VacationPedia™ Travel Agency Partner:
Get Exclusive VacationPedia™ Rebates when you Travel on Funjet Vacations®.
Bill Novak, Founder and President
The Bestfare Corporation.
Get Cash or Gift Certificate Rebates from the VacationPedia™ Travel Program and the Pediacard™: Starting July 1, 2006, you will be able to save even more when you travel with Bestfare Corporation's partnership with a major vacation provider Funjet Vacations®!
Facility:
Bestfare’s reservation center is in Omaha, Nebraska.
About Us:
The Bestfare Corporation is a provider of value-added vacation products and services targeted to both low and higher-income travelers. The company assembles air, hotel, rental car, event tickets and other travel components in bulk or by special arrangement and markets vacation packages to travelers through our three highly visible travel brands. The company also provides its services through other distribution channels, including the Internet, private label, and independent contractors. The Bestfare Corporation provides and markets a vast array of airline and cruise affiliated vacation programs as with our partner in the very unique program with VacationPedia™ through Funjet Vacations®.
History & Outlook:
Bestfare Tour and Travel was created in March of 1990, by its founder and President Bill Novak. His passion for his own personal travel along with his marketing background in the radio broadcasting, cable television, and the automobile industry, allowed him to create a success story that started from the basement of his very own home.
In August of 1991, Bestfare moved to a retail office facility in Omaha. Opening with just 500 square feet, the facility expanded in four years. Bill realizing from the start that the commissions from “air only” tickets sales showed little opportunity for acceptable profit levels. Bestfare booked clients “air only tickets” on a call-in basis only while concentrating marketing and advertising efforts on more high volume/big margin, retail vacation packages. These packages to destinations such as Las Vegas, Mexico and Orlando allowed Bestfare to become a top producer for MLT Vacations (division of Northwest Airlines), Funjet Vacations® and Southwest Airlines Vacations. By 1994, Bestfare became the top producer in Omaha, and ranked second nationally for sales of America West Airlines vacation products. Today Bestfare enjoys top commission levels, travel perks and preferred status with several travel partners because of its high volume of sales.
In 1994, Bestfare launched it’s first self created sports package hosting 146 Husker fans in New York City with Nebraska vs. Penn State. Bestfare Sport Tours executed many more successful programs after this to such events as the Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, Nebraska vs. Washington, California, Arizona State plus many more College Football, NASCAR, and Rodeo events. The biggest tour to date saw 714 Nebraska fans enjoy the 2000 Nebraska at Notre Dame game. This also marked the beginning or our current “Premium Sports Tours” branded label.
In July of 1999, Bestfare Tour and Travel changed from a sole proprietor company to be incorporated as “The Bestfare Corporation”. Bestfare Tour and Travel would now be marketed under the “Bestfare Value Vacations” label to draw attention away from the traditional travel agency image dealing in non-commissionable airline tickets and direct it to higher margin vacation travel products.
In August of 2001, The Bestfare Corporation moved to its present reservation center. The events of 9/11 which took place only one month after opening our West Omaha location indeed had a dramatic impact on sales. But by December, bookings rebounded with robust sales on the 2002 Rose Bowl Package along with first quarter Cancun and Las Vegas packages. In April of 2002, The Bestfare Corporation ceased all sales of “air only” ticket sales due to most major airlines cutting commissions to zero. This had minimal impact on revenue because Bestfare had never focused on “ticket only” sales since our beginning in 1990.
In 2002, Bestfare launched their latest marketing brand the “Las Vegas Vacation Hotline”. With its own identity, phone number, website and sales staff. Bestfare can market regionally and separately from their other labels featuring only Las Vegas Vacation Products. This allows employees to be trained experts on one destination and the turn time from a trainee to an active productive sales agent be done in a third of the time. With the Internet based on-line booking engine and sophisticated phone network, inbound calls can be serviced an sold either on or off site, at home, or at a call center 24 hours a day. Although in it infancy, "Las Vegas Vacation Hotline" has had a strong launch with impressive sales and a long term objective of having all sales agents work on a commission and incentive pay program.
While conceding the “air only” business to the Internet. Bestfare beats the Internet on complete vacation packages with both price and customer service. While some traditional agencies have relied heavy on “air only” ticket sales for many years are now closing their doors. Bestfare has picked up market share and will continue to pick up market share as the number of active agencies decrease across the country.
Direct to Customer Advertising:
Bestfare also provides product updates to it clients through direct mail and email databases.
