Finding The Best Group Airfare For Your Incentive Travel Meeting

Volatile jet fuel prices. Aging fleet air craft. Pressure from regional airlines. Consolidation and mergers. Government buy outs. Cheaper than ever private jet rental prices...The travel industry is in an usual place—we should know, with 50 years of group incentive travel planning experience, at Monumental Meetings, we’ve been negotiating great group airfare almost as long as there has been an airline industry!

In this economy, the value of personal relationships, connections and a deep understanding of the cost drivers of the travel industry are more important than ever. Of course, as a group incentive travel specialist, we’re a little biased, but let’s take a closer look at some of the factors you may not be aware of when it comes to finding the best group airfares.

Group Airfare Rates

You can’t find group airfares on online travel sites—even if you put in “50 people” for your travel group on online travel engines, the prices you get are not discounted for the volume. To receive volume discounts on group airfare, some people say it’s best to call the corporate travel desk at the airline directly—and while these professionals are certainly helpful, even they only have access to the limited available fares in their system at the time—a system that’s in constant flux.

Group Incentive Travel Package Pricing

Wholesalers and consolidators often buy up blocks of popular seats, planning to sell them in lots to travel companies, group incentive travel specialists like Monumental Meetings, or others. These seats are “off the grid” and finding the best group airfare value often means having a personal connection with these organizations, who are unwilling to work with single trip buyers.

Smaller Group Incentive Travel Shouldn’t Miss Out

If you’re planning a handful of group incentive travel or corporate retreat trips a year, wholesalers and consolidators can’t offer their best group airfare rates. To get that opportunity, you need to compare what you’re able to discover with what a group travel specialist like Monumental Meetings can bring to the table. To further complicate the group airfare situation, some group airfares are available only in concert with other services—like specific hotel rooms or specific times. Balancing and weighing the relative value of the entire group air travel equation is exactly what Monumental Meeting’s Group Air travel desk excels at.

Contact us today to discover what we can do for your next group travel event.