Questions_ _Answers__Concessionaire.pdf

Questions & Answers

1. PWS page 2, Item 1.2.1 Domestic Tour Packages within the United States “The contractor will offer domestic tour/vacation packages. FSS through ITT may also be offering similar domestic tour packages. Both the Contractor and ITT may offer their own domestic tour packages to customers without limitations.” Does this include vacation packages and tickets to attractions such as Disney World, Universal Studios, EPCOT, etc.? Yes, but with the provision the Contractor purchases vacation packages, hotel accommodations and tickets from ITT when available via AF contract. PWS updated accordingly.

2. PWS page 2, Item 1.2.2 Contractor Work Areas states “Custodial service is not included in this requirement.” However, PWS 3.1.6 states that the government will provide custodial service. Could the government clarify this statement? Is the contractor required to provide its own custodial service for its work area? Both items have been reworded for better explanation of what is provided by the government and what is expected of the contractor. Bottom line, Contractor will empty their desk trash can in the receptacle provided (will be shown where), will keep their area presentable and if using the break room, clean up after themselves. Govt. custodial service is limited to once per week, floor moping and vacuuming.

3. PWS page 3, Item 1.2.3 states “The Contractor shall provide a full range of travel services Monday through Friday, 10am to 6pm, Saturday 10am to 3pm.” Please clarify the hours of operation as they are different than what was provided at the Concessionaire meeting on Aug 19, 2015. At that time, the hours of operation were stated to be Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Upon further discussion, the government requires leisure travel service to be available Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm.

4. PWS page 3, Item 1.2.3 states “The Contractor shall adhere to a policy of guaranteeing customer satisfactions. The Contractor shall respond in writing to all customer complaints and claims and forward them to the Contracting Officer, whose decision will be final and subject to the Disputes Clause.” We have a concern with the Contracting Officer making final decisions on customer complaints which may require the payment of money by the Contractor. Oftentimes customer complaints involve the services provided by a third party such as the airline, cruise line, hotel or tour operator. While we seek to deal with reputable companies, at times customers do request refunds when none is available under the terms of the booking. While we work with the third party vendors to resolve customer issues, there may be occasions where the customer is not entitled to a refund or other compensation. Oftentimes the issue has to be resolved within the disputes clause of any agreement concerning a particular booking or reservations. We have no issue with advising the contracting officer of any issues, consistent with any privacy laws, but we don’t believe the Contracting Officer should be deciding customer service issues or complaints. PWS reworded to state that claims not related to travel bookings or reservations shall be forwarded to the CO. The Contractor shall have the ability to resolve customer/booking issues via established industry practices i.e. working with third party vendors, dispute clause etc.

5. PWS page 4, Item 1.2.4 states “The Contractor shall obtain a written confirmation from the traveler that none of the travel for which ticket reservations, or any other travel and tour services being requested from the unofficial travel facility, is being performed pursuant to official travel.” Is this requirement only for travelers on active duty? Yes, for Active Duty and Department of Defense personnel (DoD). PWS reworded accordingly.

6. PWS page 5, Item 1.2.6 Reservations states “The Contractor shall make confirmed reservations for a complete range of travel services including all commercial travel, hotel/motel accommodations and vehicle rental. If the travel or accommodations sold are not honored as reserved, the Contractor shall arrange for like travel and/or accommodations without additional cost to the customers or shall reimburse the customer for reasonable expenses incurred by the customer to obtain substitute travel and/or accommodations.” We can accept this requirement as it may apply to individual lodging reservations, but this would not be reasonable to apply to air reservations, tours or cruises. The travel agency cannot be responsible if the flight, trip or tour is cancelled or delayed due to no fault of the travel agency. We can offer travelers with flight insurance which may protect the traveler from unforeseen events, otherwise it would be up to the airline, hotel, car rental agency, cruise line or tour operator to compensate or offer suitable travel in exchange. Concur. PWS reworded accordingly.

7. PWS page 5, Item 1.2.6 Reservations states “The Contractor shall use pre-numbered reservation forms with a separate pre-numbered series for each location; shall establish a numbering sequence to preclude repetition during the term of the contract, and shall use the forms in serial number order.” This language is not consistent with current industry practices; reservations are electronic. Concur. Omitted from PWS.

8. PWS page 5, Item 1.2.6 Reservations states “The Contractor shall annotate each void reservation form with the number of the ticket used to replace it and process it as a complete transaction.” This language is not consistent with current industry practices;

reservations are electronic. Concur. Item reworded. Contractor shall provide a detailed monthly sales log (electronic) that includes voided or cancelled transactions.

9. PWS page 5, Item 1.2.7 Tickets states “The Contractor shall charge only the actual price charged by the carriers for tickets issued. Any other compensation for the service hereunder shall be in the form of commissions and other considerations received by the Contractor from carriers and providers of accommodations which the Contractor makes arrangements in accordance with general practices in the trade.” We recommend either removing or rewriting this section to allow for the charging of service fees. Item has been reworded to allow for booking fees etc. These fees shall be included in commissionable amount calculated and submitted to the government.

10. PWS page 6, Item 1.2.8 Financial Requirements states “The Contractor shall pay to the

45 FSS/FSCI in U.S. dollars by cash or check. The Contractor shall pay said fees by the fifth of the month following the month in which the applicable sales are incurred.” In addition to cash or check, could offerors pay by direct or electronic transfer? In regard to payment by the fifth of the month, we have several comments. Generally we don’t close the prior month until the 10 of the month. Could this date be changed to the 15th or 20th of the month? In some cases commissions are not paid until several months after the sale.

Could the language be changed to read “in which the applicable revenues are received?”

Electronic deposit is suitable and PWS has been updated to state that as THE form of remittance to the NAFI. Payment date has been changed to NLT the 20th of the month. It is understood that the remittance will be for the PRIOR month of revenue received in that month. It is understood the remittance includes the revenue received for commissions posted that particular month, usually when the travel booked actually occurs. Note on PWS that the corresponding log of travel occurred (commissions received) is a requirement, in addition to the actual sales log for the month (technically, ‘commissions pending’).

11. PWS page 10, Item 1.2.10 Management Controls states “The Contractor shall use an adjustment voucher to record necessary refunds and ensure that it is signed by the customer and the Contractor.” This language is not consistent with current industry practices. Could the government clarify this process? Omitted in PWS.

12. PWS page 8, Item 1.2.13 states the contractor shall “provide travel assistance to extended family members and friends of military and DoD personnel in conjunction with authorized visitations emanating to, from or within the state of Florida. The commercial transportation assistance provided shall consist of accepting, changing or making reservations, ticket and delivery of tickets (limited to addresses within the state of Florida), and local arrangements requiring assistance of a Commercial Travel Office (CTO). The Contractor shall arrange lodging and ground transportation on or near the installation if requested, any other amenities as requested by the customer and authorized by the COR.” While a travel agency can make changes to reservations and bookings it has made, a travel agency cannot change tickets or reservations which were originally made through another entity. All the travel agency can do is make new reservations.

Concur. PWS changed as suggested.

13. PWS page 8, Item 1.2.13 states “For leisure travel, the Contractor shall be prepared to operate weekend and/or expanded weekday hours at the request of the COR in order to accommodate seasonal travel and exigency travel. The extended hours continue for the period that sales volume justifies staffing and operation.” Contractors would require sufficient advance notice to extend business hours and days of operation or add staff.

Another concern is whether the seasonal travel or exigency travel would be sufficient to “compensate” the contractor for any costs for overtime for its staff or for additional staff.

Such requests would need to be mutually agreed upon. Added to PWS a minimum time frame for notification to Contractor to include anticipated start and end date for expanded hours. Added statement that request would be due to customer demand. Expanded hours would not occur unless customer demand justified. Item already states that expanded hours will continue only while volume justifies staffing and that Contractor will notify COR when extended hours are no longer profitable and provide date when extended hours will cease.

14. PWS page 9, Item 1.2.14, Leisure Travel Ticketing, states “The Contractor shall not discriminate against foreign carriers in applying the low cost fare guarantee.” We did not see a low cost fare guarantee in the PWS. Please clarify. Sentence has been omitted from

PWS.

15. PWS page 9, Item 1.2.14 states “The Contractors shall not charge leisure customers a higher rate for travel services than would be charges if the requested service had been obtained directly from the carrier or other travel service provider used.” As presently worded, the provision would prohibit the contractor from charging service fees for its services which is standard practice today and many vendors no longer pay commissions.

We recommend deleting this provision. Provision has been re-worded in PWS.

Requirement for competitive pricing is a service we wish to continue to provide to customers.

16. PWS page 9, Item 1.2.14 states “The Contractor shall provide travelers with the required forms to enroll in airline frequent flyer programs upon request.” Comment: All carriers use online applications and not paper forms. The TMC would direct travelers to the appropriate website. We recommend changing the language to read “with the required information.” Concur. PWS changed accordingly.

17. PWS page11, Item 1.3.5.d Conservation of Utilities states “Government telephones shall be used for official government business. Leisure travel is not considered official government business; we recommend deleting this statement. Item reworded.

Requirement is synonymous with policy for government employees. Personal phone calls should not occur on government phones. Long distance calls are monitored.

18. PWS page12, Item 1.3.6 Records states “The Contractor shall maintain separate records of all leisure travel arrangements made pursuant to the contract. This documentation shall be made available upon request by the CO, COR or other authorized representative within 2 business days.” We have several concerns with this provision as written. First, given the potential nature of any request, providing the documentation within 48 hours may not be reasonable. We suggest revising the language to read “within a reasonable time period but the Contractor should advise a time estimate for delivery of the documents to the CO within 2 business days.” Are there any privacy issues in providing the CO, COR or other authorized representative with documentation that identifies specific leisure travelers? We ask because we only provide specific information which identifies leisure travelers only to the named individual after some or to the person paying for the travel after some verification of their identity or in response to a proper subpoena.

In addition, this provision appears to conflict with PWS, Item 1.2.3 which states “The Contractor and its employees shall ensure the confidentiality of all customer transactions and shall not disclose any information pertaining to the customer without his/her permission.” Item pertaining to length of time for providing documentation has been reworded. Item 1.2.3 has been reworded to suit. Recommend the Contractor include the Privacy Act statement on the form signed by the customer.

19. PWS page12, Item 1.3.8 states: “The Contractor manager and contractor employees shall have at least three years prior experience in the travel industry and be capable and qualified in the field of commercial leisure travel. The manager shall have at least one year’s experience in a travel management position.” Is an on-site manager required? Is this is in addition to the two agents? Onsite manager not required unless Contractor deems necessary.

20. PWS page18, Item 4.1.2 Commercial Reservation System (CRS) states “The Contractor shall provide a sufficient number of reservation/ticketing sets and personnel so walk-in customers will not have wait more than 15 minutes under normal circumstances.” We understand the concern about providing prompt customer service in order not to lose a potential sale. However, leisure reservations could take more than 15 minutes to consult and book, thus this time limit is not realistic. Secondly, if we only have space for two persons, we do not have an option of having more people. We recommend that the provision be changed to read: “The Contractor shall endeavor to provide prompt customer service to each customer. If the Contractor anticipates that it will take longer than 15 minutes wait time to service a walk-in customer, the Contractor shall provide the customer with an estimate of the time or provide the customer with the option to be called back.” Concur. PWS changed accordingly.

21. PWS page18, Item 4.1 states “The Contractor shall provide not less than three part carbon treated paper for printing the Passenger Name Record (PNR) data.” This language is not consistent with current industry practices. We recommend that it be deleted. Concur.

Deleted Accordingly.

22. PWS page 18, Item 4.1.2 states that the “CRS shall also be capable of providing a shopper’s quote of fares by category (GSA, city pairs, Category Z, military furlough, etc.).” As this is a leisure contract, should that statement be deleted? Concur. Deleted accordingly.

23. In order for any contractor to be able to assess this opportunity, it would be extremely helpful if the Government could provide more current reporting data for 2013, 2014 and 2015. Data provided for 2013-2015 for each travel agent that was an employee. Format is monthly sales recorded by each travel agent. Note: as of Jan 2015, travel agent’s experience was at novice level.

24. The PWS for Leisure Travel Services for Patrick Air Force Base, Florida included three

AFWWL Executive Summary Reports for Fiscal Years 2010, 2011 and 2012. Will the AFWWL Executive Summary Reports, or a similar report, for Fiscal Years 2013, 2014 and to date 2015 be provided prior to the final release of the 45th FSS PWS? If these reports are to be provided will they encompass all 45th FSS/ITT sales to include Air Travel, Hotels, Rental Cars, Cruises, Tour Packages, etc.?. Please refer to questions and answer to number 23.

25. The PWS states, “The NAFI expects the Contractor to retain and, where possible, expand the customer base by offering the most economical and convenient services available.”

Please clarify the intended customer base for this effort. Intended customer base is the entire eligible user population of Patrick AFB facilities. Go to Patrick AFB website and click on 2014 Enconomic Impact Analysis and you will see a breakdown of eligible users. This does not include the civilian population’s family members or the eligible retiree population that is in excess of 70,000.

26. Is the contractor allowed to provide Leisure Travel Services to non-DoD personnel off base? Only if Accompanied by Eligible user (Cardholder)

27. Will the Government be providing SABRE (travel agent software)? NO

28. Will the Government be providing Internet connectivity? YES

29. Why has the Government decided to contract these services? Government Preference

30. How many travel agents are currently providing these services? Are the current number of agents able to support all requirements? 1/ No

31. Is the current agent(s) full time or part time? Flex

32. What is the pay scale of the current agent(s)? Current NAF Employee payscale is available on the web. The current grade for travel agents is NF02.

33. The PWS states, “The Contractor shall pay said fees by the fifth of the month following the month in which the applicable sales occurred.” Please define said fees and how they are determined. Are these fees based upon gross receipts or net receipts? Said fees include all revenue collected by the Contractor. Gross.

34. The PWS states, “The Contractor shall pay said fees by the fifth of the month following the month in which the applicable sales occurred.” As an example, the current month is August. It will be challenging to ensure all transactions are included as it usually takes a day or two after the transaction occurs to post. If the Government’s intent is to ensure all transactions in a specific month are reported together, please consider requesting the report due on the 5th of September, as in our example, to be for the month of July. Please see explanation of this item in question and answer in number 10.

35. The PWS states, “All marketing materials and support must be coordinated through the COR to ensure consistency with the guidelines, standards and formats maintained by the 45 FSS Direct marketing and publicity office.” Is all marketing to be provided by the Contractor or is the Government also providing marketing/advertising? Anything Above and Beyond what is provided by the government, the contractor will pay upon approval of the marketing and publicity..

36. Upon contract start, will the Government provide a list of previous and current customers to include names, phone numbers, email addresses and mailing addresses so that the contractor is able to maintain and market the current customer base? Yes, Per The Customers Permission and only if this information is available.

37. Is the Contractor expected to provide a 24 hour telephone line and point of contact to support customers while on travel? NO

38. What is the expected Period of Performance? 5 year with 1 year options

39. What is the expected contract start date? 1 Mar 2016 – Target

40. When the contract is awarded how long with the Government allow for transition? 1 month (This does not illuminate payments)