19GE5022R0002 Q and A.pdf

Travel Management Services US Embassy Amman

Solicitation Number 19GE5022R0002

Questions and Answers

Q1: Domestic and International travel includes travel outside of the country of Iraq in which the U. S. Embassy Baghdad and its affiliated Consulate in Erbil, U. S. Embassy Amman- Jordan, and U. S. Embassy Damascus - Syria are located, and travel outside that country, including travel within the U. S. and other countries.

Need clear sectors for Air Fare like from Origin to Destination?

A1: Disclaimer: There are no clear or specific sectors as the travelers can go to anywhere in the world. As a reference and solely a reference, we have pulled the main CONUS destinations that were flown to from Amman last year and pasted them below.

AMM-JFK/ORD-DCA-JFK/ORD-AMM

AMM-IAD-AMM

EBL-DOH-IAD-DOH-EBL

IST-CDG-IAD-CDG-IST

Q2: Traveler profiles, Travel reservations, options researching, issuance and delivery of tickets for air, rail, bus, and ocean vessel carriers; refunds, and where possible, advance seat assignments and advance boarding passes.

Please clarify the above point as providing the seat assignments and boarding passes in advance is subject to availability

A2: The preferences will be listed in the travelers’ profile. The TMC will be able to review the profile and make seat assignments subject to the availability on the airline’s seat map or their procedures.

Q3: Accurate and automated reconciliation of travel charges incurred through the Government's CBA, GTR, and IBA accounts.

Please provide some more information / inputs.

A3: The RSU travel supervisor and Voucher Examiner will download bankcard statement from the Citibank website. An eCopy of the statement will be used to reconcile each transaction in the statement against the supporting ticket issuance and travel documents that the TMC must provide one a monthly basis.

Q4: Questions regarding W-14 form:

1. If we did not tick number 8 and 9, shall we leave the fields between 10-15 empty?

2. The date should be written as month/day/year or day/month/year, and what date we need to put, is it 12JUL2022or any date before it is ok?

3. What does capacity to act means, and who shall fill it us or the GOV??

A4:

1. Yes, but if you do not tick either 8 or 9, there is no need to submit the form, since you will not be seeking an exemption.

2. The specific format is not important, instead ensure that it is clear which is the day, and which is the month (i.e., DD-MMM-YY). It should be the date the form is signed.

3. The form must be signed by someone within your company with the authority to sign for the company; therefore, this is asking for the job title of the person signing (i.e. CEO, CFO, etc.)

Q5: Does someone from our team will have to be physically in the Embassy Office?

A5: Yes, see RFP paragraph 13.0.

Q6: What is the minimum amount of IATA BSP bank guarantee in JOD/ USD is required to be considered as capable of soliciting travel services for U.S. Embassy Amman and its affiliates?

A6: A bank guarantee is not required for the solicitation.

Q7: Given that we provide a detailed transition plan, can personnel be hired if and when award is granted?

A7: Yes.

Q8: Price Proposal shall include parts of the standard form attached in initial email. Is it possible to obtain it in MS Word format too?

A8: Yes.

Q9: In the list of services required in pages 4 to 6, can you please elaborate on the differences between on-site and online

A9: For on-site the Travel Agents must be (physically located) in the Embassy. For online the Travel Agents can be located elsewhere to provide the service via an electronic medium.

Q10: In the list of services required in pages 4 to 6, can you please elaborate more on overnight and courier delivery fee? What is the purpose of such services?

A10: This refers to what the service fee price be for a delivery of the visa or specific documents.

Q11: In the list of services required in pages 4 to 6, -to make things clear- the unit price shall present the service charge for the required item.

A11: Correct.

Q12: Is it possible to provide me with at least the percentage of individuals traveling to the United States and others to other countries? As this point affects the rates of the tickets.

A12: This changes every year as it depends on the destinations that the travelers are requesting.

Last year the percentages of the major destination were: 60% CONUS and 40% other destinations

Q13: If the costs change significantly throughout the PoP, would an equitable adjustment be performed?

A13: No.

Q14: Can past performance be used from Teaming partner/subcontractor?

A14: The contractor should provide past performance information for both the prime and subcontractor to demonstrate the team’s qualification to perform the services described in the performance work statement.

Q15: How shall we submit the price proposal?

A15: See RFP pages 70-71, Detailed Instructions, Volume 1: Price Proposal.

Q16: Since VAT should not be included in the proposal, will the US Embassy Amman provide a VAT exemption to the contractor, or is that something that the contractor would need to already have?

A16: The Regional Support Unit of the U.S. Embassy will provide the contractor with the required VAT exemption letter.

Q17: Can you elaborate on the subject of the Charging of Transaction Fees? Is the charging based on each PNR?

A17: Please see section B.1.4 Contract price, where it states that the government will pay based on the transaction not, PNR.

Q18: Would DBA apply for the two agents on site?

A18: Yes.

Q19: The solicitation states Key Personnel will be 1 project manager and 1 site manager - in Page 27 / 21.0 Key Personnel, since Page 24 / 13.0 Place of Performance says there are two separate offices, according to Page 67 / 52.212-1 (e) Multiple offers, can we submit two pricing offers to suggest the following:

• one pricing offer with 1 site manager for both offices

• a second pricing offer with 2 site managers - one for each office A19: Multiple offers are acceptable but understand that since the two offices are in separate buildings on the same embassy compound, the most efficient operation is likely one that has one site manager who manages both offices.

Q20: Can you please reconfirm on what constitutes a Transaction that allows to charge a Fee on? Is it per each PNR, or per each travel order?

A20: See A17.

Q21: Just to make sure there are no ambiguities, Point 18.2.1 says: "The (individual) itinerary could have multiple tickets, but only one transaction fee per is charged".

Can you clarify? Per what?

A21: “per itinerary”

Q22: About the toll-free number, we kindly request a clear explanation of toll free considering that the location of arranging the travel services is in Jordan, travelers are located in Iraq or Jordan, and all travel is international (abroad).

Can internet calling be used alternatively such as Skype or Facetime Calls?

In our current operation, we are using iPhones the same as Embassy staff and we are using Facetime - as it covers most locations, and during working hours we are using the land lines. In addition, the procedure of work that travelers contact their Embassy travel arranger first.

A22: Travelers are located mainly in Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Doha. However, they need to be able to call from any location around the world that they are traveling. There is no restriction to the toll-free number being internet based.

Q23: We kindly need to address the point about processing fees charged by credit card companies:

1. The processing fee is directly charged by the credit card company by adding it to the transaction amount. It is a % of the total chargeable amount - the bigger the chargeable amount the higher the processing fee value.

2. Airlines outside the U.S. that are charged those amounts by credit card companies do push the additional cost directly to travelers or agents when buying tickets (ex. European carriers such as Lufthansa..etc), and these cannot be waived or removed from the ticket.

3. When traveler deviates from the official travel and performs personal travel, the difference in cost (if any) and the transaction fee charge, both are between the traveler and the Contractor, which charged to travelers. The government accepts no liability for the cost of any personal travel arranged - since it is traveler choice to make the deviation.

So why point 4.9.12 is involving the traveler in this case? Since it is a % of the amount payable using the credit card, as an agent would be at a loss if it is not covered by the traveler.

A23: The government Citibank Travel card, does not incur credit card fees. As pointed out in 4.9.12, when a traveler is using the non-authorized route or purchases a personal ticket, the credit card and any other fees in excess of the U.S. government’s charge will need to be directly paid by the traveler.

Q24: Is there anything we need to do in section 652.206-70?

A24: No, this is information only.

Q25: Regarding the financial statements for monthly billing, shall we provide 3 statements 1 for CBA reconciliation (based on the Citibank statement, one for GTR purchases per agency, and one for transaction fees?

A25: Yes, the Citibank statement has a separate sheet for the CBA and one for the GTR. (The transaction fees must be linked to each of those transaction, so it will be part of either of the two.

Q26: What financial solvency/IATA certifications/official registrations needed from our side?

A26: Please check section B 12.1.2 and 24.0.

Q27: Can you give more information regarding the automation part int 4.8.3

RECONCILIATION REPORT OF TRANSPORTATION BILLINGS

How will the supplied fiscal data be provided? If through PDF then it will be manual copy/paste entries so it will not be automated.?

A27: A travel authorization that shows the authorized routing and the approved funding is issued, to the Travel Management Contractor (TMC) before issuance of a ticket.

Q28: Can you complete the paragraph 4.10; the statement is cut (not complete) so please state what it should be?

A28: “…do not subscribe to a GDS.”.

Q29: With regards to implement integration with eTS and MyServices:

• Will you be connecting us and leading the integration with these services?

• How will we be able to define the CLIN ON-LINE SERVICES transaction fee if we do not know how much effort or investment it will take to connect the integration between the systems??

A29: These systems are U.S. Government installed systems and the TMC will receive a copy of the approved Travel Order. The TMC is not required to develop or invest anything to accomplish this integration.

Q30: Ref. page 56, Here we are a previous contractor. Can you please provide us with the “required compliance reports"?

A30: This section of the Representation and Certifications (52.212-3 (d)) refers to compliance with the Equal Opportunity regulation (Executive Order 11246). A foreign company, that has not performed on a contract within the United States will not have been subject to the Equal Opportunity clause and therefore will not have completed any compliance reports.

Q31: We are a Jordanian company, based in Jordan and all our staff are Jordanians. Does DEFENSE BASE INSURANCE (DBA) apply to us?

A31: Yes.

Q32: If we are asked to provide Other services not just in the CLIN, such as arranging travel for Pets of US State dept employees.

Where can we indicate the pricing for them?

A32: Extra services not in the CLIN, will either be added to a contract amendment, or it will be paid for directly by the traveler. For the purposes of this contract the listed CLIN are the requirement. If a bidder wants to propose additional services, they can add those separately.

Q33: Can you clarify if we need to re-submit Section K in this section, even though it is submitted in Volume 1?

A33: No, Section K (Representation and Certifications) should only be included in Vol 1 (Price Proposal).

Q34: For section K, do we only take the statements we need to mark and copy paste them, or should we take the entire section and pages?

A34: Inclusion of only those pages that require input of the offeror is sufficient.