19TC1026Q0003_Meeting Minutes.pdf

Solicitation No.: 19TC1026Q0003 – Travel Management Services Pre-Quotation Conference - Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 3

Solicitation No.: 19TC1026Q0003

Travel Management Services

Pre-Quotation Conference

Meeting Minutes

Date: June 30, 2026 Time: 09:30 am – 10:30 am

Venue: U.S. Embassy Abu Dhabi

Panel: Contracting Officer (CO)

Technical Team: Senior Travel Assistant/Contracting Officer’s Representative

(COR), & Travel Assistant

Procurement Team: Procurement & Contracting Supervisor and Contracting

Agent

Attendees: Twenty-six (26) representatives from fourteen (14) companies.

Introduction:

The Contracting Officer welcomed all interested bidders, explained the purpose of the meeting, and introduced the Embassy’s panel. The rest of the meeting attendees introduced themselves.

Action Items:

Quotation is due at 4:00 pm on July 9, 2026

Note to Bidders:

The information contained within these questions and answers is provided for informational purposes and under no circumstances shall it be construed to change any terms and conditions or requirements within the solicitation. If any answer does address a change in the solicitation, it will reference an Amendment.

Overview:

The Procurement Team explained the following:

• This is a Firm-Fixed Price Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract with

Economic Price Adjustment for Travel Management services.

• The contract includes a base year plus four (4) one-year option periods. The anticipated

Period of Performance for the base year is September 23 2026 through September 22, 2027. Bidders must submit price proposals in the format specified in the RFQ and must account for all applicable local economic and inflation factors. Award will be made to the Lowest Priced Technically Acceptable (LPTA) bidder.

• Each option year is subject to renewal no later than 60 days prior to expiration, contingent upon the availability of funds.

• Bidders are encouraged to complete the pricing table in Section 1, 2.3 for price evaluation purposes and FAR Clause 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services for 6 months. The cost/price information provided will be used to evaluate the total price of the award for all options in 52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract and 52.217-8 Option to

Extend Services plus the total price for the basic requirement ONLY. The price offered in

Pre-Quotation Conference - Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 3 the table (Reference Section 2.3.6) will not be included in the total contract award amount; however, if you choose not to provide any cost/price information for each line item below, your Price Proposal will be considered incomplete, labeled as failure to follow instructions, and no further consideration will be given.

• The Government intends to award a contract based on initial quotations without discussion. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions with bidders within the competitive range if deemed necessary. Refer to Section 4 of the

Solicitation – "Evaluation Factors" for further details.

• Value Added Tax (VAT) is excluded from all CLIN rates and must be itemized as a separate line item in the pricing table as a lot.

• All UAE-licensed companies must provide a UAE Workmen’s Compensation Plan

(WCP). Defense Base Act (DBA) insurance is mandatory for supplies and services contracts and provides workers' compensation protection to civilian employees working outside the United States on U.S. military bases or under a U.S. Government contract.

Bidders must include the DBA insurance premium cost in their pricing as a separate line item in the pricing table. DBA insurance may be obtained from any Department of

Labor-approved provider listed at http://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/lscarrier.htm. DBA premium is reimbursable.

• Prospective bidders must contact an insurance provider to obtain an estimated DBA insurance quote and include it in their price proposal. Upon award, the Contractor must reach out to the insurance provider to obtain a final quote ensuring the price validity and send it to the Embassy for approval. Once the approval is provided by the Embassy to purchase DBA insurance, the contractor can then proceed to purchase DBA insurance out of their pocket and provide the Embassy with the DBA insurance policy documents. The policy should include the contract number and start date must match the contract’s effective date. The contractor’s name on the policy must match the name on the contractor’s license and SAM registration.

• System for Award Management (SAM) Registration: All bidders must maintain an active System for Award Management (SAM) registration prior to contract award. As part of your bid submission, you must provide evidence of Unique Entity ID (UEID) and

CAGE Code. Proposals without evidence of “Active” SAM registration along with UEID and CAGE Code will be disqualified from further evaluation. If you are not yet registered, begin the process immediately at www.SAM.gov. A SAM registration guide has been distributed to prospective bidders separately for your reference.

• Bidders must submit their proposals by completing the following documentation, as outlined in Section 3, Summary of Instructions:

a) A completed solicitation, in which the SF-1449 cover page (blocks 17a, 19-24, and 30a, 30b & 30c as appropriate), and Section 1 has been filled out..

b) Completed Section 1, para 2.3, Pricing – for CLIN rates.

c) Copies of documents and details of items required in Section 3 (Solicitation

Provisions).

d) Completed Section 5 (Representations and Certifications).

e) Completed Document submission checklist

• Document Submission Checklist: The document submission checklist is provided solely to help bidders verify that all required documents have been included in their submission; however, it is not an evaluation criterion.

http://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/lscarrier.htm http://www.sam.gov/

Pre-Quotation Conference - Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 3

• Quotation Submission Instructions: All proposals must be submitted electronically to

AbuDhabiContracts@state.gov, with a copy to JohnJM@state.gov, using the following subject line: "Quotation Enclosed – Solicitation No. 19TC1026Q0003".

Bidders must adhere to the following submission requirements:

• All files must be in PDF format.

• Each file must not exceed 10MB. If your submission exceeds this limit, divide it into multiple files and send each in a separate email, ensuring each file remains under 10MB.

• File-sharing links (e.g., WeTransfer, OneDrive, etc.) will not be accepted under any circumstances.

• Quotation Deadline: Quotations are due no later than 4:00 p.m. (local time) on July 9, 2026. Late proposals will not be accepted.

The COR/Technical Team explained the Scope of Work (SOW) of the solicitation in detail with the following remarks:

• The Statement of Work and evaluation criteria of Section 3 was mentioned.

• A sample invoice was shown.

• Embassy does not store any data of its passengers as it is considered Personally

Identifiable Information (PII).

• USG City Pair Fares can be found from the website City Pair Program (CPP) | GSA.

• Form of Payments was explained. 80% of charges are made to Centrally Billed Account

(CBA), 15% of charges are made to Individually Billed Accounts (IBA). Government

Travel Request (GTR) is very rarely issued to those who do not accept credit card payments.

• Government Purchase Card reconciliation process was explained.

• Fly America Act was explained. It was explained that most of the tickets are issued to

American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines.

The pre-quotation conference adjourned at 10:30 am.

mailto:AbuDhabiContracts@state.gov mailto:JohnJM@state.gov https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-a-trip/transportation-airfare-rates-pov-rates/airfare-rates-city-pair-program