THE DAILY DEALER
EVERYONE LIKES A BARGAIN – you only have to look at the success of deal sites like Groupon to see this. But what people like more than a bargain is the ability to boast about finding a bargain, and this poses a significant risk for the travel buyer. It is often easy to find a hotel room or airfare cheaper than the corporate negotiated rate, encouraging our maverick bargain hunters to do their own thing. What they may not realise is they are not comparing like-for- like. Terms and conditions attached to fares and room rates are usually the biggest differences. The corporate room-rate may include favourable cancellation terms, and also throw in breakfast and free wifi – things that are not included in the publicly-sourced bargain rate found by the daily dealer.
TB: “Embrace the feedback, seek out those who find it cheaper and pre-empt the crowing. If there is a genuine bargain when comparing like-for-like, then ensure that the travel team can use the benefits and share them with all.”
CP: “This is very common. We see people thinking they can buy cheaper themselves, but not seeing the value in the TMC and going direct to avoid the fee. Buyers can
THE NETWORKER
DOES YOUR POLICY allow employees to upgrade their class of travel if they are travelling with a client or a more senior member of staff with a higher entitlement? The networker takes advantage of this. Although the behaviour is not
maverick in that it complies with the letter of the law, it does not comply with its spirit. The networker is ar- ranging to travel with a person who can get them a golden ticket. Often the client or senior manager knows exactly what is going on.
CP: “The issue here is one of precedent. When boarding the aircraft, what if they are travelling with someone more senior who is in economy? The credibility of the travel programme is brought into question here. Not just when a traveller is paying on miles; what if business is cheaper than economy, as is sometimes the case around Europe? Some firms, mindful of sending the wrong signals, forbid this and pay more to sit someone in economy.”
MT: “The best way to tackle this sort of behaviour is to make it non- compliant and therefore subject to an approval process. These processes are much more efficient these days but, even so, the fact that it has to be approved will put a lot of people off straight away. Any genuine need to travel in this way will be rightly approved by the traveller’s line manager.”
manipulate the fees they pay so that some transactions have zero fee, and others higher to compensate. So low-value transactions – where duty-of-care, 24-hour support and data to leverage better fares are likely not to be valued – are made ‘free’ at the point of sale. “We also need to be sure we challenge this behaviour
through gathering evidence. A corporate travel pro- gramme must be able to obtain the same rates as on the open market. If they are not, it is almost definitely due to the traveller not comparing apples with apples. First, establish that the programme can indeed obtain the same rate/fare; then, the question is: ‘Is it appropriate the traveller books that rate by the time you remove the corporate benefits and the risk of change?’”
MT: “While the deal on the internet might not be the same as the corporate rate, if the room doesn’t get cancelled or the traveller has a breakfast meeting, then these extras might not be necessary. Organisa- tions need to make sure their travellers have access to internet content through their chosen TMC – that way travellers can make an informed and in-policy choice after assessing all the options and, as a result, turn maverick behaviour into a cost-saving exercise.”
66 BBT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100