Airline Sourcing One-Day Workshops

Any travel buyer interested in learning the most powerful and innovative methods for sourcing airlines should attend one of my workshops:

Airline Sourcing, Nov. 14th in Chicago

Airline Sourcing, Dec. 10th in Dallas

I’ll cover the basics, but then quickly head into deeper water – where buyers will learn how to maximize their leverage, regardless of their air spend. Key topics include:

• Scenario modeling
• Risk-reward mapping
• Why discount benchmarking is useless, and what’s better
• Discovering the gap between the offered and maximum rational discount
• Finding the 20% of your markets that will drive 80% of your savings
• Optimizing between trip cost and trip friction
• Predicting the impact of the AA-US merger on your 2014 air budget
• Procurement’s best and worst roles

These workshops are open to anyone, including airline sales managers.  Register via the GBTA website.

Everyone benefits from having a sophisticated, fact-based discussion about optimizing airline discounts. I look forward to seeing many of you there.

1-Day Air Sourcing Workshop, Apr. 14th in Atlanta

The first-ever one-day workshop devoted to sourcing airlines was a big success (see results here), so we’re doing it again.  Matthew Patterson and I will lead the session on April 14th in Atlanta.  (Sold already? Register here.) The agenda is tailor-made to those folks wanting a deep understanding of these key topics:

• How airlines price corporate accounts – what really matters
• Understanding your true leverage – quantifying Buyer Power
• What’s better than benchmarking – and why?
• Bid analysis – or a best guess?
• Future fare mix – why your discounts will vary, and maybe by a lot
• The solution to discounts tied to unpredictable inventory
• Alliance bids – good, bad or just ugly?
• Scenario modeling 101
• Spotting – and avoiding – unachievable goals
• What to do about ancillary fees

Focusing on Airfare Fuel Surcharges

With all the hue and cry for transparent pricing, buyers need to look more closely at fuel surcharges.

For starters, spending on fuel surcharges probably dwarfs ancillary fees.  Why? Unlike ancillary fees, surcharges are not optional. They apply to every passenger who buys a ticket with a surcharge filed as part of the fare.  Quite different from those who may elect to pay for a checked bag or an aisle seat.

Now for the salt in the buyer’s wound – corporate discounts

Airline RFP Mysteries 1, 2, and 3

Last week I delivered an NBTA training course to Delta Air Lines.  The workshop was geared to Delta’s global corporate sales team, and naturally we had some good give and take about trends in airline RFPs.  Three things puzzled me, and so I throw these mysteries out to you, valued reader, for your insights.

Mystery 1: Which non-price, non-schedule questions really matter? Like RFPs in most other categories,