BTC Survey Shows Rise In Interest In Consolidator Fares

Corporate travel buyers are seeing increased interest in fare consolidators, firms that buy wholesale airline tickets and sell them at a reduced rate, although their use remains minimal and adoption does not come without some travel management pitfalls, according to results of a Business Travel Coalition study.

About 33 percent of respondents to the survey of 120 corporate travel buyers BTC fielded this week said there is increased interest among their travelers in using ticket consolidators, though only 10 percent said they currently use consolidators. An additional 13 percent are considering their use. The small population of consolidator adopters said they use such purchasing options sparingly, using them no more than 10 percent of the time.

Nearly 63 percent of the respondents said the use of fare consolidators could reduce travel spend. BTC chairman Kevin Mitchell said, "It's not unusual, for example, for a $10,000 fare, available via a corporate travel program, to be offered by a consolidator for $5,000."

Still, their usage also can trip up some fundamentals of a managed travel program. According to the survey, nearly 93 percent of respondents said tracking travelers who purchase such fares is difficult and about 83 percent said such tickets are largely nonrefundable, potentially diminishing any savings from a booking not followed by a trip.

Further potential drawbacks to using such offerings, the survey shows, include eroding the value of a managed travel program, shifting bookings from preferred suppliers and making it difficult to capture usage in data travel management streams.