The Business Travel Coalition released results and analysis from a first-of-its-kind survey of 152 corporate travel managers (CTMs) from 13 countries regarding the use and efficiency of air ticket consolidators in managed travel programs. The survey was conducted in response to increased interest among travelers and CTMs.

BTC chairman Kevin Mitchell said, “In these hard economic times we can expect, and are indeed seeing, employees looking outside managed travel programs for lower priced air tickets. In particular, those employees authorized to travel business and first class are often actively looking at consolidator fares, spurred on in some cases by favorable press reports. 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.”

CTMs can spend considerable time investigating the efficacy of using consolidators, and in turn, responding to travelers and senior management teams can be time-consuming, and not without some risk if the analysis is not thorough and credible. The purpose of this survey was to provide a sound analysis to include
1) global best-practice regarding the use of consolidators,
2) the current level of use of consolidators in corporate managed travel programs,
3) the benefits of using consolidators,
4) the risks and
5) where consolidators are being used by CTMs, how are they being integrated within the travel program.

Sample results from the 9-page report include:

• 37.3% of survey participants have noticed increased interest regarding consolidators from among their travelers
• 27.8% of those using consolidators are purchasing first class tickets, 77.8% business class and 61.1% economy class
• 37.5% of participants who use consolidators report net savings of under 20% from negotiated fares; 37.5% report savings of 21% to 30%.