Question for you experts
 

My wife started a new job, and one of their requirements for travel is to book the ticket via thier on line travel agency.

This is bad because she won't be getting the bonus miles for booking directly through the airlines site.

Anybody ever found a way around this?

If it's a job requirement to book via the agency, then there isn't a way around it. I'm in the same boat.

My co. used to be loose about the requirement by saying if we could find a cheaper fare than what the agency could get, we could book it. Therefore, I was able to direct-book at AA.com with a 10% off code and always beat the agency by a few bucks. I was pretty diligent, printing out the fare comparisons to prove that I truly was saving money.

Then my co. changed its stance and now all travel must go through the agency. Easier on them administratively, I'm sure.

Even "beating them by a few bucks" isn't enough, as there may be override contracts even in the age of 0 base commissions, and a certain volume of business is necessary to keep these contracts up.

Have her ask the agency if there is a way around it, there may be. Back in the days with one airline it didn't matter, you got the bonus no matter who you booked through. Miss those days.

I did get around the requirement to use the agent when I was able to beat the best price they could give us from time to time by going direct, it was OK for us to do that if the savings was over some percent of what they were offering.

Hard to get around a company policy. And my experience is that the company travel agency need the volume to get their discount, even if it is not the cheapest fare available.

If you can prove a BIG savings, you might get them to let you book. But a few bucks ain't gonna do any more.

Back in 'the good ole days' my company let us book our own flight and use our own credit cards. They were exceedingly good at reimbursing within 3 days, so I never worried about interest payment. All those fares churned thru my AmEx/MR account!! But now they switched to a corporate credit card. I am sure the company gets some benefit, but I sure don't anymore. Sigh!