Domestic

Can You Negotiate Directly With Your Airline?

With airline fares, fees, and surcharges on the rise, business travelers might be feeling a bit powerless these days. After all, you need to fly, but they own the planes. In such a one-sided situation, what can you do except pay up?

The answer may well come from actor William Shatner in those Priceline.com commercials, when he declares, "Don't you love to negotiate!"

In fact, says travel speaker and consultant David M. Rowell, a.k.a. The Travel Insider, negotiating directly with the airlines for lower fares is an often overlooked solution to cutting travel costs.

But will airlines actually negotiate with you on fares?

A Special Contract with Your Business

Yes, says Rowell, if your company is spending over $100,000 a year on Business and First Class travel. At that level, airlines are willing to set up a special contract with your business to cover your travel needs. "You can realistically expect such a contract to give you anywhere from a 10 percent to a 30 percent and higher discount off your travel costs," Rowell explains.

Discounts are not all you can get. Contracts also can be structured to provide upgrades, on either a guaranteed or space available basis. And in day to day contacts with your designated airline representative, you can also ask for passes to airport lounges and other benefits. What's more, if you use a travel agency, arrangements can be set up to keep them in the loop.

Spending Less than $100K?

What if your travel budget does not rise to six figures? There are still solutions as more and more airlines recognize the economic power of the corporate business travel account.

One is Delta's SkyBonus program. It's designed for companies that spend less than $500,000 yearly on Delta flights originating in the U.S. or less than $100,000 on those originating outside the country. SkyBonus offers special fares and perks, above and beyond their regular SkyMiles program for individuals. Interestingly, those individuals still receive their SkyMiles even as their companies earn SkyBonus rewards.

Additionally, you can leverage your company's travel budget power through travel organizations such as American Express or Orbitz, whose corporate programs pool the bargaining power of groups of smaller businesses to achieve favorable rates from the airlines and other travel providers. Such programs operate only online, which further fuels savings by eliminating overhead.

Bottom line: Whatever level of business travel your organization does, it pays to check whether an airline or an intermediary in the transaction is amenable to a negotiated solution for better fares and perks.

For more insider tips and strategies on how to make your travels more comfortable and productive, visit the Wing Tips archives page.