Originally Posted by
alexcr
Thanks again! Regarding fare discounts, I was under the impression that corporate agencies - or at least the big corporate agencies, like American Express Corporate Business Travel - typically have access to tickets at significantly reduced pricing. Is this not the case? And, if so, I guess the main reason to use an agency in a situation like this is to outsource the administrative work?
What's the name of your agency, by the way?
Other than the small discounts I referenced, there are programs like Travel Leaders/AMEX "Travel Collection", Mastercard WordElite, and AMEX IAP. I am sure there are a host of other "afffiliate" programs as well across various airlines/groups that provide limited discounts.
More substantial corporate discounts are negotiated between the purchaser/client and the airlines. AMEX may have a consulting group that assists large corporations in the negotiating process with airlines, but ultimately the price and volume commitments are contracted between the end-user and the airline. AMEX or another travel management company just books the travel on behalf of the client, enforces policy, etc.
The main benefits of using an agency are abililty to hold unticketed reservations for one business day, schedule change monitoring/assistance with irrops and perhaps most importantly, outsourcing/organizing non-core aspects of your business. (You could certainly become a travel agency as well, and bring these functions in house. Much of the licensing/insurance/infrastructure you will need for your business will be duplicative with that of a travel agency.)
I am an independent agent affiliated with Nexion/Travel Leaders...link in my signature for more background.