Beyond Fares and Fees: 7 Questions to Ask Your Travel Management Company

Fares, transaction fees and how well the booking tool performs are typically high on the list for procurement or finance teams assessing a travel management company. They translate neatly into a comparison table and are relatively easy to benchmark. But they are only the visible layer of what a TMC actually does, and they reveal much less about the governance, controls, people and accountability sitting behind the service.

Those things matter most when circumstances become more complex: a billing issue needs investigation, sensitive traveller information must be protected, or travel disruption leaves people needing help quickly. For procurement, finance, risk and travel leaders, these are questions worth asking during due diligence, not after an issue forces the conversation.

At Tandem Travel, we believe these are questions every TMC should be prepared to answer, including us. Fifty-five years of managing travel for New Zealand organisations sit behind our approach, alongside the governance environment of the Air New Zealand Group and the additional partnership requirements and external benchmarks of American Express Global Business Travel's Travel Partner Network. Just as importantly, accountability for our customers' travel programmes remains with experienced people right here in New Zealand.

So how do you assess what sits behind the service? It starts by looking beyond the standard TMC scorecard and asking a few more probing questions. The answers can tell you a lot about how your travel spend is controlled, how your people and data are protected, and the organisation you're ultimately relying on to deliver your programme.

They're questions we believe every organisation should be asking of its travel management company, including ours.

Question 1: Who is accountable for the standards your TMC operates under?

Who sets the standards your travel management company operates within, and who else is holding it to account?

As part of the Air New Zealand Group, Tandem operates within established governance, risk, privacy and security frameworks. We operate independently in the travel industry, so customers retain genuine supplier choice and recommendations based on what's right for their organisation, while benefiting from the expectations and controls that come with being part of a much larger organisation.

Our partnership with American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) adds another dimension. As a member of the Amex GBT Travel Partner Network, we also work within partnership requirements and external benchmarks across areas including compliance, performance and data quality.

The roles are different but complementary. Air New Zealand Group ownership places Tandem within an established governance environment, while our Amex GBT partnership adds another set of standards and expectations. For customers, those layers of assurance sit behind a locally accountable Tandem team that knows their programme and is responsible for delivering it.

Question 2: How transparent are pricing, billing and travel spend?

Good governance should be clearly visible in the way your money is managed. Corporate travel spend can quickly become difficult to untangle when flights, hotels, rental cars, changes and service fees are charged through different channels. When you're accountable for that budget, every charge should be easy to understand and explain.

Tandem uses a transparent transaction-fee model for corporate travel, with no hidden Tandem fees or mark-ups. But fee transparency is only the beginning.

Tandem is the only travel management company able to automatically consolidate air, hotel, rental car and service fees onto Air New Zealand Travelcard, giving finance teams the option of one statement and a clearer, consolidated view of travel expenditure.

Our Virtual Credit Card automation validates hotel rates, helps prevent duplicate charges and supports accurate allocation of approved spend. Reporting can also incorporate project codes, purchase orders, cost centres and traveller IDs, with charges reflected in Power BI reporting to create a clearer line from booking through to reconciliation and analysis.

For finance and procurement teams, the result is fewer grey areas, easier reconciliation, stronger cost attribution and better information on which to base decisions. When you're managing organisational spend, clarity isn't a nice-to-have; it's the baseline.

Question 3: What controls sit behind bookings, billing and reporting?

Transparency tells you what you're spending. Good financial governance also helps ensure the right controls are applied before that expense reaches your reporting.

Tandem can configure online booking technology around an organisation's travel policy, preferred suppliers, approval requirements and spending controls. Out-of-policy bookings can be linked to mandatory justification codes, providing visibility of exceptions. Those controls also extend to consultant-assisted bookings, with back-office systems designed to mirror policy requirements.

Further down the process, our invoicing team validates charges against customer requirements before processing, while automated hotel payment processes provide another layer of validation before costs are consolidated for reconciliation.

Most travellers will never notice that work happening in the background, but for the people responsible for managing the programme, it provides confidence that the controls continue beyond the point of booking.

Question 4: How are traveller and organisational data protected?

A travel booking contains much more than an itinerary. Corporate travel data can include personal identifiers, travel dates and locations, emergency contacts, payment information and commercially sensitive travel movements. Understanding how that information is protected should form part of any TMC due diligence process.

As part of the Air New Zealand Group, Tandem benefits from enterprise-level cybersecurity frameworks used within a highly regulated operational environment. These include governance, risk and compliance oversight; security controls benchmarked to recognised standards including ISO 27001 and PCI-DSS; multi-factor authentication and role-based permissions; security monitoring; vulnerability assessments and regular audits.

Customer information is also protected through measures including encryption at rest and in transit and strict access controls to sensitive information.

These are not controls a traveller should have to think about when making a booking or opening an itinerary, but the organisation responsible for their information should be able to ask about them and receive a clear answer.

Question 5: What happens when travel doesn't go to plan?

Strong frameworks matter every day, but their value becomes particularly clear when travel is disrupted. This is where technology, operational access and experienced people need to work together.

Tandem's risk management team works closely with Air New Zealand's operational network, with access to schedule changes, disruption plans and real-time flight information helping our teams coordinate practical solutions for affected travellers.

Traveller location reporting can also provide visibility of who is currently travelling, where they are, their upcoming movements and which travellers may be affected by an emerging event.

Combined with New Zealand-based 24/7 support, this means experienced people are available when travellers need help, with the context and information to act. It's where governance moves from something written into a framework to something your people can actually feel.

Question 6: Who knows your organisation, and who will be there when you need them?

Technology and controls matter, but corporate travel is still a people business.

Our customers are supported by local account managers and New Zealand-based consultant teams who understand their organisation, travellers, travel policy and operating environment.

We've been managing business travel for New Zealand organisations since 1971, supporting corporate New Zealand, government, emergency services and professional sport teams. That experience shapes how we work today: a good programme needs to operate smoothly when travel is straightforward, while still having the people, processes and judgement to respond when circumstances become more complex.

Through Amex GBT's Travel Partner Network, that local service is supported by wider global reach, relationships and capability when it adds value.

For New Zealand organisations with people travelling internationally, global capability doesn't have to mean giving up local accountability. Your people can travel around the world while your programme remains connected to a team here in New Zealand that knows your business, not just your account number.

Question 7: How resilient is the business behind the booking?

When reviewing a TMC, it is worth looking beyond today's service experience.

Who is accountable when an issue needs to be escalated? How resilient are the people, systems and processes supporting your programme? How would the provider respond if your organisation needed to change quickly, grow or manage a period of significant disruption?

These aren't peripheral questions. They help you understand who you're really trusting with your organisation's people, data and travel spend.

For 55 years, Tandem has worked alongside New Zealand organisations to manage the complexity behind business travel. That experience has taught us that trust isn't something a travel management company can simply claim; it's built through transparency, accountability and consistency over time.

If you're preparing a corporate travel RFP, reviewing an incumbent TMC or simply checking that your current arrangements remain fit for purpose, don't just ask what your TMC can do. Take a closer look at the business, people, controls and governance behind the service.

If you're reviewing your current travel arrangements, preparing for a TMC tender or simply want to sense-check how your programme is set up, our team would be happy to talk you through how Tandem approaches these areas and what they could look like within your travel programme.

Contact us to learn more