Always Your Best Deal?
For some companies, using a service like Expedia or Booking.com is the first thought when booking travel. Once a company gets a corporate rate deal, they often stick to it and look no further. But is there a better way? A cheaper way to get the same products? Or even better ones?
The answer (a resounding ‘Yes!’) might surprise you.
There are often better deals out there – and they are often easy to find.
Package Deals
Just because you get a discount doesn’t mean that it’s the best discount out there. Sometimes booking your hotel along with your flight, for example, can be cheaper than booking the flight alone! It sounds insane, but it’s true. These savings can also add up to a great deal in savings over a year of travel.
If you can double-up and book a package deal through your Travel Management Company, you’ll be smiling all the way to the bank.
20% Off the Top
The simplest way to save money is often to avoid ‘Bed Banks’ like Expedia or Booking.com. Whilst the rates provided by the above and similar ‘hotel consolidators’ look good value on the face of it. There is a 20% saving which you should be entitled to.
As a VAT registered business in the UK you are eligible to claim the 20% VAT back, which doesn’t include bookings made via these sources.
All you have to do is book the room directly, or through a Travel Management Company like Meon Valley Travel (sometimes known as a ‘TMC’) which also has added perks.
For example, booking a £90 room from Expedia is more expensive than booking a £105 room through a Travel Management Company, because, after your 20% VAT claim, the room actually costs only £85. Multiply these savings over your whole travel budget and you could be looking at significant savings, often for better rooms, flexible cancellation and room upgrade opportunities.
You can’t claim VAT back from a Bed Bank.
Significant Volume
Because your Travel Management Company purchases rooms and travel as its primary function, it deals in high volumes over the year. This is business that hotels, airlines and other travel-related industries really want to secure.
If you have regular hotel stays, let Meon negotiate on your behalf and harness the purchasing power that Meon have. Your corporate industry rates will always be compared to our industry discounted rates to ensure you are always receiving the best value.
Better Treatment
Meon Valley Travel customers get a number of benefits that aren’t available to those who books through Bed Banks – and Bed Bank customers won’t even know they’ve missed out.
For example, hotels will often oversell rooms, if possible, to ensure that they are full, even after the usual cancellations. If they don’t have enough rooms, they can cancel your booking, leaving you scrambling at the last moment. The choice of who to bump is not always random; they start with the Bed Bank bookings.
The opposite is true for upgrades. If a hotel has a higher-rate room sitting empty, it will often upgrade a guest. It gives the guest a sense of special treatment, frees up a cheaper room for any last-minute bookings or walk-ins, and doesn’t cost the hotel anything to do it. Again, the choice of which guests to upgrade is not random. They start with the customers of Travel Management Companies and leave the Bed Bank customers to the last.
Meon customers often receive other perks too, like breakfast included, free WIFI, parking, or other benefits.
Overall, this means that Meon Valley Travel customers have fewer problems and better experiences.
Experience
The final perk of using your TMC is that you can harness its negotiating experience. Booking a dozen rooms for a conference, or a regular room for repeated visits? How much discount should you ask for? Your Travel Management Company will know a good deal from a great one.
Just like you are an expert in your business field, your Travel Management Company knows how to negotiate the most value for the best price. Even after fees, your company will save money, time and benefit from a host of perks and services by buying direct with the help of a travel expert.
