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andream
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« on: March 15, 2004, 11:17:34 am » |
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Travel booking.
How many of you are still using travel agents and how many are slogging through the Internet looking for the cheapest fares and best deals yourselves? Are there benefits to being tied to a department who does this booking for you? Detriments? How does travel booking work in your work world?
Do tell….
Andrea
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gee4
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« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2004, 12:07:13 pm » |
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For me this is easy as my company have a designated link on our intranet site where we book all company travel. This includes, preferred hotels, car hire and airlines. There is also direct phone line or email option which we can use also.
G
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juspeachy
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« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2004, 12:37:08 pm » |
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We are required to use the government contracted travel agent for all our travel transportation. We can use them for hotel reservations, as well, but that part isn't required. I know some secretaries use them for all their bosses travel requirements. Personally, I make my bosses' hotel reservations because they like to stay in certain hotels in certain locations. Usually, there is no controversy over the cost of the tickets, but sometimes someone will comment that they could have made the reservations cheaper by doing it themselves. JusPeachy   |
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raindance
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« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2004, 02:04:08 pm » |
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We have a travel agent who handles nearly all our travel reservations. Occasionally I go direct to an airline or train company to reserve tickets.
Anyone who travels on behalf of my company has to adhere to strict guidelines on expenditure: no first class or business class travel unless there is a very good reason, hotel and subsistence expenditure is limited to so much per day. Claims have to be accompanied by receipts or invoices.
I find it helpful to go to our travel agent most of the time because it is relatively quick and painless and we don't pay upfront. When I go direct to the transport provider, usually if they have a special offer available which our travel agent may not be able to provide.
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chris68
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« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2004, 02:46:07 pm » |
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Our company pretty much follows the same as Radiance. We use the federal per diem rate for hotels and are allowed x amount of dollar per day and its different the day of travel or of its 12 hours or under you get paid x amount differently than if you were gone say for 2 weeks, which often happens. We use a travel agent for all of our airline bookings. We've had problems with them changing their policies on us, such as charging a 40 fee per transaction and merging with another Boston company and only having 4 people in the office to handle all of their clients. I'd be interested to hear if they have lost any clients as their response time has slowed quiet a bit. We used to get e-mails instantly when we book a ticket and now we have to ask more than once for it and heaven help you if you have to have one right away. But all in all its not a bad relationship, especially considering my boss can be very picky about details, as he should since he is the traveller. Chris68
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spitfire78
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« Reply #5 on: March 15, 2004, 03:01:38 pm » |
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We have a contracted travel agency. However, I believe our company is phasing them out. They are encouraging us to book travel ourselves on-line because the fees are lower. However, I absolutely hate it and wish I could just hand all the travel arrangements over to an agent. Checking the different sites for fares is a time consuming process. And by the time you're through checking them all and bossie has made his/her decision, you can't get that fare any more and you have to start all over. Frankly, I find it to be a pain in the rear and long for the old days when I called our travel agent, gave him/her all the details of the trip, and they faxed me the itinerary!
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catsmeat
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« Reply #6 on: March 15, 2004, 03:34:24 pm » |
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I use the travel agent my boss has used for several years now, and wouldn't trade her for all the tea in China. He travels extensively, and not to run-of-the-mill places, or on simple "there and back" hops, so I'd much rather leave it to someone who knows her way around the booking system.
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jahdra
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« Reply #7 on: March 16, 2004, 12:46:06 am » |
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Our firm uses a travel agency. The agency has a dedicated team just for us, and we can either use the intranet travel site or call them directly. The firm dictates which airlines should be used for which routes, since we have negotiated rates with the airlines. We also have negotiated rates for hotels and rental cars, which are very competitive with the internet travel sites. Any travel booked outside of our travel agency can't be expensed.
The downside is that those great rates can't be used for personal travel - I see some great deals occasionally, and though I try very hard, I can't think of compelling business reasons for me to fly to Hawaii or Hong Kong or Paris or...
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beaintheuk
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« Reply #8 on: March 17, 2004, 05:21:58 pm » |
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I use both. If it's an easy trip/itinerary, I look on the web for the best deal in economy class (short routes only).
On a couple of regular routes, I actually use a low cost airline.
Travel agents charge a fee which we avoid paying by going directly on the internet.
If it gets more complicated or for long haul trips where I need more flexibility and business class tickets (Russia, Canada), I use a travel agent.
As for hotels and car hire I do it myself on the net or by phone.
Bea
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