Book Group Travel
Find information on booking group travel, meetings, and events for ten or more people.
Group Travel is defined as pre-approved travel arranged by the University for ten (10) or more travelers and may include:
- Group Air, which encompasses management of room blocks, deposits, ticketing, reporting, and other activities related to efficiently managing the group's air travel needs for:
- Ten or more people all traveling together and going from the same point of origin to the same destination and all booked on the same flights.
- Ten or more people traveling from different points of origin to the same destination.
- Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) services, which encompasses hotel/venue sourcing, contract negotiations, attendee management, and other logistics related to the meetings management process for ten or more travelers.
Based on the scope of services requested, World Meetings and Events (WME) team will set up a discovery call with the CU planner to discuss requirements and will provide an estimated cost for services for the specific event being planned. Once services and fees are agreed upon, a Statement of Work, (SOW) will need to be executed.
Room Blocks are applicable to 10 or more rooms only, which encompasses two categories:
- Columbia Sponsored Room Blocks
- Columbia responsible for payment
- Financially responsible for cancellation and attrition fees
- Requires execution of a contract
- Attendee Self-pay Room Blocks
- Courtesy block held by the hotel
- Columbia not responsible for payment, nor cancellation and attrition fees
- Attendees responsible for payment and cancellation of reservations by the specified deadline
- May require execution of a contract
Note: Columbia sponsored rooms of 9 or less rooms may be booked individually in Concur when Columbia is responsible for payment. Attendee self-pay rooms of 9 or less rooms may be booked on the Visitors & Personal Travel website when Columbia is not responsible for payment.
Group Travel may be booked by identified Columbia Travel Arrangers through World Travel, Inc.’s (WTI) World Meetings and Events (WME) team, responsible for providing professional meetings and events services for the University.
- To begin the process, Travel Arranger must complete the WTI Meetings Request Form (MRF), providing scope and service requirements for Group Air or Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) services. To receive a copy of the MRF you submitted, please be sure to manually check the "Send me a copy of my responses" at the bottom of the MRF. (Note: In order for you to be recognized as a Travel Arranger, you must complete your Concur Profile).
- Based on the scope of services requested, (i.e. a request for Group Air or Hotel Sourcing), WTI’s WME team will contact the Columbia Travel Arranger to discuss next steps in the booking and meetings planning process and proposed costs.
- For Meetings & Events that require logistical planning, i.e. group air, ground transportation, A/V equipment sourcing, budget oversight, etc. please email the World Meetings & Events Sales team at [email protected] to set up a discovery call to discuss requirements and estimated cost for services for the specific event being planned. Once services and fees are agreed upon, a Statement of Work, (SOW) will need to be executed.
- A minimum cancellation fee of $500.00 will apply in specific instances when Group Air or Hotel Sourcing activity sourced by WTI’s WME team is canceled. (Airlines/suppliers may charge their own cancellation/penalty fees above the WTI fee.)
- Please review the Group Travel Fee Chart for a complete description of Group Travel transaction fees and cancellation fees.
- Initial consultation/s with the CU Travel Arranger prior to sourcing are at no cost and additional fees/penalties will be discussed and agreed upon during initial consultation/ and will be included in the Statement of Work (SOW) for each group/event, for review and execution.
Note: In the event that Sponsored funds are used, Columbia Travel Arrangers should verify guidelines, restrictions, policies, and procedures prior to making group reservations.
WTI’s WME Hours of Operation
WTI’s WME team is available Monday - Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET.
General questions on Group Air or Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) services may be emailed to WTI’s WME team.
For questions pertaining to Group Air only, please call the WTI Group Air team tollfree at 1-855-279-4572.
If calling from outside the United States please call 1-484-624-6960.
- These include:
- Discounted airfares based on the airline, destination, size of group, and lead time of travel
- These include:
- Block space on flights can be booked up to 11 months prior to the trip
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- Flights can be secured with a deposit and with full payment between 45-60 days prior to departure date
- These include:
- Flexibility to make name changes
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- Group may qualify for free tickets based on the number of travelers
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- International flights booked through WTI will be automatically registered for International SOS itinerary monitoring to receive pre-trip advisories and automatic real-time push alerts for destination countries
- These include:
- Coordination of ground transportation between airport and hotels/venue in sync with flight arrivals and departures
- These include:
- Re-ticketing in the event of flight changes or flight cancellations to ensure that the entire group is rebooked together
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- Structured and competitive sourcing of hotels and meeting venues
- These include:
- Negotiation of value-added amenities and additional concessions at hotel properties and meeting venues
Only identified Columbia Travel Arrangers may book and pay for Group Travel through World Travel Inc.’s (WTI) World Meetings and Events (WME) team. Payment methods include:
- Columbia Air/Rail Central Pay Account for Group airfare
- Columbia Corporate Card for Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) services
Note: The University is a tax-exempt organization and Travel Arrangers booking Meetings or Events in tax-exempt states should request that tax not be collected. To secure an exemption from sales tax all purchases must be made with University funds. Purchases made with personal funds, including purchases that will be reimbursed by the University, are not eligible for sales tax exemption.
Please visit Exemption & State/Sales/User Taxes for a list of states that provide sales tax exemption. Should a tax exemption certificate be requested by a supplier, it may be obtained through the Finance Service Center.
Expenses related to Group Travel must be reconciled by Columbia Travel Arrangers via Concur Expense. Each air/rail ticket issued will show as an individual charge in Concur to be reconciled by the Columbia Travel Arranger.
Refunded deposits for block space on flights must be reconciled by the Columbia Travel Arranger.
Still have questions?
General questions on Group Air or Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) services may be emailed to World Travel Inc.’s World Meetings and Events team.
For all other questions, visit our Finance Service Center.