iblog

Maria Whiteman, MD of tour operator Travel 2/4 has decided to scrap the company’s 0870 number. These are a pet hate of mine – premium rate numbers which cost up to 8p a minute. Invariably the companies using these numbers keep you on hold for an eternity – and sneakily receive a cut of the cost you pay for the phonecall while you wait!

Travel 2/4 hopes that its new, free 0800 number will encourage more travel agents to use the company. According to the trade magazine, Travel Weekly, only 9% of the most agent-friendly operators had premium rate numbers, compared to 44.5% who had national rate numbers, and 46.5% who charged local rates. An 0800 number certainly sounds like a step in the right direction. Will other tour operators follow in Travel 2/4’s footsteps? Well, in the meantime, don’t be caught out – log on to Say No To 0870, a website where you can search for alternative, geographical numbers to avoid paying a premium rate.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 25th, 2007 at 11:52 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.