Several months ago, we attended a presentation from Travelbridge covering the services and features of the company. The basic goal of Travelbridge, as described in the high-pressure presentation, is to sell customers a "membership" to provide enhanced access to travel privileges and opportunities. Members are known as "Agents" given the notion they possess the capabilities of a full-time travel agent and access to 'travel agent rates."
Included are several observations and findings regarding the Travelbridge organization. The goal of Travelbridge is to sell memberships, but not much more. The expectation provided by Travelbridge is membership provides you the same privileges as a "travel agent." That is, reduced travel costs, upgrade privileges and access the exclusive travel opportunities. As it turns out, the membership card is virtually worthless and not recognized by anyone outside of Travelbridge. It's through these deceptive presentations and misleading expectations that memberships are sold.
Through our experiences, we've concluded there is entirely no additional benefit to membership as presented. Rather, the following points illustrate our findings:
1. Travelbridge refers to members as "Travel Agents" implying a member has the capabilities and privileges of a full-time travel agent. This is not the case, and the "Travel Agent" label is misleading in that members have no additional travel advantages from membership.
2. The expectation was given that travel industry privileges and discounts could be achieved simply by presenting the membership card. This was a false and misleading statement, in that Travelbridge "associates" have no access to any travel agent rates through presentation of their membership.
3. We were assured of numerous travel promotions and negotiated rates for the Atlanta office, which have never materialized.
4. It was not disclosed that most major travel suppliers have policies that limit Travel Agent rates to individuals who work in the travel industry. Travelbridge membership provides no valid access to any Travel Agent rates.
5. While using the program as intended, we've encountered numerous defects with the process. For example: booking errors by 800# for simple car reservations, never received a response from internal agents/resources concerning a condo inquiry. We have not seen any true savings or benefit from this "membership".
Travelbridge failed to disclose the limitations of membership, where the membership card does not possess any value. Travel advantages may only be obtained when a valid IATAN card is issued to a travel agent, which requires agents working at least 20 hours per week and a minimum of $5,000 per year in commissions.
For the above reasons, membership in Travelbridge has no real or implicit value.
Mitch
Alpharetta, Georgia
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