Features

Managing your travel

1 Nov 2005 by business traveller

As we discussed last month, travel management companies (TMCs) can be a good investment for an SME if you regularly travel on complex routes which are time-consuming to organise, or could benefitfrom a TMC's negotiating powers.

This month we're assuming you have already used the services of a TMC andwill look at two further points – firstly the account management services TMCs canoffer and secondly, their security services.

If working out your monthly travel spend has become time-consuming and costly, you can consider handing over the process entirely by using a TMC account manager.

Graham Walsh, director of sales for Navigant International, sums up the account management service: "There are two sides to account management: one is the day-to-day problem-solving and making sure everything is running smoothly, and the other is the consultancy side – working in partnership with the client to get the best out of their account."

To do this the TMC needs to analyse each account. Michael Hare, managing director of Fleet Street Travel, says: "We have two methods of account reporting: pre-trip and post-trip. Pre-trip can save money before it is actually spent; the personnel within the corporate can see and question the expenditure on a trip and check up on it.

Post-trip is about how they could havesaved money."

When choosing a TMC, it is important to consider how much personal attention you require, and then check you are going to receive it. At Hillgate Travel, for instance,

there are account managers who are restricted to £20 million of business a year to ensurethey have sufficient time to service their clients' accounts.

Andrew Burch, business development manager for Hillgate Travel, says: "We take on board business relationships and advise on travel policy on a monthly basis as well as new fares which influence each client's needs. Anyone can read a report and see client X has got an enormous amount of travel to Greece and therefore start looking for deals on that route, but an account manager may point out that it is an Olympic Games venue and this travel trend will therefore change."

With this in mind, a company's travel policies can be entered onto a TMC's system and any travel booked outside the policy can be flagged up or discussed as the accounts are analysed. After all, breaking a travel policy within a company can be a costly mistake.

Michael Hare explains: "We will do a pre- trip 'violation report' and if a business traveller breaks a travel policy we will carry out the requirements of our customer and then send a report violation which could be anything from class of travel violation or preferred airline violation. They may see a cheap fare and think they are saving money but they could be violating the travel policy which could then cost the company a lot more money in the long run."

Vera Philippou, a director of medium-sized TMC Delta Travel, says: "Business travellers set up an account and put their travel policy on our system. Our consultants work with it and talk to them regarding the contract and how they could change policy for their benefit."

So what is the cost for this account service? Most TMCs do not charge for it separately; rather it is part of the whole service. Michael Hare says: "The beauty of the TMC now is that it is very open and clear to customers that they can buy what they want – some want an individual account manager on their account and that will be built into the fee. So it is a transparent fee."

Keeping track of travellers is just as important as keeping track of their spend, and most companies have some sort of security system set up for their employees' safety. TMCs can offer such a product in their package: the traveller tracker, which has been born from modern security alerts and increasingly unpredictable and risky travel destinations. The main advantage of using a TMC for security is that by building up a profile of travel arrangements, everyone knows where the traveller is instantly when an emergency occurs – as long as the traveller profile is kept updated.

Says Andrew Burch: "The key element of any tracking policy is an accurate travel profile, which needs to be electronic and available to be changed immediately online."

Michael Hare agrees: "The main advantage of using a TMC is that if you utilise them fully and make the TMC aware of your travel plans and accommodation, then we can tell the employer where their travellers are and advise. Corporate travel is easier to track. It's the smaller companies or people who book their own travel who are hard to track. If a traveller books over a website without telling anyone then it is like finding a needle in a haystack. They could be in any city on any plane and booked through any website."

One drawback is that if a traveller books the flight with the TMC, but not the hotel, then the traveller is only "traceable" as far as the airport. So it seems that only clients who fully utilise all aspects of a TMC have the security advantage. If an incident occurred, the TMC would only be able to advise whether a traveller was in the country or not.

Some TMCs will not ask for hotel details if they are not booked through them, because of privacy. Vera Philippou says: "If our clients book through us then we know where they are. If they don't book everything with us, like accommodation, we can't put it on the system unless they let us know."

It does seem that the world of travel will soon cease to be about exploration and spontaneity. With the new US visa entry requirements, travellers have to specify where they are staying and present it to the airline they are travelling with before a trip. So perhaps the fact that TMCs are following suit is simply part of the travelling parcel.

Graham Walsh says: "We encourage our clients to use us as a one-stop shop, and if they are travelling overseas we say that if they are not booking a hotel with us we still need to know where they are staying."

Next month: can TMCs, hotels and loyalty schemes all work together?