Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii revealed that SatoTravel, its
travel management contractor, has been paying rebates of 4.55% on
official travel and 3.80% on leisure travel under a contract
negotiated some years ago.
Because SatoTravel's contract is expiring, Hickam has called for
bids by Feb. 8 on its official travel account, estimated at $7.5
million, and its leisure account, estimated at $1.9 million.
The base would like to keep earning rebates, but a hue and cry
from the travel agency industry has prompted it to allow bidders to
propose one or several pricing structures, which could include
transaction or management fees. Each pricing offer "will be
evaluated on its own merit," the base said.
SatoTravel's rebates were disclosed in a solicitation amendment
that answered bidders' questions.