Create a Successful Travel Program

Keep Travelers Happy, Save Money

Our goal is to enhance the travel experience for your employees while building maximum efficiency into your budget and maximum effectiveness into your policies.

You know how to buy things. After all, you've purchased flight reservations and hotel rooms on your own for years. But you're confident that other companies have managed to secure better rates - and made their budget for business travel more manageable. As you've thought through how to rein in your company's travel expenditures, you've probably wondered:

• How to negotiate better rates? Would you even want that burden?
• How hundreds of other companies - including your competitors - compare to you?
• How to encourage your employees to use the travel vendors you've selected?
• How to ensure you are getting rebates for everything you purchase?

We know how.

Add Value to What You're Already Doing

You may already have an employee managing travel (maybe even you) who just needs some help and added expertise. Maybe you have a procurement specialist dedicated to the task part time who doesn't have a background in the travel industry and would find it helpful to gain an ally with the expertise necessary to make an impact. Procuring travel is markedly different than procuring office supplies, benefits, fleet and other business cost centers, so it stands to reason that whatever you're doing now, it helps to have decades of experience on your side.

Whether augmenting your efforts or taking the reins completely, Travel Consulted takes care of business in a fraction of the time. We've done it for hundreds of other companies.

Your Formula for Success

Business travel is a service sold as a commodity. Very few people are used to buying commodities for their company - not to mention buying services that are perishable like travel.

But we are.

Travel Consulted professionals know where opportunities exist for efficiencies and cost savings for companies of all sizes and types. That means you'll get good travel pricing wherever you deserve it. We also know how to mix your own contracts with someone else's special pricing (like the right travel agency who has pricing you couldn't get), increasing your ratio of travel transactions that are below full price.

Let us show you how to:

• Develop a comprehensive policy for your organization
• Execute sound procurement of all possible vendors: travel agency, airline, car rentals and hotels
• Exercise good management of the entire program

Global Travel Programs

If you have employees who travel in other countries, Travel Consulted has the know-how to help internationally. Our professionals link other countries into a global strategy, even if you have very few travel expenditures abroad. We've worked in well over 50 countries, ensuring strong travel programs.

This Could Be You

Since our foray into the business 23 years ago, our customers have told us they save many times our fee when considering the financial impact of the service we provide, not to mention the reduced legal exposure resulting from the policies we help set into motion.

On top of that, their travelers are happy, too - happy to use the preferred providers and happy to use the required travel agency. That's a big deal when it comes to maintaining the professional atmosphere required to retain a quality workforce.

A few customer comments:

"I have known Grant for several years and he has consistently demonstrated an eye for detail and a sensitivity to his clients needs. He is intelligent, perceptive, and seeks to enhance his development and learning. Grant is sensitive to customer needs and is able to balance new technology in meeting those needs. He makes it easy for customers to understand the impact of new technology in a space where it can be challenging to make sense of the "new stuff." Grant is a valued partner."

Michael Lyons
Regional Head of Travel Services, HSBC

"Grant has been an excellent executive to partner with. His knowledge of the industry is beyond his peers and his work ethic is second to none. He takes time to understand his clients needs and many times points out needs I didn't know I had. He helped my company transition a global program to a new provider and went above and beyond to insure success. His negotiating skills are top notch and his clients are always in a better position when his work is complete. Most importantly, Grant understands the different level of needs in his travelers and has a very professional approach to all levels of employee's. I highly recommend Grant and will continue to use his company when we need assistance."

Philip Angelechio, CCE, ICCE
Director of Global Sourcing at ESCO Corporation

"I have worked with Grant both recently and in the past and have found that he is extremely knowledgeable, innovative and client focused with regards to corporate travel. His ability to discern and understand the complexities and changing dynamics of the travel industry as a means to assist the goals of his clients is invaluable. I highly recommend Grant as an individual who can assist anyone seeking to advance and maximize their travel program."

Paul Hogan
Global Operations Director
Transatlantic Reinsurance Company

"I have worked with Grant on several travel management projects over the last couple of years and he is extremely valuable to our company. He consistently delivers new ideas, solutions and cost saving opportunities to better improve our corporate travel programs through working with our internal and external stakeholders. We continue to utilize Grant's expertise to this day and beyond. I would not hesitate to recommend Grant for your organization's travel management needs."

Kelly Davis
Operations and Project Management

"Having had the pleasure of working with J Grant Caplan at several companies, I can highly recommend him on several levels. His knowledge, passion for the industry, and incredible global industry network make him a truly valuable asset to any organizations travel consultant requirements."

Craig Banikowski
Senior Manager
Amgen Global Travel Services

Contact us for an expansive list of references.

Who We Are

Travel Consulted is a new, full-service firm with a legacy of success in the industry. Spearheaded by Grant Caplan, a travel industry veteran of more than 20 years, Travel Consulted offers global travel management consulting with a hands-on approach. Whether you need help for a short time or you require a long-term travel buyer, our professionals strive to add many times more value to your company than the fee you'd pay - at a cost well lower than an experienced, full-time travel manager!

Our small size offers efficient, client-driven results without offshore servicing and the partner products that create the bias that so many other firms have. On top of that, Travel Consulted designs custom travel programs that can have anything from basic service to concierge-level amenities.

Contact us to learn how we've impacted clients of all sizes - many of them Fortune Global 500 companies.

Grant Caplan

J. Grant Caplan is the President of Travel Consulted, supporting and leading engagements across multiple business lines, including program management, sourcing, strategy, air, hotel, and payment and expense programs.

With 23 years of diverse travel and technology industry experience, Grant works primarily with Fortune Global 500 companies. His expertise includes global TMC services, travel technology plus global agency and program integration. Prior to founding Travel Consulted, Grant's experience included two years with TCG Consulting, 13 years as a founding partner of Consulting Strategies, and eight years involved with technology groundbreaking in the travel industry.

Grant has served on Global Business Travel Association's Travel Technology Committee and has served as a featured speaker at many travel industry events, including multiple presentations for GBTA's Mexico chapter. He has been quoted and published numerous times in The New York Times, U.S. Business Review, The Washington Post, Business Travel Executive, Business Travel News and other trade publications.

Grant earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from American University in Washington, D.C. and worked for several years on Capitol Hill within the U.S. House of Representatives.

J. Grant Caplan
President
Travel Consulted

Betty Grogan

Betty Grogan is a highly-achieved, veteran travel manager, who has created and executed managed travel programs which have resulted in cost savings and cost avoidance of millions of dollars. She is well established in the travel industry as a Subject Matter Expert, mentor and is highly consulted by her peers. As part of being a resource to her community in the Pacific Northwest of the US, she has become a senior member of the Board of Directors of OBTA, the Oregon Business Travel Association. Betty has had experience in both medical and manufacturing, two industries that lend themselves well to working on projects for other industries. Betty could even be your part-time travel manager, improving your program significantly in a few hours per month, either working beside a very accomplished travel manager or on her own.

Betty is passionate about photography and capturing everyday life and her travels through photos, then creating scrapbooks of those moments to preserve her family's history for generations.

Betty Grogan
Travel Consulted

Ann Parsons

Ann Parsons has extensive history in the Corporate Travel industry as a travel buyer and manager for corporations, such as the Microsoft Corporation, as well as employment at travel management companies, such as American Express Business Travel. She has been in the travel industry for over 25 years.

Ann's career for the last 18 years includes travel program management, vendor procurement, travel operations and travel technology. She also has implemented and managed corporate card programs. Having worked for technology corporations as a travel manager, she is well versed in selecting and implementation of technologies that enhance the travel experience. She has selected and implemented several on-line booking tools around the globe.

While employed at travel management firms, she worked on enhancing the travel booking experience, both for travel agents as well as the traveler. She also has experience in people management. Ann is a member of Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and has served on their Technology Committee. She has recently served as Vice-President of the local chapter of GBTA as well as chairing several education seminars and fundraisers for the chapter.

Ann Parsons
Travel Consulted

Andrew McRoberts

Andrew McRoberts is a business advisor in Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) as well as meeting tracking and attendee management tools. He has worked in hospitality, meeting and events for over 20 years serving the professional services industry. While at Ernst & Young (EY) he implemented SMM programs in Canada and Latin America and the U.S., and deployed a meeting tracking tool globally that consolidated buying power and improved business processes as the Americas Meetings & Events and Global Process Leader. Prior to that, Andrew composed and managed SMM strategy in the U.S. and oversaw key account manager relationships with stakeholders improving client service. He expanded a team of five handling 100 national meetings to a team of 50+ that managed 5,000 meetings as EY's U.S. Director, Meeting & Event Services.

Throughout his career, he has led numerous; high profile client events as well as the EY Chairman and CEO executive meetings. He has supervised multiple procurement and change management initiatives for meeting tracking and registration applications and has vast experience in improving efficiencies and reducing costs.

Andrew spent the majority of his professional career in the greater New York City area and currently resides in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife and son.

Andrew McRoberts
Travel Consulted

Travel Agency RFP and Negotiation Processes

Your travel agency is the backbone of your whole business travel program, so it needs to be a great match with the level of service you prefer.

Whether it's a single-country program, a regional program or a global multi-country travel program, Travel Consulted can help you select the right agency while ensuring quality service for both travelers and your management team - at the right price.

Travel Consulted helps put the processes and measurements in place that are needed to monitor and measure your success. Our professionals use proven screening methodology and proprietary evaluation tools to produce the RFP documents that will get responses from bidders that are easy for you to evaluate. From there, we use proven industry strategies to compare and normalize pricing based on the way you actually use travel agency services. That way, you'll get a real-life understanding of what you would pay for the next several years and how much savings you can expect for your travel program.

Airline Strategy and Negotiation

You provide a great deal of value for your airline partners. Are they returning the favor?

Even smaller firms can lower costs while simultaneously maintaining the convenience travellers need when it comes to negotiating rates with airlines. Partnering with Travel Consulted can make the difference between status quo and real service and savings.

Travel Consulted also knows that change avoidance is important for some things and change management is important for others. For example, most companies want to continue using their preferred airline in their home city. The best way for you to optimize your airline costs is to understand what you spend today and use that to estimate what the future will bring and where you can look for cost reductions, given your priorities.

At Travel Consulted, we stand shoulder to shoulder with you through the RFP process and can negotiate alongside you - or on your behalf - when speaking with airlines. We can also identify providers of savings based on the airlines you actually use, rather than suggesting changes you cannot support internally. This keeps travelers happier with the travel program and more likely to follow through with your policies, saving money every step of the way. In the world of travel procurement, "Management = Savings."

Hotel Negotiated Rate Programs

It's a little-known fact that hotels can be a goldmine of savings, and as you unearth these opportunities, you'll want to optimize them without sacrificing quality. Travel Consulted can help you find all the different ways you can save on hotel expenditures and bolster your efforts to increase your employees' compliance with your travel policies.

Employee compliance is a big deal when it comes to hotel savings because most travel policy violations among companies nationwide result from travelers avoiding hotels with top-negotiated rates in order stay where they best rack up personal rewards points. Travel Consulted can help you track exactly where your money is going and who goes around your policy. From there, savings is a snap!

More Opportunities to Optimize Your Travel

Car Rental Savings

Car rental contracts can be very confusing, because many vendors offer a great daily rate. But the details are where the costs really grow (frequently 30-40%) or the savings can be unearthed. Travel Consulted professionals know all the sources of savings on rental car and ground transportation and can negotiate on your behalf.

Credit Card Rebates

Company credit cards help manage a travel program significantly because you stand to gain better insight over how your money was spent. But remember, credit card companies get paid every time a card is used - and you can reclaim a share of the income they collect. Travel Consulted has associate staff that can help you decide which card programs optimize these rebates and what will end up costing less than just managing the selection and negotiation process yourself. After all, why leave good money on the table?

Travel Risk Management

World events effect your travelers whether you expect it or not, and your company is responsible for properly handling travelers stuck in the middle of weather or health or, worst of all, terrorist events. The exposure to a company can be very costly in many ways. Travel Consulted helps organizations strategize and work toward best in class, travel risk management programs that help in addressing duty of care.

Start with a flat fee, one-day assessment and consultation. Receive a benchmarked report, measuring your organization on ten key process areas of a best in class, mature travel risk management program. This is your blueprint, and your journey begins here. Travel Consulted can be < on call > for you or just an advisor that gives you an eye to the strategy for success.

What About Price?

We get paid by our clients - not from travel vendors. That means there are no kickbacks or other behind-the-scenes incentives to distract us from what is best for your company. This way, all the benefits are yours and only yours.

Travel Consulted offers flat-fee, hourly, ceiling, and gain-share pricing. It's your call. Throughout the journey of securing the best for your travel program, we want to ensure you are comfortable using our services, and we are happy to work through it with you and make adjustments at any stage.

Travel Consulted professionals work by stringent standards that empower us to remain impartial and focused on whatever vendors best suit your needs. We also know what can be accomplished in contracting with many different vendors based on years of experience helping clients find out if they're getting the best pricing and terms. But we don't simply use our industry experience to dispense advice. Instead, we study the difference every time - without spending tons of billable time to do it - so that our knowledge is never outdated. For example, if a vendor was rejected last month, they'll get a chance to bridge the gap and compete for your attention at the next opportunity.

With us, your budget goes farther than ever.