UTA lodging reservations now by call-in automation

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Paul Dean
  • 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. --  A June trial run of the Automated Lodging Reservation System will be followed by the scheduled real-time use of an automated room reservation system beginning with reservations for the August unit training assembly. The sign-up rosters for July lodging represent the end of a laborious method of arranging accommodations for Airmen who live outside of Miami-Dade County.

Unit members who live outside Miami-Dade County are the only unit members loaded into the ALRS database. Each of these Airmen is required to do a system check prior to the primary July UTA.

Most unit members who are eligible for UTA lodging will no longer sign up for lodging on a roster, rather, they will be responsible for calling 1(800) 330-8149 x6175 and making reservations directly. The only exceptions are first sergeants, members who travel to base on the shuttle, or those on continuous orders that straddle a UTA weekend. Shuttle and continuous orders Airmen must contact their first sergeant for guidance on making reservations.

The manual roster system is ineffective, expensive and inflexible. But the ALRS is cost-effective, flexible, and puts control and responsibility for lodging in the hands of each member seeking accommodations for the primary and alternate UTAs.

The system also monitors trends, which allows wing leaders to control costs. Lodging officials will be able to provide the wing with real-time "no-show" and system manipulation data. With thousands of dollars lost each fiscal year because of no-shows, the ALRS is expected to pay for itself quickly, which it has done on several other bases.

To perform the required system check, do the following: 

1. Call 1(800)330-8149 x6175 and follow the prompts. 
          a. First time users will use the last four of their social security number as their initial PIN. The menu will prompt first time users to change their PIN. 
          b. It's very important that each member enters a telephone contact number that offers the most probable chance of reaching them. If a reservation has to be changed after the user has been given a confirmation number, the telephone number in the ALRS will be the one used by lodging officials to contact the member with changes in location (hotel name/on-off base).
          c. Hang up. 

2. Report any problems to:
Waikiki Reddick (305) 224-7198 x6635, Dequilla Hunter or Ernest Stenson at (305) 224-7198

Following the procedure above will make sure each member is able to complete reservations for UTAs starting with the August 2007 assembly.

Once the ALRS goes live in August eligible members will be able to make reservations up to six months in advance. The same system will also be used to cancel reservations. Members are required to cancel rooms themselves using ALRS. No prior coordination with a first sergeant or supervisor is required. If a member knows that a reservation will not be needed then the member is solely responsible for cancelling it using the ALRS prior to 4 p.m. Wednesday before the UTA (primary or alternate, whichever the reservation is for). ALRS provides leaders with a powerful tool to control abuse of lodging privileges by members who habitually make lodging reservations and don't show up or cancel. The wing is obligated to pay for these unused rooms when they aren't cancelled in a timely manner.

The ALRS is designed to assign members to the most cost efficient room available at the time of their reservation. Members cannot choose a preferred hotel, on base or off, smoking or non-smoking.

All government contracted quarters will soon be smoke free, which is the reason the system doesn't offer the smoking/non-smoking option. Therefore, all rooms should be considered non-smoking.

The ALRS also tracks attempted manipulation of the system. Cancelling a room then calling back to re-reserve, with hopes of getting a different hotel will flag the member. Each time a member cancels a reservation a fax is automatically generated and sent to the hotel where the reservation was. Attempts to "play" the system generate administrative costs for the contract hotels and will not be permitted. The ALRS is designed to put members in the lowest cost accommodation that has room inventory at the time of the reservation.

Questions about ALRS should be directed to the lodging officials listed above.