Johannesburg – We were all there: we're checking in and ready to go when the board suddenly changes. The flight has been cancelled. The weather delay. Mechanical problems. The reason is not a problem. What's important is that a carefully organized business trip has just collapsed and is about to face rebooking, the biggest stress test of your trip.
To be fair, you may have missed a flight due to long periods of traffic and meetings, but the most immediate point for re-booking is the time it devours.
According to Mummy Mafojane, general manager of FCM South Africa, despite today's technological advances, rebooking could mean a long queue on the airline's customer service deck, or a hold-off time to talk to experts.
“Even the most efficient customer service teams can struggle when things go wrong,” says Maphojan. “This is because busy hubs like Dubai will promote 2,000 to 2,500 flights a day. This is a serious knock-on effect if multiple flights are delayed or grounded, with thousands of passengers that may need to be re-occupied.”
As Mafojane explains, you can't expect your CEO to know what to do. This is because business travel is not just a flight, but a true web of interconnected bookings and commitments. Once the first domino falls, everything else begins to unravel, including advance connections, hotel bookings, shuttle bookings, car rentals and most importantly, meetings.
Irony is bitter. Those whose schedule is most valuable are those who are most likely to face delays. This is because they usually fly on routes with fewer alternatives and narrower connections (including executives with frequent distant mining, oil and gas executives).
“Multi-national companies with large travel programs deal with re-booking nightmares on a daily basis if they don't have travel management companies,” says Maphojan. “Reducing the stress of re-booking is where TMC proves its value and actually gets the stripes.”
Passengers are often at the mercy of flight schedules (for example, if flights are limited in and out of destinations), and for frequent business travelers who already manage fatigue, add time zone changes and packing schedules, especially at 30,000 feet, to another layer of stress and fatigue.
However, there are ways to relieve the pain of re-ordering.
Here, Maphojan shares her top tips for travelers and travel bookers. In no particular order:
Book your first flight. Previous departures have more rebooking options throughout the day. Choose a hub over a quiet airport. Increased flight frequency means more alternatives if things don't work. Please book the appropriate fares. The cheapest tickets are often the most expensive when you need to rebook them. A travel advisor can guide you, but flexible fares with no change fees are always a good idea. Always buy travel insurance. Today's policy covers everything from delays and denials to changes and cancellations. Read the small print. Download the travel app. The airline app maintains all the latest flight, gate and luggage carousel information (providing airport maps to make it quick and easy to reach the gate). Enables all push notifications. This means you will receive a cancellation alert before the official announcement. Screenshots of your boarding pass. This allows offline access if the network goes down during irregular operations. Keep a copy of your airline's loyalty status for physical proof in the event of an app crash. Include buffer time in your itinerary (and allow extra time at the airport). Carry portable chargers and international adapters – dead phones are only added to stress.
Of course, Mafojane's number one tip is to rely on TMC.
“Managing disruptions, especially in today's climate, is a core business capability. The right travel partners have booking platforms, partners and industry knowledge to manage changes as quickly as possible.”
If you're isolated (for example, you beat your flight and missed it), rebooking is almost instantaneous. In more complex cases (for example, industrial measures that affect the operation of the airline) it may take a little longer.
However, TMC understands airline alliance partnerships (i.e. carriers rebook you with competitors), have strong relationships with hotels and ground transport suppliers (and easily update the itinerary), and organize priority lounge access to ensure passengers can spend their time comfortably.
“Rebooking is one of the last major friction points for business travelers today,” says Maphojan. “But that's a point of pride for TMC. We want it to be as smooth and seamless as possible.”
