Partnership Travel Consulting

Corporate-Airline Negotiating Picture Remains Cloudy, But Some Expect Tightening On Price And Shift To Experience

Many companies are uncertain about how much they will travel, but airlines and some mid- and large-market buyers are moving past the deal extensions that characterized the past two years. With planes full and fares high, it’s worth asking why airlines should offer the discounts corporate accounts are accustomed to. At the same time, there’s…

New CWT Billing Model Addresses Some Pain Points, May Not Appeal To Big Clients

CWT on Tuesday announced a monthly billing model that reduces reconciliation time for clients, makes budgeting more predictable and avoids “unanticipated or hidden” fees. The “subscription fee” incorporates criteria such as a customer’s “forecasted transaction volume” and any “value-added” products and services. CWT can adjust the fee as needs change. According to a statement attributed…

Business Travel Is Back But Staffing, Service And Satisfaction Are Stressed

Business travel is back but management infrastructure is not, creating a stressed-out industry. For now, corporate travel professionals are doing whatever they can that’s within their control. That includes managing expectations among the traveling population and with senior execs, retraining employees on policies and procedures, updating profiles and preaching patience. A little finger-pointing is going…

Op Ed: Andy Menkes On Fixing The Imbalance Of Knowledge In Travel Management Company Bids

Andy Menkes has spent a career working with travel management companies — as a buyer, a TMC exec and an industry consultant. As companies assess their travel management service needs, he describes what he sees as a problem with fairness in TMC bids and offers a solution to resolve it. We are starting to see…

Pundits Assess Greater Reliance On Travel Management Companies, And Its Challenges

The pandemic made more companies question the value of business travel, but at the same time, reliance on the partners that help manage it grew. According to a Global Business Travel Association survey last month, 52 percent of more than 300 travel buyers said their organizations’ reliance on travel management companies for service and support…

Former American Airlines Strategist Envisions Shift In Corporate Travel Discounts And Agency Incentives

What if airline incentives paid to travel management companies don’t rebound? Former American Airlines head of global sales and distribution strategy Cory Garner thinks carriers should invest some of these dollars in interactions with corporate travelers and personalized fares. Garner argued in a Tuesday post that unstable airline capacity and feeble business traffic leave a lot…

Can I Get There From Here? Interline Deals Might Help

Due to the pandemic, global airline capacity fell by 58 percent last year compared with 2019, according to IATA. In the first week of this year, the number of scheduled flights worldwide was down 44 percent. Steep declines in airline capacity exacerbated an old industry problem: the inability of passengers to reach destinations aboard their…

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