RFI 20346425N00001.pdf

Request for Information Travel Management Services

20346425N00001

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to find capable vendors to support the Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps) with Travel Management Services. VENDORS MUST REVIEW THE

ENTIRE REQUIREMENT AND SHALL ONLY RESPOND IF FULLY CAPABLE OF SATISFYING ALL

ASPECTS OF THE REQUIREMENT.

This is an RFI for market research purposes, and not a solicitation.

I. SCOPE SUMMARY (see DRAFT SOW for requirement details)

The Statement of Work (SOW) is to establish Travel Management Services to AmeriCorps to furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the Statement of Work.

II. ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The anticipated Period of Performance will be for one (1) 12-month base period and four (4) 12-month option periods from 07/31/2025 through 07/31/2030.

III. ADDITIONAL DETAILS

NO SOLICITATION IS AVAILABLE. A request for more information, or a copy of the solicitation, will not be considered an affirmative response to this Request for Information. Telephone responses or inquiries to this Request for Information will NOT be accepted.

Fiscal Service will consider written responses received no later than 2:00 PM EST, Monday December 30, 2024.

Responses must be submitted electronically to purchasing@fiscal.treasury.gov, with the subject line: RFI 20346425N00001, Attn: BGuinn/JYoung – Travel Management Services. Vendor responses must include sufficient evidence that clearly shows the proposed services are capable of meeting all the aspects of the requirement as described within the Statement of Work.

Questions about this RFI will not be entertained, as a vendor pool is all that is being sought at this time. Questions and Answers will be fielded during the RFP period in the future. Proposals will not be accepted at this time.

Qualified contractors must provide the following:

1. The name and location of your company, contact information, and identify your business size and socioeconomic category (Small Business, Disadvantaged Business, 8(a), Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, HubZone, etc.). Please ensure contact information includes the name of the point of contact, email address, and telephone number should the Government have questions regarding individual responses.

2. What GSA contract or other vehicle your services are available through, including the schedule/GWAC number, NAICS Codes, and applicable SIN.

3. Submissions should include sufficient evidence clearly demonstrating a vendor’s capability.

Responding vendors shall provide a general capabilities statement that includes a description of their standard line(s) of business, information outlining their experience, along with a technical narrative addressing each specified requirement in the Statement of Work.

4. UEI Number.

The following file extensions are not allowable and application materials/data submitted with these extensions cannot be considered: .bat, .cmd, .com, .exe, .pif, .rar, .scr, .vbs, .hta,, .cpl, and .zip files.

Microsoft Office compatible documents are acceptable.

No other information regarding this Request for Information will be provided at this time.

This notice does not restrict the Government to an ultimate acquisition approach. All firms responding to this notice are advised that their response is not a request that will be considered for contract award. All interested parties will be required to respond to any resultant solicitation separately from their response to this notice, should one be issued.

Statement of Work (SOW) Travel Management Services

GENERAL INFORMATION

Title of Project:

Travel Management Services for AmeriCorps Member Travel.

Statement of Need, Purpose, and/or Objective:

AmeriCorps requests to create a vehicle for procurement of travel management services for Member Travel.

Background Information:

AmeriCorps is an independent government agency that provides grants and volunteering services that improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement in supporting American Citizens. AmeriCorps is the nation’s largest grant maker supporting service and volunteering to meet the nation’s education, public safety, environmental, disaster response and human needs.

Through our Senior Corps and AmeriCorps programs, we provide opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to volunteer, while addressing critical community needs.

AmeriCorps members hail from all 50 states plus Puerto Rico, Guam, America Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Virgin Islands and 150 Tribal Nations. Subsequently AmeriCorps members may serve in any of these locations. Managing and arranging travel for members is integral to success of the programs and their members.

Member travelers are AmeriCorps volunteer members requiring full-service reservations.

Period of Performance:

Base Period of performance will be July 31, 2025, through July 30, 2026, with up to four additional option years, each consisting of 12 months.

Place of Performance:

The primary place of performance will be the Contractor’s facilities.

Hours of Operation:

Travel and fulfillment service call-line shall be available to AmeriCorps employees 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for Member Travel reservations.

Federal Holidays:

Federal law (5 U.S.C. 6103) establishes the following public holidays for Federal employees.

Please note that most Federal employees work on a Monday through Friday schedule. For these employees, when a holiday falls on a non-workday –Saturday or Sunday – the holiday usually is observed on Monday (if the holiday falls on Sunday) or Friday (if the holiday falls on Saturday).

Contractors shall follow these same guidelines. Direct billing/invoicing shall not be allowed for any Federal Government Holidays (e.g. New Year’s Day; Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.;

Birthday of George Washington; Memorial Day; Junteenth National Independence Day;

Independence Day; Labor Day; Columbus Day; Veterans Day; Thanksgiving Day; Christmas Day).

SCOPE OF WORK

General Requirements:

Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the Statement of Work below.

Specific Requirements:

The purpose of this AmeriCorps task order is to continue TMC service solutions without interruption to support Member travel.

These TMC services will include but are not limited to:

a) Full service, agent-assisted, and self-service, no agent assistance, travel reservation and fulfillment services for air, rail, water vessel, car rental, and lodging.

b) Ensuring travel services are rendered in accordance with Federal Travel Regulations

(FTR).

c) Generate a monthly government travel charge card (GTCC) centrally billed account (CBA) files that marry individual CBA line-item charges with individual traveler authorization data.

d) Management reports

e) Traveler profile creation and maintenance

f) Itineraries

g) Performance standards

h) Quality assurance/control

i) Ticketing

i) Technology

j) Call center services

k) Documentation

l) Training (self-service and group travel applications)

m) Unused ticket accounting

n) Credit and refund services

o) Messaging

p) General user support

q) Emergency services

RESERVATION AND FULFILLMENT SERVICES

The Contractor shall provide reservation and fulfillment services that include but not limited to the following:

a. Self Service, no agent assistance, Domestic or International Travel with air and/or rail and/ or water vessel.

b. Self Service Domestic or International Travel without air and/or rail and/ or water vessel (lodging and/or rental car only).

c. Non-Self-service, agent assisted; domestic travel with air and/or rail and/or water vessel.

d. Non-Self-service international travel with air and/or rail and/ or water vessel.

e. Non-Self-service domestic or international travel without air and/or rail and/ or water vessel (lodging and/or car rental only).

f. Issue and deliver tickets for all commercial modes of transportation to include air and rail

g. Ensure offering of all transportation options are in accordance with FTR regulations. To include but not limited to GSA’s Airline City Pair, Fly America Act and Open Skies Agreement.

h. Allow for mandatory usage exceptions of the GSA Airline City Pair program as outlined in the FTR. Any time an exception is used, the traveler’s reservation record shall be annotated with the exception being applied.

i. When seats are not available under the regulatory programs ensure the lowest available unrestricted fare is offered.

j. When seats are not available under the regulatory programs restricted fares may be offered under the following conditions: 1) traveler has to specifically request the restricted fare and 2) the traveler has to provide written acknowledgment of complete understanding of the restrictions, recourse of non-use and identification of supervisor approval.

k. Provide advance seat assignment and advance boarding passes in accordance with respective airline polices.

l. Allow for itinerary changes before and after tickets are issued.

m. Ensure there is a restriction to use of Premium Class Service in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulations 41 CFR 301-10.121 through 301-10.124. The contractor shall immediately notify the COTR, by e-mail, of all reservations made in premium class service and notify the traveler of the requirement to obtain approval prior to issuance of a premium class service ticket. The contractor shall not issue premium service class tickets without written approval.

COMMERCIAL LODGING SERVICES

The Contractor shall provide reservation service for commercial lodging, to include the following:

a. Provide comprehensive lodging reservation services to include making and confirming reservations and rates.

b. Provide as initial offering lodging facilities that are offered under the General Services Administration FedRooms program.

COMMERCIAL CAR RENTAL SERVICES

The Contractor shall provide reservation service for commercial car rentals, to include the

a. Provide comprehensive rental car reservation services to include but not limited to making and confirming reservations and rates.

b. Provide as initial offering car rentals that are offered under the Defense Travel Management Office U. S. Government Car Rental Program.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL SERVICES

International Travel Services if required at all will be minimal. If required, the Contractor shall provide for international travel, to include the following:

a. Arrange for international travel, including reservations and ticket delivery for air, rail, and water vessel transportation., reservations for hotel/motel accommodations, and for car rental services.

b. Advise travelers on:

(1) necessary health requirements, including types of inoculations and vaccinations either required or suggested for foreign travel.

(2) conditions at the various foreign destinations, including climatic conditions, types of clothing which are appropriate or essential, national and religious holidays, civil unrest, location of American embassies and consulates, etc.

(3) foreign currency exchange rates and transactions, securing automobile insurance in conjunction with foreign car rentals, and excess baggage requirements and fees.

(4) passport (i.e. official and tourist) and visas requirements and information on obtaining passports and visas.

ITINERARY/PASSENGER RECEIPT SERVICES

The Contractor shall provide electronic, hard copy when requested, itineraries/passenger receipt that includes, but not limited to, the following:

a. Carrier(s) name(s).

b. Flight, train, and voyage numbers.

c. If use of a non-contract air carrier is authorized, annotation of one or more of the exceptions to mandatory use of the GSA airline city-pair contracts.

d. Departure and arrival time(s) for each segment of the trip.

e. Name, phone number, location, room rate, and confirmation number of hotels/motels booked by the Contractor at each destination; guaranteed arrival check-in time;

cancellation requirements; and, where applicable, tax-exempt information.

f. Vehicle rental information, to include name and telephone number of suppliers, pickup and return dates, confirmed rate and confirmation number and, where applicable, special pickup instructions and hours of operation, notably for off-airport suppliers.

g. The local and toll-free numbers for both the Contractor servicing office and the after-hours emergency service location and phone number.

h. A statement and a copy of the passenger receipt coupon of all charges associated with the transportation ticket, including the ticket number, price, fees charged and a description of those fees.

TICKET DELIVERY SERVICES

The Contractor shall provide for ticket delivery, to include the following:

a. Ensure timely delivery of tickets, itineraries and other travel documents to travelers.

Unless otherwise requested, tickets and other documents shall be issued no earlier than necessary to arrive three (3) business days before departure.

b. The primary method of ticket delivery must be electronic ticketing or use of ticketless procedures where available. The contractor must ensure timely delivery of tickets, itineraries, and other travel documents to AmeriCorps authorized users.

c. The contractor must be able to provide ticket delivery (e-ticket for airline or paper ticket for train or bus) at the appropriate airport, train station, or bus depot within 2 hours of notice from the agency/organization for travel originating in the U.S.

TELEPHONE RESERVATION SERVICES

The Contractor shall provide agent assisted telephone reservation service, to include the

a. The contractor must provide service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

b. The contractor must provide off-site reservation service with TMC staff located in the

U.S.:

(1) Core Hours: 7:30 AM - 9:00 PM Eastern Time (ET)

(2) Non-Core Hours: All hours not included in the core hours (emergency in route service).

c. The contractor must provide a 24-hour toll free or collect telephone number for both U.S.

and international callers. The contractor must accept collect calls when toll-free access is unavailable.

d. Contractor may use an automatic call distribution system which places the call into queue for the next available agent and advises the traveler of options to continue to hold or leave a message. Return calls shall be made within 30 minutes. In lieu of a recorded message, the Contractor may use an alternative system for ensuring timely response to travelers. The contractor shall ensure sufficient trained staffing of the call center to meet or exceed the following performance standards:

e. Allow for a travel planner to make and/or modify reservations on behalf of a member traveler.

TRAVELER PROFILE INFORMATION

The Contractor shall create and maintain traveler profiles. The profiles shall contain only the information required to fully execute a reservation and meet the TSA Secure Flight Program requirements. Profiles shall not include SSN. Profiles created in the self-service application shall fully be used; however, the self-service profile shall not be mandatory in order to make a reservation through the full-service process.

DATA SUPPORT

As directed by the Government, the Contractor shall provide reservation and ticket data to a third-party management information service designated by GSA.

TICKET REDEMPTION SUPPORT

The Contractor shall provide a service to redeem unused/partially used tickets (both e-tickets and paper tickets) on behalf of AmeriCorps. This includes, but is not limited to, identifying unused tickets, completing necessary forms for their refund, submitting the claim to the carrier, receipt, accounting, and reconciliation of the refund, and reporting such activity.

Performance Standard Core Hours Non-Core Hours Average Speed of Call Answer by Phone System

80% of calls answered in 45 seconds

80% of calls answered in 60 seconds

Average Max Hold Time for Any 30-minute Period During the Month

3.5 Minutes 5 Minutes

Max Hold Time for 95% of all 30 Minute Periods During the Month

12 Minutes 17 Minutes

GROUP AND CONFERENCE TRAVEL SUPPORT

The Contractor shall provide group and conference travel services that includes all the services outlined in this Statement of Work. In addition, the Contractor shall work directly with any third-party meeting planners contracted by AmeriCorps, to provide reservation and fulfillment services.

QUALITY CONTROL SUPPORT

The Contractor shall provide a quality control process that shall ensure every reservation is ticketed. The quality control process shall ensure that every traveler that has provided all required documentation and information for processing the reservation has a ticketed reservation at time of arrival at the airport. The contractor shall use all available means, phone call, e-mail, etc., to contact a traveler regarding documentation and/or information that has not been received and is preventing the reservation from being ticketed. All communication must be documented in the reservation file. All reservation inquiry requests shall be answered completely in laymen language and not industry language.

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

The Contractor shall: Arrange necessary and reasonable special accommodations, including, but not limited to airline seating, in-terminal transfers, ground transportation., and barrier-free or otherwise accessible lodging.

LEVEL OF EFFORT:

Project Manager The Contractor shall provide a Project Manager who shall be responsible for all Contractor work performed under this Task order. The Project Manager is further designated as Key by the Government.

The Project Manager shall be a single point of contact for the Contracting Officer and the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). It is anticipated that the Project Manager shall be one of the senior level employees provided by the Contractor for this work effort. The name of Project Manager, and the name(s) of any alternate(s) who shall act for the Contractor in the absence of the Project Manager, shall be provided to the Government as part of the Contractor's proposal. During any absence of the Project Manager, only one alternate shall have full authority to act for the Contractor on all matters relating to work performed under this Task order. The Project Manager and all designated alternates shall be able to read, write, speak, and understand English. Additionally, the Contractor shall not replace the Project Manager without prior acknowledgement from the Contracting Officer.

The Project Manager shall be available to the COR via telephone between the hours of 0800 and 1500 EST, Monday through Friday, and shall respond to a request for discussion or resolution of technical problems within two hours of notification.

Qualified Personnel The Contractor shall provide qualified personnel to perform all requirements specified in this task order.

Specific Personnel Requirements The Contractor shall ensure its company and staff maintain required professional certification, accreditation, license, bond, and proficiency relative to their area of expertise. This includes, but is not limited to, adherence to a code of conduct through the Association of Retail Travel Agents or the American Society of Travel Agents, training provided by the Institute of Certified Travel Agents and the Society of Government Travel Professionals, accreditation by supplier organizations such as Airline Reporting Corporation, compliance with State and local licensing requirements, if any. The contractor shall retain documentation of such records. AmeriCorps will not pay to meet this requirement.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

DELIVERY OR DELIVERABLES

ITEM DELIVERABLE/EVENT DUE BY

1 Kick‐off Meeting NLT five business days after award of task order

2 Draft Contractor Project Plan At the kick‐off meeting

3 Final Contractor Project Plan NLT five days after Government review draft

4 Status Reports Every two weeks for the first 3 month and then monthly thereafter

5 Account Verification Services Within five business days of the receipt of travel card information from AmeriCorp’s GTCC vendor

6 Audit Report Within five working day of the first of the month

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

REPORT SUPPORT

The Contractor shall provide standard commercial and custom reports as requested. AmeriCorps will work with the contractor to determine the frequency of each report. The reports include, but not limited to, travel booking analysis (e.g., air, hotel, car, other), policy compliance reporting, exception reporting, fare basis, top travel destinations/markets/vendors, verification reports, unused tickets, class of service (e.g., first class) required by travel regulations.

MONTHLY CALL CENTER PHONE REPORT

The Contractor shall provide a complete electronic report of all Call Center phone calls received during the month showing:

a. Incoming phone number

b. Initial Time of Call (translated to eastern time)

b. Date of Call

c. Hold Time

d. Duration of Call

PAYMENT PROVISIONS:

Service fees will be charged once the ticket is issued.

Billing will be made to a government travel charge card (GTCC) centrally billed account (CBA) designated by each AmeriCorps program utilizing the service.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Travel:

Contractor travel shall not be required to support this requirement.

Key Personnel:

Before replacing any individual designated as Key by the Government, the Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer no less than 15 business days in advance, submit written justification for replacement, and provide the name and qualifications of any proposed substitute(s). All proposed substitutes shall possess qualifications equal to or superior to those of the Key person being replaced. The Contractor shall not replace Key Contractor personnel without acknowledgement from the Contracting Officer. The Government may designate additional Contractor personnel as Key in this Task order.

Non-Compliance Penalties:

Information System Security Requirements:

Contractor access to classified information is not required under this agreement.

Data Rights:

Section 508—Electronic and Information Technology Standards:

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220) requires that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use information and communication technology (ICT), it shall be accessible to people with disabilities. Federal employees and members of the public who have disabilities must have access to, and use of, information and data that is comparable to people without disabilities. The applicable Section 508 standards are outlined in the attached Accessibility Requirements Statement.

Products, platforms and services delivered as part of this work statement that are ICT, or contain ICT, must conform to the Revised 508 Standards, which are located at 36 C.F.R. § 1194.1 & Apps. A, C & D, and available at https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about/the-ict-refresh/final-rule/text-of-the-standards-and-guidelines Publications and Publicity:

Confidentiality of Information: