Don't Just Take Our Word For It
Companies of varying sizes, needs and backgrounds sign up with AmTrav every day. These companies may be physically different from one another but they all share one thing in common, ...the need for a managed travel solution that's easy. Below are several case studies that illustrate exactly how AmTrav has been able to provide just that, regardless of the original travel program.
Coming from a Traditional TMC Environment?
How Moving Away From the Status Quo of Travel Management Resulted in Much Better Service
Situation Pre-AmTrav:
PPM, an investment management firm based in Chicago, IL, needed to simplify business travel for their employees and travel managers.
- Employees were not following travel policy.
- Lack of due diligence was a big problem.
- There was inconsistency across the board.
What PPM Needed:
At PPM, traveling is crucial to business. As money managers, employees must travel frequently to evaluate investment properties, make presentations, “perform” due diligence, and more. PPM wanted to make travel easier for their employees so they would not need to book on theirselves. The ideal solution needed to:
- Increase compliance.
- Create consistency across the board for their travelers.
- Save money.
In short, PPM wanted their travelers to be taken care of. They also wanted to save money and have a TMC that would help manage their travelers.
AmTrav’s Solution:
PPM wanted to work with a travel management company that understood and would devote time to their nuances. They selected AmTrav for this reason and several others:
- AmTrav’s solution is extremely user-friendly.
- AmTrav had the best mix of technology and live support. It was important for all of the administrators at PPM - those who prefer phone support and those who prefer online support - to find a solution that was comfortable and met everyone’s’ needs. PPM found that with AmTrav.
- AmTrav’s team has extensive knowledge about the business travel space and is able to answer any question thrown at them.
- AmTrav keeps it simple, saves PPM money, and makes PPM’s travel managers’ lives easier.
AmTrav makes PPM’s travelers and travel managers lives easier by taking care of their business travel needs so that they can do what they were hired to do instead of wasting time managing travel themsleves. As a result of the partnership with AmTrav, PPM is now able to efficiently book travel and save money.
How Moving Away From the Status Quo of Travel Management Resulted in a Better Overall Experience
Situation Pre-AmTrav:
Halyard Health, a medical technology company focused on advancing health and healthcare, based in Alpharetta, GA, needed to find an updated online booking platform with easily accessible support.
- Halyard’s online tool was too outdated.
- Waiting on hold was a massive problem.
- Halyard employees and travelers were experiencing a lack of immediate support.
What Halyard Needed:
Halyard wanted to find a travel solution that made booking travel more efficient for their employees. They needed an online tool that was current and always evolving. The ideal solution needed to:
- Eliminate Halyard waiting on hold for hours.
- Increase compliance.
- Provide the best possible vendor pricing for travelers.
- Not nickel and dime.
- Have updated technology – including chat, text, and email functionality.
In short, Halyard wanted to find an online solution that their travelers actually wanted to use. They also wanted experienced travel advisors to provide immediate support around the clock.
AmTrav’s Solution:
Halyard researched several travel management options but ultimately selected AmTrav for several reasons:
- AmTrav owns and has complete control of their own booking tool, giving Halyard comfort and confidence that if there’s a question about the product, AmTrav has in-house technology support and 100% control.
- AmTrav’s clients don’t wait on hold and have minimal support wait times.
- AmTrav’s chat, text, and email support features work great.
- AmTrav is committed to evolving and growing their service to make clients’ lives easier.
- AmTrav’s simple and easy cost model.
Because of AmTrav’s all-in-one solution, Halyard has saved both time and money and their employees and travelers are happier than ever before.
Both of these companies saw a great opportunity with AmTrav to move away from the status quo of travel management into a new solution that provided a better overall experience with increased functionality and support.
Many companies leave mega agencies for the better fit of AmTrav. The reason cited for wanting to switch typically centers around the lack of attention and poor quality of service they were experiencing. ABRA Auto, a nationwide network of auto body and glass repair shops, is a great example of how switching from a mega agency to AmTrav provided the unparalleled level of service needed to accommodate explosive growth. And just as important, ABRA's employees are “much happier than they were before.”
Case StudyIs your company anticipating significant growth? Can your current travel management company handle the increased demand? Mesa Labs, a testing equipment manufacturer, found themselves asking the same questions when they were looking at a million dollar increase in travel spend to accommodate a 3x increase in sales. By switching to AmTrav, Mesa not only found a partner that provided the necessary travel infrastructure for this growth but also one that "managed Mesa's travel spend more efficiently and provided greater visibility into that spend" than had previously been the case.
Case StudyComing From a Do-It-Yourself Environment?
Are you responsible for getting people from all over North America to the same location at the same time? It involves lots of planning, needs to be done right, and is the last thing you have time for. College Gridiron Showcase, an organization that puts together an annual all-star college football game, was in this situation. Their solution was to partner with AmTrav so they could focus on what they do best, football.
Case StudyDo you feel like your company is wasting tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars by not managing business travel closely? Our client Markel FirstComp, an insurance provider, felt this way… and they were right. AmTrav allowed them to “easily control leakage, mitigate risk and manage duty of care” to the tune of over $1M in annual savings.
Case StudyAbra Auto Body & Glass
How Switching from AMEX Travel to AmTrav Resulted in Much Better Service for One Premier Auto Repair Chain
Situation Pre-AmTrav:
ABRA Auto, a premier auto repair company with over 180 locations across the US, was experiencing problems with their travel management solution.
- There was a charge each time ABRA called, regardless if a ticket was booked or not.
- ABRA wished to pre-pay hotels but Amex would not facilitate.
- Direct billing with car rental companies was constantly problematic.
- When calling in, ABRA was always dealing with someone new who did not know the account. This led to much wasted time.
- After hours support was far too often neither knowledgeable nor helpful. More times than not, when trying to make last minute changes, the response was "we can't do that".
What ABRA Needed:
At ABRA, employees travel frequently for in-person store visits, continuing education training, conventions and acquisition scouting. ABRA'S travel management goal was to make the travel and support process easy for its employees. The ideal solution needed to:
- Not nickel and dime on pricing.
- Allow for pre-paying and direct billing all elements of travel thus removing payment as a responsibility of the traveler.
- Dramatically reduce issues from unhappy travelers.
- Provide real, knowledgeable and always-available 24/7 customer service.
In short, ABRA wanted to free their travelers from the payment logistics of business travel. They also wanted experienced travel agents to support their employees' needs around the clock.
Solution:
ABRA researched travel management options and selected AmTrav for several reasons. During their research, all companies said they could handle ABRA's needs but AmTrav was the only company that walked ABRA through exactly how it would happen. AmTrav's tailored an easy and straight-forward solution for ABRA thus making ABRA's selection of AmTrav an easy one.
Results with AmTrav:
- Company travel is now pre-paid or direct billed so travelers can focus on why they are traveling, not the logistics of traveling.
- All company travel expenses are consolidated into one corporate account so it's easy for ABRA to analyze spend.
- A dedicated team of AmTrav agents means they know ABRA and its employees. This saves ABRA a significant amount of time when contacting AmTrav.
- ABRA feels safe knowing that AmTrav's travel agents are available 24/7. ABRA staff can call when stuck at the airport at 3pm or 3am. Someone will always answer.
As a whole, the biggest and most important result from the AmTrav partnership to-date has been ABRA's employees are much happier than they were before.
The travelers are my customers so I don't like them to be unhappy. AmTrav takes care of me so I can more easily take care of them. Everyone's happy. Everyone wins. Megan C., HR Coordinator
About ABRA Auto Body & Glass
Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, ABRA is a leading provider of vehicle repair services specializing in collision repair, paintless dent removal, and auto glass repair and replacement. ABRA's mission is to be the best auto body and glass company in America by providing quality repairs, in a timely manner, with friendly, helpful service. For more information about ABRA visit www.ABRAauto.com.
About AmTrav
AmTrav is a global business travel agency committed to eliminating the hassle of business travel for companies of all sizes. Whereas business travel is often associated with high costs, hard-to-use online booking tools and poor customer service, AmTrav mitigates these hassles through the combination of a proprietary web-based booking tool and 24/7 access to a highly experienced in-house support team. Stuck at the airport? Need to tweak hotel arrangements at the last minute? Whether it's 3 a.m. or 3 p.m., online or offline, AmTrav is there. AmTrav does not outsource nor does it rely on third-party vendors. All AmTrav agents are employees, based in the U.S. AmTrav, along with its sister company, Cheapair, has helped over three million people travel with confidence over the past 20 years.
How an Equipment Manufacturer Prepared for an Annual $1M Increase in Travel Spend by Partnering with AmTrav
Situation Pre-AmTrav:
Mesa Labs, a manufacturer & supplier of test instruments, was unhappy with their travel management solution. Their agency…
- Used a cumbersome, third-party booking tool
- Provided sub-par, inconsistent, hard-to-reach support
- Had limited business hours
- So Mesa began looking for new travel options that accounted for these issues and provided support for their anticipated hiring growth and projected 3x increase in sales
What Mesa Needed:
Mesa sends Sales, Marketing and Operations staff traveling all over the World to win business, manage distributors and deal with acquisition related activities. Domestically Mesa performs hundreds of system installations and service calls with their installed customers. The new travel management solution needed to:
- Provide consistent, professional, 24/7 support
- Include a user-friendly online booking tool
- Allow for real-time visibility into travel spend
- Assist with benchmarking against similar companies
- Have flexibility for custom travel policies
- Integrate with corporate loyalty programs
- Provide an easy pre-trip approval process
Solution:
Mesa was initially hesitant to change TMC's given the work they thought it might entail. After meeting with AmTrav though, Mesa realized that switching would be easy and well worth it due to:
- AmTrav's easy-to-use online booking tool. This product “sealed the deal” for Mesa
- AmTrav's fee structure which was more attractive
- Interactions with the AmTrav team left Mesa feeling confident that AmTrav would deliver on its more personalized service pitch
- AmTrav's use of a single phone number where people answer right away
- Multiple ways to access AmTrav advisers 24/7 from live chat to phone to email
Results with AmTrav:
Since switching to AmTrav, Mesa added 30+ employees who travel constantly. From a travel perspective, AmTrav has helped Mesa easily accommodate this growth while allowing management to properly oversee the expansion. In addition:
- Mesa now has immediate access to professional AmTrav advisers 24/7 when, for example, members of an installation team need to remain onsite longer or change plans on a moments notice
- AmTrav's proactive communication protocols give Mesa much needed peace of mind
- AmTrav's quarterly, comparative benchmarking reviews allow Mesa to better understand what their spend targets should be
- With AmTrav, Mesa has built a powerful system of travel policy controls resulting in an overall decrease in travel spend
- AmTrav's simple fee structure has reduced Mesa's expenses
As a whole, the biggest and most important result from the AmTrav partnership to-date has been ABRA's employees are much happier than they were before.
Because of AmTrav, we are able to manage our travel spend more efficiently and have much greater visibility into that spend.
About Mesa Laboratories, Inc.
Mesa pursues a strategy of focusing primarily on quality control products, which are sold into niche markets that are driven by regulatory requirements. Mesa is organized into three divisions across six physical locations. The Instruments Division designs, manufactures and markets quality control instruments and disposable products utilized in connection with the healthcare, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, medical device, industrial hygiene, environmental air sampling and semiconductor industries. The Biological Indicators Division manufactures and markets biological indicators and distributes chemical indicators used to assess the effectiveness of sterilization processes, including steam, gas, hydrogen peroxide, ethylene oxide and radiation, in the hospital, dental, medical device and pharmaceutical industries. The Continuous Monitoring Division designs, develops and markets systems which are used to monitor various environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity and differential pressure to ensure that critical storage and processing conditions are maintained in hospitals, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, blood banks, pharmacies and a number of other laboratory and industrial environments.
About AmTrav
AmTrav is a global business travel agency committed to eliminating the hassle of business travel for companies of all sizes. Whereas business travel is often associated with high costs, hard-to-use online booking tools and poor customer service, AmTrav mitigates these hassles through the combination of a proprietary web-based booking tool and 24/7 access to a highly experienced in-house support team. Stuck at the airport? Need to tweak hotel arrangements at the last minute? Whether it's 3 a.m. or 3 p.m., online or offline, AmTrav is there. AmTrav does not outsource nor does it rely on third-party vendors. All AmTrav agents are employees, based in the U.S. AmTrav, along with its sister company, Cheapair, has helped over three million people travel with confidence over the past 20 years.
How a College Football All-Star Game Easily Coordinated Travel for 108 Players across 45 Locations by Partnering with AmTrav
Situation Pre-AmTrav:
The College Gridiron Showcase (CGS) was created to give college football players additional exposure to professional teams. For the inaugural game which was held in Arlington, Texas on January 31st, 2015, the plan originally called for CGS to handle all travel internally. The size and scope of the operation became too great however so CGS realized they needed outside group travel expertise.
What CGS Needed:
CGS are "football guys" whose time and energy are best spent focused on planning the big game and surrounding events. CGS needed experts to focus on the travel piece. Travel needs included:
- Getting 108 players from 93 different colleges and universities across North America to Arlington, Texas in time for workouts, practices and the game
- Highly experienced, agent-level support available 24/7 to handle whatever obstacles, delays and coordination issues might occur
- Creative account management with the ability to work quickly under pressure and think on their feet
Solution:
AmTrav created a custom solution requiring only the bare minimum effort on behalf of CSG. AmTrav took care of all travel related tasks so CSG was able to focus on the actual event.
- AmTrav tightly coordinated schedules to ensure everyone got to where they needed to be, when they needed to be there
- AmTrav proactively identified weather and schedule issues and rerouted players to avoid delays
Results with AmTrav:
AmTrav got all 108 players to Arlington in time for their first practice with little effort on behalf of CSG. This was a huge success and one less thing CSG had to worry about, namely booking flights, rerouting players, worrying about getting the best prices, etc. AmTrav took care of all of this and let CSG focus on their athletes.
Because of AmTrav, we were able to focus on what we do which is football vs. having to worry about travel. With so many different people coming from so many different places, we aren’t sure how we would have done it without a corporate travel partner like AmTrav.
About CGS
College Gridiron Showcase is an annual All Star football game for all College Football Divisions. This game showcases and provides exposure for top draft eligible college senior football players from around the country.
About AmTrav
AmTrav is a global business travel agency committed to eliminating the hassle of business travel for companies of all sizes. Whereas business travel is often associated with high costs, hard-to-use online booking tools and poor customer service, AmTrav mitigates these hassles through the combination of a proprietary web-based booking tool and 24/7 access to a highly experienced in-house support team. Stuck at the airport? Need to tweak hotel arrangements at the last minute? Whether it’s 3 a.m. or 3 p.m., online or offline, AmTrav is there. AmTrav does not outsource nor does it rely on third-party vendors. All AmTrav agents are employees, based in the U.S. AmTrav, along with its sister company Cheapair, has helped over three million people travel with confidence over the past 20 years.
How an Insurance Provider Added a Managed Travel Program and Saved Close to $1M in Wasteful Annual Spend
Situation Pre-AmTrav:
FirstComp, a small business insurance arm of Markel Corporation with over 8,000 independent agent partners, was spending an “insanely crazy” amount of money managing its own business travel. There was:
- No ROI requirement for travel.
- No spend controls in place.
- Little duty of care.
What Markel FirstComp Needed:
At Markel FirstComp, employees travel constantly. The Sales team visits clients and insurance agents, general staff attend industry conferences and Management visits satellite offices across the country. This in-person exposure builds invaluable relationships. As such, Markel FirstComp needed a budget conscious travel management program that enabled as much business travel as possible while:
- Maximizing spend
- Providing comprehensive duty of care
- Enabling employees to feel and be safe
Solution:
AmTrav created a custom solution that enabled travel decisions to flow through one main coordinator in a controlled and easy-to-manage process. This setup also provided internal controls to:
- Manage the approval process efficiently while easily questioning traveler decisions.
- Minimize outstanding travel liability if someone leaves the company.
- Quickly run reports to identify travelers that require additional ROI justification.
Results with AmTrav:
Ever since AmTrav's spend controls were put in place, Markel FirstComp has been able to cut travel spend by 50% while removing unnecessary waste and actually increasing the total number of business trips taken. Employees are now being vigilant about the trips they take - only taking ones that have a positive ROI tied to them.
Markel FirstComp's business travel management is much more hassle-free with AmTrav than in the past. There is a true partnership between the two companies. FirstComp questions get answered immediately, not thrown into a bottomless docket of “we'll get to them laters”. The lines of communication are always open.
AmTrav allows us to easily control leakage, mitigate risk and manage duty of care.
About AmTrav
AmTrav is a global business travel agency singularly focused on eliminating the hassle of business travel for companies of all sizes. Hassles come in all forms from high costs to hard-to-use products to poor customer service. AmTrav was created to mitigate these hassles through the combination of a proprietary web-based booking tool and 24/7 access to a highly experienced in-house support team of experts. Stuck at the airport? Need to tweak hotel arrangements at the last minute? Whether it's 3 a.m. or 3 p.m., online or offline, AmTrav is there. AmTrav does not outsource nor does it rely on third-party vendors. All AmTrav agents are employees, based in the U.S. AmTrav, along with its sister company, Cheapair, has helped over three million people travel with confidence over the past 20 years.
Markel FirstComp
FirstComp insures America's small businesses by living and breathing service and innovation every day. Founded in 1997 with three employees and an “agents first” philosophy, FirstComp's mission hasn't changed since Day 1 - to deliver superior service, innovation and passion to the underserved, cyclical and often unpredictable insurance market. FirstComp's online quoting and workflow platform, 1stQuote, is the best and fastest in the industry, as rated by over 8,000 independent partner agents. In 2010, FirstComp became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Markel Corporation, an international property and casualty insurance holding company serving over 80,000 business customers nationwide. A strong history of profitability gives agents the confidence they need to stake their reputation on FirstComp as their small business insurance market.
