A travel management partner will do the heavy lifting of business travel for your company; carefully track, monitor, and evaluate all of your business travel data, providing insights into how and where to reduce costs. Additionally, you will benefit from industry-proven advice and expertise to get the best value for money within your company’s policies and requirements.
Hiring a travel management company is an investment, so you need to be sure you’re asking the right questions to cross the t’s and dot the i’s. Here’s your checklist:
1) Do they offer dedicated, personal & flexible service?
To benefit from high-touch travel assistance, delivered by small teams who develop an in-depth understanding of your business, you need a TMC partner who provides dedicated, personal and flexible services. With Thompsons Travel, you get a dedicated Account Manager and team to look after your business travel and conferencing requirements.
Value-adds: 24/7, emergency assistance is vital to your travelling employees, who may need access to personal and experienced travel managers in an emergency, so be sure to check whether your potential TMC partner can offer this service.
2) How can they guarantee best prices on hotels, car hire & airfares?
A travel management company with global buying power and negotiating strength can provide you with special deals on a regular basis, giving you access to discounts and offers across leisure and corporate travel and value-added extras such as complimentary seat upgrades, flights, passes to airline lounges, and room and car hire upgrades.
3) How can they create time & cost efficiencies for your travel?
Are all of your bookings, buying, account and expense management systems operating as efficiently as possible? Your dedicated Thompsons Travel Account Manager will work with you to simplify and streamline your processes. The less time your employees spend on travel arrangements, the more time they will have to focus on their jobs.
4) What online technology do they offer?
Your dedicated Account Manager will guide you towards shifting your bookings to an online booking tool, which should be simple to use and quick to provide the user with what they require. Partnering with Thompsons Travel gives you access to Thompsons Traveller Online, which offers you booking fee savings, enhanced reporting functionality and the ability to embed your travel policy, negotiated rates and approval process in a custom-created online travel booking site for your business.
5) Do they have a global network?
To ensure you have access to the best prices and most extensive range of travel products, partner with a travel management company who has well-established relationships with a wide range of local, national and international travel industry suppliers, including air, hotel and car suppliers. Thompsons Travel is a proud member-company of Cullinan Holdings Ltd and enjoys strong partnerships with travel industry suppliers that have been built up over 40 years. Thompsons Travel forms part of the XL Travel Consortium, one of South Africa’s leaders in the travel industry, and Egencia, the corporate arm of Expedia Inc. We are proud members of the Global Business Travel Association, the Association of Southern African Travel Agents, and the International Air Transport Association.
Need your questions answered? Contact Thompsons Travel today.
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