Brad Seitz @ Topaz

Benchmarking: Dead or Alive

I hear often that benchmarking is useless - a practice that has outgrown it's usefulness.  But has it?  I just cannot get my head around the fact that comparisons are a bad thing. 

I want to share something I do often today using the power of the web.  It is what I fondly refer to as shopping benchmarking.  Otherwise referred to Google Shopping, I compare items all the time.  I want to know what I pay and how it compares.  I am in the process of trying out new contact's, and my Doctor will of course sell them them directly - but I want to know (and be prepared) what they are sold for on the open market.  I do not want to feel like I am being taken advantage of.  However, I will pay a premium to keep it local as well.  Just not too much premium.

For travel, I would expect that benchmarking is the same thing - making sure you are not getting taken advantage of.  You want to be sure that your rates your travelers are paying for are the best rates for your situation - and the only way to do that is  benchmark your program.  You need to compare based on geographic or industry to make sure you program is the best it can be.  Trust me - it will be well worth it and prove more value to you as a travel manager!

The Trip Report: Scotland and England

It was my intention to write this post whilst (how is that for proper english) on the road.  But no such luck.  Distractions, naps, scotch, pints, lack of desire all factored into the decision to just wait.  So here I sit comfortably at 38,000 feet.  Well not really.  That is what the captain said but my little monitor says we are at 37,993  But I diverge.  Let me share my experience.

Edinburgh- After a sound Tylenol PM induced slumber on the overnight United flight from Newark,  I was ready to take on the city.  After breakfast.  At a little place called "Hellers".  Now why would anyone call a restaurant that?  I mean hell and all that just sounds bad.  But it was rather nice.  Full scottish breakfast with blood pudding - yummy.  And of course caffeine - always need a good cup of coffee to get the day started.  Then down to the city to venture around.

Nice city - people were all friendly - and we just took it in.  We.  Did I mention?  I was not alone.  Heidi came along to keep me in line.  Otherwise it might have been a Whisky fest.  We checked out the Castle - and would visit that the next day - and peered through the gates of the queens residence when she is in town.  No hotels for the Queen.  And no shopping for us.  Heidi is allergic to wool.  Phew.  That saved me a few bucks.

But we surely spent all those savings at "The Kitchin", one of three michelin starred restaurants in Edinburgh.  Was it worth every penny?  Hard to say - but it was right up there in my top five.  The combination of service and food was hard to beat.  It was a nice start.

Now Sunday was the be the Castle day - and it was everything I expected.  A funny young man introduced us to the castle.  Two good lines from him that need to be shared:  "Braveheart is to Scotland what Harry Potter is to Science."  and in reference to a previous tourist looking over the horizon and across a body of water "no that is not the eiffel tower in Paris".  Ouch.

The Drive- Now it was time for the drive.   I have done this all before - wrong side of the road - wrong side of the car - but it takes a while to get comfortable.  Focus, focus, focus.  But we were off, heading north along the coast - not to say we saw any of the water on that coast for many hours.  Yep, foggy for sure.  So we arrive into a little shore-side village called Whitby.  Hiked up way too many stairs to see the remains of a very old abbey, walk among the gravestones where Dracula was filmed (I have to watch that one again) and just enjoyed the cobble stoned streets and the ambiance.  A little touristy, but worth a visit for sure. 

Then we faced a slight illness from my navigator and moral supporter (it seems that we think Scotch does not agree with Heidi).  But it agrees with me.  More on that later.  So while being the trooper for the better part of the day, she would have to retreat to the backseat for a restful mid afternoon nap (not really, but it was fun to write).  So I was on my own to get to York.  And I failed.  Missed some turns.  Got stuck in traffic.  Not good.  She thankfully awoke, and helped us reach the B&B.  But off to bed for Heidi - and out to the pub for me and her family.  A couple of pints (boy did I need those) and some fish and chips before the not so restful train interrupted sleep at the B&B on the tracks!

The next day was spent in York, with the first stop being the transportation museum.  Now I heard it was pretty good, but until you find yourself in a renovated, enclosed train yard with all the trains around you, it is hard to imagine.  I must confess that I like trains - probably since my younger days with my Lionel train set.  So looking and reading about all these trains was pretty cool.  And then to cap it off was the actual imaginary Hogwarts Express Engine. 

The Country- So now we shall spend a day in the country - visiting a Robin's Hood Bay, Bampton Cliffs, or waiting along a road for the sheep to pass (as the sheep dogs kept them all in order).  The weather was warm and nice - and it was a good chance to get out of the city and see some more of England.

I must say the highlight of this portion of the trip were the animals.  First we have the sheep, herded effectively by the sheep dogs, with the thoughts of the movie Babe constantly in my mind.  I kept wondering if in fact there could ever be a sheep herding pig?

Then, onward to Bempton Cliffs, where there may have been upwards of 100,000 birds nesting, hanging out, and even in some cases creating the next generation of their families!  It was quite amazing as Puffins, Gannets, Razorbills and Guillemots swarmed the cliffs.

The Final Day-  The final day was spent heading back to Scotland.  A visit to Hadrains wall that spans the width of England, built by the Roman Army led by Hadrain (let's name the wall after myself because I am the leader!) and it was all quite interesting.  The recreation of what might have happened two thousand years earlier is remarkable - and as I walk about the site, I actually imagine what it must have been like when they walked the same paths two thousand years earlier.

The final night was to be spent in a country estate in the hills of Scotland, not far from Edinburgh.  Cringletie House was a beautiful location with wonderful accommodations, and a great dining room.  It was a good ending to an overall a good trip.  However, I shall have to go back.  Golf will the goal the next time around in addition to visiting some whiskey distillers.  Now that will be great.  

The Image of Low Fare Airlines (and other companies): Is it Fact or Fiction?

It is amazing to me the ability of companies to create good (and bad) images about themselves.  It happens all the time due to various factors - leadership, customers, reactions, non-reactions - all factoring into how they are perceived in the market.  As a leader of a small company I strive to always ensure we never shoot ourselves in the foot by providing the hghest level of service.  But what about low fare airlines?

We have done studies in the past, and will do more studies in the future about this subject, but I really wanted to write about this today - and just look quickly at what happens in the market.  So this morning I priced two trips - and this is what I found:

Boston - Los Angeles - Departing on a Monday as early as possible and returning on Friday, again departing in the morning.  Southwest Airlines (the low cost carrier) was $613 round trip.  That would involve a stopover.  An alternative itinerary on United and American (one airline each way) would cost $429 round trip.  Those flights were non-stop.  Now if we factor in baggage fees, the difference is not as great (Southwest allows a free bag check, American and United would charge us $25 each way).  But even factoring in that, the low cost carrier is not really that low (at least in this market).

Phoenix - Dallas - Departing on Monday morning and returning on a Thursday at the end of the day, this example had similar results.  Southwest Airlines with a connection was going to cost us $473 while non-stop travel on US Airways would be $282.  We have the same implications for the baggage fees, but the low cost carrier is not really the low cost.

Thinking back a few years I remember that upwards of 60% of the time the low cost carrer was not the best deal.  Today, whether we check a bag could influence our decisions - but in the end the real influencer of prices is the market - and how the airlines are driving their market share with the movement of their prices.  But we perceive that Southwest is in fact a low cost carrier, so therefore they would always be cheaper than a United, American or US Airways - but that is not always the case. 

For business travelers, you could do all this research, but that ultimately takes you away from your paying job, so you must rely on your managed travel program to do the work for you, and they will make sure the performance is there when obtaining the best itinerary at the best price.