In characteristic fashion, Andrew Burch of Hillgate Travel argues forcefully why it’s more expensive to ignore the TMC's fee and book direct

Travel management in the last 15 years has gone through more fundamental change than at any other time since the Wright Brothers discovered the airborne experience.

Throughout, the travel management fraternity has had to alter to survive and prosper and seemingly never stop justifying its role. The spectacular arrival of the internet and the ability for suppliers to offer direct booking by way of their own websites has changed buyers’ perceptions for ever.

In the current economic period there has been a groundswell of support for travellers to try and ignore the TMC fee by booking direct: “why pay for something that is free and cheaper on the web? Don’t I look good for saving the company extortionate fees and doing it myself?” But how savvy is that decision in real terms? Are companies looking at the wrong cost to attack?

Occasionally, the true value of having a properly managed travel service is brought into sharp focus – none more so in the last three months. As this piece is being composed, the British Airways industrial dispute has created anxiety with the UK travelling public for the second time in a short period.

At least, unlike December, there are no Eurostar problems in the Channel Tunnel and the weather is, dare we say, improving. While BA has undoubtedly learnt from the close call at the end of last year and had contingency plans in place this time, for any direct travel booker there is still no personal update or alternative advice available that will be able to assuage the concern. This is not the case for TMC customers.

BA communicated clearly and comprehensively throughout the cabin crew strikes, with all the leading UK travel management companies and we were all therefore better able to manage the situation for clients affected by the situation.

Holding substitute flights, block booking hotels and regular briefings for all client travel managers are all within our collective remit. This well-drilled process would cost enormous amounts of time and money for an individual to manage on their own – alternative flights held as an option will be expensive and demand instant payment if booked online.

While having enormous sympathy for those private individuals whose holiday, family reunions and wedding plans are thrown into disarray, there can surely be no sympathy for the corporate penny pincher who justified their flying on the national carrier by claiming that the fares were cheaper and there was no middle man to pay for something they could easily manage themselves.

There is no actual evidence to suggest that cheaper fares are available online, and what is the cost to their companies of the time now being spent in trying to rectify the situation? For the cognoscenti, you can see the morning cartoon: Alex booked with the TMC and Clive booked direct; Alex is having dinner with his client while Clive is fuming in a mass of people stuck at the departure airport.

Industrial action is not even the major reason for direct bookings going wrong. The weather is the single biggest cause of travel delay in the world and TMCs constantly manage the effects on a daily basis to avoid inconvenience or delay to our clients. In worst case scenarios we all have a major programme in place to combat terrorist related instances. Once a client is in our booking system we consider them our responsibility 24-7-365 and we have a duty of commitment to assist them at all times.

This is not the case with suppliers taking direct bookings – there is no obligation to assist, provide information to help or provide alternative solutions. Airport staff overseas will often provide inaccurate or biased information simply because the person asking is only a name on a ticket and there are others in the queue. “Do you know who I am?” really does carry more weight with a travel management company than an airline, hotel or website call centre!

What is the cost of this service? For one of our leading City firms the cost in having this 'insurance policy' was £2.70 an hour in 2009 – far lower than the cost involved for staff that choose to book direct to 'save money' and then meet a problem.

The conundrum facing travel managers is that they simply are not given the mandate to stop this ludicrous notion gathering speed. They know that it is wrong but have to allow it to happen as they are not given a mandate to change. They should present a copy of this article to their chairman and pose the following question: “If you still think direct booking is cheaper – it might be time to think again!”

BACK