POSITION: Corporate Travel Consultant
REPORTING TO: Team Lead
DEPARTMENT: Operations
JOB SUMMARY
The main role of a Corporate Travel Consultant is to build relationships and understand the needs of our clients whilst delivering a ‘high-touch’ service that saves clients time and drives down their total cost of travel. The position offered is for a Corporate Travel Consultant, East Coast, Central and West Coast hours, across all time zones in the US. The candidate must have exceptional verbal and written skills.
PRINCIPLE RESPONSIBILITIES :
SERVICE
- Provide a dedicated, consistently high level of service to all travelers & travel bookers tailored to their requirements, with a desire to exceed client expectations at all times by going the extra mile
- Effectively manage your workload to meet all deadlines as required, internally or client-driven
- Demonstrate an excellent understanding of various account processes and policies, and can adapt quickly to any necessary changes to these, as and when they arise
- Work directly with the client’s Global Travel Manager, for guidance on policy matters that require escalation
- Pre-trip approval knowledge will be an advantage
- Demonstrate proactive thinking and provide a consultative approach to all travel requests providing an end-to-end solution for all clients
- Advise proactively on relevant Passport and Visa requirements and procedures for all destinations
- Apply Quality Control procedures and processes at all times in line with ISO27001 (data security certification) and PCI compliance
- Recommend and procure ancillary products as required i.e. car rental, ferry, etc.
- Good knowledge of high-speed domestic and intercontinental rail options required
SAVINGS, PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE AND OPTIMIZED VALUE
- Deliver cost-effective solutions across all aspects of travel
- Proactively identify and implement opportunities to add value to each booking through specialist supplier relationships
- Utilize a detailed understanding of the client policy to drive compliance for the client while maximizing the opportunity to enhance the traveler experience
- Knowledge and ability to apply a variety of fare types and contracts to air bookings, including privately contracted fares, round-the-world fares, air passes, creative fares and published fares
- Qualify opportunities for and proactively deliver split and combination fare ticketing where appropriate
- Proactively identify cross-market and local inventory differences, and when these should be taken advantage of
- Look at alternative airports/routings for the client which could offer better convenience and/or cost savings to clients, this should also include Low-Cost Carriers where appropriate
- Procure the best hotel rates for clients utilizing GDS and non-GDS channels
- Monitor all bookings for fare/rate-saving opportunities up until the completion of the trip
CONTINUAL DEVELOPMENT
- Have an enthusiastic and willing-to-learn attitude, attending all relevant training/coaching as required
- Achieve individual and team-based objectives through the annual Performance Development Review
SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
- Must be fluent in English (excellent verbal and written language)
- Experience and knowledge of pre-trip approval systems
- Manage the issuance of your own ticket for both Air and Eurostar
- Calculate your reissues and changes on time, working in liaison with the Ticketing Department.
- Exceptional telephone manner and good written skills
- Demonstrate ability to make effective use of resources available to complete tasks to agreed deadlines • Has achieved a continuous record of experience in a core business travel environment
- Minimum qualification level to Fares & Ticketing VAII (formally BA2)
- Fully conversant with one or all GDS systems; Sabre, Galileo, Amadeus
- Good knowledge of US Domestic and European rail provider frameworks and reservation systems.
- Comprehensive knowledge of the travel industry and products in the market including different aircraft types and cabins.
- Knowledge of Low-Cost Carriers in the market and their different products available.
- Experience with mixed-mode booking tools, and how to support both offline/online bookings.
- Have a ‘team player’ approach to an office environment
- Experience in using MS Word and Excel software packages
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Good attention to detail.
- Ability to work well in a highly pressurized environment, and ability to adapt quickly to increases in travel request volumes.
- Flexible approach to working environment and willingness to work on at different office locations.
- Ability to build a good rapport with all clients
REQUIRED, PREFERRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
- High school diploma or equivalent required
- Previous related experience preferred
- 5 years of previous work experience as a travel agent for TMC or a similar agency
- Travel experience to a variety of destinations preferred, domestic and international.
