Travel RFP

[dayfrench]

Howdy Neighbors!

We are sending out an RFP for our corporate travel. Wondering how much time we should give TMCs to respond. The questionairre is 20 questions and we aren't looking for anything too in depth. Our travel is all domestic. I'm hoping to finish up this project rather quickly, but I don't want to rush the TMCs too much.

Thanks!

Dana

[Rachel]

We allowed 3 weeks to respond to over 80 questions so I wouldn't think more than a week or two is necessary for 20. One upside to keeping it open a little longer is - if you're doing a public event - more suppliers might find it and respond. Not relevant if yours is invite-only, though.

[DCormier]

I am new to the whole Travel RFP process. Would you be willing to share what kind of questions you are asking? Do you already use the Concur Travel booking tool?

[clayw1963]

would be glad to share some of our questions if you'll send me your contact information.

[HeatherS]

Hi Clay, we are currently in the process of an RFP, is it standard practice to include pricing when sending travel data? 

[clayw1963]

We did this 3 years ago.  We had 62 questions.  We also have a lot of international travel, so there were several questions regarding international travel.

this was our timeline:

realease of RFP 7/9, intent to bid due date 7/13, deadline for submission of RFP questions 7/14, questions with answers returned 7/17, agency proposal due date 7/23.

Then we scheuled presentations of our top 3. I believe we gave each agency 2 1/2 - 3 hours to present. 

[tjbmoreno]

Based on your description, I would say two weeks should be sufficient . . . but timing is everything.  Consider when you are sending it and whether it is holiday, vacation season or convention season.  At most, it would add another week.

[carmen]

Hi there, 

I am happy to send you the RFPs I have seen. Send me your contact info.

Most importantly, you should cover 3 aspects:

Travel support, Finance/Reporting Features and Account Management. 

Assessing a good match between your company and the account management portion is the key, in my opinion. Like marriage, try to find a good match 🙂

Price is not usually apples to apples, so i suggest collecting prices, but having a call to truly understand pricing methodology. Usually smaller agencies (if you have up to 600 travelers to $2mi/yr in travel spend) will be more flexible. The big ones will make you fit into their already established program.