Travel has greatly evolved since man first thought of going to distant places. From horse-drawn carriages and carts to rudimentary vehicles and finally, to the super-fast planes and trains of today, means of travel have kept growing and evolving, and they've changed a lot on the way. For starters, it led to the birth of travel agents, third parties who would handle all the demanding work regarding business and leisure travel for a fair price. That worked for a while until again, technology forced things to move forward. This time, the lone traveler had a plethora of online tools at his disposal, such as search and booking tools, and these put the onus of planning and executing a trip in their hands. Travel management companies, on the other hand, offer travelers a unique service; they'll plan your trip for you, down to the smallest detail, for a fair price. All you have to do is pay the agreed fee and show up on time. Now, both systems bring a lot to the table, so let's look at them separately. Online booking tools (OBT) bring together all the benefits of the internet, and that's a whole world of information made available to you at the touch of a button. And unlike human resources that have to turn in at the end of the day, online booking tools work 24/7; they can be accessed anytime from anywhere. On top of that, they save a lot of time. Furthermore, one of their best features is that they make travel policy compliance quite easy. Just integrate your policy into the system and voila, you have near-perfect policy compliance. Such a system would filter out all the unfavorable options like expensive rooms or first-class flights, and highlight the options that agree most with your travel policy. Travel Management Companies (TMC) are based on the fact that ultimately, technology alone won't do the job. Okay, it may serve just fine, but having an experienced professional who can react to changes in ways a computer couldn’t is extremely crucial. More than that, TMCs like CrewFacilities offer 24/7 customer service, years’ worth of expert knowledge and tons of experience. This can be especially helpful when a traveler finds themselves in an emergency, hundreds or thousands of miles away from home. Who says you have to choose? It's not an either-or game, but more like cherry-picking what suits you most from both systems and making it work for you. It's entirely possible and compared to picking one option and sticking with it, it's a far better choice. Two heads are better than one, right?  Both options have lots of benefits, and combining them into one travel management package like what is offered by CrewFacilities.com, will not only help you fulfill your duty of care obligations, but you'll also enjoy near-perfect policy compliance. For example, we form dedicated PODS to oversee a corporate trip and also use our remarkable technologies, such as the CrewFacts App, to bring the benefits of the internet into the palm of your hands. To learn more about how we can bring the best of both worlds (TMC and OBT), contact us today.