sato travel

17. December 2009 topiwale2

Sato Travel government agency is the largest service provider of its kind in the United States with incredible ticket sales of nearly $4.2 billion per year. The agency has been functional for fifty years now and has the reputation of offering great travel conditions to the U.S. government worldwide. Sato Travel government agency offers not only airline tickets, hotel and car reservations, as it provides more special services too: like airport meeting, leisure travel or end-to-end voyage options. In the United States there are three hundred customer on-site offices, but the agency also has bureaus in ten other countries.

The strong points of Sato Travel government agency refer to a very advantageous fee policy, the possibility to book routine travel on the Internet, the chance to use vouchers, all activities being tackled with superior management skills. The needs of a military or a governmental traveler are unique in terms of service, which explains why there is a special organization to take care of national traveling exclusively. Sato Travel government policy relies on the use of the Defense Travel System that enables any military or government member to plan their trips in the best of conditions whether for work or leisure purposes.

Since its launch, Sato Travel government agency has served the purposes of the Department of Defense for good airline traffic at the highest extent. Thus, the agency covers all the details for the departure from the the booking and the specific estimates to the authorization approval. Moreover, the traveler receives weather updates as well as all sorts of tips for destination planning. The fees for the reservations are considerably lower as compared to any other travel agency. Yet, alarming reports and very serious accusations have been made concerning the purchase of millions of plane tickets that were never used or refunded, which equals with a very serious budget waste.

Presently, Sato Travel government agency works an official partner of FlyteComm, a top service provider of travel flight tracking solutions. The Sato Travel government clients receive recommendations weiter…

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satori software

17. December 2009 topiwale2

Satori Software today announced the immediate availability of its streamlined Processing Acknowledgement Form (PAF) management system with the April 2009 release of both of its mailing preparation and address management software lines: Bulk Mailer® and MailRoom ToolKit®.

This new paperless system allows Satori Software® customers to set up Move Update accounts and access Full Service NCOALink processing in a matter of minutes rather than hours or days.

As an NCOALink licensee, Satori Software must collect completed PAF documents annually from each list owner and, when applicable, any third-party list processor (i.e., broker/agent or list administrator). USPS® recently revised the PAF, which makes it possible for Satori Software to offer this paperless PAF management system. Today, Bulk Mailer and MailRoom ToolKit customers located in the United States may complete and submit list-owner-approved PAFs through the integrated Move Update wizard anytime. The system validates the form and provides immediate access to the Satori Software real-time* 48-month Move Update service.

“As many of our customers know firsthand, NCOALink processing through Satori Software products is the fastest, easiest and most convenient method for meeting the new USPS Move Update standard,” said Hugh Rogovy, President of Satori Software. “We are pleased to offer this new service which streamlines the otherwise onerous task of managing the necessary PAF documents and helps our mailing preparation customers be more productive.”

About NCOALink Processing
As of November 2008, USPS requires that addresses used for discounted First-Class Mail® and all Standard Mail® are updated or supplied by the addressee within 95 days of the date of mailing. The only authorized change-of-address method that updates address lists before the mail is printed and sent, NCOALink processing saves time and materials, and ultimately improves overall mailing results.

The NCOALink product is a secure data set that contains customer-filed change-of-address (COA) orders received and maintained by USPS. The NCOALink process is an address updating service provided to mailers through companies licensed by USPS. NCOALink processing checks an address list against the NCOALink data set and updates the addresses when applicable. Bulk Mailer and MailRoom ToolKit products provide built-in 48-month NCOALink processing through the Satori Software real-time* Move Update interface.

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global travel

17. December 2009 topiwale2

For a hundred kilometres in any direction there is only desert. The days are warm and the air clear, except for the dust that hangs over the valley like a gauze curtain. Towering above Arequipa, the recently active volcano Mt Misti, 5,822 metres (19,100 feet) high, looks strangely out of place. At the foot of the mountain, Arequipeños go about their daily lives in sub-tropical conditions, despite the devastation caused by the earthquake of early 2001.

The result of a combined total of 200+ years experience in the professions of Travel Writing and Travel Photography, the new Global Travel Writers E-book Travel Writing and Travel Photography - from Dreams to Hard Reality contains material that you just will not find anywhere else.

The twelve contributors to this E-book take you through the processes of digging out a story idea; using the services of national tourism offices to arrange “famil” trips and to help research a story; pitching to editors; and much much more. The chapter on “New Media” contains exclusive material and advice on the latest techniques that you can use to enhance your writing’s appeal to editors and, through them, to readers. And because photography is so important, in this E-book we have devoted two comprehensive chapters to travel photography for a digital age.

The advice contained in this E-book WON’T make you rich overnight. However, with time and effort, it MAY WELL launch you on a profitable and richly rewarding new career path. BUY NOW! We guarantee you will not be disappointed.

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travel deals

17. December 2009 topiwale2

The Ritz-Carlton, Cancun is offering a deal over Christmas and New Year’s that includes a $75 per day resort credit and free food for children under five.

Travelers looking for bargains on winter and spring vacations may want to act now: Those recession-era travel deals we have gotten used to are likely as good as they’ll get.

For the past year or so, many travelers have become accustomed to seeing hotel and resort rates progressively plummet. Savvy consumers waited until the last minute to snatch the deepest discounts. But, now, industry watchers say hotels and resorts have unloaded their sweetest offers early and hotel prices are likely to stay relatively stable during the next few months. By the middle of next year, they may even start to inch up.

“I think we may have hit bottom,” says Jan Freitag, vice president at Smith Travel Research. “There will still be deals permeating the general environment” in 2010, he says. “But they are not here to stay” throughout next year.

But now there is a plethora of discounts for peak holiday and spring travel. Some of the best offers are in Mexico, where fears of the H1N1 flu are still damping demand; in cities such as New York and San Diego that have been hurt by a slump in business travel; and at western ski resorts.

In San Diego, for example, over the week of Christmas and New Year’s, travelers can stay at The Omni San Diego for $99 a night and come back for one night in 2010 at the same rate. With the “Stuff Your Stocking” package, there are no blackout dates, but limited availability. The rack rate at the property is $359 per night. Because the city isn’t a big Christmas destination, the package is designed to attract locals bringing family to town, says Susan David Williger, a press relations officer for the hotel.

Some hotels are unloading deals earlier than usual, in an attempt to train travelers not to procrastinate. Through November, Marriott is offering 40% off at several hotels in the Caribbean, Mexico and Costa Rica for travel from Jan. 1 to April 30.

The deal is designed to “generate advance bookings,” says Chris Holter, regional vice president of revenue strategy for Marriott International.

In the past year, hotels and resorts have been hit hard by a downturn in travel. And they have scrambled to cut prices to boost demand, but that appears to be leveling off. Between July 1 and Sept. 30, average daily hotel rates in the U.S. fell about 10% compared with the same period last year, to about $97, according to Smith Travel Research. Rates are expected to drop slightly to $96 by the end of the year and level out at about $93 in early 2010. Rates are expected to begin rebounding in mid-2010.

H1N1 Fears

Mexico is still being hurt by concern over the big H1N1 outbreak earlier this year. To deal with sluggish demand,

The Ritz-Carlton, Cancun is offering a package deal over Christmas and New Year’s, while by this time last year they offered nothing for those dates, says Verona Carter, director of public relations for The Ritz-Carlton’s Caribbean and Mexican areas. Their “Ho, Ho Holiday Moments” package starts at $619 per night for stays of five nights or more. It includes a $75 per day resort credit, free food for children under five and a family photo at the property’s Christmas tree. The deal is available until Jan. 1.

Many high-end hotel companies are still loath to discount too heavily: They don’t want travelers to expect those lower prices when times get better. So they are offering packages with free nights and other goodies instead.

In Mexico, for example, the Banyan Tree Mayakoba, a high-end property on the Caribbean coast that features private waterfront suites with their own swimming pools, recently launched a free-night promotion for the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s. From Dec. 19 to Jan. 21, guests can pay for five or six nights and get two nights free, or pay for seven nights or more and receive three nights free. The deal is available only for their one-bedroom garden pool and courtyard pool villas, because the property’s two- and three-bedroom residences are almost sold out, says Miguel Mondejar, area director of Mexico sales and marketing for Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts.

The Four Seasons New York recently dropped rates over the week of Christmas and New Year’s. The cheapest room those weeks is $795 this year, instead of $855 last year. And the hotel will for the first time ever allow guests to combine two packages—one that offers free nights and another that gives a hotel credit—over peak winter holiday weeks. From Dec. 18 to Jan. 18, guests can get a third night free with stays of two nights or more, as well as up to $400 in a hotel credit per night.

In the past travelers could take advantage of only one deal or the other. (The deal isn’t available for the hotel’s cheapest rooms, however.) The new package will also be available during three-day weekends such as Easter and Martin Luther King weekend next year, says Leslie Lefkowitz, public-relations director for the hotel.

Checking Back

While hotels say they are offering their best deals now, it still makes sense to check back closer to your departure date to see if there are further discounts. So booking a room that you can easily cancel is sometimes the best strategy.

That is what Cheryl Elwood, a 48-year-old manager at a stainless-steel distributor in Modesto, Calif., did for her July trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. About a week before her vacation, Ms. Elwood noticed her hotel’s rate had dropped $30 per night, compared with when she booked 11 months earlier. She rebooked the reservation at The Embassy Suites Anaheim South and canceled the old reservation without penalty. “I have an upcoming trip to London and I’m going to do the same thing,” she says. “I keep going back and checking.”

Caribbean Deals

Even in some popular beach destination, deals can still be found over the winter holidays.

The Tuscany on Grace Bay, a luxury ocean-front property in the Caribbean Turks and Caicos Islands, is offering 25% off rates on its three-bedroom suits through Jan. 4, including Christmas, bringing the nightly rate to $1,068. In addition, “due to low occupancy,” the hotel has decided to break down some three-bedroom suites into smaller, cheaper one- and two-bedroom suites, with nightly rates starting at $900 through Jan. 4, says general manager Terria Misick.

Then, beginning Jan. 5, the hotel will starting offering two nights free with every stay of five nights or more through the summer. “I think people are still just afraid to spend right now,” says Ms. Misick.

The Fairmont Orchid in Kohala Coast, Hawaii, is offering a fifth night free for stays between Dec. 21 and Jan. 4. Rates start at $629, about the same as last year, says Jaisy Jardine, public-relations manager for the hotel, but the free night and other extras like free parking and free participation in the kids Aloha program are new this year, she says. “We certainly have availability,” over Christmas and New Year’s, she says, but “right now seems to be picking up.”

One problem with packages—they often require nonrefundable deposits. The Fairmont Orchid package requires prepayment of at least $2,516 for a five-night stay.

Waiving the Deposit

But it some cases, those terms are negotiable—and savvy travelers can succeed in getting them waived. This summer Bruce Ehrle, a director at a health-care-quality trade association in D.C., wanted to book a fall trip at the Fairmont Orchid. He found a great deal: a reasonable rate, a free third night and a $250 resort credit, but the resort wanted a two-night nonrefundable deposit. So he emailed the resort, saying he wanted to stay, but a competitor, the JW Marriott, offered a similar deal without a deposit. “They agreed to take the reservation with no advance deposit,” says 43-year-old Mr. Ehrle. “I asked very nicely.”

“That’s typically not our policy,” says Ms. Jardine, from the Fairmont.

Locking In Rates

Even if hotel rates do start to climb in 2010, you can still grab a good deal. Just take a trip with a tour company that has locked in 2009 rates. Abercrombie & Kent, a luxury tour company, says it has been able to cut prices on some 2010 tours by as much as 25%. “We were negotiating at a time when hotels were really struggling, and it gave us great rates” for 2010 tours, says Scott Wiseman, the company’s U.S. president.

For example, the company’s “Wings Over Botswana” tour, a 12-day trip to view wildlife near the Okavango Delta, starts at $6,925 this year based on double occupancy. Last year, the exact same trip started at $8,550.

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sato travel peace corps

16. December 2009 topiwale2

What is training?
After staging, your will receive training in the country of your Peace Corps service. At this point, you will be known as a Peace Corps Trainee (PCT).

You will begin with your whole group, but are then generally split up in small groups to different towns or villages near the Peace Corps office. During training, you will live with a host family. Your days will consist of several hours of language training. Other training will depend on the day, but often include, technical, cultural, safety, or health. There will be certain days that the group as a whole comes together to the Peace Corps office for certain training topics. There will be a few times you are taken “site” seeing–in part to understand your country.

You’ll have 2-3 language tests to evaluate your level to help you accordingly. At one point, trainees will often visit a current volunteer at his or her site for several days to a week in order to gain perspective on just what site life could consist of. Near the end of training, trainees will be interviewed about site preferences they may have, and be assigned their future site. Usually, trainees will depart for several days or up to a week to make a “future site visit” in which they will meet their counterparts, community, and secure housing if not yet found. After future site visits, there is just a couple weeks left of training.

How long is training?
Training typically lasts for 2-3 months.

How do I get to training?
After accepting your invitation, you will be sent a “staging kit” which provides information about your departure. You should call SATO Travel, the Peace Corps travel company, immediately to make travel arrangements. The Peace Corps provides your flight, but you yourself m weiter…

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