Air Canada Vacations unveiled their new Europe brochure Thursday night in Toronto and in addition to great offerings for consumers, they’re making it easier and more lucrative for agents to book.

TravelPulse Canada spoke with George Plantanitis, Vice-President Sales and Partnerships, Air Canada Vacations who tells us the theme of this year’s packages is “All Inclusive Europe, Your Way.”

“People think Europe is expensive, but with our packages, we’ve made prices in line with what you might pay at an all-inclusive sun destination. We’re also giving travelers the option of taking the packages as is, or branching out a bit from it while providing them unbelievable and new experiences.”

In an effort to drive customers to agents, ACV is launching a $100 coupon for consumers if they book with their favourite agent by February 28. (The coupon is only redeemable from their travel agent and not through aircanadavacations.com). Agents who book a package from now until the end of the month, will also get 15% commission on all packages, including cruise.

ACV’s Carefree, which is about seat selection, price drop guarantee, waiver and administration charges at a value of $310, is now also offered to agents on closing for only $1 for bookings made by February 6, 2018

And the prices ARE great – examples include Island hopping in Greece – with 15 complete itineraries, starting at $1900 and Ireland as low as $1400. Other new offerings include Italy rail tours, where traveller’s luggage is picked up and dropped off at hotel at every destination, a service unique to ACV. Other options include Spain, Portugal, Iceland, French Riviera and, new this year, Croatia.

Luigi Iannello, Senior Director, Strategy and Business Development, Air Canada Vacations, agrees. He’s the architect whose team created this year’s offerings, which he says are designed to make it easier for agents.

“We tried to figure out what people go through to book Europe, it’s not like going to Punta Cana where you stay at a resort for a week and is easy to book. Europe is often lots of FIT, people want to do multiple cities, but they don’t know how to move from one city to another. We found an agent who needs to book a complex itinerary researching for 8, 9 bookings, depending on how many days the traveler is changing. We took that work away from the agent and the customer and created the itinerary. With ACV, all your components are in one booking and the agent earns a commission on every piece of it.”

Booking with ACV has its benefits for the consumer - there’s always someone there to support the traveler. Transfers are adjusted when a flight is late. Cruises ensure that in the event of a travel disruption, travellers will get to the next port of call.

Zero deposits now apply on cruise and air packages, with flights refundable up to 30 days to departure. Bookings can now also be done on Gaileo and SIREV in addition to Ocean.

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