Op-Ed: Playing The New Booking Ball Game

Curveballs are flying left and right at corporate travel management programs, and travel managers must learn how to play in the new game. The throwers of those balls are the airlines. No sooner are corporate deals thrown and reach senior management's home plate, when someone calls a foul.

Consider the left side of the field the traditional global distribution systems and the right side of the field the airlines' Web sites: If you hit to the right, your ball would count toward winning the penant, but to the left you are not even a memory tomorrow. All fouls aside, travel management programs have a big problem on their hands these days—even greater than the initial days of commission cutting.

With the proliferation of deeply discounted Internet fares, many travel managers are hard pressed to stand behind the usage of their designated travel agency. I, for one, am a big believer and supporter of the unequaled support a good agency provides, so that is not what I am addressing.

The concern is, how does a travel manager continue to convince the business travel shopper, who is under tremendous pressure to reduce department costs, that they should stay with the agency who (1) charges them a fee, (2) charges a higher fare because they cannot obtain the Internet fares, but (3) will be there if they need assistance?

Of course, no business traveler ever thinks he/she will need assistance until it does not exist. The strength of the travel policy, even those saying you "must" use your designated agency, just doesn't hold up any longer. There are very few travelers who will listen to the fact that travelers change their itineraries multiple times and an agency provides vital support for this. There are very few business travelers who will listen to the fact that overall negotiated corporate airline agreements benefit the whole organization. There also are very few business travelers who don't like to play the Internet game.

I don't know of one travel manager who has not at least visited Orbitz, Travelocity and many others just to see what they are all about. Sure, we can stand before senior management and recite the amount of time it takes to search for and obtain the "best fare possible," and explain that it takes time away from the job and there is no way to guarantee that it is the lowest fare. So we all know the dilemma—what is the solution? Should travel managers face the fact that corporate self-booking systems must be seen as an interim step into direct connections with the airline? Should they sit down with their agencies and develop strong communication plans? Should they be fine-tuning their home pages to include relationships with preferred primary travel suppliers? Embrace these thoughts and run to home plate with them because, if you do not, corporate travel management will—if it hasn't already—become more difficult than ever.

Strategize your future and remember: The game is not over until the fat lady sings.

Carol Salcito is president of Management Alternatives in Stamford, Conn.