Happy New year! We would like to thank you for choosing us as your travel partner; we’re honored to play a role in planning your life-changing trips.
We’d like to take a moment to share some of the exciting things that have been happening.
FTI Team News
Last year, we celebrated several milestone work anniversaries! Leanne has been a member of the FTI family for 25 years, and Jenny B. hit the 20 year mark! Scotty and Stephanie are not far behind with 15 years under their belts.
We also recognized Gabi Wahba, who was promoted to Group Sales from the Group Support department. And, due to the growing demand for custom group tours, Tyler Favale and Yota Alexandropoulou joined our Group Tour department.
In addition to professional achievements, we also celebrated some exciting life events. This summer, Aimee (that’s me!) had a baby boy and Wayne became a grandfather a few days later. Then, Cecilia visited her family in Peru and returned with a puppy for Sue. We ended the year with Tara getting engaged in Paris during a multi-city tour of Europe! (Want to see some photos? Check out our blog.)
Product & Service Enhancements
In 2018, we brought our complimentary after-hours emergency assistance back in-house. We listened to you; calls are once again routed directly to one of our on-call agents, not a call center. Our after-hours team is trained to handle any last-minute bookings needed as a result of travel disruptions.
In addition to group leaders, our customers travelling individually can now access their trip info at any time on Ubi, our free online trip management tool. We also created a new “make a payment” page to provide a quick summary of outstanding balances to make payment submission.
Familiarization Trips & Vision Trips
We started off the year with a fam trip to Israel with group leaders from universities and churches across the country. The trip familiarized them with the sites, guides and accommodations available to prepare them for leading future groups, for both first-time visitors and those looking for more in-depth study.
In October, we led a vision trip to Romania to visit our partner projects. We met some amazing people and witnessed the incredible impact they are making on the community through healthcare and outreach projects. Participants formed a special relationship with the both the patients and administrators there; all are looking to return with a team in the near future.
Airline Contracts
- American Airlines – Our humanitarian contract with American Airlines, for individual travelers, now includes domestic travel within the US! Most routes include three free checked bags (One bag is standard.)
- Cathay Pacific – Our new humanitarian contract offers competitive rates to individual travelers. Cathay open a new hub in Washington-Dulles in October.
- Avianca Brasil – They are flying daily from JFK and Miami International to Brazil and other destinations in South America. Also, they are a Star Alliance carrier.
Stay tuned for more exciting news in the near future. In the meantime, if you have an upcoming trip, you can request a quote using the online tools on our website, or simply contact your FTI agent. We look forward to assisting with all of your travel arrangements in 2019 and beyond!
It’s a big world. Get out there!
Your FTI Team
www.fellowship.com
