Using a Travel Management Company (TMC) to manage your organisations travel for you may seem like a waste, especially when you can simply book your boss’s travel yourself direct online, right? But it turns out that a TMC does much more than just book travel, which in the long run saves you (and your organisation) time and money. Here are the reasons why using a TMC is a great idea!

Save Time

We conducted a study last year that compared time taken to book via a content aggregator with booking via the QBT online tool. Results showed it was 73%- 81% faster to book through a travel management company, as shown below:



On a good day, an efficient booker is 3 minutes slower when they book direct, than when they book via our Online Booking Tool. However, on a bad day they can waste up to 34 minutes on only one booking. What could you be using this time doing?

Click here to contact us for a demonstration of our Online Booking Technology

Save Money

When people think about booking via a TMC, generally they first thing they think of is the fee... “Why would I pay you to do it when I can do it myself?” But it turns out that you actually save more than this, from the benefits that a TMC brings. Did you know…

• Overall, the fees that you pay to a TMC are approximately 3 – 6% of your total travel spend.

• You also pay fees of up to $20 to book direct via a content aggregator or direct with a supplier.

• TMC’s negotiate with suppliers to cut costs. Because of TMC’s large network of deals with different suppliers, you will get access to a wide range of fares and rates that you wouldn’t normally have access to.

• TMCs can also help your organisation to leverage your existing air, hotel and car spend to negotiate special fares and rates that are specific to your organisation

Management of Air Credits

Many organisations that have not used a TMC before have a build-up of outstanding ticket credits. In our experience, we have found that this is generally about 3 – 5% of their travel spend. This is because it can be quite complicated to manage this process manually, for each individual traveller in your organisation.

We simplify this process by storing all credits from different suppliers in a single database. We then have robots that automatically check for available credits after every booking. When they find an applicable credit they automatically use them as payment for your booking, with no manual intervention required from you. Additionally, in the event that you have a credit that is about to expire, our robot automatically refunds it, ensuring that at a minimum you get the taxes back on every ticket credit.

To find out more about this click here

Ensure the safety of your travellers

Booking travel through various websites and providers means more stress to keep track of clients and know where they are. This is especially important in the event of an emergency somewhere in the world, when you need to find out if you have any travellers that may be affected, and need assistance. Booking via a travel management company means that all data on the location of your travellers is in one system that is managed by the TMC and can provide that information fast when your company needs it.

If there is an emergency, such as an earthquake or terrorist attack, TMCs will run a report and notify you if any of your travellers may be affected. You can also track your travellers on map and communicate with them from directly within our system.

For more information on how we can assist you to keep your travellers safe, click here

Conclusion

The small amount that you spend on a booking fee to partner with a travel management company is well worth the investment. The additional benefits include reporting, strategic account management, travel policy consultation, and ticket credit management. As an executive assistant, you could be working on other important tasks than managing the complexities of business travel. A TMC can save your organisation time, money, reduce stress, and make sure your travellers are taken care of.

Contact us to find out how we can make booking travel simpler for you