We know that many of you went from being travel managers to “ticket” managers in 2020, as cancellations exploded during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. CWT processed and updated over 600,000 tickets as airline policies and expiration dates changed. By using these tickets before booking new ones, companies can save money as travelers return to the skies.
Here are some tips on how to achieve this.
- Know how many unused tickets you have and when they expire. Our business intelligence platform, CWT AnalytIQs, gives you 24/7 access to information on how many tickets are available, how many have been used, have expired or are about to expire, as well as the value of those tickets. Additional dashboards introduced in 2020 and 2021 capture vouchers and unused tickets that were issued by airlines to travelers when COVID-19 impacted travel.
- Move from manual to automated tracking, including the identification, processing and reporting of any unclaimed refundable tickets. Tickets are tracked from the time of booking until they are used or refunded. This automated process helps improve efficiency, increases accuracy and reliability of the data, reduces the number of expired tickets and ensures refundable tickets are not left unclaimed.
- Enable visibility in online booking tools so travelers and travel arrangers are aware they have an unused ticket available as they book their next trip. CWT’s unused ticket tracking solution helps guide travelers and arrangers to use their available unused tickets by making these visible in online and offline booking channels.
- Communicate to travelers and travel arrangers about any unused tickets, before they expire. Use CWT’s messaging service to send automated reminders and notifications to travelers and travel arrangers and create awareness of what unused tickets are already available before booking a new ticket.
- Configure your policy to automatically apply an available unused ticket at any point of sale, ensuring no tickets go to waste. Through standardizing your policy and integrating technology to automatically allow name changes, travelers and travel arrangers can use all available tickets, saving the company money.
