From New Product to NDC Woes: ALGV’s Latest Updates

Apple Leisure Group Vacations (ALGV)’s fifth Ascend Conference wrapped up late last week and as part of two full days of workshops, and connections, travel advisors and suppliers gathered in the Cancun Center auditorium to hear from the leadership team at ALGV. 

Advisors submitted questions prior to the discussion, which was moderated by vice president of sales, Jim Tedesco. The conversation kicked off on a celebratory note – it’s now three years since ALGV was acquired by Hyatt, which group president Ray Snisky says has been fantastic for the company – before touching upon some pain points advisors are facing. 

“I am excited about the products we’re going to add next year,” Snisky said, specifically touting Hyatt’s acquisition of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a $66 million deal that will give ALGV’s members access to a collection of over 1,500 boutique and luxury properties. 

ALGV and Hyatt continue to double down on expanding in Europe, and advisors are responding resoundingly well to that. Jay Seltz, ALGV’s managing director of brands, noted “substantial growth from where we were a couple of years ago.” 

More than 10,000 travel advisors nationwide have booked Europe through ALGV this year – “this is phenomenal and something we’re very proud of,” Seltz told the audience. 

Beyond the significant expansion of ALGV’s product line, Seltz credited the growth in advisor bookings to low deposit policies that allow customers to pay partial prices upfront for air, as well as paying advisors full commissions on hotel bookings. 

ALGV vows to only invest more in travel advisors going forward, including better solutions for booking multi-destination itineraries. The company is also looking into adding more options to book rail tours in Europe, which is a top request they get from advisors. 

“It’s very complicated, it’s complex,” Seltz said “We’re currently exploring solutions, but we want to make sure if we’re doing it, we’re doing it right.” 

Here are a few other topics the executives made sure to address. 

Navigating NDC

ALGV’s adoption of NDC has caused some hiccups for travel advisors booking air, with many experiencing broken links. Jacki Marks, global head of trade brands, urged advisors to reach out about these issues, and that ALGV would be on top of it. 

“We rushed to integrate these airlines so fast that sometimes the wires get crossed in some place,” she said. “We have a team able to cover this but sometimes we don’t know it until we see our sales drop. So as advisors, the best thing you can ever do for us is tell us when things go wrong.” 

Snisky chimed in to remind advisors that, although the airlines were not prepared with their NDC strategy, ALGV decided to adopt NDC because of the cost. 

“NDC was really important because that was the wish of the airline,” he said. “And airlines, more than any other supplier, every dollar goes to bottom line. The way airline relationships have evolved, it’s not just being efficient but being low cost.” 

Growing Luxe by ALGV

With demand for luxury travel on the rise, ALGV launched Luxe by ALGV about six months ago. The program offers about 450 luxury hotels and elevated amenities with a dedicated concierge team for travel advisors, so they can deliver their clients “service that goes above and beyond a regular vacation package,” Seltz said.

Amenities may include early check-in, late check-out, spa credits, food and beverage credits – “things that appeal to the luxury segment that are a little something for you to be able to pass along to your clients.” 

“It’s going amazingly well but it’s still in its infancy,” Seltz said, noting that more product will be added to the program next year. 

Improving the call center

Anderson Hernandez, SVP of Vacations, contact center, and operations, acknowledged that though the call center may not be perfect, they are always striving to be better, and thanked advisors for their feedback. 

He also assured advisors that ALGV is hiring more U.S.-based staff to answer calls and prioritizing calls from travel advisors. He reported that customer satisfaction is up from 61 to 67 percent, and phones are answered in less than three minutes. 

“We’re not there yet. We are moderating every feedback you give us in surveys, then provide coaching to our team members,” he said “This year our service level has been the best over the past five years.”