Aria Assistance has teamed up with travel management specialists ALTOUR (www.altour.com) in an agreement that gives the Aria Assistance team direct access to the ALTOUR’s back office and Global Reservations Systems for 24/7, 365-day ticketing and administration.
This innovative agreement means that Aria Assistance advisers can make confirmed travel arrangements at any time of the day or night for people requiring international travel under their medical assistance cover. Working with ALTOUR, which has over 70 global offices, Aria Assistance enjoys global search and booking facilities, and can easily accommodate last minute changes and unusual requirements.
ALTOUR is currently ranked within the 14 largest US business travel agencies and Aria Assistance is to date the only major UK assistance customer to have access to its back office systems. This means customers benefit from direct access to market leading fares and relationship support at the most senior levels within key suppliers to address any issues when really needed.
ALTOUR works closely with Aria Assistance quickly to identify carriers with facilities to cater for emergency medical needs during transit. It has all the required contacts in place to facilitate medical clearance and escorted flight bookings. It can assist with stretcher, wheelchair and oxygen requirements as appropriate on a case by case basis. In addition to flight, rail and ferry bookings, ALTOUR also benefits from being an American express preferred partner which provides preferential access to over 30,000 hotels around the globe.
The announcement of Aria Assistance’s partnership with ALTOUR is an example of the newly-independent assistance company’s strategy of working with best-of-breed providers to deliver superior services to Aria Assistance customers. IT integration ensures that the Aria Assistance promise that customers have just one number to call, whenever and wherever they need help, always stands.
Earlier this month Aria Assistance also unveiled an agreement with Pannone Affinity Solutions for the provision of legal advice and services. Pannone is the white-label arm of Pannone, one of the UK’s best-known law firms.
Aria Assistance Director of Operations David StClair said ”These are both names with great pedigree that underpins the value that Aria Assistance enables its business partners to add to their own brand. For the end user, the service will be seamless, and it can be delivered via our business partners’ brand as a white label service.”
