Belgium

To help you to understand the specific vocabulary in the business travel industry, we have create a glossary with the most important terms used.
 

A B C D E F G H IJKL M N O P Q R S TU V W XYZ

A

Account Management
A form of strategic consultancy that travel management companies provide to corporate clients seeking to control their travel activity and optimise their travel spend.

ACTE
Association of Corporate Travel Executives: Main association (2900 members) regrouping corporate buyers, travel agencies and suppliers with an objective of education, networking. All being in parity in the Association

Airline Alliance
This describes the increased co-operation between groups of airlines that are not in direct competition with each other. There are currently four major global alliances made up of most of the largest airlines in the world. There are numerous claimed benefits, although some of these are disputed. For the traveller the greatest benefits include shared frequent flyer programmes and the ability to use alliance partner's airport lounges.

B

Benchmarking
Comparison of practices across different geographies / entities versus a Best practice. Technique applied by Account Management, Sourcing department, etc …

Best Practices
The most efficient way of performing a task. Learned through shared experiences of colleagues and pears.

Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP)
A settlement scheme, which collects monies owed by travel agents to the airlines providing the service.

BTC or TSC
Business Travel Centre or Travel Services Center. It is a travel agency conceived for business clients exclusively. It is equipped with sophisticated computers and highly skilled and specialised agents very often dedicated to a small group of clients..

C

Click & Mortar
Wording to qualify a company which combines Internet and traditional resources to pursue its activity.

Code-Sharing
A marketing practice that has been heavily adopted by airline alliances. This is where a flight is offered in co-operation between 2 or more separate airlines and is particularly beneficial for airlines with less brand awareness. The practice enables one carrier to code another carrier's flight as their own. Benefits to passengers can include larger networks, improved connections for interline journeys, through check-in of passengers and baggage, earning and redemption of frequent flyer points, improved lounge access and in some circumstances reduced connection times between flights.

Commission
A payment made by an airline to the travel management company who then pass it back to the client via the management fee.

Commission Cuttings
Most suppliers and particularly airlines are looking to reduce their distribution costs and therefore are reducing the levels of commission paid to the intermediary.

Consolidated Airfares
Special fares negotiated with an airline by a travel management company. The supplier bases the price of discounted fares on the travel management company's previous year's spend and the anticipated booking volume for the present year. The discount varies between supplier to supplier, sometimes saving only a few pounds, but it can be as much as thousands of pounds.

Consortium
A group of travel agencies/travel management companies that pool their resources together in order to obtain more buying power, larger geographical presence, and better marketing.

Consultancy Fee
A form of management fee whereby the client pays a set fee to the travel management company for providing, amongst other things, account management, management information, supplier advice and liaison, framing and implementation of a corporate travel policy.

Corporate Rate (See Rate )

Credit Card

Corporate Card : It is a payment and/ or credit card. Debit is done on the traveller bank account, or company account depending on the system chosen. It is a very good statistic tool. It can also be linked to frequent travellers programs, travel assistance, insurance.

Lodged Card : It is s a payment system linked to a credit card but placed in a travel agency for the consolidated payment of travel expenses. It provides additional statistics

CRS
Computerised Reservation System (see GDS )

D

Direct Booking
This is the purchase of travel services by the traveller directly from the suppliers, rather than through a travel agency. Direct booking has always been available but with the advent of the internet and low cost airlines the practise has become more widespread.

E

Electronic ticketing
Also known as e-ticketing, this is the issuing to passengers of a virtual airline ticket instead of a physical paper one. Check-in procedures simply require the production of either a passenger’s passport, payment card or frequent flyer card. E-ticket is currently only of benefit to travellers travelling on one airline throughout their journey as, at the present time, a passenger wishing to change airlines must have the e-ticket converted to a paper ticket

e.procurement
Purchasing of goods or services using the internet : e-catalog, e-auction, etc ...

Expense management/expense reporting
Post trip processing of corporate travellers expenses.

Explant / Outplant
It is a travel center not located in the premises of the company but serving the company exclusively.

F

Franchise Carrier
In the majority of cases a small, largely independent airline operates a route on behalf of another, usually larger, carrier. Sometimes the smaller carrier operates under the larger carrier’s name, livery and flight codes.

Frequent Flyer Programmes (FFPs)
Loyalty schemes which enable the traveller to earn points by flying with a particular carrier. Points can then be redeemed in various ways, the most popular of which is for free flights or upgrades. Frequent Flyer Programmes are one of the claimed benefits of airline alliances, with many alliances offering the opportunity for travellers to earn and redeem points on their alliance partners’ flights

G

GDS
Stands for Global Distribution System, a computerised reservation system (CRS) accessed by travel agencies worldwide in order to reserve any form of travel booking, including air, hotels and cars. Some GDS also provide local products and services, such as Rail and Ferries reservations, Insurances, and/or events tickets. The best known systems are probably Galileo, Sabre and Amadeus.

H

Hub & Spoke
Particular city where an airline decides to schedule many flights to and from. From that central point, connecting flights to other cities, called the spokes, are scheduled. An airline may have more than one hub.

IJ KL

IATA
International Air Transport Association. Approximately 200 airlines are members and represent the official guidelines for air transportation as well as tariffs. A travel Agency has to have a IATA number for having the right to issue air tickets.

IBTA
International Business Travel Association. The international part of some national associations (NBTA in the US, ITM in UK, AFCV in France). Their objectives are quite similar to the ACTE ones but there is no parity between corporate and suppliers.

Implant
A branch of travel agency located directly on the premises of a client company and handling the travel needs for that particular company only. Also called " onsite".

Incentivised Management Fee
This is an arrangement where savings incentives are built into the contract between a client and a travel management company. Incentivisation may rely on Service Level Agreements (SLA’s ).

Information delivery / Management Information System (MIS)
Designate all the systems developed by CWT to acquire, report on and analyse travel transactions gathered from back offices systems both for internal and external use.
CWT operates two international consolidation centers, one in Brussels for emea headquartered clients and the other one in Minneapolis for North-American headquartered clients. International data are consolidated mostly using a CWT tool called WorldOne.

Interlining
When a traveller uses more than one airline to reach their final destination and their luggage is automatically checked through to this final destination.

ISO 9002
A European standard which guarantees the quality of service by certifying the processes and their application. There are only a limited number of Travel Agencies certified so far.

Low cost airlines
New entrants on airline market with an economic model based on : low entry prices, intense use of assets , low wages but incentivisation for staff, remote airports and aggressive marketing campaigns.

M

Management Fees
A client pays all travel costs in full, including the agreed profit for the travel management company, and the travel management company passes back all commissions and overrides to the client.

MIS
Management information system(s). Generically, this term designates all the monitoring tools used by managers to support their decisions.

N

Negotiated rate(See Rate )

Net fares
Supplier fares (Air, hotel etc.) which are net of commission (0% commission).

Net net
Supplier fares (Air, hotel etc.) which are net of commission, and net of overrides.

O

OBT (or SBT)
Online Booking Tool. Tool used by companies to book their business travel online via internet

Open Book
This refers to the financial arrangement made between the travel management company and the client, i.e. all financial details are available to both parties for auditing purposes. Such an arrangement ensures transparency which works both as a incentive for the client/travel management company partnership and a negotiating tool with the suppliers.

Open Jaw
This is where a passenger flies into one city and departs from a different city returning to the original departure point.

Opportunity Analysis
Used to identify cost savings for customer.

Outplant / Explant
It is a travel center not located in the premises of the company but serving the company exclusively.

Outsourcing
Sub contracting of a set of activities to an external partner.

Overbooking
The practice of overbooking seats is used in anticipation of "no-shows" to ensure maximum capacity is reached.

Override
Additional commission that may be paid by suppliers based on quantity or volume of sales.

P

PNR (Passenger Name Record)
A reference given by suppliers that identifies every booking made.

Preferred rate (See Rate )

Procurement
All activities related to purchasing policy definition, purchasing and follow up of purchasing actions.

Profile
Information loaded in a GDS including the traveller details, the company Travel policy, the preferred suppliers

PSC (Passenger Service Charge)
A charge introduced by airlines which endeavours to split out handling fees from the costs of a ticket.

Q

Queue
Filing system in a computer reservation system

R

Rate

Corporate Rate
Typically 10% lower than the prevailing Rack Rate, but in contrast, is often printed and therefore valid for a specified period of time i.e. January 1st to December 31st. A client would expect to be quoted the standard Corporate Rate when making an enquiry directly with a hotel, unless the client has regular business at the property.
Corporate Rates will often include a percentage for commission.

Negotiated or Client Rates
These are rates negotiated for a specific client that has volume either for a particular hotel or chain. It is standard for these rates to be below the Preferred and Corporate Rates, although many are not inclusive of commission.

Preferred Rate
All Carlson Wagonlit Travel Global Alliance Hotel Programme rates fall into this category. A Preferred Rate is mostly lower than the Corporate Rate in recognition of the total value and potential volume that an agent such as ourselves can offer a hotel or hotel chain. Preferred Rates are on average 14% lower than the standard Corporate Rate.
All CWT preferred rates are commissionable and can be booked on the GDS. All Preferred Rates are valid for a specified period and guaranteed against increase through this period.

Rack Rate
The highest tariff or rate per room that a hotel will quote at anytime. Generally not published as in theory it could change on a daily basis, but it is from this rate that many of other tariffs will be determined. Hotels often reserve the right to change the Rack Rate at anytime. Rack Rates will commonly include a percentage for commission.
Occasionally a hotel may charge rates higher than their usual Rack Rate if there is a special event taking place either at their hotel or within the city which will create a demand for accommodation above the supply.

Rebate
Part of the commission that Travel Agencies give back to their corporate clients depending on global volume (not used in every country).

RFI (Request for Information)
It is similar to an RFP but without a Financial Offer and is often issued before an RFP to help companies quickly identify those agencies that would or would not fit into the company parameters or lack the resources that they may require.

RFP (Request for Proposal) or RFQ (Request for Quotation)
A formal document issued by prospects/customers to evaluate services and products from potential suppliers as well as pricing which may result in awarding a contract for one year or more to a preferred supplier. RFPs are issued to all types of suppliers including travel agencies, airlines, hotels and car rental companies. The basis of a Travel Management RFP is to determine which agencies can offer an end-to-end travel management solution appropriate for the company and the request often includes questions regarding basic information about the agency, automated services, quality control processes, data collection and other added-value services.

Route Deals
There are three main route deals. A Net Ticket is a ticket sold at the point of sale net of commission. A Net-net Ticket is a ticket sold at point of sale net of commission and overrides. A Back-end Rebate is a retrospective payment based on a client reaching an agreed sector or volume. Payment is usually made on an annual basis.

S

Seat Pitch
This is the legroom between seats. The pitch varies between airlines and between classes from 29 inches up to 80 inches in the most generous of first class cabins.

Sector
This describes either one flight, or one portion of a journey.

Segment
Describes either one flight, or one portion or leg of a journey.

Self-Booking Tool (SBT) or Online Booking
The direct booking of tickets via the internet by the traveller.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)
This is an agreement between two or more parties to ensure and measure the levels of achievement against commonly agreed criteria. SLA’s can be a part of an agreed incentive plan.

SME (Small Medium Enterprises)
Corporations with an annual T&E budget not exceeding 5 million euros.

Sourcing
Designing, negotiating and rolling-out deals with suppliers.

STP (Satellite Ticket Printer)
This is an un-manned ticket printing machine situated at a client’s premises. The STP can produce tickets for travel by air, rail and Eurostar.

TU

TOD (Ticket on Departure)
Travellers that have either made or changed itineraries at the last minute and who will not be able to receive tickets in advance are able to collect their tickets at check-in at the airport, i.e. on departure.

Transaction Fee
A fee levied by travel management companies against each transaction in order to cover operational costs. The cost of transaction fees is determined and agreed between the travel management company and the client.

Travel Management Company (TMC)
An organisation that provides specialised travel related services to the corporate market. In addition to reservations and ticketing, a TMC will provide Management Information, air/car rental/ hotel analysis, the development of air/car rental/hotel client specific programmes, and detailed cost savings opportunities. Through its Account Management programmes a TMC will focus on efficient travel cost management, encompassing effective control over the total cost of travel including areas beyond that of the ticket price.

Travel Manager
It is the person within one company who has the responsibility of managing travel. Depending on the companies, it is a full or part time mission. It varies from controlling the travel agency to the full management of the travel policy and relationship with suppliers. This job either reports to Human Resources, Finance or Purchasing.

Travel Policy
Where a company issues instructions to its employees telling the procedures and parameters that they are allowed for travel. This could include authorisation procedure, class of travel, what suppliers are to be used and payment method for example.

Travel policy compliance
Level of respect of the travel policy and preferred suppliers. The highest it is, the most important it is being a preferred partner

TSC or BTC
Travel Services Center or Business Travel Centre. It is a travel agency conceived for business clients exclusively. It is equipped with sophisticated computers and highly skilled and specialised agents very often dedicated to a small group of clients.

V

Voucher
A Travel Agency issues this coupon. Is it used either for booking confirmation or for payment of some services.



W

Web fares
Fares that suppliers (airlines, hotels) propose directly to the market on their web sites or common web sites.

Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
Global specification which enables mobile phones users with wireless devices to access the internet.

XYZ

Yield Management
This is a practice whereby airlines optimise revenue on each flight. If flights are busy the number of lower