WASHINGTON -- Vandenberg Air Force Base and three other Air Force
installations in California called for bids by May 22 on their
combined official and leisure travel accounts.
Estimated at $5.1 million in official travel and $1.7 million in
leisure travel, the accounts are held by Omega World Travel of
Fairfax, Va., under expiring contracts.
Vandenberg, about 50 miles from Santa Barbara, is conducting the
procurement for itself and Beale Air Force Base near Marysville,
McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento and Onizuka Air Station
near San Jose.
The solicitation allows transaction fees and/or rebates on air
fares for official travel and a monthly rebate for leisure
travel.
The solicitation requires bidders to list all their government
and corporate clients during the past three years, so the base can
query some of them on the agency's performance record.
In evaluating bids, "past performance is approximately equal to
price," it said. The winner would take over July 1 for a one-year
contract, with two two-month renewal options.
Vandenberg posted a draft solicitation on www.eps.gov, with comments
or questions due by May 8.
A contracting officer said "only minor changes are
anticipated."
Meanwhile, F.E. Warren Air Force Base near Cheyenne, Wyo.,
called for bids by May 31 on its official and leisure travel
accounts.
The accounts, held by American Express under expiring contracts,
are estimated at $1.2 million in official air sales and $550,000 in
leisure sales.
Warren said it anticipates making an award on about June 15,
with the winner taking over on July 1 -- an unusually short time
frame. The winner would get a one-year contract with a one-year
renewal option.
The base said travel agencies of all sizes can bid and have the
option of proposing transaction fees or rebates.
A rebate on official travel would be "reflected as an up-front
reduction on the base air fare of each official commissionable
ticket," it said. A rebate on leisure travel would be in the form
of a monthly payment.
The solicitation also is posted at www.eps.gov. Click "vendors,"
then click "posted dates" in the USAF row of the chart, then look
under May 3 for Warren.