Airline Ticket Agents and OTAs
Woman, airport and passenger assistant with passport helping traveler for check in at terminal counter. Female service agent with smile in travel security or immigration documents for airline control
Airline ticket agents sell airline tickets to airline passengers. Additionally, they may provide information regarding baggage policies and seating assignments. In order to work forty hours per week without fail and must possess at least a high school diploma as well as pass background checks before providing excellent customer service skills.
Searching for flight deals requires being adaptable and agile; oftentimes the best flights only last a few days so be ready to book quickly when finding a bargain.
Ticketing process
The ticketing process is an intricate web of interconnected systems and interactions. To minimize errors and provide exceptional customer service, companies should implement clear processes for submitting tickets, identifying issues, and grading replies – this will allow helpdesk workers to focus on providing customers with what they need quickly.
Airline ticket agents must possess strong communication skills as they directly work with customers. Furthermore, they should understand airline policies and flight schedules in order to provide customers with accurate answers regarding flight accommodations or make reservations quickly under pressure.
Tickets may be issued either physically or digitally, and agencies need the appropriate accreditations in order to ticket efficiently. In the US, this may mean having ARC certification – similar to IATA but more stringent with its rules for who may sell flight seats – before selling any. Although ARC certification is optional for agencies, its acquisition should be strongly considered if possible.
Online travel agencies
Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) provide customers with easy access to travel products and services like hotels, rental cars, airline tickets and cruises. OTAs offer customers an alternative to traditional travel agencies with concierge services available to manage every aspect of their trip – unlike traditional agencies which only cover part of it.
They can help you plan multi-airline itineraries to tailor the perfect journey. Certain OTAs like Kiwi even allow customers to purchase flights on multiple airlines within one itinerary for maximum flexibility and cost savings.
However, some online travel agencies lack excellent customer service during times of disruption due to limited staff or their no refund policy. But this shouldn’t dissuade travellers from using such services; alternative options like travel agents and trip planning apps provide much better customer support.
Ticketless model
The ticketless model allows an airline to offer flights without using paper tickets, providing instead a fare media token that links directly with an account in their back office and used for validating booking and collecting fare post travel. Furthermore, this method has yet to become widespread, though some airlines already provide this option.
Low-cost carriers are exploring ticketless travel, enabling passengers to use their own mobile phones for check in and boarding passes, bypassing travel agents in the process and saving costs by eliminating commission payments to them.
At present, most budget airlines are teaming up with organizations that help settle ticketing transactions and act as payment mediators, including IATA’s BSP and ARC as well as certified ticketing platforms such as Masabi Justride platform.
Ticketing partners
Ticketing partners are organizations that provide ticket management services to businesses. Using them is an excellent way to both increase customer satisfaction and lower operational costs, as they can assist customers with any questions or issues they have, offer support through multiple channels (phone, email and chat support for instance) as well as additional features like reporting automation and self-service options.
There are three top-recommended ticket assignment strategies you should implement to optimize the ticketing process. The first strategy involves assigning tickets based on agents’ skills and expertise; this approach works well when dealing with low ticket volumes; additionally, this strategy saves time while eliminating cherry-picking agents from cherry-picking tickets.
Event organizers need a ticketing partner that provides them with an intuitive platform that easily allows them to access past cases and user data quickly and efficiently, thus improving ticket buying experiences for casual attendees while turning them into committed attendees.
