deals with several airlines giving us various discounts in economy and mainly business class as our volume is extremely high,” says another travel manager, from a major marketing group. “However, we are finding more often that Skyscanner and Travelbag are offering flights at less than our negotiated rates. We then either go back to our TMC and challenge the quoted rate or simply book direct with those alternative providers. One caveat is that the cancellation terms and conditions can be rigid and costly.”


SMARTER THINKING Even when you’re too small to negotiate a bespoke corporate fare with an airline, you can make use of their corporate schemes, such as BA on Business, recommends Judith Heinrich, managing director at Travelicity Consulting, as they provide access to corporate points and bespoke fares, sometimes with additional flexibility. When it comes to airline points schemes, she adds, make sure you consolidate too: “Rather than sign up to all the individual frequent flyer programmes, sign up to those operated by the umbrella alliances and consolidate the points together.” This allows you to collect miles far quicker, and use them more widely.


Don’t forget credit card providers WORDS MEGAN TATUM buyingbusinesstravel.com


either, many of which have teamed up with airlines to provide additional ways of collecting points. One of the best known is American Express, and some of its cards allow users to accumulate Avios points to put toward BA flights and provide automatic enrolment into the BA Executive Club, with all its additional benefits. Where company policies allow, frequent business travellers can easily top up the points acquired on their trips too by purchasing points in exchange for cash, and then put these toward personal or leisure trips. Book peak seats far enough in advance and you can pay as little as one-third of the standard price using Avios, suggests Heinrich. On a corporate level, “Using a central purchasing card has allowed us to benefit from a high number of Avios points which has enabled us to reduce the cost of flights when prices are high, or book premium cabin flights when available,” says the senior travel buyer. “Points quickly add up and joining loyalty clubs can help with some suppliers to gain additional benefits at hotels, such as room upgrades.” Being clever with when and how you book your route is another way of making savings on business flights. Book in advance, “book


NEGOTIATION


IS THE KEY, WHETHER IT IS TO LEVERAGE CONTRACTUAL TERMS OR EXTEND OPTIONS


2019


JULY/AUGUST


51


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