents designed specifically for the purpose of reducing memos," said Mike Premo, ARC's president and CEO. "Amadeus has been a great supporter of our Debit Memo Working Group since its inception and the introduction of this new offering shows their commitment to reducing debit memos in the industry."
Amadeus Exchange Relief offers three servicing options: "Do It Automatically," "Do It For Me" and "Do It Myself."
With "Do It Automatically," all agents need to do is supply basic information and a tool will automatically handle all information and transactions required to successfully process exchanges, including reissue of unused or partially used tickets and interline tickets for partner airlines. It's designed to save time, reduce errors and deliver accurate results in just seconds.
Agents can also opt for a human touch. "Do It For Me" hands the exchange over to Amadeus faring and exchange experts who quickly prepare the exchange and notify the agent upon completion (debit memos through this option are covered under the Amadeus claims policy). This is also a timesaver designed to improve profitability and productivity.
Of course, agents can do it themselves if they wish, too. "Do It Myself" provides a free, step-by-step guided workflow that interacts with the Passenger Name Record (PNR), featuring built-in Amadeus exchange commands and pre-population of fields.
"I've never seen anything like Amadeus Exchange Relief before," said Tonia Valentine, corporate travel advisor of Aladdin Travel. "The two things I like most are the huge time savings, and the fact that Amadeus stands behind their work - that's a huge stress reliever. I literally put in the information I need - and Amadeus takes care of the rest."
Amadeus Exchange Relief is currently available for U.S. travel agencies with a rollout in Canada to follow. For more information, visit www.amadeus.com/exchangerelief. Travel agencies can also contact their Amadeus account manager for more information.
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