Swissdiver - 11/07/2011 07:39 GMT
Does anyone know how business travel management companies charge for their services? Is it a per annum fee or based on commission? Or...
Thanks
Business travel management companies
Posts
2011TOURSGIRAFFE - 29/07/2011 08:12 GMT
We charge commission on gros amount and nett commission you have to mark-up with a margin to get your commission and pass no-commissionable amount to us.
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btabEmma1 - 24/08/2011 14:35 GMT
Hi my name is Emma and I am a travel consultant for Business Travel Connections.
We charge a service fee of £25.00 per booking. We are UK based and have 21 years in Business. We are multi- stop flight specialists , can offer excellent discounted Business Class fares. Great Economy Airfares and specials! We also arrange car rental & hotel reservations.
Contact details :
Business Travel Connections
16-20 South Street
Hythe , Southampton
Hampshire, SO45 6EB
Tel: 02380 847747
Email: mailto:emma@btab.co.uk">emma@btab.co.uk / mailto:sales@btab.co.uk">sales@btab.co.uk
website: www.btab.co.uk
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Swissdiver - 26/08/2011 14:12 GMT
Thanks, Emma. But I guess you are not surviving with GBP 25 per booking and therefore have to get some form of kickback from the airlines. This is what this thread is about...
btabEmma1 - 26/08/2011 14:48 GMT
I'm afraid airlines don't offer commission anymore so we rely only on are service fee's which is £25.00 per booking. We are a small/ active independent travel agent based in Hampshire, however our clients are based right across the UK, some are large corporates, many are small / medium sized companies and others are individual entrepreneurs.
Please visit our webiste - www.btab.co.uk to find out a bit more about us. We do not lock our clients into any kind of contract so please feel free to contact us for help of any future travel you may have.
Emma
NTarrant - 26/08/2011 15:39 GMT
Hello Emma,
Do you make a charge for credit card payments? And are your fares still cheap enough to absorb the cost of the £25.00 and save money?
Thanks
Nigel
btabEmma1 - 26/08/2011 15:58 GMT
Yes, we charge a credit card fee.
We are committed to providing competitive airfares for Economy and Business Class tickets. We will offer a choice of the best value fares and routings to suit your Itinerary.
There are so many flight and price options available with different airlines and types of fares that search engines are often unable to cover all the choices. And a search engine is not able to advise you whether leaving a day earlier, a longer layover at a transit point, or changing the itinerary routing could save you a substantial amount !
As we are a small independent company we can offer a personal service and get to know are clients travel preferences.
Please contact us on mailto:emma@btab.co.uk">emma@btab.co.uk or mailto:sales@btab.co.uk">sales@btab.co.uk. Tel no - 02380847747.
Thanks
JamesCoke - 19/09/2011 14:29 GMT
hello,
I think it's based on commission, i know a friend of mine who told me this, they paly on commission not per annum fee.
Thanks
James
pk45hyd - 19/09/2011 15:12 GMT
Most business travel management companies charge a fixed fee per transaction; the amount can vary based on shorthaul/longhaul, service levels, etc.
In some cases, companies hire travel management company agents on a cost + negotiated margin basis.
Almost all deals between travel mgmt companies and large/medium size corporations now have commission pass back, i.e., all commissions are given back to the corporation. This removes any bias (or perceived bias) that they are favouring one supplier over another.
JamesCoke - 19/09/2011 15:25 GMT
Travel managment companies are besed on commission they signed a contract with the customers in which they win the pourcentage of benifits
you can visit this web site www.bedouk.com and searching travel management company to know the rules.
Applehouse - 27/09/2011 09:22 GMT
At Applehouse Travel we charge a transaction fee of £10-20 per booking, depending on the service required.
While some airlines and operators do still offer commissions, most UK and European carriers have long stopped paying it to agencies. However some TMC’s negotiate special fares with those airlines and receive annual payments based on the year’s performance.
Applehouse Travel is the corporate division of one of the largest travel agencies in the UK with an annual turnover of £240 million and taking care of over 250,000 travellers.
Our fares are regularly significantly cheaper than the best 'published' airline fares, meaning customers will make substantial savings even when transaction fees are included.
As well as a comprehensive travel service (24 hour assistance, hotels, car-hire, train bookings, passport/visas, meet and greets, foreign exchange, etc) that you would expect from a professional business travel agency, what else can we offer you?
- Exclusive discounted air-fares (e.g. with British Airways) not bookable elsewhere – including the internet.
- Dedicated and knowledgeable reservations consultants operating until 7pm.
- An on-line booking tool for your flight time and price enquiries.
Applehouse Travel - Your Corporate Travel Specialist
mailto:damian@applehousetravel.co.uk">damian@applehousetravel.co.uk
www.applehousetravel.co.uk
everhopeful - 27/09/2011 19:31 GMT
I often use a travel agent and find that in general may cost a little more but often costs less than internet and peace of mind in the event of a problem they are always there.On a number of occasions especially in countries where things could prove difficult the agents help has been invaluable.conclusion Peace of mind = a little bit more sometimes and when often costs less no brainer
ladelphina - 28/09/2011 00:55 GMT
Hi my Name is Richard and i'm the owner of a bed and breakfast in Honduras La ceiba www.ladelphina.net and i was wondering how do i get my hotel list with travel management companies. thank you
LondonTravelAgent - 21/01/2012 19:38 GMT
Hey guys,
I am Paaras - I've spoken to a couple of the guys on here previously under different log-ins. NTarrant will be able to verify he has spoken to me (couple of years ago now) and we did have competitive fares.
I've worked for Flight Centre for nearly 4 years now - we're a pretty large global travel agency with several different arms - ranging from High Street and Retail Stores to a Travel Management Company that deals with global accounts in the several hundred millions.
With the Corporate side of our Business, each booking is charged a transaction fee where as the Retail arm doesn't charge anything on top of the advertised airfare. The Corporate side deals mainly with credit accounts where as the Retail sector deals with anything from someone walking in, emailing or phoning us to book a Eurostar to Paris or a flight to Manchester all the way up to smaller Corporate Credit Accounts. Other than this, I an not too sure of the inner workings and charges of the Corporate branches. I do however know plenty about the Retail side of the Business.
The beauty of Flight Centre is that every single Travel Consultant has access to the same fares - these are negotiated directly with almost every airline. So not only do we have slightly lower fares than the online agents (Expedia, Opodo, etc) but we have lower fares than the airlines themselves.
Where we come into our own is during times of emergency – everyone remembers the Ash Cloud and Snow of Christmas 2011 – when passengers who had booked were trying to reach airlines, their help-lines were all engaged and no changes could be made online. We have our own systems and the airlines automatically provide us with rebooking/reprotection policies so we don’t need to speak to an airline to change a booking. During office hours, we have a policy of picking up all calls within 3 rings – outside of office hours, we have an Emergency Help Line for all passengers.
How we survive is that we have targets with each airline. For example, we have to hit £1m of sales in a financial year for our 1% override, hit £2m and we get 2% and so forth and so forth.
Each Retail Store works as its own entity – run and managed by a Team Leader – and thus incentivised to sell more tickets. So the company - pays each store £x per ticket sold. Once we hit a set target for the month, this doubles - this is how the stores themselves make money. This is where I’d like to throw in my sales pitch – the more tickets I sell, the better I get paid – so please feel free to enquire with me.
I work in a Retail Store that has several Corporate Accounts - and I have a range of clients from new phone/email/walk-in individuals looking for an Economy short-haul or long-haul flight to companies that spend about £20k a month on travel.
One of the added benefits of Flight Centre is that, due to its global reach, we have negotiated significantly discounted rates with BA and Virgin in their Premium Cabins - Premium Economy, Business and First Class. This mainly applies within the advance purchase restrictions - generally with 28 days of departure – but this can vary by route and cabin.
If anyone wants to try us out - feel free to drop me an email: mailto:paaras.shah@flightcentre.co.uk">paaras.shah@flightcentre.co.uk
We don't charge a transaction fee - but we do charge a 2% credit card surcharge.
Shout if there is anything else - thanks!
Communipaw - 21/01/2012 22:35 GMT
Here is a very reputable travel concierge service you all might like to look into:
NTarrant - 22/01/2012 09:06 GMT
Yes I can confirm that Paaras and I did speak a few years ago. He did find a cheap fare for a trip to DXB on BA but the 2% credit card charge swallowed up most of the saving at the time.
Paaras, glad you posted, I'll be in contact when I return from holiday.
FrankFlyer - 08/02/2012 11:10 GMT
Long time follower first time poster on the BT Forum.
Part of the company I work for does Business Travel Management (not my department) but I can say that the only advantage for this is that companies can have accounts and do not need to pay up front. BTM companies can also hold bookings and flights for days and in some cases weeks whereas an online booking will have to be decided there and then. Good saving can still be made in Business and First incl. all the admin charges but very rarely will you be able to beat the on-line fares for Prem Eco and Eco once admin charges applied. I have no intention of revealing my company name as I do not believe the BT Forum should be used as an advertising tool.
LondonTravelAgent - 08/03/2012 10:05 GMT
Hi Frank,
I polietely disagree with you - even if we are outside of the Advance Purchase period (usually 21-28 days in the Premium Cabins), Flight Centre rates are quite a bit lower than booking directly with the airlines.
For example - a Club Europe flight to Dusseldorf in August (17-19):
BA.com price = £405.55 per person
Our fare = £375.55 per person
Now if you are booking with a credit card, I understand BA levies a £4.50 charge and Flight Centre's is a 2% (in this case that makes it a total of £383.06) surcharge which is still a saving of £22 (5.5%) compared to the airline directly.
This is the same for Economy and Premium Economy (outside of Advance Purchase - usually 14-21 days).
For example, a London-Tampa return with BA in June (04-12):
BA.com price = £551.70 per person in World Traveller
BA.com price = £1215.70 per person in World Traveller Plus
Our fare = £531.70 per person in World Traveller
Our fare = £1174.70 per person in World Traveller Plus
The same applies in terms of credit card surcharges, and yes, the saving is reduced, but saving £20 on a £500 ticket is still quite a good saving these days!
Now the savings to be had in Premium Economy, Business Class and First Class (if booking within the advance purchase period and if travellers are not spending a Saturday night on the ground in a lot of destinations) are a lot more hefty - ranging from £500 in Premium to over £2000 in First! I am more than happy to give travellers demonstrations if anyone wants to see just how much of a saving they can get.
FYI - all the fares we book will gain you exactly the same number of miles and tier points as if you were booking directly with the airline themselves.
I also understand why you don't agree with disclosing your company name as an advertising tool - however, the reason I do it is because there are a lot of travellers out there that book with BA directly when they can be making savings booking through an agent like myself. Does it increase my business? Of course! But if everyone is winning, what wrong can come of that?
Hope this has been of help to all - if there is anyone that doesn't approve of this, please do let me know and I will gladly only give advice and tips instead.
Thanks again!
asiatravelcafe - 21/03/2012 02:28 GMT
Thanks so much for the info..I might keep that in mind for future travel issues..
