Agency Group Allows Business Travelers to Use Points to Book Discretionary Travel

Busy business travelers looking to add some quality bleisure time to the travel mix or plan a fun and efficient family vacation can now get the perks of working with an agent – and use rewards points through the Travel Leaders Network.

Travel Leaders, a network of 42,000 across the United States and Canada under such brands as Altour, Protravel, Colletts, Nexion, Tezell and others, recently signed a partnership with American Express to offer travel to holders of American Express Gold Cards, Business Gold Cards, Platinum Cards and Business Platinum Cards who want to use their rewards points toward their travel expenses.

Card holders can access the benefits of The Travel Collection, an exclusive program at Travel Leaders that connects consumers to experienced travel advisors to access special travel benefits:

• up to 20 percent off flights; no blackout dates

• up to 10 percent off car rentals

• special amenities at 4- and 5-star hotels

• up to 5 percent off tour packages

Perks and services are offered at no additional cost to U.S. card holders or else travelers can buy in for a $295 annual fee.

Travel Leaders is the only mainstream travel advisor network that has this program or will work with clients who want to use their points for cash to pay for their trips. Most travel agency companies will ask the traveler to secure their own points redemptions and come to the agency for other portions of their travel plans that do not involve points. Consumers are then left to the tough task of working with long phone loops and dispassionate order takers, often putting together plans that are highly restrictive, unwieldy and, in the end, expensive. In addition, most travel agents will then charge a fee for their services, which card members working with a Travel Leaders agency will not.

To use their AmEx rewards, consumers will see their points will be debited from their Membership Rewards account, and then a credit for corresponding dollar amount will be issued to the American Express Card account used. If points redeemed do not cover entire amount, the balance of purchase price will remain on the American Express Card account. Minimum redemption 5,000 points.

According to recent Travel Leaders surveys, 32 percent of travelers using the network will add three to four days onto a business meeting for leisure travel. Sixty percent will add one to two days.

Travel Leaders’ top domestic destinations for 2019:

• Hawaii

• New York

• Alaska

• Pacific Northwest

• Florida

• Washington, D.C.

Travel Leaders’ top International destinations for 2019:

• Western Europe

• Italy

• Eastern Europe

• Mexico

• Spain

• South Pacific

• The Caribbean

• France

• Asia

• Japan

Travel Leaders’ top emerging destinations for 2019:

• Vietnam

• Colombia

• Southeast Asia

• Portugal

• Japan

• Croatia

• Iceland

• Malta

• Belize

2019’S HOTTEST TRAVEL TRENDS:

1. Family Travel

2. Solo Travel

3. Experiential Travel: Cultural, Culinary, Self-Discovery

4. Health & Wellness

5. Cruising: Big, Bigger and Small

Hotel Industry Trends:

• Stronger focus to deliver hyper-personalized hotel stays

• Technology to connect and build relationships with guests & instantly fix issues

• Sustainability

• Connection to Place – Local Partnerships & Experience

“We are seeing incredible growth across the board in travel with new routes, airline, hotels, cruise and tour offerings hitting the market every day,” said Travel Leaders Group CEO Ninan Chacko.