Demystifying Connexxus Travel ABOG (Irvine, CA) April 25, 2016
What s In It for You? Airfare Rates Access to real-time airfare pricing and all flight options Average airfare discounts of 5% on Domestic and 20% on International Airline service funds to reduce change fees (first come, first serve) Car Rentals Average discounts of 17% includes UC-approved protection through the car rental company (Hertz/National/ Enterprise/Dollar/Thrifty) UC policy allows intermediate car rentals as negotiated rates have priced them similarly to compact vehicles Ability to tie Hertz Gold or National Emerald loyalty to UC rates Hotel Program Average discounts of up to 20% with Marriott, Starwood, and Club Quarters UC negotiated rates with boutique hotels close to various campus sites such as Hotel Shattuck, UC Berkeley or Hotel Angeleno, UCLA Other Benefits Automatic traveler insurance (alerts to extraction through WorldCueTraveler - ijet) for all traveling 100+ miles from home Ability to pay for airfare with personal credit card or directly from budget funds using the campus travel systems (CTS) ghost card 2
Year-over-Year Savings and Adoption Over the past several years Connexxus has experienced steady growth - Number of tickets booked has increased, but campus dollars spent on airfare remained flat proving that UC discounts are being fully leveraged: 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Utilization Level 21% 33% 39% 40% 45% 43% Airfare Purchased $19,352,557 $25,373,459 $33,904,894 $35,816,488 $41,792,640 $42,281,022 Air Tickets 43,393 52,663 65,380 69,994 86,587 90,017 Online Booking % 29% 43% 49% 53% 58% 59% Drop in utilization between 2014 and 2015 has been attributed to the closure of STA Travel (Student Abroad Program) physical locations at various UC campuses since 2013 3
Annual Savings What s left on the table? Potential projected savings calculated if 80% of all airfare is booked through Connexxus. This goal was established by the UC Travel Council for achieving high implementation of the program: 2014 2015 Year-over-Year Actual Savings $15,893,303 $16,341,929 $448,626 3% Airline $11,895,266 $11,792,227 ($103,039) -1% Rental Car $861,994 $985,749 $123,755 14% Hotel $1,509,830 $1,815,163 $305,333 20% Online Bookings $951,360 $1,017,864 $66,504 7% Projected Savings $26,405,207 $28,214,568 $1,809,361 7% 4
Annual Survey Results - Major Findings Overall customer satisfaction follows year-over-year trend and remains very high at 95%; Over 65% of those who responded were travelers (of whom 10% were Faculty) who booked their own travel using any one of the Connexxus preferred vendors; Airfare pricing through Connexxus (when compared to commercial sites) was found to be competitive or cheaper by 85% of our clients; Only 2% were unaware that Connexxus offered any kind of extra benefits (from campus paid airfare to UC-negotiated rates) Several did request better promotion of program benefits; Of the 7% who booked outside Connexxus, more than a third were not familiar with the travel program at all 5
Annual Survey 2015 Overall Views One third offered detailed comments - summary of responses: Online tools are difficult to use 22% Excellent Customer Service 16% Airfare is more expensive Great Program Improve online tool interface 8% 9% 9% Better promotion of program benefits Agency fees outweigh any fare savings 6% 6% More UC-negotiated rates SWA Direct Connect Poor Customer Service Online tools are easy to use Upfront campus payment for hotels/car rentals Campus expense program too complicated Compare across all UC agencies Access to Gov't Hotel and State YCAL Rates 5% 5% 4% 3% 3% 2% 1% 1% Summary of requests: ü More flexibility with online tools; ü Better UC-rates for car rentals, hotels, and airfare; ü UC-rates for airport parking, local airlines such as Ryanair, Eva. Etc.; ü Reduction/elimination of agency fees; ü Campus paid airfare on SWABIZ or access to all SWA fares via agencies 6
Prepared by Central Travel Management Email uctravel@ucop.edu Portal www.travel.ucop.edu Revised April 28, 2016 7