25 Transformations in 25 Years: The Many Benefits of the Cloud Help Transform Our Offering

In April 2007, we experienced a catastrophic service interruption. A main fiber trunk in our telco provider’s network was severed during some road construction and it brought down all our phone and Internet capabilities. Since 99% of our customers reach us via an e-mail or a call, we were down hard. Although we had a few consultants who were telecommuting and did not have service interruption at their homes, our servers and data bases located at HQ, were inaccessible. This happened mid-week and the service and financial impacts were considerable.

Later that year we made the decision to explore the “thin client” option. We’d already converted to a Voice over IP (VOIP) telephone system, so jumping onto the web all the way was the next logic step. The major hurdles were finding a cloud service provider that could host and interface with all the travel-industry specific systems and services. Unlike most companies that were fully in the cloud at that time, we were not using email as a “communication” tool, it provided over half of our revenue stream. We went for it and have never looked back.

The benefits go far beyond the technology. We are now able to recruit nationally, because anywhere Internet access exists, our team can plug in and be fully functional as if they were sitting in our offices. We realized this allowed us to seek out the best of the best and it doesn’t limit us to the DC Metro labor pool and it does not require us to relocate people. We now have employees in 12 states.

Furthermore, we have employees who are spouses of military members. New assignments meant relocating and losing that employee – not anymore. We have one consultant who has moved three times in the last seven year. She unplugs on Friday, plugs in on Monday and her clients don’t even know she’s moved! It has even allowed some of our employees to move to more reasonably priced areas of the country (versus the Washington DC area) and improve their lifestyles without ever losing their job, momentum, or client relationships.

We were able to close one of our offices, giving employees the option to work virtually all or part of the week. The savings in rent, transportation, utilities, etc. amounts to over $100,000 per year. Not to mention reducing our carbon footprint by keeping our employees off the roads and reducing our power consumption.

Our clients benefit from our distributed staff. No loss of power or phone/Internet service interruption due to weather or other causes render us unavailable. A good example of this is the “PAX” storm that hit the Washington DC area recently. There was massive snowfall where our Headquarters based employees live, but because of the cloud capabilities there were no major service interruptions even though a lot of businesses in the area were shut does and in some cases roads were not drivable due to weather. Our cloud capabilities allowed our local staff to plug in from home and work through the storm and, most importantly, assist the travelers in the area whose flights were delayed or cancelled. For our remote employees, it was business as usual.

Our cloud service provider, Cetrom, not only has independent redundant power at our local Network Operations Center (NOC) in Sterling, VA, that NOC is backed up by another in Denver, Co. If our customers and clients can’t reach us because both NOCs are down and all our employees are off-line, the country has much bigger problems than changing a traveler’s flight.

Late in 2013, we went the final yard and converted web-based version of our key operational platforms, most notably, Sabre, our GDS. This means nothing our employees need to fully support our clients and our company requirements is housed on a local computer. Any computer, connected from anywhere, is sufficient to deliver service excellence.

We have changed some operational functions to circumvent the fact that we don’t all work in the same building. Call in and fly in meetings, Skype, and two actual staff conferences per year have been included into our operational rhythm to build communication, teamwork, and training.

25 Transformations in 25 Years: Making the US Chamber of Commerce's Travel Program Best in Class

In September 1997, a new regime had taken over the United States Chamber of Commerce (USCOC) and they retained MacNair Travel Management to consolidate its travel program and develop and implement a state-of-the-art travel management system. Through extensive data evaluation from diverse sources, MacNair determined that USCOC’s airline travel budget for the previous year was nearly $1.5 million, with an average ticket cost of $591.

MacNair implemented a flexible, comprehensive travel program. It included a dedicated travel consultant. This consultant facilitated reservations, reported to the Chamber travel VP, Corporate Programs, and enforced newly established travel policies and procedures. With the Chamber, MacNair also leveraged the USCOC’s travel volume to secure discounts and benefits from key suppliers. What’s more, MacNair developed a reporting system allowing each department head to view exactly the choices employees made at the point of sale compared to the lowest available fare offered by MacNair’s service team. With the full endorsement of the Chamber’s President and CEO, MacNair announced the new travel program to a nationwide staff. MacNair’s team met with groups of travelers and schedulers to make them comfortable with the new relationships and to inform them of plans to consider published, web, low-cost carrier, and tour/consolidator fares.

The real success here was and still is the savings the USCOC received through directing travelers to better buying decisions (within reason) and leveraging the supplier deals negotiated. With the Chamber’s travel team and Under MacNair’s leadership, USCOC’s average ticket price dropped 22 percent from $591 in 1997 to $459. The Chamber purchased 1,700 tickets that year; extrapolated, MacNair saved the Chamber $132 per ticket — or $224,400 annually.

What’s more, under MacNair Travel Management, the USCOC has reduced hotel and car rental costs by 10 percent, developed powerful preferred supplier relationships that deliver time and money savings opportunities, eliminated unnecessary trips, offered its staff on-line and full-service 24/7 reservation opportunities, developed a system to monitor spending to change behavior consistent with company policy, and increased staff productivity. And today, MacNair and the Chamber continue to market and evolve the travel program together, always looking for improvements and efficiencies.   Online opportunities have expanded, programs to enhance safety and security are being enhanced, and mobile tools are on the rise. 

25 Transformations in 25 Years: Service Excellence Fit for a King

One of the most unique projects we worked on in recent years came to us through our partnership within the American Express Rep Network.  A fellow Rep Agency, Kanoo, based in the Middle East won a large contract requiring them to provide local services and support in London and Washington, DC, as well as Saudi Arabia.  The customer:  The King of Saudi Arabia or more specifically the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Kanoo brought MacNair Travel to the table to fulfill the travel obligations for this customer throughout North America.

Several things made this project both unique and challenging.  First of all, KAUST was using us to help them recruit potential staff members for their new University. KAUST teamed up with two universities in California to help them launch their program. Many of the travelers were seasoned academics. Others were graduate level students they were recruiting to be the first classes to attend the new, state of the art, research-focused campus, on the Red Sea. We supported all the dignitary, faculty, and recruiter travel in the western hemisphere and were charged to balance comfort and convenience with value. By leveraging our relationships with key airline partners, we were able to provide both.

The next interesting challenge we helped them overcome was maintaining a line of credit large enough to support the number of first and business class tickets required. Even with an endowment valued in excess of $1B, this was a new organization, especially here in Washington, so credit card companies were reluctant to provide sizeable lines of credit to a new international organization. So, managing the cash flow to ensure ticketing was not impacted when the credit was maxed out, was crucial.  We worked daily and coordinated closely with the KAUST Finance team to ensure sufficient funds were available for the avalanche of tickets needed. We never missed a beat. With this quick start up, out of the box thinking and attention to detail allowed us to provide a level of service excellence that was fit for a king.

What is Open Booking?

What is open booking you may ask? It's a term currently used to address the fact that not every traveler is booking every piece of every trip through the company’s travel procurement system. There have always been legitimate reasons for booking outside a travel procurement system (booking the conference rate at a hotel, processing a free ticket, accessing trip components that aren’t currently available via your TMC, using a customer’s rate only available thought their supplier, etc). There are also reasons why it doesn’t make sense (I think I found it less elsewhere, I like to book it via another source, it benefits me to book it outside the system, I don’t want my company knowing everything about my trip). There have been and we have always worked with exceptions to an organization’s travel policies for years. Up until now, we haven’t had a way to pull this “open” data into our system so we can help the company know where its people are, compare the value secured to what the TMC could secure, assess the selection compared to policy, and support these travelers fully when trips cancel or change. Via our relationship with some of the best technology partners in the industry (Concur and Sabre to name a few), we will shortly have the tools to provide this data to customers should they want to invest in this type of solution. We are excited to embrace this reality and provide tools to collect this data for the reasons stated above.

 

As far as the term “open” booking is concerned, we don’t like it. It seems to be a “Travel Anarchy” enabling term. Anarchy in managing the second largest controllable cost for the average US company seems to be a poor business practice. What other cost would your finance or procurement team advocate securing “as you wish”. Why bother having finance or procurement if you believe in this process? The government and Fortune 500 companies don’t advocate such and approach. The alternative would be “closed” booking and that doesn't sit well with us either as that seems like “Travel Dictatorship”. What our customers want is a “Travel Democracy” whereby there is some choice and consideration within an overall set of laws. Good governance that delivers savings, support, productivity, and control. This can all come when you manage these bookings (book and secure through your TMC), or supervise them (book elsewhere and pull them into your system). While not a perfect system, democracy is still and will always be the best governance system in the world. It respects laws for the greater good of all citizens and provides a way to challenge and amend these laws with reasonable exceptions.

 

What is interesting is that the largest proponent of open booking is a company called Concur who provides an automated expense tool and online booking tool (which we provide and support). They surely support "closed expensing". They respect that some bookings may come outside the scope of what their travel booking system and the company’s TMC can secure, but all the open and closed bookings be pushed and pulled into one expense and reporting system. This one system can then be used to manage and supervise these costs. They did not create this system to enable rogue behavior. Imagine the inefficiencies of having everyone submit an expense report any way they wish and whenever they wish? That would waste time and money, reduce productivity, and lessen control. These are also the benefits of travel management. So let's be reasonable and not talk about this as open or closed. Let's discuss this as a defined democratic system that will have exceptions that have and will always need to be handled. With these new tools we will better be able to do so.

 

Stay tuned to hear how these new systems do and don’t yet work.

25 Tranformations in 25 Years: A Presidential Campaign Requires a Fast Moving Travel Procurement System Built from Scratch

Presidential campaigns are among the most demanding travel accounts on the planet. Without fail you can absolutely bank on last minute changes becoming a way of life, a campaign staff constantly in flux, the operation running around the clock, no history to plan and negotiate with, and the volumes going over the top. For these unique customers, every nickel is critical, and impressions mean everything. Mistakes? Don’t even think about it. They could cost a campaign dearly. To be successful, the travel management system has to be established with great care and then of course follow through has to be perfect.

A great deal of collaboration and advance planning took place at MacNair Travel for the Bush/Cheney '04 Campaign that resulted in the development of first rate travel management systems and procedures that delivered the powerful results listed below. Strong airline partnerships were established with preferred carriers without the benefit of a track record; a credit card relationship was developed to improve cash flow and earn benefits, the lead travel consultant was relocated to the campaign’s travel office and was equipped with an enhanced communication package that provided remote access and after-hours support. More importantly, policies and procedures were defined in order for cost saving systems and authorization processes to be implemented. These policies also ensured the tracking of travelers, accurate and timely reporting, time savings, and compliance with campaign finance/travel laws.

 

Results

1. $140.42 savings per ticket, or $662,641 total saved on airfare. The campaign’s average ticket cost was $328.89 versus a national average of $469.31 for the same time period on 4,719 tickets. We assisted in negotiating the airline agreement.
2. Over 260 free tickets issued against American Express Membership Rewards Miles to eliminate high cost itineraries, saving over $274,000.
3. Car rental reservations booked below ceiling rates and on supplier relationship that included direct bill, great rates, and under-aged drivers.
4. Prepaid Hotel  blocks were made across the country on a shoestring.
5. Constant changes were managed 24/7 by our dedicated team with help from our after hours team. Many travelers only used one way tickets as they had no idea where there next destination may be.
6.  Traveler confidence was at an all time high. Safety and security issues were addressed. 
7. Candidate wins.  

25 Transformations in 25 Years: Libya and the Dog

A few years ago, we had a traveler who was in Libya working in the Embassy in Tripoli. The area was growing unstable, with the neighborhood where the traveler was staying becoming subject to heavy gunfire at night. She was understandably frightened and searching for a way out. To complicate matters, she had a German Sheppard named Zeus, who needed to be evacuated as well.

One of our agents, Dana, worked with the traveler and her company through several late night and early morning phone calls and emails over a week period. The multiple itineraries that were setup proved wasteful as the Libyan government had not protected the airport and it was unsafe for passengers to enter the terminal. Throughout this back and forth, which included changing and cancelling itineraries, bad cell phone connections and hastily written emails, Dana was described by the company’s travel manager as the “calm in the storm”:

“Knowing Dana was working on finding a solution in the wee hours of the night reassured our employee that someone far away cared about her and her safety and that is priceless.” 

The traveler did finally make her way out of Libya via a ferry chartered by the US Government, after which Dana arranged for her travel home with her dog.

“I feel like Dana went above and beyond the call of duty in how she handled this situation. You all provide us with unmatched service, and I am truly appreciative.”

While we do strive for the type service excellence that Dana embodied in the midst of a dire situation for one of our travelers, we also are always looking to improve the travel programs for our customers. The traveler getting home is not where this story ends. What we did with this customer after the event took place in Libya was a complete review their risk mitigation procedures for their travelers and advised them on way to improves processes and ensure they were better protected should a future event like this occur. That was the bigger transformation out of this situation, and that is what Travel Leadership Consulting is all about.

Celebrating 25 Amazing Years of Travel Leadership Consulting

For 25 years, it has been the goal of MacNair Travel Management to transform the way people approach and experience travel. This journey began in 1989, when my wife, Ellen, and I founded Didion Travel & Associates. After becoming the official travel agency to the Bush/Quayle Campaign in 1992, the company would be renamed to MacNair Travel Management.

To commemorate this amazing milestone of our 25th Anniversary of what I like to call Travel Leadership Consulting, we are re-launching our blog here as the Travel Leadership blog. For our first blog series, will be sharing 25 of our best stories of corporate and personal travel transformations from the past 25 years. Look for updates to this series throughout 2014. We thank all of our partners and clients for their support and partnership over the past 25 years, let’s make the next 25 even better!