Can anybody recommend a good corporate travel company that can run an SME a good deal that spends A$20k-30k...

Can anybody recommend a good corporate travel company that can run an SME a good deal that spends A$20k-30k in international and domestic travel pa (purely ex-Aus flights; travel booked from overseas offices excluded from this figure)? Or is this too small an account?

Travelworks (travelworks.com.au) 59416416. Only do small to medium corporates and go that extra mile.

I don't reckon any travel agency should be turning its nose up at a $20k-$30k spend, sure it's not BHP but it's not chickenfeed either! Try Corporate Traveller (they are the business travel arm of Flight Centre) or BCD Travel. Ring them and be upfront about your spend, make sure they know that you know they have to be interested in treating you like a 'real' client.

For the sake of transparancy I'll tell you up front that I'm a Travel Advisor specialising in high end leisure and SME Corporates, but I'm not posting to recommend myself primarily because I don't think it's the right thing to do and 95% of my client are referrals.

What I will recommend is to steer clear of the big guys (Corporate Traveller, FCM) because as you suspect you will probably be treated as a small client, instead find someone who specialises in SME's but who operates as part of a group and you'll not only find you'll get access to the same deals (and sometimes better) that the big guys can get you, but you'll also get MUCH better service, because while your account might be chicken feed to the big guys, to someone smaller (and often cases more experienced) your account is a good bit of business to win. 

Hope that helps, good luck with sourcing someone.

TravellerAgent

BCD Travel would be happy to look at this and run through your best options. Please email Sydney-based Karina Batnes at [email protected]. 

Great advice TravellerAgent, steer clear of large TMCs as you won't get the personal service.

On the other hand, I'm quite happy to recommend our company - Globetrotter Corporate Travel

www.globetrotter.com.au

LHRBNE Please email me at [email protected] with a brief overview of your requirements and I will be happy to advise how we may be of assistance. Some airlines provide discounts from $20k spend and have a wealth of experience in the SME market, so look forward to hearing more about your business travel requirements.

Kind regards,

Murray

I have a similar sized account and I use Travelbeyond (travelbeyond.com.au). They are large enough to get excellent rates but small enough to provide really fantastic customer service. I have used them for the past three years.  The key difference between travelbeyond and other agencies I have used is that their consultants really care about your business and don't treat you as just another number. They also use the serko online tool which saves a heap of money for domestic travel. Just so you know I have nothing to gain from this- just a very satisfied customer and I think this agency has got the small sme market well covered. Speak to either Tim, Kelli or Dale.

Hi Robert, GTS Travel Management is a boutique travel management company established since 1979 in Sydney. We pride ourselves about our personalised service and we have SME's that have been with us for more that a decade despite the fierce competition in the market.  No account is too small for us and we have Corporate fares ex Australia with some major carriers. Please e-mail me at [email protected] for a further discussion.

What's with all the down-voting of some of these agency recommendations? Even if they come from the agency themselves, on what basis is anybody clicking the thumbs-down button on them? I think it might be other agencies who are voting down the competitors! Come on, "fair shake of the sauce bottle" and all that.

I don't know who would do that, that almost seems more tacky than recommending yourself in the first place.

I'm glad people found my advice helpful enough to vote it up not down :)

I find that a small corporate travel company called AusLink BTM Online works very well. My father's company uses American Express Travel, but when a customer is having a function somewhere and books with AusLink, a person calls me and goes through my itinerary. It seems personal, and they seem pretty friendly. I don't know, but I think that they might work harder for your dollar than some bigger company like AMEX Tavel, who have never rang me and gone through my itinerary. Anyway,