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If you’re managing business travel for a team, a group flight booking could potentially save time and money.
Organizing group flight bookings involves juggling several moving parts, from coordinating business traveler details to negotiating the best fares. Whether you’re arranging travel for a conference, team meeting or group presentation, you’ll need to find ways to streamline the process. And with factors like dynamic pricing and limited fare availability, booking flights for a large group individually is not only time-consuming but could potentially cost your business more.
This is where group airfare can be beneficial, both in terms of cost savings and simplified booking processes. In this guide, we’ll break down the benefits and essential steps to take when booking flights for business as a group.
A group booking involves multiple passengers on a single airline reservation code. All business travelers in the group will travel on the same carrier, route and date, with seats booked together as a block.
Rather than booking each ticket individually, travel admins make a simultaneous reservation, often at a discounted, negotiated group price. Additional benefits may apply, depending on the airline.
Here’s a breakdown of the various flight booking options for different group sizes:
Individual flight bookings are best for small teams or solo business travelers, with standard rates.
Group bookings are best for team travel to corporate events, conferences, and international meetings, with greater flexibility and the potential for negotiated rates.
For larger team bookings, volume discounts may apply
While the industry standard for group airfare is 10 or more passengers, this will vary by airline and travel class. For example, British Airways offers group airfare for 10 or more people when traveling in economy. But for passengers traveling in premium economy or business, group travel applies to seven or more people.
The primary benefits of booking flights for a large group include cost management and convenience. But there are unique advantages for airlines, travel managers, and business travelers themselves.
Selling group tickets enhances the customer relationship, building brand loyalty with specialized solutions for event planners and business teams. At the same time, benefits of group flight bookings include:
For travel managers tasked with booking flights, group fares make coordinating the logistics a little easier. While specific advantages vary between carriers, most airlines offer added flexibility with group flight bookings. For example, Delta Airlines and its partners let you change names in your group, free of charge, before any tickets are issued, as does British Airways and others.
Booking individually means there’s no guarantee that all team members will get on the same flight, which is problematic for time-sensitive itineraries. With group travel, you’ll ensure everyone on your team stays together.
Easily manage and book team travel in one place for better cost control
Here's a breakdown of the advantages for travel managers, as well as finance teams and administrators:
If you’re traveling for work with a bigger group, flying together on a single reservation gives you a better travel experience and access to negotiated perks like airport lounge access and priority boarding.
For example, Qatar Airways provides a faster check-in experience for groups with a dedicated counter at the airport. You might also have a dedicated customer service manager at the airline to help with any difficulties, including tailored assistance with cancellations or delays.
It’s clear that booking flights as a group provides a multitude of benefits, both from the business and individual traveler’s perspective. So, how does this process work?
To get started, you’ll need to identify your team’s travel requirements. This includes:
Then, you can start comparing airline options, looking not only at availability and price but also group travel benefits like flexible cancellation policies and dedicated check-in counters.
To receive a customized quote tailored to your business, contact the airline’s customer service team directly. Given your travel request, the airline representative will provide an offer with any group discounts applied. Many – but not all – airlines offer special, discounted rates, so you may need to ask for quotes from several carriers to find the best offer.
Most airlines allow businesses to secure their group bookings with a deposit rather than paying in full. This gives time to finalize passenger details before tickets are issued, while helping manage your business travel budget.
Once you’ve finalized your passenger list, you can confirm the details with the airline and complete the payment process. You’ll receive flight tickets which can be distributed to all business travelers. As part of your business travel checklist, retain digital copies of all documents, including receipts, to assist with travel and expense management.
It’s important to remember that each airline has its own conditions when it comes to group flight bookings. Passenger minimums, booking deadlines, flexibility, and discounts will all vary.
Group bookings are complex, requiring the collection, storage, and management of multiple passenger details. With an all-in-one platform like Booking.com for Business, you’ll be able to easily create a profile for all passengers and keep these details in a single, secure location. You’ll also benefit from 24/7 assistance, lending support to traveling teams as needed.
Group bookings will often come with negotiated discounts, but they won’t always be the most cost-effective option. This depends primarily on availability. When airlines advertize their lowest prices, they do so with a limited number of seats. There may not be enough of these low-priced tickets to accommodate your full team. When making a group booking, the system could bump you up to a higher fare depending on availability.
Because group tickets are priced equally, they may come at a higher base rate than if you had purchased some of the tickets individually at the cheapest fare, and others at the higher fare. However, you’ll have the peace of mind that everyone in the group will get on the same flight, even during rebooking in the event of cancellation.
In short, you’ll still need to compare flights carefully to find the best fares – and in some cases, booking tickets individually may yield greater savings. As with any flight booking, to save money you’ll want to travel during off-peak seasons and remain flexible to gain access to the best rates.
Now that we’ve covered the basic stages of booking group airfare, here are a few tips to keep in mind throughout the process.
Set a clear budget: For better spend management, you’ll need a clear travel budget. Forecast flight prices based on historic data, taking factors like seasonal demand and market conditions into account.
Start your search early: Securing flights in advance gives access to the best availability and fares. Booking group flights also involves collecting tailored quotes from various airlines, so you’ll need to factor in time for each response.
Leverage loyalty programs: If your business is a member of any loyalty programs, leverage these to maximize savings when booking for a group, from airfare to accommodation. Signing up for the Genius Loyalty Program at Booking.com for Business is free, and it unlocks up to 20% discounts and exclusive travel rewards.
Look at perks as well as prices: Whether airlines offer discounts for group flights, most encourage group bookings with incentives like priority check-in, dedicated customer service agents, lounge access, and extra baggage allowances.
Be flexible with flight timings: Availability for group bookings can be limited if you’re traveling to large, popular events or during peak travel seasons. In addition to booking early, be flexible with flight dates and timings to gain access to the widest range of fares.
Communicate at every step: Managing group travel involves effective communication, both with the airline and within teams of business travelers. If there are any special requests, like seat preferences or dietary requirements, these will need to be collected before finalizing the reservation. If there are any changes to the itinerary, these need to be shared with the full team.
Use centralized tools for itinerary management: To keep everything in one place, consider using streamlined travel management solutions like Booking.com for Business that offer a centralized dashboard accessible to all traveling employees.
From fare fluctuations to flight cancellation policies and refundable tickets, there’s a lot to consider when booking flights for business teams. Using an all-in-one travel solution like Boooking.com for Business means you’ll be able to quickly compare the best airfare options based on historic bookings, corporate travel policies and individual preferences. You’ll see available flights from over 380 airlines for your business trips, giving a stronger foundation for negotiating group rates if you so choose.
We can help with other aspects of group travel, too, including group accommodation bookings for up to 30 travelers. It’s easy to book and manage travel for the full team while gaining the added security of 24/7 support when you need to make last-minute changes to an itinerary.
Whether you’re planning the logistics of a corporate retreat, international conference or regional meeting, you’ll want to make sure all traveling team members arrive on time while staying within budget. And no matter the type of business travel, this starts by booking group airfare.
The best way to book flights for a large group will depend on your itinerary and group numbers. In some cases, booking as a group pays off with negotiated discounts and flexible perks, while in others you’ll access the best deals by booking individually. Ultimately, booking group flights may involve some extra research and coordination, but with the right strategies it can pay off with a more seamless, flexible travel experience for the full team.
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