FAQ: How to negotiate corporate travel rates through management companies

Negotiating corporate travel rates is one of the main reasons businesses engage a travel management company, but the way those rates are achieved is often misunderstood. In reality, most organisations don’t negotiate directly with airlines or hotels alone, they negotiate through data, volume and leverage, which is where a corporate travel management company adds value.

What can (and can’t) be negotiated

Corporate travel rates typically fall into three categories:

• Airline fares

• Hotel rates

• Ancillary and programme-level benefits

Airline pricing is the least flexible on a route-by-route basis for most mid-sized organisations. Hotels, on the other hand, are often far more open to negotiation, particularly where there is consistent volume in specific cities.

A corporate travel management company uses consolidated data across all bookings to present credible volume commitments to suppliers, even where an individual client’s spend might not be sufficient on its own.

How TMCs strengthen negotiation power

Travel management companies negotiate rates in several ways:

• Aggregated buying power
  By representing multiple clients, TMCs can access negotiated fares and rates that individual businesses would not typically secure alone.
  

• Data-led discussions
  Accurate reporting on room nights, routes, cabin classes and seasonality is critical. Suppliers respond far more positively when negotiations are backed by clean, reliable data rather than estimates.
  

• Supplier programme alignment
  TMCs understand how airline and hotel corporate programmes work and can position clients in the right tier based on realistic volume and behaviour.

The role of technology in rate negotiation

Technology platforms such as Amadeus Cytric play a key role in making negotiated rates effective. Rates are only valuable if travellers actually book them.

Cytric allows:

• Negotiated hotel rates to be surfaced at the top of search results

• Preferred airlines to be clearly highlighted

• Policy rules to steer behaviour toward agreed suppliers

This ensures negotiated rates are used in practice, not just agreed on paper.

How Meon supports rate negotiation

Meon Travel Management supports clients by analysing travel patterns, identifying negotiation opportunities and managing discussions with suppliers where appropriate. For many UK organisations, this includes negotiating:

• City-specific hotel rates

• Fixed or dynamic discounts with preferred hotels

• Access to airline corporate programmes via TMC agreements

Meon also monitors post-negotiation performance to ensure rates are delivering genuine value and are being used consistently.

What businesses should expect

Effective negotiation is ongoing, not a one-off exercise. Organisations should expect regular reviews, performance analysis and adjustments as travel patterns change. A good TMC will be proactive in identifying when a rate is no longer competitive or when new opportunities emerge.