Business Travel Intelligence: Travel Agents, a thing of the past?

In the list of Top 10 Concerns for Business Travel in 2008, most concerns are related to rising prices and cost containment.

But, when it comes to working with a professional travel agency to control costs, most people have been taught to believe that a travel agent is not necessary to achieve desired results.

“Travel agents are such a thing of the past – I have access to the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So why would I pay someone to book my travel when I can do a better job myself for a lot less money?"

That is a great question!

Lets break down the reservation process:

Each area will be supplemented with key points that will be referred to as Business Travel Intelligence (BTI):

Agent VS the Internet

Lets assume you know exactly where you need to go and how long you need to be there.

You search the internet for the best fare, the best times, etc. With any luck – you find a preferred carrier to build your status and collect miles. Let’s assume this research takes one hour.

• BTI #1: Cost of Travel VS Labor - By breaking the cost of booking travel into three categories: time, labor and actual cost of ticketing, you will find that the cost of employees self-booking travel often increases the cost of your companies overhead by inefficiently utilizing your personnel.

Once you find the perfect trip, on the internet, you book it. But when you click "purchase" you find out that there have been additional service fees attached to this ticket! Usually in the neighborhood of $10 - $25 per transaction.

• BTI #2: Finding VALUE versus a cheap deal - Rather than focus on lowest price, take a look at the overall VALUE. The key is to find the best price for your particular needs.

Is this ticket refundable?

What if the flight is cancelled?

Who is going to track changes or unused value?

Did you know this ticket value can often be applied to future trips?

• BTI #3 A reliable, resource & personal relationship - Beyond basic reservations and ticketing support, it is becoming increasingly important to have someone in your corner when your trip hits a proverbial ‘bump in the road’. Most airlines outsource customer service to overseas operators and the wait time can be significant. Why not call your personal agency and let them handle everything on your behalf? Chances are they have access to support and options that you may not be aware of.

Now, think for a moment about the following scenario:

An employee books a trip from LAX to JFK for $976.00.
The employee pays out of pocket for a trip (via personal credit card), and submits for reimbursement.
At the last minute, the trip is cancelled. Your employee calls the airlines, who disclose the level of refundability. What happens to the unused ticket when a change or cancellation is made?

It comes down to:
A) Non refundable – incur a $976.00 loss
B) Refundable – $976.00 credit to apply to future use (minus change fees).

Chances are the trip was submitted for reimbursement, but because the ticket was purchased by the employee and the company does not have access to the ticket information, the unused ticket is now available for personal use by the employee.

After a few of these oversights, the cost of lost tickets can have a huge impact on the companies bottom line as it relates to T&E Expenditures.

In most companies, the cost of a thorough audit of every expense report could cost much more than the potential savings. Sadly, this sort of thing happens in most companies more often than they would ever imagine. Sometimes in the upwards of 100’s of thousands of dollars per year, depending on the volume of travel.

So, back to that pesky travel agent – to think, at a minimal cost, you have an extra set of eyes on your travelers, travel patterns, and travel spend.

A good business travel partner will pay for themselves over and over again.