Jetsetting into a new retailing era

Who is Jetset?

Jetset is a modern retailer that prides itself on selling package holidays all around the world — at top speeds. For nearly 60 years, this UK trade-only tour operator has built its reputation on exceptional service — so much so that it proudly shares weekly call wait times online, often as low as 19 seconds and under. With a close-knit team of 75 and an average staff tenure of 15 years, the agency thrives on loyalty, heart, and a shared passion for meeting its customers’ needs with precision, care, and most importantly, speed.

“Our values are simple. It is about people”, says Adrian Smyth, Sales Director at Jetset. “Not just people within our organization, but the people that trust us with their clients — travel agents.”

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The challenge ahead

To continue their impressive legacy of delivering at top speeds, they needed a tech upgrade that matched their appetite for results, and they found it in Travelport+. And who better to talk us through the upgrade than the people behind it? We’re in their Jetset Southgate office with Adrian and the team to find out more. With GDS-experienced and inexperienced staff members, they admit the upgrade to a new platform was a little daunting. And as ambitious, high performers (in 2024, this team managed a significant volume of bookings across multiple markets), Jetset needed a technology partner they could trust — one that delivers innovation without disrupting workflows or slowing down their expert team.

The support to ensure success

While the thought of upgrading caused some concern, Adrian says the training offered by the Travelport team was absolutely superb. The program included short conversion courses and monthly check-ins with the Travelport team. When the upgrade to Travelport+ was complete, the support continued for weeks after, with Travelport members onsite ensuring all was running smoothly.

It’s clear from our conversations with the Jetset team that Travelport’s personal touchpoints during the upgrade left a lasting impression. Whether it was refresher training or real-time support from the account management team, Adrian credits the constant partnership of the Travelport team for simplifying the process.

But how did Jetset members with minimal GDS experience fare with the upgrade? We spoke to Claire Joseph, Customer Care Manager, and Reena Pankhania, System Development Support Technician, who have huge praise for the training sessions, “[Our trainer] was very, very good. They knew exactly which levels of experience we were at. And spoke to our level, which was great — from then on, Travelport+ was very easy to use.”

The tech behind JETS

Jetset could now reap the benefits of the lightning-fast tech that could amplify their impressive output; they began by integrating Travelport’s API Suite to guarantee the speed of their main agency booking hub, JETS. This development was supported with ongoing monthly API and optimization calls with Travelport, scheduled for the team to get to grips with this new addition.

Adrian and his team loved Smartpoint’s intuitive interface — especially the Smart Buttons, which made the booking process much easier for both new and seasoned agents. The previous need to input swathes of data entry to get a booking, quote, or reprice was quashed, amplifying speed for the team. Another Travelport+ feature the Jetset team loved was fare branding and merchandising — especially Madeline McFadden in Sales, who found it particularly valuable, “I'm able to find fares quicker, look at routes easier. I'm able to find dates using particular booking classes much easier when using the branded part of Travelport+.”

When it came to the tools, Automated Exchanges made the biggest impact for the team, namely Karisma Shah, Ticketing Supervisor. With Travelport+, issuing and reissuing tickets became quick and easy, with minimal input needed. And refunds, usually a tricky task, were now streamlined thanks to automation in her workflow, with Karisma naming it ‘the most amazing feature’ she’d used.

The results: profits, partnership, and happy passengers

The results speak for themselves, says Adrian. With Travelport+, the Jetset team saw a massive spike in their premium economy sales with their newly streamlined access to Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic, and British Airways content. Customer feedback has been positive since the upgrade, with the Jetset team constantly receiving positive compliments about their enhanced system, with its new scope of product and speed of processing.

Looking ahead, they know they have the right partner for modern retailing, and Adrian’s excited to unlock the capabilities of Travelport’s API to push forward with NDC content. Whether it’s assistance with efficiency, onboarding, or the key pillar for Jetset — speed, he’s confident that Travelport’s innovation and partnership will continue to be pivotal to the success of the business for years to come.

Whether you’re a growing tour operator like Jetset or an agency excited to leverage the power of time-saving automation, Travelport has the modern retailing tools for you. Through our solutions, easy-to-use point-of-sale Smartpoint, easy exchanges on Travelport+, and the partnership of our expert training teams, account management teams and support teams, we amplify modern retailing — for everyone.  

Find out more about Travelport+