Other Travel Services
.... Going that Extra Mile ...
Audits free of charge on your Corporate travel
Our corporate travel specialists will be pleased to conduct a free audit of your travel arrangements, including all the processes from pre trip authorisation through research of best solutions, quotation comparisons, fulfilment, accounting, MIS and handling travellers’ complaints about the travel providers.
With non-client organisations, we will almost certainly be able to suggest opportunities for improvements in efficiency, effectiveness and saving cost.
Carbon Footprint Reports for Travel
You can now obtain your calculated carbon footprint, and those of your travelling staff.
In these days of responsible travel and tourism, and the need to care of our planet, many travellers and employers are choosing to track the impact of their travel around the world, and are counting the cost of their carbon footprint. Indeed, in a bid for companies to become carbon neutral, it is becoming a requirement for them to monitor their carbon output, and those of their staff.
We have introduced an enhancement to our technology to allow our clients to obtain this data readily. Not only will our reporting system calculate the carbon emissions impact for every travel booking, once travel has taken place, enabling clients to store the results for future reporting, but in addition, it will compare the environmental cost of each journey, whether by air, road or rail, allowing the passenger to choose the most carbon efficient options for future similar trips.
There is a nominal charge for this service. Either contact us via our website, or speak to your consultant when next in touch, for more details.
Conference Planning
When you've got a conference to organise, Medway Travel have the experience that will make everything go smoothly.
Please see our section on Groups and Events.
Corporate Hospitality
Whether you are needing to entertain guests on home ground or on an “away fixture”, Medway Travel can take away the hassle involved, by providing ideas and making arrangements for you, all within an agreed budget.
You may like to visit our specialist Groups & Events section or our Corporate entertainment page for further information about the wide scope of this service
Corporate Travel Policy Consultancy
Many companies never get round to drafting and agreeing a travel policy with their staff, having insufficient previous experience to "take the plunge". However it has been found that generally - including in quite small firms - such a policy can save 20 - 25% of the historic travel budget.
These savings come from a number of contributory factors such as:
- Improved fares/hotel rates through the consolidation of spend with fewer vendors
- Reduced accounting costs through consolidation of spend through one billing account, instead of staff all doing their own thing with a multiplicity of organisations requiring separate payments. It is commonly held that vetting individual invoices and making individual payments can cost a company upwards of £50 an invoice.
- Saving staff from spending valuable time researching, often diligently, and sometimes getting distracted by, the Internet, but not necessarily finding the best fares.
- Much improved transparency reducing the temptation to slide through the occasional premium class airfare or higher star rated hotel, on the basis that either it wont be noticed or a claimed "lack of availability" of the cheaper alternative.
- The travel agent knowing the travel policy and querying with the appropriate authority, any requests which fall outside that policy.
Medway Travel will be pleased to assist clients in the drafting, and later, the implementation, of a policy based on your needs and our extensive experience.
ESTA Electronic System for Travel Authorisation
Travellers to the US should be aware that the ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation) operated by the US Authorities is now compulsory.
Medway Travel recommends that the visa is applied for prior to making travel arrangements, as those who receive a non-authorisation to travel on ESTA will not be able to use this as a valid reason when claiming on travel insurance for any non-refundable trips.
If you are a regular traveller to the US, we suggest that you apply in advance of making any travel reservations.
The information required is the same as one historically required to be completed on board the aircraft i.e. the green visa waiver form (I-94W). However, the authority needs to be applied for at least 72hrs prior to departure. We therefore suggest that regular travellers to the United States should apply by logging on to www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/esta/.
Once applied for, you will be given an immediate response, either giving or denying authority to travel:
- Authorise
- Not Authorised: in this case the passenger must obtain the authorisation through an Embassy or Consulate before departing for the United States
- Pending Authorisation: the passenger must check the ESTA website over the following 24 hours
The electronic authority is then valid for 2 years or until your passport expires if that is sooner.
The details you are asked to complete online are Passport details, Flight number, destination address and questions regarding communicable diseases, arrests and convictions for certain crimes, plus past history of any visa refusal.
This information is in addition to the requirement to submit APIS data that we request from you prior to travel to the US.
Due to the level of personal information required when applying for the ESTA, we do not feel it appropriate for Medway Travel to apply for this on your behalf. However, if you require any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Please note that even when approved, this does not guarantee entry into the United States. ESTA approvals only authorise passengers to make the journey to the US under the terms and conditions of the Visa Waiver Programme (see www.cbp.gov/travel for more information).
Events
A party or event can raise your company's profile and generate goodwill with clients. Your guests will remember a great event for a very long time, and we have the experience to ensure your events are always a real success.
Please see our Groups & Events section for more details, and contact us with your plans and requirements
Gifts and Vouchers
Have you a prize you wish to give to a member of staff or for a marketing competition? Maybe a personal gift you want to buy for a special occasion and the deadline is fast approaching?
Perhaps we can help with this age-old problem - We offer far more than just Business Travel!
Why not treat that special someone to
- A short break in one of the beautiful European cities
- A theatre weekend in London with tickets to see one of the top West End shows.
- Tickets to a sporting event
- A pass for an activity such as karting or motor racing?
- Tickets to a Theme Park.
- An excursion from their next holiday destination?
- A pamper day at one of the country's spa resorts or a champagne flight on the London Eye?
Finally, why not give a Medway Travel "travel voucher" (any value from £25 upwards, with no administration charge) and let them decide for themselves? See our Leisure Travel website to satisfy yourself that we have the expertise to fulfil your every requirement.
The possibilities are endless - and these presents could give the recipient something to continue to look forward to, once the buzz of their special day is over.
Contact us, and we will happily do your shopping for you.Groups and Events
When travelling in groups it's extremely important to ensure that there is good planning and professional advice about group travel destinations. We have extensive experience in planning and managing group travel for all sizes of groups to anywhere in the world.
Health advice, Vaccinations and Medicals
Do you need Vaccinations or an Occupational medical in a hurry?
Fast, quality medical help can often be difficult to obtain. We can help and at a time to suit you.
Other such services include:
- Blood tests
- Life insurance Medicals
- Private GP consultation,
- Stress Management
- Translation Services
Contact us for further details
Insurance
Whilst all Medway Travel consultants have undergone the necessary training to allow them to sell travel insurance, under the new regulations we have to pass this on to FSA approved providers.
We are able to offer a wide range of travel insurance packages to cater for the precise needs of our clients’ travel requirements, through the support of our insurance partners.
The annual multi-trip policies are particularly good value, especially when arranged to cover a client's whole group of frequent travellers in one policy. This may be set up to include your staff's partners and dependants as well, if required, for a modest increase in premium.
You may choose either to contact us or use our online insurance quotation system.
Itinerary Research
Having ensured that we fully understand our client’s objectives, on every airline enquiry we will consider - where appropriate to the travel policy of the particular client:
- Conventional airlines (there are over 500 airlines on our systems)
- Creative fares
- Low-cost fares
- Net fares
- Route deals
- Internet suppliers
- Contracted fares (there are more than 60 different airlines, with which we have such fares)
- Inclusive tour packages
.... and then we thoroughly research all the appropriate options, working online (in real-time whenever possible).
We will also consider alternative modes of transport, weighing up all the sensible permutations for the trip, including perhaps rail, hotel, car rental, taxis and ferries, as well as the air fare, to arrive at the most appropriate options that take the convenience and total trip cost into account.
We then respond by the client’s preferred method of communication, whether that be email, telephone, or fax.
We pride ourselves on responding to enquiries within agreed time-scales, and always explain the advantages, limitations and restrictions of the options we recommend, leaving clients to make the final selection.
Passport and Visas
We will advise on the requirements for each trip and ensure that any visa application is processed quickly and efficiently through our contracted Passport and Visa service who are very experienced in the day-to-day operations of the world’s Embassies and High Commissions.
Properties Overseas
Something we have discovered in recent years is that many executives either fall in love with a destination they travel to on business and want to retire there, or travel there so frequently and through buying a property and renting it out when not required find they can save on hotel bills.
Medway Travel has established relationships with a number of specialists in this field and will be happy to introduce you to the one most suited to meet your requirements.
Securing Accessible Data
- What if all your papers are lost, when you are travelling?
- What if Immigration seizes your laptop and retains it for weeks, when all the data you need for your trip is in it? See US Laptop Rules under attack, in this newsletter.
- Pressures on companies to demonstrate Duty of Care to their employees, to embrace corporate social responsibility, including the Corporate Manslaughter Act
- Identity theft. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office for years has steadfastly proclaimed that when you travel you should always take photocopies of key documents (passports, tickets, credit card details etc). But this meant people would thereby double the possibility of identity theft. The FCO now suggests that you should store information in a safe digital store.
- What if your mobile phone is stolen with all your contacts’ ‘phone numbers and other details?
- What if (as happens in government circles all too often!) you inadvertently leave your laptop containing highly confidential information required for sensitive negotiations, in a cab, or it is confiscated for detailed inspection at immigration?
- Your expensive equipment makes you a target for mugger-robbers, so not only is all your data stolen, but you are injured and miss all your meetings?
All are nightmare scenarios, you will agree.
For this reason, Medway Travel is now able to offer you access to a provider of a service aimed at obviating all the above – and providing positive benefits too!
So what exactly is this service and why should people use it, how could it help?It is supported by an ultra-safe computer system (used for years also by banks) accessed through a secure user-friendly website, designed for people to store and organise electronic copies of important personal or business documents such as passports, tickets, medical information, insurance papers, contracts, financial information, the list is endless - so that whenever and wherever copies are needed, by you or by another user to whom you have given access, they are easily available.
Basically you need no longer carry everything with you – put it in your secure remote data base and access it anywhere in the world from a PC, laptop etc, deal with it and then close it again. If your laptop packs up or is stolen, it doesn’t matter because the information is actually in your remote data base.
It is also much greener than carrying papers and giving other people photocopies of your key details. On a big scale, that’s the equivalent of not chopping down a lot of trees!
Finally, the system is independent of your employer so people can change jobs without having to start all over again. Your account is in an individual’s name and nobody can look at its contents except the owner of the account - you.
What can I put in my remote data base? Any document – word documents, pictures, photos, PDFs, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and of course copies of key personal items, passports, insurance policies, contracts, Wills etc. It is your personal secure library.
Who in particular should use the service? It is particularly helpful for business people who travel, to retain:
- personal items but also for, say, their travel itineraries,
- the presentation they are about to make,
- the highly sensitive business information supporting your negotiations
But anybody concerned with looking after their ‘stuff’ – maybe to have it all in one place safe from prying eyes, the burglar, fire or theft.
How safe is the data base? Very. Safety depends upon three aspects - physical, digital and human. The service uses The Bunker and it is right there at the top of security in all of them – it’s a state of the art facility in an ex-MOD nuclear bunker 50 feet underground, with at least four different electricity supplies and run under extremely tight control procedures. The people running it include some of the world’s foremost computer security experts, and their client list is very impressive.
If you are interested, please contact Paul@medwaytravel.co.uk and ask for more details
Sporting Event Reservations
When you've got clients to impress and entertain, Medway Travel can help you to book event tickets through our extensive network of contacts.
Translation Services
A bad translation will hurt your business - when Pepsi launched their slogan ‘Come alive with the Pepsi Generation’ in Taiwan it came out as ‘Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead’.
We can organise the very best translation service, carried out by had picked translators with knowledge of the general field for which the material is related.
For the really important negotiations, interpreters whose mother tongue is the foreign language you are involved with, can be sourced. They will familiarise themselves with the jargon of your specialist activity, beforehand and travel with you, to become vital allies in the crucial meetings.
Text Service
Medway Travel can send certain travel confirmations via text directly to the traveller’s mobile phone– ideal for last minute reservations made while the traveller is en route.
Simply register the mobile number with our consultant and request that a copy of the confirmation number or flight reference be sent to the mobile. You can then use this reference number to check in with at the airport or given to the receptionist on arrival at the hotel.
Please note that not all confirmations can be sent via text message. We are currently unable to send links to Viewtrip itineraries.
Venue Finding
Whether you have in mind a traditional venue for a business event or something very different, Medway Travel has extensive experience in finding our corporate clients the optimum venue for all types of events, to suit the budget, accessibility requirements and the theme for the occasion.
