In year-over-year comparisons, Travel Leaders Corporate clients benefitted from lower hotel room rates and booked in advance to nab lower airfares

NEW YORK, NY (January 13, 2020) – New data from Travel Leaders Corporate, an award-winning leader in business travel, reveals that, compared to a year ago, businesses are reaping the benefits of lower domestic travel prices and good purchasing habits. However, international travel costs rose modestly year over year.

– Travel Leaders Corporate President Gabe Rizzi 

In an analysis of its customers’ aggregate third-quarter data, Travel Leaders Corporate found domestic air travel, hotel and car rental costs are lower from the year-earlier period. More business travelers are booking their flights greater than 21 days in advance, helping to reduce this expense.

“Overall, it is still an excellent pricing environment for business travel,” said Gabe Rizzi, President of Travel Leaders Corporate. “Companies will find it easy to stay within budget for travel around the U.S.  International business travel is more expensive, but we still see robust demand as the economy continues to grow.”

Travel Leaders Corporate’s data shows that in the third quarter of 2019, the total cost of a hotel stay in the United States remained flat. Internationally, the total trip cost increased 2.74% as the average hotel stay increased slightly from 3.1 to 3.18 nights.

The average total cost for a domestic car rental in Q3 dropped 10% to $128 from the same period in 2018. Yet it’s up 16% from Q2. Internationally, car rentals rose to $264, an 8% increase from the third quarter a year ago and a 16% increase from Q2.

Airline pricing remains stable.  During this period, the cost of a domestic airline ticket inched down 1 percent to $414, and it fell 3% from Q2. Conversely, the Q3 average international ticket price rose about 4% from the year earlier to $1,684, although it fell 5% from Q2.

Lower air costs paid by Travel Leaders Corporate customers is partly due to more corporate travelers booking their flights well ahead of their trip. In a steady march upward, 32% of customers’ tickets are now booked at least 21 days in advance, up from 30% during the third quarter of 2018 and 28% during the same period in both 2017 and 2016. Compared to booking zero to six days out before their trips, the longer advance booking period saved Travel Leaders’ customers an average $125 per ticket during the third quarter of this year. Another important contributing factor driving corporate customer pricing is a return to a more aggressive discounting strategy by many of the larger carriers.

“All this data points to the importance of having a savvy travel management company on your side,” Rizzi commented. “A TMC can help a company decide what data is most important for their bottom line as well as their overall business goals. Corporate travel is more than just dollars and cents. It represents relationships and business growth and is an integral part of nearly any company. We anticipate a strong environment for corporate travel for the most part, although prices internationally are an area we will be watching closely.”

All of Travel Leaders Corporate’s Q3 2019 data may be viewed here.

For more information or to take advantage of Travel Leaders Corporate’s personalized service and cutting-edge corporate business travel solutions that provide a complete travel enrichment experience, email partnerships@tlcorporate.com or call 877-404-4173.

###

Visit www.travelleaderscorporate.com for more infomation.

For more information or to take advantage of Travel Leaders Corporate’s personalized service and cutting-edge corporate business travel solutions that provide a complete travel enrichment experience, email partnerships@tlcorporate.com or call 877-404-4173.

About Travel Leaders Corporate
Travel Leaders Corporate is part of Travel Leaders Group, which manages leisure, business and franchise travel operations under a variety of diversified divisions and brands. Travel Leaders Corporate has three service offerings – Travel Fulfillment, Travel Consulting and Meetings Management – which can be used independently or combined for maximum results. At Travel Leaders Corporate, each client is served by a dedicated team of professional travel agents assigned to each account. With a reputation built on reliability and a commitment to excellence, Travel Leaders Corporate offers its clients industry-leading products and services, and continuously seeks higher levels of performance. With employees in more than 120 cities across the United States, Travel Leaders Corporate is a forward-thinking, innovative company with a focus on continually improving the customer experience. Travelers also have access to The Travel Collection by Travel Leaders Group, a selection of travel offers and discounts available at no additional cost to holders of select American Express® cards. For more information visit www.TheTravelCollection.com.