News In A Nutshell…

BA has finally taken delivery of their first 777 aircraft, which is currently being fitted with the new First Cabin and will depart from London Heathrow beginning of this month. The embodiment of the fleet will take approximately 24 months. In contrast to the roll-out of Club World, BA is not able to guarantee a route or specify which aircraft will depart with the new First Cabin onboard as this is subject to network planning and optimisation.

Incidentally, BA is still running the upgrade to 1st class offer until 31st March - UK customers can enjoy a one-way upgrade to First when they book and fly an eligible fully flexible published CW return flight. The upgrade can be booked on either the outbound or return sector of travel and can be taken as many times as you want, whenever you book and fly an eligible CW flight during this period. The upgrade is subject to availability and is only eligible on specific fare basis codes; please speak to your Account Manager for more details.

Several new routes have recently been announced, linking European cities with the Gulf region. Emirates is to add daily services to Amsterdam on May 1st, rivalling Dutch carrier KLM on the route. The airline will also serve Prague from July 1st and Madrid from August 1st, becoming the only scheduled airline to fly direct between Spain and Dubai. Meanwhile, Quatar Airways will add four weekly flights to Copenhagen, increase daily flights to Stockholm and a service to Barcelona in March. Air France is also targeting travel to the Gulf, with five-times weekly flights from Paris to Abu Dhabi starting in May.

BMI has dropped its short-haul business class cabin, replacing it with a one-cabin economy and flexible economy offering. The latter promises fully flexible tickets, access to executive lounges, and free food and drink in-flight. BMI has pointed out that the new flexible economy fare will guarantee passengers a seat at the front of the plane (albeit without a curtain separating economy and flexible economy passengers), and will attract a lower rate of APD than the previous business class option.

Lastly on our roundup of the airlines, KLM has launched its 'Economy Comfort' product across its entire long haul fleet. The new seating zone has the same seats as in standard Economy, but with 10cm more legroom and twice the recline. And Brussels Airlines has become the 26th member of the Star Alliance.

In the past clients have been able to book a car rental, and cancel at anytime, or even not at all and not incur a penalty. However, as from the beginning of February Avis will be endorsing a £40.00 non-cancellation fee for people who do not collect their car hire as booked. This only applies to Avis at present however it is likely other car companies will follow.

Finally, remember that additional passenger information is required for anyone departing from the UK - please make sure your Traveller Profile is fully up to date. You can complete this online on our website or speak to your Account Manager for more details.

Travel Tips & Tricks…

Without a doubt, the travel industry loves its acronyms! In this month's Tips & Tricks we provide you with a handy Jargon Buster to help decode some of the most common abbreviations we all use every day.

ADR		average daily room rate
BAR		best available rate
BTA		business travel agent
BTC		business travel centre
CRM		customer relationship management
CRO		central reservation office
CRS		central reservation system
CSR		corporate social responsibility
DDR		daily delegate rate
ETES		end to end solution
FFP		frequent flyer programme
GDS		global distribution system
HBA		hotel booking agent
LRA		last room availability
MI		management information
OTM		online travel management
PNR		passenger name records
SBT		self-booking tools
TEM		travel and expense management
TMC		travel management company

If you ever get stuck with an acronym, or even if you come across a few new ones, please let us know!

LOM Architecture Lays The Foundations With Us…

We are delighted to welcome renowned London based architects & designers, LOM, to our growing list of business travel clients. As a leading organisation in their field, LOM focuses on achieving excellence through collaboration with their clients and it's this core value which they recognised in Giles Travel and very much aligns their outlook with our own.

LOM travel throughout the world working on a wide range of projects, specialising in the design of commercial buildings and interiors, retail design, and design for education, community and the arts. As such, their destinations and travel itineraries are incredibly varied and they needed a travel partner whom they could rely on to deliver a completely integrated solution at the best possible price.

Peter O'Malley, partner at LOM commented: "As our business travel increases we've been looking for a pro-active partner to help us get the most form our itineraries and Giles Travel fits the bill perfectly!"

Hotel Focus…

Did you know that the specialist Hotel Booking Team here at Giles Travel are among the busiest people in the office? Just last month they booked over 2,000 hotel rooms for our clients and the reasons why our hotel reservations service is so popular is clear to see.

Enjoying corporate membership of the Worldwide Independent Travel Network, our Hotel Booking Team is able to access the very best rates at over 18,000 hotels across the globe, ranging from 3 to 5 star venues. We negotiate all our rates on a last room availability basis and load these directly into our GDS to ensure all reservations are processed efficiently and guaranteed for the traveller. This also allows us to track your travellers' whereabouts and deliver a suite of management reports for employee security, management analysis and financial purposes.

We deliver only unbiased, tailored hotel recommendations that meet your travellers' needs specifically and importantly our proposals are not based on a "Preferred Supplier" programme, which is often there to the benefit of the agent rather than the customer.

For more information and to discuss how we can help with your hotel bookings, saving you both time and money, please contact your Account Manager.

LCC Website Goes Live…

Last year Giles Travel was awarded membership to the Lufthansa City Centre group, becoming the sole UK representative in the South of England. This franchise association allows us to 'plug into' a worldwide network of more than 600 travel offices in over 80 countries, being part of a travel turnover of more than €4billion. What this means for our clients is our ability to really punch above our weight and ensure the very best deals as well as the delivery of an integrated travel management solution throughout the entire world… all delivered with our emphasis on local service.

This month sees the launch of our LCC website - primarily a resource for fellow LCC members to partner with us but also a good source of policy information and service quality. For both individual and business traveller, all worldwide Lufthansa City Centre locations offer consistent services reflecting the commitment to quality of the Lufthansa City Centre brand. It is the local strength and expertise of all worldwide offices which make Lufthansa City Centre memberships a huge asset to us and our clients.

Help for Haiti…

Following the terrible earthquake in Haiti last month, we naturally wanted to do our part to help the relief effort. Rather than just send a corporate cheque, the true team spirit of Giles Travel came to the fore as we held a 'feed you friends' lunch event, organised by Leisure Travel Specialist, Sue Hart.

Every member of the team chipped in by providing a specific dish, ranging from breads and salads through to some very impressive home-made chillies, flans and pies. The big winner on the menu were some truly delicious butterfly cakes, lovingly baked and decorated by Reservation Manager, Bev Clark's mum! With such an array of delicious food, our G-Café had never been busier as everyone enjoyed the change from their usual packed lunch sandwiches and dug deep to make a contribution to eat at the Haiti appeal restaurant.

On the day we raised over £200… and a few waistlines!

Competition Time - Tea for Two…

Do you fancy something a little tasty in the afternoon? We've teamed up with London's Dorchester Hotel to bring you this month's exclusive competition.

Named as London's top Afternoon Tea venue by the Tea Council of Great Britain a record three times, The Dorchester is the perfect place to enjoy this quintessentially English ceremony. Created by The Dorchester's own dedicated tea time chef and crew of pastry chefs, finger sandwiches, scones and delicate pastries can be enjoyed with a choice of teas, including The Dorchester's own blend and a glass of champagne in the luxurious setting of The Promenade.

For your chance to win a Champagne Afternoon Tea for Two at The Dorchester simply answer the following question:

Giles Travel's online booking system is called:

A) G-Track
B) G-Focus
C) G-Connect

Email your answer together with your name, company and contact details by 28th February. Good luck!