Why crew travel needs its own procurement design
A rotational worker on a 28/28 schedule makes about 13 round trips a year, almost always on fixed days that can still shift by 24 to 72 hours. Vessel crew join and leave ships at ports that change with the voyage, often on one-way tickets into a country they will leave by sea. Offshore oil and gas crew connect from a hub airport to a heliport for the final leg, so a cancelled helicopter flight cascades into hotel nights and rebooked air.
That pattern produces four cost lines that a standard program does not price:
- Flexible one-way fares. Without a marine fare, a one-way international ticket with free changes is among the most expensive fares an airline sells.
- Changes after ticketing. 30%–50% of crew tickets change at least once. Each change costs an agent fee of $20–$45 plus any airline change fee and fare difference.
- Baggage. Personal protective equipment and tools push crew over standard allowances on a third or more of moves.
- Weather and transfer delays. Unplanned hotel nights at the hub or heliport, often at walk-up rates.
The general fee baseline is on the TMC fee benchmarks report; this page covers what is specific to crew.
Marine and offshore fares: what they are and how to buy them
Many international carriers publish special fares for seafarers and offshore energy workers traveling to join or leave a vessel or installation. Terms differ by carrier and are filed through agencies that hold marine fare agreements, but they usually share these features:
- One-way pricing that is not simply half a return, with long ticket validity.
- Changes and refunds free or at low penalty, which matters more than the base fare when 30%–50% of tickets change.
- A larger free baggage allowance than standard economy.
- Eligibility proof: a letter from the employer or manning agent, and sometimes a seafarer’s identity document, presented at check-in.
Marine fares are not always the lowest fare on a route; an advance-purchase economy fare can be cheaper on paper. They are almost always cheaper than the flexible one-way fare crew actually need, once changes and bags are counted. Compare total trip cost, not base fare.
Two procurement points follow. First, not every TMC holds marine fare agreements or a 24/7 crew desk; specialist marine agencies do. A crew program often needs a specialist for crew moves and a corporate TMC for office travel, with one data feed. The TMC RFP guide and the TMC comparison matrix cover how to score both. Second, where the same hub routes carry crew and office travel, a corporate airline deal should exclude marine-fare tickets from its share calculation or count them explicitly; carriers treat the two differently. Air distribution issues, including GDS surcharges on non-NDC bookings, are on the NDC surcharge page.
Crew travel benchmarks
| Metric | Typical program | Audited target |
|---|---|---|
| Eligible crew moves on marine or offshore fares | 20%–50% | 80%+ |
| Crew tickets changed after issue | 30%–50% | Same rate, fee-free changes |
| Crew bookings made inside 72 hours | 40%–60% | <25% with rotation-plan feed |
| Moves paying excess baggage | 30%–40% at $80–$250 | <5% |
| Unused and no-show crew tickets recovered | 30%–50% | 95%+ |
| Agent fee per crew change | $20–$45 | $0–$15 or bundled |
| Camp bed-nights billed above verified occupancy | 4%–9% | <1% |
Business Travel Consulting 2026 benchmarks from crew-travel invoices, camp contracts and audits.