Actually, we have a good deal. Our travel manager is our employee. He contracts with Carlson to pay four agents, which he selects, and to cover the CRS and processing costs.

We keep whatever meager commissions the airlines are paying this week and use them to offset the fixed costs of the contract.

We can also take advantage (?) of limited Carlson services like their 24 hour service center. Our travel manager gets a bill for each call we make there, which, again, he uses whatever he can squeeze out of the airlines to cover.

Centralized travel management always has drawbacks, but this is one of the best arrangements I've experienced in that vein. And we do get good rates on airline tickets.

United is nice in giving a discount off all tickets, discount to full fare, domestic and international. Other airlines (I could mention some names - Delta) never discount the discount fares.

Charles