Group Travel & Event Management Info Sessions

ABC Travel, the University of Melbourne’s preferred supplier for Group Travel & Events Management will be at the Parkville campus during the week of May 23rd to offer insight into  the group travel and event management industry.   Information presented will include, when it would be beneficial to engage the services of  a group/ events manager, and a brief of the benefits available specifically under the university’s contract.

ABC Travel offers a broad range of services from managing events or travel for as little as 5 staff to thousands.  Their services can vary to the clients requirements from offering advice and guidance, managing a portion of the event, or taking control of every detail.  To appreciate the breadth of the service and support that can be provided please attend on of the the information sessions planned.  There will be ample opportunity to speak to the ABC representative to discuss your individual needs and queries.

One session is to be held at 10am on Tuesday 24th May. (refer to contact details below for information on location and availability).

Several departments throughout the university have engaged ABC Travel including Engineering which had the following to say:

…”Domenica and her colleagues at ABC Travel have been highly professional in organising travel for 16 persons from Germany to Melbourne. They went out of their way to provide us with excellent service.”  Assistant Dean (Mech Eng)…

For session booking, to organise an individual meeting with ABC Travel, or general queries please email  travel-enquiries at unimelb.edu.au or contact 9035 8210.   PLEASE NOTE!  BOOKINGS ARE BEING ACCEPTED UP TO THE TUESDAY SESSION COMMENCING (pending availability). For more information regarding ABC Travel and services offered please go to  www.abctravel.com.au

Emirates AFL Competition

Emirates is giving away tickets, for 3 staff members and partners, to the Collingwood v North Melbourne AFL match including an invitation to to President’s Club lunch on July 10th, 2011, at the MCG.

To be automatically in the running for this great offer, and benefit from extensive Emirates corporate discounts, simply book a flight with Emirates over the months of May & June (2011) for any future international travel. Bookings must be made through the university’s travel portal and preferred travel agents.

Winners will be drawn and notified on July 1, 2011

Emirates, a university preferred airline, offers amazing discounts to staff of the University of Melbourne, on all return flights, and fares departing from Melbourne, including several cost saving services for staff able to travel or upgrade to Business Class.  (UoM corporate rates are only accessible through preferred travel agents and the Travel Portal). For more detailed information please click on the following link. http://travelportal.unimelb.edu.au/suppliers/airlines

Emirates / Campus Travel Coffee Club

Campus Travel and Emirates will be holding a morning Coffee Club on Tuesday 19th April at Lvl 10 Law Building (Pelham Street).  The morning tea will provide a great opportunity to meet the university’s dedicated consulting team from Campus Travel and hear about some of the benefits of the University’s contracted rates with Emirates.  Click on the link for more details.

UOM Emirates Coffee Club

New fees for US Visa Wavier Applications

Effective Wednesday 08 September 2010 the US government is introducing a fee for the ESTA Visa Waiver applications which are currently free.

How much will the fee be?
There will be a charge of USD$14 applied to every application (USD$10 goes towards a fund supporting US tourism and USD$4 towards the cost of administering ESTA)

How is the fee paid?
The fee is paid using credit card – Visa, MasterCard, AMEX or Discover Card. The fee is paid at time of application. The application will not be processed without the fee and so you will be charged even if the application is denied.

Does everyone have to pay the fee?
The fee will apply to all new ESTA applications from 08 September 2010 and all updated / renewed ESTA applications where a new passport number applies. All other existing (approved) ESTA visas will not attract the fee when updating. This ruling may change.

How long is my ESTA visa valid for?
Once approved, your ESTA visa remains valid for two years. This has not changed.

How do I apply for an ESTA visa?
Go to the ESTA visa website: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov

If you think that you may travel to or via the USA within the next 2 years and you do not have an ESTA visa, it is advisable to apply before 08 September 2010.

Update provided by Campus Travel

Travel Portal Functionality Update

Travel Portal has been recently upgraded with a number of changes that will improve the usability of the system according to University of Melbourne travel portal administrator David Papov.

Trobexis Functionality Change

Travel Portal screen shot showing the enhanced search functionality

One of the major changes is allowing travellers to access and amend travel requisitions created by a travel arranger on their behalf. This allows travellers to log into travel portal and make changes to travel requisitions before it is sent off for approval. This removes the requirement for travellers to go back and forth to fine tune travel requisitions created by travel arrangers on their behalf.

In other changes, Portal users can now cancel travel requisitions up until the date of departure. Previously if the status of the booking was ‘Booking Requested’ the user could not cancel or delete the booking which caused issues with reporting and data integrity if the traveller did not end up travelling.

With the introduction of the cancelled booking functionality, users are now able to cancel the booking or un-submit the booking if the status is ‘Booking Requested’. Once the booking is un-submitted the user have the option to delete the booking if travel is no longer required, or change the departure date if they are want to travel at a later date.

Changes have also been made to the Portal profile management rules to allow the system to automatically upload traveller details into Amadeus when a booking is made by a travel arranger once the booking is approved. This eliminates the issue we have had with travel arrangers booking travel for themselves instead of the traveller when they sign into Amadeus.

Search list functionality has also been dramatically improved and now users only have to click on a traveller name or city destination link once for the selected option to populate into travel portal. This removes the existing requirement for users to click on ‘Select’ option then the ‘Add to Requisition’ to populate data into the Portal.
UoM travel portal administrator David Papov said that a number of the changes that have been made to functionality with Portal are a direct result of feedback provided by users and we are pleased that we have been able to negotiate changes to the system.

“Further enhancements are scheduled in the next few months including the ability to add attachments to travel requisitions” David said. Further information on future enhancements are expected to be released within the next few weeks.

Campus Travel & Qantas morning tea

Campus Travel Qantas Coffee Club 24th June 2010Campus Travel and Qantas are holding a free morning tea for university staff on Thursday the 24th of June between 10.30 and 11.30am, at the Woodward Conference Centre – Level 10 Law Building.  If you would like to meet the team first hand and hear the latest news from Qantas then please contact Raelene from Campus Travel ( raelene.lim at campustravel.com.au) (RSVP essential).

European flights cancelled due to volcanic activity in Iceland

Flights to the United Kingdom and parts of Europe have been cancelled following the closure of European airspace due to a volcanic ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull crater in Iceland.

Officials from the European Air Traffic Agency have told media outlets that of the 28,000 flights that would normally pass through European airspace, only 11,000 will operate.

Six European countries have closed their airspace including the United Kingdom which has thrown travel to the UK and northern parts of Europe into chaos.

It is not known when the situation will ease as forecasts are predicting the volcanic ash cloud will continue to move east and south-east and that the impact will continue for at least the next 24 hours.

Travellers are being advised to check with their airline on the latest updates on travel to Europe. All of the major airlines providing services to Europe including Qantas, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and British Airways are posting regular updates on their websites including information on what you need to do if you are due to travel to Europe in the next few days.

Select your seat on Qantas flights when you book via Amadeus

The University of Melbourne Travel Portal online travel booking application Amadeus was recently upgraded to allow users to select their seats while they are booking their Qantas flights through the Amadeus online booking tool.

The process is very simple according to QBT Account Manager Lyn Harris and it allows users to select their seats by clicking on a seating link located on the flight confirmation page within Amadeus.

The seating functionality is only available to Qantas frequent flyer members who hold silver membership and above. Amadeus users will also need to enter their Qantas frequent flyer numbers within their traveller profile within Travel Portal so the system recognises them when they log in to do their booking.

Seat selection can be done at anytime, either at the time of booking or after ticketing has been completed (subject to the eligibility of the traveller).

Once eligible users have made their booking, they are able to request or change their seat online at qantas.com via Manage Your Booking up till 24 hours prior to their flight departure.

All seat requests are subject to availability and operational requirements. Once a customer requests their seat, check-in is still required through the check-in options available today.

Check out the video to see how easy it is to select your seats using Amadeus.

Fears of unrest grow in Bangkok as large scale demonstrations get underway this weekend

Travellers are being warned about visiting Bangkok this weekend as fears grow over large scale demonstrations by anti-government protestors being planned in the streets of the Thai capital.

DFAT are warning that there is a strong possibility of violence and civil unrest in Thailand as a result of the protests but at this stage DFAT have not upgraded their risk advice from ‘High Degree of Caution’.

The Thai Government has foreshadowed invoking the Internal Security Act (ISA) from 11 to 23 March in Bangkok and surrounding areas.

Australians are warned to avoid any prominent buildings associated with the Thai Government, such as Government House, the Parliament Building, the Supreme Court and military installations. Grenade attacks, including against banks, have occurred in the past month and further attacks are possible over the coming weeks.

In mid-February, the Thai Government announced increased security measures in light of political unrest and possible demonstrations in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand.

For more information on Thailand check out the DFAT website.

Virgin Blue test flight to Canberra

Travelling from Melbourne to Canberra on Virgin Blue and their Embraer 190 (E190) aircraft is pure delight, right from the time you check-in (online), to the time you disembark at the airport in Canberra.

The E190 has the look and feel of a well cared for brand new aircraft. The E190 is smaller than most aircraft you will travel on between the major hubs within Australia, and the two seat – aisle – two seat configuration provides a feeling of spaciousness not afforded by larger aircraft.

The Virgin Blue trademark leather seats provide a little extra width than the norm (18.1 inches compared to the standard 17 inches), and the 31 inch seat pitch provides a six foot tall passenger at least three inches of room from their knees to the seat in front of them in the upright position.

The flight from Melbourne to Canberra was approximately three quarters full and boarding the aircraft was extremely efficient from both ends of the aircraft.

The Virgin safety presentation has lost some of the spark that use to annoy the more conservative types, and the cabin staff professionalism has improved considerably since the airline broke into the Australian market over a decade ago but importantly, the friendliness of the cabin staff remains firmly intact.

The flight departed right on time and arrived into Canberra five minutes early and the forty five minute flight passed without incident except a little bit of turbulence as we climbed up to cruising level out of Melbourne.

Something very noticeable was no television screens in the back of the seat in front of you, so it was easy to sit back and read a book without having the distraction of mindless entertainment flickering away in your peripheral vision.

If you must, the seat tray provides ample room to place a 13 inch laptop on it to catch up on a bit of work and yes, you can actually open it up at an angle where you could comfortably read the screen and type.

Flying Virgin is different and they seem focused on making travelling an experience. The terminals are busy and have a lively market feel about them where ‘cool’ shops serving good coffee, boost juice or the latest surf wear provide a distraction to travellers awaiting the departure of their flight.

The cabin staff won’t frown upon you if you take your coffee onboard and if you feel a bit peckish during the flight, $6 will get you a 100% free trade organic (instant) coffee and a tasty muffin.

Probably the most eerie thing about flying Virgin is when you arrive at the terminal at the end of the flight.

Bizarrely passengers remain seated until the seat belt sign is turned off, which is well after the engines have shut down. You can pick the non regular Virgin passengers a mile off as they are the ones that spring out of their seats as soon as the engines shut down only to sheepishly sit down again when they look around and notice everyone else has remained in their seat.

I recommend that you check-in online so you can go straight to the gate or avoid the lengthy check-in queues at the airport if you are taking check-in bags with you. If you have bags, make sure you purchase your baggage allowance when you book your ticket or else you will get hit for additional fees at check-in.

I am a big fan of Virgin Blue and once upon a time I was a loyal customer of the other domestic carrier but competition made me look elsewhere.

The fare to Canberra on Virgin cost me $29 and the return fare was $74 making the return trip just over $100 – the competition was over double the price which provides plenty of incentive to try Virgin on your next flight.

Virgin Blue have provided University of Melbourne twenty lounge membership passes to giveaway to staff who travel on Virgin Blue. To receive a pass, simply book your next flight on Virgin Blue using travel portal and send an email to  travel-enquiries at unimelb.edu.au and we will send you a free pass so you can access the lounge.