What s New in VAX VacationAccess? VAX VacationAccess June 23, 2011 Enhancements Reference Guide

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1 ? VAX VacationAccess June 23, 2011 Enhancements Reference Guide

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3 Introduction At VAX VacationAccess, we continue to make it easier for agents to research, market and sell leisure vacations. VAX is pleased to announce a series of upgrades to the VAX booking platform aimed at doing just that. The improvements made in June 2011 enhance the agent experience through improvements in the home page reservation tool, added flight status display, improved features display, shop-byexperience with multi-stop and a more user-friendly checkout cart. In addition, VAX has added more content to the global media library and VAX Virtual University redesign to provide easier access to the resources that support your value. At VAX, we re staying one step ahead of our customer s demands. This reference guide will communicate all of what s new on VAX VacationAccess and assist your discovery of how VAX can make things simpler, faster and most importantly, help showcase your value to your customers. Please note that the availability of each new enhancement listed may vary by supplier. VAX VacationAccess has made a commitment to giving travel professionals the cutting edge technology they need to help them research, market and sell the customized and memorable vacation packages their customers want. With your feedback, we have worked to identify and create the powerful tools travel professionals have asked for, including recent enhancements and our ongoing efforts to increase the overall performance and user-friendliness of the VAX VacationAccess. September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 3 Version Date: June 23, 2011

4 Table of Contents Introduction... 3 Flight Status Updates in Reservation Summary... 5 Enhanced Itineraries With More Flight Information... 7 VAX Home Page Reservation Tool Updates... 8 Advanced Search Page Reservation Tool Update... 9 Easier Shopping For Charter Flights... 9 Hotel Search Results Improved to Help You Sell More Intuitive Summary of Included Features Car Rental Sales Messaging Automation of Final Payment Name Change Modifications VAX Virtual University Enhancements VAX Advertise Link Conclusion September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 4 Version Date: June 23, 2011

5 Flight Status Updates in Reservation Summary New to VAX is access to flight status information upon retrieval of your client s reservation. When you retrieve an existing active reservation, the system automatically references flight status data if it is made available to VAX. Now you can check your customer s flight status in their reservation summary! Updated every 15 minutes, you can monitor your customer s flight status on the day of travel, giving you the advantage to service your customer if a flight is cancelled or delayed. The Flight Status information displays flight-related information for each flight in a client s itinerary. This includes departure and arrival times, current flight status, delay information, and terminal information. The system uses a 24-hour look ahead to request flight status information and obtains updates every 15 minutes. *Itineraries must include at least one U.S. or Canadian segment. Note: This information is provided by and dependent upon a thirdparty source and is integrated into VAX VacationAccess. Flight Status Information September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 5 Version Date: June 23, 2011

6 The system displays Delayed, Cancelled and Diverted statuses in red. If flight status data exists, the Flight status information is powered by message displays. Flight Status Information Status Changes Note: Flight status on commercial charters is included once the pilot activates the flight plan with the FAA upon departure. September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 6 Version Date: June 23, 2011

7 Enhanced Itineraries With More Flight Information On e-docs, ed itineraries, and confirmation s, more detailed flight information is provided for your clients. Each flight segment now shows departure and arrival times on all documents and s. Previously, only first segment outbound time and final segment arrival times were shown on itineraries, confirmations and final documents. With this enhancement, flight information will match the display of the flight itinerary in the reservation. Improved Flight Status Display September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 7 Version Date: June 23, 2011

8 VAX Home Page Reservation Tool Updates To provide you with easier access to the search tools, updates were made to the Vacation Package Search on the Home Page. 1. We ve made it easier for you to search charter flights! The Charter Destination Search link will now display directly below the Vendor field when the selected vendor offers charter flights. The link previously displayed at the bottom of the reservation tool. 2. The Package Description Icon, which displays on the Advanced Search page next to the Package Type field, will now also display on the VAX VacationAccess home page reservation tool. 3. Finally, a NEW Multiple Destinations link will be added, allowing travel agents to go directly to the multi-stop reservation tool, bypassing the Advanced Search page. September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 8 Version Date: June 23, 2011

9 Advanced Search Page Reservation Tool Update To help you easily search for charters, the Charter Destination Search link will now display directly below the Supplier you select if the selected supplier offers charter flights. There is no change to the functionality of the Charter Destination Search page itself. Easier Shopping For Charter Flights When shopping for air, all charter flights included in your air search results are identified with a red C icon for easy identification and selection. The charter flight indicator, will now display when using Shop by Price availability. The icon will display for charter flights and value flights on the Flight Availability page only, not on itinerary summary or communications. September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 9 Version Date: June 23, 2011

10 Hotel Search Results Improved to Help You Sell We ve improved our hotel search results to provide you with more valuable insight when selecting properties. Special symbols listed within the search results identify additional values and policies that are important to know prior to booking a property. Some examples include: Special commissions and booking bonuses Upgrade incentives Hotel initiated travel agent benefit programs Designation between published and contracted rates so that you know you re getting the best commission Important policies and restrictions This enhancement will allow suppliers to showcase the best values and exclusive offers on hotels to the travel agent within the availability screen via easy color coded indicators and discreet messaging. These indicators will display within the Hotel Availability panel. They are designed to show hotel value to the travel agent so that they can make an educated decision when choosing a hotel for their clients. Agents now have access to messaging from suppliers that highlight unique commissions and bonus offers, directionally sell to key hotels, up-sell to higher room categories, and showcase incentives. A description for each indicator will display via a hover over within the booking engine that will allow the ability to view more details on the value to the agent. September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 10 Version Date: June 23, 2011

11 More Intuitive Summary of Included Features To help you locate the selected features on the itinerary, all features will now be listed in alphabetical order on the Checkout page and in all communications. You will be able to quickly scan the included Features to review the selections and revise them, if necessary, before completing the reservation. This enhancement will make reservation review easier, especially in multi-room itineraries when features are included for all rooms. Similar features will be grouped together. Alphabetical Order of Feature Inclusions To assist agents in getting a full summary of all features included in the selected package, features offered as inclusions will now display in the feature summary section of the Feature Availability page within VAX VacationAccess. These features previously displayed only when viewing the Itinerary Summary screen, but they will now be included in the display of all other features so that agents can easily determine which items are included in their package. September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 11 Version Date: June 23, 2011

12 Car Rental Sales Messaging Now you can provide better value to your clients when you sell cars. When looking for car availability, you will notice some new indicators to tell you about special rates or upgrades. Just hover over the message to learn more about the offer. The Car Sales message will display in availability and it will display at checkout. September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 12 Version Date: June 23, 2011

13 Automation of Final Payment Now you can automatically apply final payment! After a reservation is booked and a deposit applied, you can schedule an automated credit card payment date for final payment. This new feature gives you two scheduling options: Schedule the final payment With this option, your customer s final payment will be applied to the same credit card used for deposit on the date selected. The date selected must be on or before the final payment due date and the credit card will be charged the balance due on the reservation. Schedule an reminder With this option, you can schedule a payment reminder to be ed to you on a specified date. The reminder date must set for at least two days prior to final due date. This will allow time to the reminder and respond to it prior to the actual due date. An receipt will be sent when the final payment is successfully applied to the credit card. The final payment selection will also be reflected in Accounting History and in the comments. September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 13 Version Date: June 23, 2011

14 Name Change Modifications Next time you need to modify a passenger name you ll notice new checkboxes for each passenger. Check the Change Traveler Information checkbox to identify the passenger name to be changed. If applicable, a warning message will display telling you that changes may result in re-booking of components. If you do not want to continue with the changes, un-check the box and you will receive a warning that any changes made will not be processed unless the checkbox is re-checked. NOTE: Some hotels do not accept name changes and may require additional assistance by the supplier to modify a passenger name. September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 14 Version Date: June 23, 2011

15 VAX Virtual University Enhancements VAX Virtual University Learning Paths: VAX Virtual University now has organized learning paths to assist the learner in determining the type of courses being offered. Agents will see 3 added categories of training. Learners will be able to sort Live, On-Demand and Library content by the following paths: 1. Core curriculum - If you are new to VAX VacationAccess, our core curriculum courses will uncover the essential elements to help you get the most out of VAX. We've created a full suite of live instructor-led and ondemand courses with resources that will focus on core skills and teach you how to integrate VAX VacationAccess into your daily work life. 2. Electives These live instructor-led and on-demand courses help fine tune your skills in supplier product, destinations, or niche markets. Our world-class content in our continuing education courses (Electives) will help you stay ahead of the curve and prove your value to your customers. 3. Masters Level - The live instructor-led and on-demand Masters level courses are designed to provide you with advanced skills, knowledge, and experience to become an accomplished VAX VacationAccess user. September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 15 Version Date: June 23, 2011

16 Student Library: The VAX Virtual University has changed the name of the Resources tab to Library. The student library of Getting Started Guides, Reference Guides and Frequently Asked Questions are now located under the Library tab in the center of the page. Calendar Links for Virtual University Live Training Event Search The start and end date search fields on the Live Training tab of the VAX Virtual University page now have calendars to help agents enter correctly formatted dates. Simply click your mouse in the Start and End Date fields to open the calendar. Select the desired date range by clicking on the dates within the calendar, then click the Search button. September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 16 Version Date: June 23, 2011

17 VAX Advertise Link The Support link in the header of VAX VacationAccess has been replaced with an Advertise link. In addition, the Advertising link in the footer has been changed to Advertise. Agents can still navigate to the support page by clicking the Support link at the bottom-left side of the each page within VAX. Conclusion VAX VacationAccess proactively provides new opportunities to deliver the vacations of customers dreams by giving travel agents the right tools to research, market and sell customized vacations. This release is another example of how VAX is committed to improving the productivity of agents through evolving technology. September 2011 VAX VacationAccess Page 17 Version Date: June 23, 2011

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