By far, the worst travel management company I have ever experienced.
The company I work for contracted with Amex GBT to manage our travel needs, including airline tickets, hotels, and ground transportation. Unfortunately, since the transition, the experience has been consistently problematic and has created a significant amount of additional work for employees who depend on them to manage our travel accurately and efficiently.
Our company operates 24/7, yet Amex GBT does not provide the level of support necessary for a 24/7 operation. My colleagues and I have experienced airline tickets and hotel reservations being canceled prior to arrival without explanation, transportation not being scheduled or confirmed, and reservations requiring last-minute intervention to prevent disruptions. This is particularly frustrating given that Amex GBT has access to our work schedules and travel itineraries.
Communication has been another major issue. I have personally spent more than 10 minutes on hold simply trying to reach an agent to resolve problems created by their own booking errors. This is not an isolated incident. Many of my colleagues have experienced the same difficulty getting timely assistance from their representatives.
What makes the situation even more frustrating is that customers are charged for phone calls and use of the in-app chat. When employees are forced to contact Amex GBT repeatedly to correct issues caused by Amex GBT, being charged for those interactions feels particularly unreasonable.
We have been dealing with these issues for nearly a year, and there has been little meaningful improvement. In my experience, representatives often appear inadequately prepared to handle the complexities of our travel requirements, and the level of service has consistently fallen short of what I would expect from a professional travel management company.
We have repeatedly communicated these concerns to leadership within our organization, but because of our existing contract with Amex GBT, we appear to have limited options.
For any company considering Amex GBT as its travel management provider, I would strongly recommend doing your due diligence and speaking with current customers before signing a contract. Based on my experience, you should be prepared for last-minute cancellations, booking issues, inadequate communication, and additional charges—all while your employees spend valuable time correcting problems that should have been handled correctly in the first place.
Ultimately, the biggest issue is not an occasional mistake. Mistakes happen in any business. The problem is the frequency of the issues, the difficulty getting them resolved, and the amount of additional work their failures create for the customer.
After nearly a year, I can confidently say that Amex GBT has not made our travel management easier. They have made it considerably more complicated.