Originally Posted by Proudelitist

You may think that using a travel service will standardize and reduce expenses, the truth is, this is not actually the case.

When I was given the freedom to book my own travels within my own budget limits, I tried to maximize return. This mean I became a great deal hunter...through things like Hotwire I could end up in a 5 star resort for 3 star money. I flew direct everywhere, rather than through 2 cities with tight connections merely to save 20 dollars. This meant a happier employee and better work.and I didn't burn out. Some times I even saved thousands. For example, I got a flight to the UK down 1900 dollars by going tuesday to tuesday rather than monday to friday. That freedom and flexibility saved the company money.

Going to a travel service means a computer basically picks the itinerary and hotels, it does not think creatively nor does it get the most practical deals. If I need to go from X to Y, it will pick what it thinks is the cheapest flight and route me through W and Z, making the trip take 6 hours longer. and often causing additional costs due to stupidly tight connections, missed flights, and lost work time. Travel services don't care if the employee had to run through DFW for a 30 minute connection..and all for a savings sometimes of less than 10 dollars. It sees that it's 10 less and books it robotically.