What’s the best way to plan group air?

The COVID pandemic is finally passing and you can gather face-to-face with your friends and colleagues. Meetings and events, conventions, incentive trips, customer forums — in person at last!

But now you have to coordinate group air and hotels for those meetings and events: who’s attending, how are they getting there, where are they staying and meeting, how are they paying and how do you keep track of all your itineraries and spending? 

And whether you’re an in-house meeting manager, travel manager or independent meeting planner, your tools may be the same that you had in 2019: poorly suited to coordinating travel, managing rooming lists and handling last-minute changes. Plus the travel agent shortage means extra slow service to book group air.

It’s 2022 — isn’t there a better way?

The good news is that you have options, and with this guide you’re in the right place to find the best option for you and your group air travelers:

The guide covers:

How do you enforce travel policies & parameters on group air? 

While do-it-yourself and travel agency or TMC solutions rely on humans to interpret and apply travel policies and parameters on group air, modern digital solutions automatically apply policies and parameters like when travelers should arrive and how much they should spend, specially tailored to the meeting.

How can travelers book group air flights?

Modern digital travel planning solutions let travelers book their own travel within your policies and parameters – travelers love that, and it saves tons of time and headaches. Do-it-yourself and travel agency solutions take more time and don’t give travelers the choice they want with your policies applied.

How do I pay for group air bookings?

Modern digital travel solutions and travel agencies allow you to provide a card to pay for your travelers’ flights; do-it-yourself solutions require you to book and pay for travelers or reimburse travelers after they book.

How do you get traveler manifests and spend data for group air?

While modern digital group air planning solutions let you access traveler manifest and spending data in real time, travel agencies make you request, pay for and wait days for your data, and do-it-yourself solutions require you to manually track and update each itinerary.

Can I get 24x7 service for my group air travelers?

Getting access to expert travel help 24x7 is tough, do-it-yourself booking leaves you at the mercy of airlines and websites, travel agencies often outsource and charge more for sub-par “after hours” service, but some providers like AmTrav Gather guarantee 24x7 expert service updating travel plans and escaping jams from all-employee Travel Advisors.