New Procedures Getting Air Time

ecent changes in the airline industry may lighten your load, but not always in the ways you had hoped. Here's what to expect when you travel for the government in the next year.

Virtual Tickets

Electronic tickets are taking off. Major airlines report using e-tickets up to 25 percent of the time for domestic flights. Instead of paper tickets, travelers get copies of their itineraries. The reservations remain in the airline's computer. This setup saves airlines and travel agencies an estimated $7 a ticket in staff time and in paper, printing and delivery costs.

Other benefits of e-ticketing: If a ticket isn't used, you don't need to return it. A refund can be processed immediately. "Believe me, the government is excited about that," says Gary Sznajder, military and government sales manager for Continental Airlines, noting the time and money saved. "And there's no longer any such thing as a lost ticket." Plus, travelers currently booking a flight typically pay a $35 fee if they arrange to pick up their ticket at an airport counter (as government fliers frequently do). But there's no fee for "picking up" a virtual ticket.

Some carriers, like Continental, plan to use virtual tickets for international flights by summer.

Sznajder is on the National Defense Travel Association's passenger travel service committee, which hopes to get the Defense Department to require its travelers to use electronic tickets starting this year. Sznajder expects that by 1999, all carriers will be using e-tickets on domestic and international flights, even for trips involving more than one airline. "That will displace paper tickets for the federal government," he says.

Watch for e-ticket machines in airports, too. They'll enable you to use a charge card to make a reservation for that day, change your seat assignment and credit frequent flier miles. Six cities are testing these machines for use not only with charge cards, but also with smart cards. "Government travelers complain about always getting the middle seat," says Sznajder. "These machines are a way of controlling your destiny."

Boarding Passes

You'll be bidding farewell to advance boarding passes, too, over the next few months. Airlines are initiating this, starting with international flights, to increase security. Today, with a boarding pass from a ticket office or travel agent in hand, a passenger could check luggage curbside and board a plane without ever seeing an airline representative. Those passengers can avoid questions about the contents of their bags and, most importantly, the picture ID check.

Without advance boarding passes, "you can't just waltz on without anyone verifying that you are the one" who holds the ticket, says Duncan Farrell, general manager of the Society of Travel Agents in Government. "That should provide a comfort level for government travelers, especially for the many who have sensitive jobs."

With e-tickets, there are no advance boarding passes. So as e-tickets become more widespread, boarding passes will become obsolete anyhow.

Don't worry-you still can get your seat assignment in advance. Seat selection information will be held in the airline's computer.

One-Bag Rule

Airlines also are trying to control the amount of stuff people bring onto planes. The current consensus seems to be a "one-plus" rule: Passengers can carry on one piece of luggage plus a briefcase, laptop, diaper bag, camera or similar item. Each airline will make its own rules as to what "counts" as an item and what doesn't, says Diana Cronan of the Air Transport Association. Those rules can vary from flight to flight, depending on the type of aircraft and how full it is. Carry-on luggage sizes also will be policed more closely.

The move is designed to save time and money. Airlines are looking for fewer delays, fewer missed connections, fewer passengers hit in the head with errant luggage.

"It's really twofold issue: safety and on-time performance. In the long run it benefits the customer," says Diane Ailor, military and government sales manager for Northwest Airlines, who adds that so far her company's customer feedback on the policy has been "very positive."

Airlines actually are hoping the FAA will step in and impose universal restrictions. But the FAA's Alison Duquette says the agency has no plans to amend its existing regulations, which only require that an airline have a carry-on baggage policy and enforce it.

Fliers are split on whether the new rules are good news. While some relish the freedom from crowded aisles and overhead bins, others are angry that carriers that can't seem to return checked luggage reliably or promptly are forcing them to check their bags.

"It comes down to common sense and common courtesy meets the 'me' generation," says Jerry Ellis, national account manager for government sales at Delta Air Lines. Time will tell who will win.

Tough Luck for Agents

In September, most of the major airlines cut the commissions they pay travel agents for booking flights from 10 percent to 8 percent of the ticket price with a $50 cap on a round-trip ticket. Travel agencies doing business with the government are feeling the pinch and are asking federal agencies to renegotiate contracts. Agencies are refusing. STAG has filed suit against the General Services Administration in an attempt to force it to renegotiate contracts.

Travel agencies, working with slim margins, say they're scrambling to survive. "The service levels we provide government haven't lessened 20 percent, and our costs haven't either," says Gloria Bohan, founding president of STAG and president of Omega World Travel, which has more government contracts than any other travel firm.

Industry-watchers say this situation spells an end to free travel agency services like rental car reservations, rebooking, reticketing, refund issuing, life insurance, visa and passport handling, and management reports. The trend will move toward fee-for-service contracts. "Unrealistic expectations of free services are a thing of the past," STAG's Farrell says. "Travelers and travel managers will have to be more careful about what they request."

Bohan adds that customers are likely to start seeing fees for things like ticket delivery, 24-hour service, and reports. "If we all want good relationships, that will require more flexibility in contracts," she says. "Travel agencies are embedded in a money-losing situation while government officials try to understand how to work with us and work through the effect of the rules."

Frequent Confusion

A common government traveler gripe: "It's my blood, sweat and tears out there on the road. Why can't I use my frequent flier miles?"

The answer is simple: Because the law says so.

Still, confusion reigns, even in the agency responsible for spreading the word about the government's rules. GSA spokesman Bill Bearden says miles shouldn't even be in debate: "They're not even issued. You'd have to enroll in a [frequent flier] program to get them. There's no reason for federal employees to do that." But the situation is more complicated than Bearden paints it.

While federal law prohibits government employees from redeeming for personal use the miles they earn on business trips, the government wants its travelers in the programs to save taxpayer dollars. GSA guidelines issued in 1995 tell agencies to "promote, encourage and facilitate" federal employees' use of frequent traveler programs.

According to "Federal Travel: Frequent Traveler Policies and Programs," an April 1997 Congressional Research Service report, no one tracks the cost or savings of government participation in these programs. GSA was, however, required to report to Congress on the efforts to promote the programs. GSA's October 1995 report said "agencies are making the government travelers aware of the frequent traveler benefits and how important this program is in saving the individual agency and the overall government critical travel dollars."

Slowly but surely, employees are seeing some of the perks of their travel.

The CRS report found a number of agencies have programs that allow travelers or those who book travel to share in the benefits. The Panama Canal Commission, Government Printing Office and Merit Systems Protection Board, among others, have programs that include incentives or gain-sharing. The report singled out five programs:

• The Education Department gives half the savings to employees who save at least $400 by using frequent traveler awards for business travel.
• The Justice Department and GSA do the same for employees who save the agency at least $200. (In the first year of its program, GSA split $120,000 with its staff, about half of which came from frequent flier miles; the rest were from savings on lodging.)
• The National Transportation Safety Board gives employees discretionary awards for participating in promotional programs that save the government money.
• The Bonneville Power Administration gives employees half the value of any free coach fare earned with frequent flier miles.

According to CRS, the General Accounting Office's Boston regional office is running a pilot program to enroll employees in frequent flier plans. This division-wide effort, with the cooperation of two major airlines, will allow the agency to pool miles for its use.