Overwhelmed at the thought of arranging travel for your group? You can breathe easy knowing that Butler Travel’s group specialists are committed to making sure your travels are enjoyable, safe, and hassle-free. We will work to save you time and money through partnership with airline group desks for your specific destination.
We’ve compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions below. For further information, please feel free to fill out our group travel request form or give us a call at 503-879-5005.
Q. How many travelers do I need for a group fare?
A. While we are happy to work with groups of any size from 1 to 100 or more, true airline group fares require a minimum of 11 passengers. For groups smaller than 11 we can give you a quote using normal individual, missionary, or student rate tickets.
Q. What flexibility can a group fare offer?
A. Most group bookings allow us to put down a small deposit and hold the space and price (except taxes which are always subject to change) until 6-8 weeks before departure. Rules vary greatly from airline to airline, but most will also allow us to make name changes even after ticketing is complete.
Q. How will group fare pricing compare to online individual prices?
A. Airline fares can vary greatly! In some markets if a group is planned well in advance the pricing can be considerably lower than individual fares. However many times, especially for large groups pricing can actually be a little higher than what you might see for one person. This is because airlines break up their seats into 20 or more pricing levels. They might have 6 or 10 seats at one price, then 6 or 10 a bit higher, and so on. The group fare takes those different prices and averages them out, usually with a slight discount. If you have 40 passengers the average may come out a little higher than one person booked by themselves. However, if you were to go online and try to book 40 people one at a time on that flight, you’d end up with 8 or 10 different prices with an average higher than the group fare.
Q. What if a group fare isn’t the best for my team?
A. Butler Travel is dedicated to finding the best option for each of our customers. While group fares are excellent for many of our clients, they are not always the right fit. Many times, we book groups using individual or missionary rate fares instead of group fares simply because the price and/or schedule fits their needs better. You can rest assured that we will seek to find the very best option for your team.
