Home run service for the New York Mets
Maintaining the status quo? Not the Mets. While other teams might be okay with sticking to the “norm”, the New York Mets view baseball and their entire group as a progressive entertainment organization. They want to be known for delivering their fans a fully-fledged experience. And for their travelers, the experience they most needed was high-touch service and a user-friendly way of booking.
While the team had an online booking tool before, it seemed usage was limited. Their travel program saw a ton of leakage from people booking on their own. Travel was becoming costly and inefficient, until they were introduced to Corporate Traveler.
A team with ever-changing needs
Both in-season and off-season, the travel needs for The Mets is ever-changing. Their organization sees executives traveling year-round with demanding itineraries, and efficiency is key. Because quick turnarounds and last-minute changes were the norm, it was really important to have the human support they needed alongside cost-effective solutions.
As a family-owned organization, they wanted their team to travel comfortably, without bending the budget.
Finding the balance of people & tech
The Mets were seeking to partner with forward-thinking companies that offered modern, user-friendly travel technology. While they previously had access to an online booking tool, next to no one used it. Travelers booked their own reservations instead, making it difficult to find value and savings that scaled with the business.
Plus, booking travel for the scouts and players required higher-touch, knowledgeable support, so their chosen provider needed to offer that. They needed a partner who understood how to manage both the corporation-style travel and the complicated travel of talent.
In their research, the Mets felt no competitor came with the expertise and dedicated support model of Corporate Traveler Stage, Screen & Sports. Off the jump, their dedicated travel consultant, Julia, found creative ways to service all aspects of the Mets travel and continues to do so.
And for those who prefer to self-book? Melon is a platform that the team wants to use. Each Mets team member can log on to Melon directly and quickly and easily book their own travel, which means online adoption has skyrocketed. This helps the Mets ensure all of their bookings are captured in one spot which, in turn, enables them to take full advantage of their corporate negotiated rates and Corporate Traveler's full buying power.
An extension of their team – especially in the busiest season
Working with the Mets is truly like being an extension of their team – the Corporate Traveler Stage, Screen & Sports team is able to seamlessly tackle all facets of its business travel.
Jan Padron, a Mets Purchasing Agent, agrees: "You understand us and not only our needs but our wants…from cars to hotels to flights, you're able to fulfill them and find fun and different ways to take care of whatever need we have."
Strong partnerships are built on trust, and the Corporate Traveler X Mets has seen total transparency and honesty around the clock. Even during the team's busiest time of year, Spring Training. Prepping for this hectic time takes laser-sharp attention to detail in order to quickly book thousands of flights for scouts, front-office personnel, minor and major league players, coaches and others.
Will Melon and Corporate Traveler's Stage, Screen & Sports team behind them, the 2023 season was seamless. The result? Everyone was booked before airline fares went up, and each traveler got where they needed to go on their preferred flight.
As Cheyenne Randolph, Customer Success Manager notes, “No agency would have done that with people alone – technology and Melon played a huge role in the success of the Mets 2023 Spring Training.”
A match in people-first core values
In all successful partnerships, most organizations are looking for aligned values. And, as Steve Canna, the Mets CFO puts it, "It was clear that Corporate Traveler had the same customer-focused goals…We’re a people-first organization and that mentality and way of conducting business aligns very well with the Mets."
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