Star Alliance Enhances Conventions Plus Product

Photo © Star Alliance

Star Alliance has improved its Conventions Plus product for delegates and organizers, an announcement by the airline alliance said.

Running since 2002, Conventions Plus provides simplified travel solutions to major event organizers by providing access to the entire Alliance network through one of the member airlines. Delegates and one companion are entitled to fare discounts, depending on the type of fare, class of travel and airline used.

According to Star Alliance, delegates now have a wider range of fares to select from, the booking fee for the online tool has been eliminated, organizers benefit from a new support program and a more simplified contracting scheme has been introduced.

The choice of fares available to delegates at a discount has been extended through the inclusion of more booking classes, with applicable discount levels now ranging between four and 20 percent.

Photo © Star Alliance

In principle the higher value booking classes attract a larger reduction than the lower ones. For example, the discount off a Business Class fare booked in “C” class will be greater than the one applicable to an Economy Class fare booked in “Q” or “W” class. As the fares can be interlined among the participating Star Alliance member airlines, delegates can choose from more flights when traveling to their selected convention.

Star Alliance has also eliminated the EUR/USD 10 booking fee which had up to now been applied on all Conventions Plus travel booked via the dedicated online booking tool, making it even more attractive for delegates to use the tool.

For convention organizers, Star Alliance has introduced a new support scheme which is now linked to the number of delegates booked. With each delegate booking, the organizer accrues credit for his or her own travel needs. In contrast to the previous scheme, the new one is more directly related to performance and at the same time allows the organizers to fully reap the benefits, as the cap from the old scheme has been removed.

Following the trend for more e-enablement in the travel industry, Star Alliance has introduced a new and simplified Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Conventions Plus product. Lead times have been reduced and the cumbersome paperwork done away with.

For further details on Conventions Plus, press here.