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All Together Now!

Too many meeting planners focus on heads in beds and forgo group travel savings

So much thought and effort is devoted to selecting a site for a meeting and ensuring that everything necessary for the event is in place that a key step in every off-site is usually overlooked: How will participants get there?

The evolution of Internet travel sites has turned every business traveler into his or her own personal travel agent. The downside of individuals booking their own flights, however, is that companies fail to take advantage of group travel discounts. Many managers and meeting planners don't realize that you don't have to fill half an airplane to receive significant savings, says Mark Nickells, Director of Global Sales, Group and Meeting Travel for American Airlines Group Travel.

In fact, if you have 10 or more people traveling to the same destination for a common purpose, then you qualify for group discount fares on American Airlines.

Think Flights First

Once a company registers with AA's group travel division, it receives a code that can be used by meeting participants when they book online as they normally would. How deeply discounted the fare is depends, among other things, on destination and demand. If meeting attendees book directly on AA.com using their group code, they also avoid paying a $15 ticketing fee, a hefty savings when multiplied by the number of meeting participants. American also provides one free fare for every 40 fares booked.

"If you're going to send people to the Internet to book something anyway, all you have to do is get a code from us that they can use it once they've found a flight," Nickells says. Of course, attendees can search for an even cheaper flight on another airline, but your company must eventually meet the 10-person minimum to qualify for group discounts.

"People get caught up planning a meeting agenda and forget about the savings they can reap just getting participants there," Nickells says. "We always stress bringing an airline into the conversation early. Even professional planners will work with a hotel for months, get all of their space booked and only then think about how they are getting everybody there."

Ask airline contacts about their group travel options. American offers zone fares, which lock in group fares for travelers leaving from multiple points within specific regions of the U.S. You can negotiate blocked space, which reserves seats and fares within a window of time up to 11 months in advance while allowing companies to pay for those tickets only 30 days prior to traveling.

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Find out more about American Airlines group travel options by calling 800-221-2255
or e-mailing aagmt.internet@aa.com.

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See also in: Inside the Meeting Planning War Room

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