Book the FedRooms rate using either your E-Gov System, your travel management center (TMC) or online at www.fedrooms.com.  If your agency allows, you may call the hotel directly and request the FedRooms rate.  As of today, there are more than 5,000 hotels covering more than 2,000 cities, which offer the FedRooms rate.  The FedRooms rate may be available to you even if your travel plans are for leisure.  Be sure to select Leisure as the reason when searching for the FedRooms rate.

When you book online using the FedRooms website, you will immediately receive an email confirmation from NoReply@Fedrooms.com.  Therefore, you will want to be sure not to delete the email.

FedRooms distributes a quarterly newsletter.  You may subscribe to this newsletter in order to stay abreast of the latest changes to the FedRooms program.

To learn more about this great program, you can take the free FedRooms 101 training webinar.  If you have any questions about the FedRooms program, a traveler may call them at 1-800-226-1741 or email them at hotels@fedrooms.com.

by Pam Morton

Second, the article does not note that per diem for a CONUS city is broken into two parts. The first part is for lodging, the second is for meals and incidentals. Government workers on CONUS travel, under GSA rules, receive up to the Government rate for hotels in an area (with some exceptions). However, that part of the per diem is limited by what the employee actually spends. Employees booking their own hotels have no incentive to book at a Motel 6 or La Quinta that is below per diem if they can book at a Hilton at Government rate. Also, since the per diem for meals and incidentals is paid at a flat city rate, if an employee can book a hotel that serves breakfast on Government rate, that means that he/she has more money to spend on other meals and incidentals.

Third, in some cases Government travelers simply leave hotel selection to TMC/CTOs. It appears that their hotel selections are probably guided by the commissions paid.

Fourth, this chapter does not discuss how CONUS per diem is paid on a 24 hour clock. This is a GSA phenomenon which is often confusing to Government travelers and impacts on per diem for short trips. I know that under the rules in effect the last time I traveled, GSA assumed that airlines provided meals. Has this/is this being changed in light of the fact that many airlines are no longer providing meals or are charging travelers for meals?

Fifth, recently airlines have begun adding charges for first and second bags, meals, blankets, etc.. I am curious as to what, if anything, is being done to account for these differences between airlines in city pair rates? Also, does the traveler absorb these extra costs as part of his/her per diem?

by Scott Goldsmith

However, all corporate preferred travel programs experience some leakage at one point or another.   The loss of transactions through the corporations recommended reservation system or the loss of spend and performance with the contracted suppliers proves difficult for both the buyer and supplier side.   Controlling slippage to achieve contracted terms and policy compliance is fundamental to effective travel management.   The most important key is to communicate to travelers the emphasis on policy and reasons for compliance.

Most travelers do not understand loss of market share or loss of transactions, they care about seeking the better deal and perhaps doing the company a favor.  Travelers are not realizing the company is losing the ability to track spend which weakens future negotiations with vendors, much less the program benefits associated with preferred rates.   A common argument for employees using an alternative website or alternate TMC for booking air is they are perceived to be booking a cheaper airfare or avoiding a transaction fee.  What they may not know when using an alternate website is the pricing does not include taxes and other up- front fees.

Hotels seem to be the largest area of slippage for many companies.  According to recent publications, only fifty percent of hotel bookings are captured through travel management companies.    This is attributed to hotels offering rates through leisure sites and frequent stay membership perks that employees feel they will not receive if booked through their travel management company (TMC).   Employees also think they are getting better deals with car rental companies whose leisure rates may be lower – but they do not include the insurance coverage that should be required for all renting employees.

The answer to the problem is measuring the extent of the leakage and implementing a plan to control it.   The first step is to find out the percentage of leakage through the company’s expense reporting tool.  This will show, through original receipts, how much of the travel was purchased outside of the travel program.  For example, all hotel folios can be matched up with passenger name records (PNR) history, the airline receipts will show the dedicated airline reporting corporation (ARC) information indicating the airline ticket was purchased through the TMC and the rental car will show the designated corporate ID on the receipt.  All these elements will give you an excellent indication of who is following processes and procedures.  Or, if original receipts are not required by the organization, using available data through the TMC, credit card and vendors to find the source of purchase is necessary to track and educate.  This provides the ability to measure travel policy compliance by aggregating and comparing credit card data against your travel data.

Once the offenders are determined, the second step to reduce or control leakage is to develop a well thought-out communication program between upper management and the employees.  By showing upper management the negative impact to the program, you have better buy-in and the support you need.  When word comes from the top, employees will listen.   The employee must understand that they will forfeit his/her right to the following benefits provided through the company’s managed travel program:

• Insurance Coverage - Travel Accident Insurance is typically provided by the TMC in addition to the corporation’s own insurance.
• Profile Information - Specific profile information (i.e. frequent flyer, special requirements, etc.) on file with the TMC will not automatically be available to the travel vendors.
• Reservation Assistance - Flight cancellations, changes and refunds must be processed by the traveling employee through the channels in which they purchased their travel, as the TMC or the travel department are unable to assist travelers with reservations made outside of the managed travel program.
• Receipts - Ticket receipts, itineraries and copies of either, will not be available from the TMC.
• Employee Tracking - Employees will be responsible for advising managers, corporate security and the travel departments of their travel plans to ensure safety and security of the employee.
• Reconciliation Assistance - Due to lack of insight into travelers’ records, reconciliation assistance provided by TMC and/or the travel department is diminished.
• Unused Tickets - Employees will be responsible to ensure unused tickets purchased through alternate websites are used towards future business trips.  Reimbursement of unused tickets can be delayed.

In addition to the communication plan, restrictions can be applied to both on-line bookings and off-line bookings and reinforced when rules are broken.  When employees are educated on the benefits of their company’s managed travel program, they are more likely make better decisions and in turn, improve compliance and cost savings.

by Stefanie Tretola

First, per diems are issued in early August to be effective October of that year through September of the following year. Since we currently contract January to December, all the hotels are given the opportunity to change their rates for October through December. In most cases, one of two things happens. Either in areas where the per diem went up hotel potentially loses that revenue if they do not amend the rate, or the properties are suspended from the program if they do not amend rates that were bid at the previous years per diem in areas where the per diem went down. As we already make exceptions and concessions for this entire market, why do we not solicit rates based on the government calendar year? It could not be harder for us or the travel agencies than managing and loading for the same program year twice.

Next, we need to address the issue of soliciting all hotels worldwide versus utilizing production and market data to develop a more sensible and manageable program. Understanding that there is some amount of government business everywhere, and acknowledging that hotels base rates on their best business information and potential revenues, the government rates could be solicited much like any other large lodging consumer. Hotels should be made aware of the total government lodging credit card spend for the specified program or government agency (i.e. FedRooms, CW|Sato Government Travel; Navy Elite; Army Lodging) in their city or area based on the two previous years. They should be made aware of any base construction or closings as well as agency headquarter relocations planned within the program year. The government or its representative should commit to authorizing only a certain number of hotels per hundred or per thousand room nights, and only accept that many hotels into the specified program for the year in that location. This will create competition for the revenues between hotel companies and that is when we can examine concessions.

The first concession we could look at is commissions. I understand that the very hard working agents should be paid and paid fairly for their work. I have wonderful relationships with the agency travel managers I work with on the government accounts and do not wish to take anything away from them. However, when the rate offer requirements dictate that the rate must be at or below per diem, must be commissionable at 10%, plus there are participation fees or pay for performance models, it severely reduces the number of hotel and quality of service the lodging industry can provide. When a rate that is already, in many cases, unattractive to the hotel, is then reduced further by fees, they cannot make government business fit into their business needs. Say, for instance, the CONUS rate is $70.

We are now looking at the hotel receiving only $60.67, in effect, as they cannot use the $70 as the actual value from which to pay operating and staffing costs and see a profit. It is my understanding that the airline industry no longer pays commissions on the CPP or other government rates, so maybe we should have discussions with them industry leaders to industry leaders about how that is working for them and how it has affected their relationships with the various government program managers, and of course the bottom line revenues. Hopefully, together, we could find a system that would benefit budgeting for all parties involved; the government as a whole, the lodging industry; and the agencies.

Following commissions, last room availability is a concern. Most hotels have complicated yielding plans that optimize revenues while still being able to offer rates to lower rated business client and the government. Although during some times during the year, the property may be able to offer these more discounted rates readily, the majority of the year, in my experience, the hotels must be very careful with their thresholds. If the government agency and its travel agency want to guarantee that there are always rooms available at their contracted rates, then they should accept the limited hotels per area as discussed, and not only mandate per diem rates, but that the travelers must stay in program hotels. Although when working with the corporate market transient programs we see a high level of leakage, there are programs which are very well mandated and will not pay a traveler back for stays in properties not listed on their program directory. Hoteliers are more willing to offer last room availability when they are aware they are one of a select few getting the business and are aware of how much they can expect to receive.

Once we get these more critical items addressed, we can look at the competitive edge and value added type concessions. Some hotels already include breakfast or other meal functions in the rates for all guests and that allows the traveler more freed up funds for other meals and incidentals. Some hotels which do not have inclusive items for all guests, will include items such as continental breakfast and/or afternoon hors d’oeuvres to their executive level guests and frequency program members. These could be value add items for the government and contracted into the program rates. If you have one hotel who would offer per diem and no concessions and one hotel that would offer a meal or other amenity at the same rate in order to be guaranteed the business, then the government gets a choice as they can then counter-offer or negotiate a lower rate or amenity with the first hotel as many of our corporate customers often do. As developing technologies emerge and thinking outside of the box, unconventional items we could look into as we move forward would be expanding electronic folios to include “government ready” receipts, divided folios, or TDY travel claim voucher style itemized cost savings reports, as well as, some in-house items like laundry/pressing services for our military travelers including military service style uniform and shoe shine care.

Although there are more questions than answers at this part of the game, there is a better way out there. We as the travel industry cannot just require changes on the government’s side of the equation. There are things the hoteliers and the lodging industry need to consider as well before agreeing to this type of arrangement. Some of the other questions I have as challenges to the change but do not have answers to are:

• If a hotel cannot offer the contractual government rates, or a rate at per diem, should they offer a rate at the hotel that is labeled government? I know currently most do.
• Once this more corporatized process is in place, are government travel managers at the agencies still going to audit to see what other federal government rates are available and insist on the same rates or benefits? If rates are offered on a production driven basis, knowing each travel agency manages different departments and agencies within the government with different travel needs, they should not be allowed (at that point) to demand equalization. We don’t offer our corporate clients producing 10000 room nights a year at a property to offer the same rate packages to clients consuming 300.
• Are technologies in place that could manage a October to December program versus a January to December program on both the industry and the government travel agency sides? What would it take to create or update that use? Could they be made compatible to ETS?

We have made a lot of progress in how we work with the government. But I think with all the new technologies we have access to, it is time to look at how to make it better; both more cost effective for the government and more profitable for the hotels.

by Crystal Wright

In the hotel realm, the government traveler does not book one set rate category.  As a hotel company, we have a difficult time in tracking which consumed room nights are government travelers as they may have booked with a government contracted travel entity, but the rate may not have been designated as a government rate.  They could book FedRooms, CWT|Sato Government Travel, Navy Elite, Army Lodging, or any other number of federal government or military rates. Also, if when booking on a specified website (FedRooms, Sato, hotel direct) the traveler is unable to find the rate category the were initialing searching under, if they have to book that hotel for assignment reasons, they will book non-government rates or listed Federal Government rate categories that are not per diem rates.  If the government traveler were not staying under a federal government rate category, we would not know to report that lodging information to TRX.  In addition, since all bookings are not consumed, and unused bookings are sometimes slow to be removed form the system, this makes reporting accurate production totals difficult.

Also, in regards to the security and privacy issue, we have laws and governances that prohibit us from giving out any guest information that could identify the guest.  We can offer total stay information by hotel, by night, and by rate booked at the maximum.  No names, loyalty program identifications, or credit card information can be released except under very controlled circumstances.

Until the government can mandate their program as tightly as some of our most dedicated corporate partners, a single data warehouse source will be quite useless.  Even in organizations that mandate that all travel arrangements must be made by their in-house agents and using a prescribed identification number, we estimate at least 20% of their potential production with us as a hotel chain is untraceable.  In order for the system to work, all bookings of all travel, as well as all other applicable spending, would have to be made and recorded in identical fashion in a single booking engine.  Travel agencies, airlines, hoteliers, etcetera would have to be connected into the one source or become compatible with the one source, costing untold millions in technical upgrades.  Government regulations and rulings would not only have to be in their own travel systems, but in the commercial realm as well.

I feel that having a tighter handle on the total spending as it regards to government lodging would be beneficial to both the government and to the industry.  However, it is my opinion that this is not going to be presence in our daily work lives for some time to come.  There are too many current booking and tracking systems that will have to be made communicate with a reliable integrated warehouse, and the servers for that warehouse would be of gargantuan proportion.

By Crystal Wright

Registration on the CCR needs to occur once per year to maintain an active status.  Because having an active CCR standing is now and “absolute” in terms of doing business with the federal government, we have consistently observed that more contracting officers, meeting planners, third parties and other business drivers are insisting on having this information upfront in the solicitation process.

Recently, we have experienced that several of our hotels (heavily reliant on the government market) have not renewed their CCR registrations.  Consequently, this has resulted in a loss of business.  Additionally, it has yielded new initiatives on our end to urgently communicate to our hotels that registering and/or re-registering with the CCR is absolutely imperative.

Items needed to complete CCR registration is as follows:

1. Dunn & Bradstreet Number.  The Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number is a unique nine character identification number provided by the commercial company Dunn & Bradstreet (D&B).
2. Tax Identification Number (TIN).  A TIN is either an Employer Identification Number (EIN) assigned by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or a Social Security Number (SSN) assigned by the Social Security Administration (SSA) if you are registering as a sole proprietor.
3. Statistical Information about your business.  You will be required to provide the receipts and numbers of employees on a world-wide basis, which includes all affiliates.  Information on the location of your organization is optional.
4. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) information for payment of invoices.  This includes ABA routing number for your bank, account number and type, or lockbox number, automated clearing house (ACH) point of contact, remittance point of contact, and accounts receivable point of contact.

It is no secret that competition in the government market is growing at a furious pace.  It goes without saying that understanding how to do business with the government market is more and more critical as strict protocols and exacting standards are being put into place. Positioning in sales is key, and insisting that the proper building blocks are in place can be a tremendous advantage in winning with the government.

by Christopher McLaughlin

Not all airlines and hotels use a Global Distribution System as the GDS charges travel vendors to display inventories. If a supplier uses a GDS, it is the airline carrier, hotel, or rental car company’s responsibility to keep the GDS updated with current information. In some instances some small airlines do not use the GDS and therefore, the TMC must be contacted directly either by phone or by requesting assistance on line by entering a comment. The TMC will then contact the Non-GDS vendor to work with the traveler to make their reservations.

With domestic and foreign (non-complex) travel it is a requirement that our customers use the online booking tool within our eTS to book their reservations. However with complex foreign travel we encourage our customers to book directly through the TMC via phone. With complex foreign travel, the TMC has knowledge of and can offer advice about Visa requirements, the fly America Act, or if foreign carriers and flights are limited or unavailable in the GDS and will require TMC assistance.

by Brian Shears

For the convenience of travelers, FedRooms offers a website which offers helpful information.  There’s a convenient search page for travelers to easily find a FedRooms hotel.  This site also offers an overview of the FedRooms program, a traveler newsletter, a screen where travelers may sign-up to receive special offers and updates, and an opportunity for travelers to provide feedback.

Federal Government employees (military and civilian) can always use the FedRooms rate when on official travel but can also use the reduced rates for leisure travel at select FedRooms properties.

The FedRooms program offers more than 4,100 hotels in more than 1,400 cities around the world which is an increase from 636 hotels in 2004.  They also offer a help desk to answer program-related questions.

It is important for the government traveler to realize that the FedRooms rate and ‘Government’ rate are not the same.  The ‘Government’ rates may have hidden fees and cancellation policies that add up to a larger bill at checkout and 15 percent of ‘Government’ rates are over per diem.  The FedRooms rate can be accessed through other avenues, such as the E Gov Travel system we currently use in our office.

by Cindy Moore

Disclaimer: The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.  Use of this equipment is consistent with the agency’s policy governing limited personal use.

The vendors also charge a fee on a transactional basis for the use of the eGov travel system. The Travel Authorization and Voucher (TAV) fee is assessed on the authorization and local voucher when the document is signed. When the corresponding voucher or local voucher is approved, the fee is charged to the individual government-issued charge card. If the individual government-issued card number is not available in the system, then the centrally billed account that was used to purchase the ticket is charged.

Some travelers find these fees to be cumbersome when reconciling their individual billed account (IBA) statements especially the TAV fee. The TMC fee normally appears on the IBA statements around the trip dates when other charges for the trip are being charged, such as hotel, rental car, meals, etc. However, the TAV fee is charged to the IBA when the traveler submits a voucher for approval and payment. If the traveler does not voucher timely, then it could cause issues when the traveler reconciles their IBA statement.

At my agency, we are currently working with the vendor on an enhancement to the system that will direct the payment of the TAV fee to the vendor rather than it being charged to the traveler. This enhancement will reduce issues that the travelers encounter when reconciling their IBA statement.

by Julie Gilchrist

“The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.

Once the Finance Office received the documents, a technician verified the per diem rates and quarter day calculations for first and last day as well as other expenses.  Voucher receipts were verified and any voucher with a discrepancy was sent back to the traveler for correction.   Once the voucher was deemed correct, the finance technician would classify expenses into Budget Object Codes (BOC) and information such as the employee’s name, SSN and Accounting were written on to a coding sheet.  The coding sheet was sent to a Data Transcriber to enter into the financial system.   This process was labor intensive, prone to error and in many cases reimbursement of a travel voucher could take several weeks.

In the mid 1990′s my agency implemented Travel Manager, an electronic COTS travel system that was hosted in-house.  With the implementation of this system we went from a paper based travel process to a fully automated one.  Travel Manager contained locations with applicable per diem and performed calculations.  The electronic routing allowed documents to be reviewed and approved electronically.  Once a document was approved it was interfaced to the financial system daily and travelers were reimbursed for expenses within a few days of submitting a voucher.  Although a Travel Management Center (TMC) was available, many travelers continued to call the airline and hotels directly to make reservations and recorded the cost in Travel Manager.

In 1998 the Smartpay program was introduced that made credit cards available to frequent travelers and by 2001 the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) required travelers to use a TMC to book official travel.  The FTR also requires travelers to use the City Pair Program except in limited situations.  The fairs offered by the airlines are one way which allows for complex multiple destination trips. The City Pair program offers very competitive airfare that can be discounted up to 70% off of unrestricted coach fare and offers benefits such as no advance purchase, no minimum or maximum length stay, last seat availability, no blackout dates, no penalties/fees for rebooking and tickets are fully refundable.

In 2003, GSA awarded contracts for E-Gov Travel Services (ETS) to three vendors and amended the Federal Travel Regulations to require agencies to implement one of the systems by September 30, 2006.  My agency awarded a contract and began implementing ETS in the summer of 2004.  The ETS had many of the same features that the Travel Manager system had with the addition of integration with the TMC.  By using the ETS, travelers have a one-stop-shopping for travel where the process of creating the authorization also includes making on-line reservations for common carriers, hotels and rental cars.  Vouchers are easy to complete as all the traveler needs to do is to update the estimated expenses from the authorization, electronically attach receipts (which are used for post payment audits) and electronically sign to route for approval.

In 2005 Government agencies were required to implement split disbursement.  Split disbursement provides a high level of convenience to the traveler to designate charges they made to their government credit card be paid directly to the bank through the vouchering process.    Another program that began about the same time is Fedrooms.  This program initiated by GSA is managed by Carlson Wagonlit who negotiates rates and terms with hotels in cities that have a large number of visits from Federal travelers.  Hotels that participate are FEMA and ADA compliant, have a least a two star rating from Mobil Travel Guide or AAA rating, they must accept government travel cards and other forms of payment, the rate must be at or below the government per diem rate, have a 4:00pm or later cancelation policy on the day of arrival, last room availability and other amenities. Federal Travelers are to give Fedroom Properties first consideration when booking a room.

The evolution of Federal Travel has been significant over the last 20 years.  20 years ago electronic travel and on-line booking was an idea reserved for Buck Rogers and the Jetsons.  In addition to automation, the government has moved towards consolidation and elimination of stove-pipe systems.   In the future I see agencies continuing to consolidate and automate travel processing as well as to outsource travel services to a Shared Service Provider.  Federal travel may decrease with the popularity of video conferencing and on-line training but federal travelers will still need to be on-site for a variety of mission essential trips that can relate to anything from the economy, civil rights and defense to disabilities, education, and Veterans Affairs.   Travel is an important part of many agencies mission and in servicing the public.  Needless to say, I’m looking forward to being involved in the next twenty years of Government Travel evolution.

by Diana Bonnell

Disclaimer: The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.  Use of this equipment is consistent with the agency’s policy governing limited personal use.