Q_and_A_(OPE_APPROVED)_.docx

Q&A for Solicitation number SKS700-16-Q-0001 Travel Management Services

Note: The information contained within these questions and answers is provided for information purposes only. Under no circumstances shall it be construed to change any terms and conditions or requirements within the solicitation or shall the U.S. Government be liable for this data.

If any answer below does address a change in the solicitation, it will reference an Amendment. In addition, for any answer provided regarding the historical data incurred under the existing contract, please be advised that this data may not be indicative of future travel management services and could change.

Also, prospective offerors are advised that there are changes in requirements in this solicitation which were not in the existing contract. However, the U.S. Government is not going to describe the changes from the current contract to new solicitation. Consequently, it is each offeror’s decision on whether to use or not to use this information after carefully reviewing the requirements and terms and conditions of this solicitation and determining its proposed firm fixed transaction fees.

No deviations to the firm fixed transactions fees stated in solicitation shall be considered.

Q1. RFP Section 2.3, page 4, includes a pricing schedule. Are the only fees that can be charged to the Government the fees listed on this schedule? For instance, there is no fee for hotel or car only reservations listed, although section 3.16 references Transaction B which are car and hotel only fees?

A1 -> Yes. Transaction fee can only be charged to the Embassy for those services listed on the schedule. Please see Section 1, paragraph 2.0, “Definitions and Acronyms” for Transaction and Transaction fee.

Q2. There is no fee for refunds or cancellations. Is the contractor permitted to charge for these services?

A2 -> No. An additional transaction fee for applying refunds or cancellations are not allowed.

Q3. When are the transaction fees to be charged? Should they be charged at point of sale when an itinerary is ticketed (or for non-air transactions such as a car or hotel only reservation at the time the reservation is made? Or are transaction fees billed monthly.

A3 -> Please see Section 1, paragraph 15.0, “Billing and Payment Procedures” and 15.5, “Agencies not participating in the Government Travel Charge Card or CBA Program.”

Current agreed billing cycle at the US Embassy Seoul is on a “Monthly basis”.

Q4. RFP Section 2.3, page 4, includes pricing for these following services. What is the difference between these two services?

Q4.1 Online Booking (Domestic/International Transaction Fee with Air, Rail, lodging or Car Rental)

- A4.1-> This is the transaction fee for making reservation (air, rail, lodging or car rental) for official travel through Website owned by the contracted TMC.

- Q4.2 Reservation & ticketing for On-Line Booking (E2Travel) for Domestic or -International Travel with Air, Rail, Lodging, or Car Rental (just local fee, not CWT fee)

-A4.2 -> This is the transaction fee for making reservation(air, rail, lodging or car rental) for official travel in the Online Booking Engine(OBE) within Carlson Wagonlit’s(CWT)E2 Solution Website.

Q5. RFP Section 3.5.4 Visas, page 15, requires the “Contractor shall assist travelers in obtaining visas for foreign travel. The Contractor is required to provide at no cost to the Government, daily visa deliveries/pickups not to exceed five separate delivery/pick-up points per day. This includes pickup and delivery of passports and visas between the Embassy and other foreign embassies or processing points located within the servicing city or area, on a daily or as needed basis.” Under which item of the Pricing Schedule should the contractor include the cost for this service.

A5. -> Please see Section 1, paragraph 3.5.4. It states that “The Contractor is required to provide at no cost to the Government, daily visa deliveries/pickups not to exceed five separate delivery/pick-up points per day. This includes pickup and delivery of passports and visas between the Embassy and other foreign embassies or processing points located within the servicing city or area, on a daily or as needed basis”.

Q6. Most government agencies have move away from pamphlets to having such information posted electronically to a website for travelers to access. Would the Embassy consider use of electronic posting in lieu of hard copy pamphlets to meet this requirement?

A6. -> It is government practice to make pamphlets available to customers. Not all customers will have internet access.

Q7. RFP Section 3.10.4, page 18, requires that “the Contractor shall answer at least 80 percent of calls within 20 seconds and provide a recorded message for those calls not answered in 20 seconds. The recorded message shall give the traveler at least two options:

• to hold or

• to leave a message for a call back.

A7. ->The Government will provide 3 phones at the onsite TMC office at the Embassy and calls are automatically transferred to the other person’s phone if it is not answered within 20 seconds.

Please see Amendment A001 for the change to Section 1, paragraph 3.10.4.

Section 1, paragraph 3.10.4 is revised follows:

3.10.4 “The Contractor shall answer calls in a timely manner or provide a recorded message for those calls not answered. The recorded message shall give the traveler at least two options:

• to hold or

• to leave a message for a call back”.

Q8. RFP Section 3.10.5, page 18, states that “Many times services required outside normal working hours are as a result of visits by U.S. Government officials to the Embassy. In providing this service, the Contractor may be required to provide Travel Counselors/Reservationists on weekends, holidays and/or weekdays before or after normal office hours. In adhering to this requirement, the Contractor shall comply with all local labor laws including the payment of staff overtime when applicable. Additionally, the Contractor shall provide travelers' assistance services to official visitors. The average annual number of visitors requiring traveler’s assistance services is 20. Services would be of a "Visitors Bureau" type that, as a minimum, could include the following:

• Travel Changes, Seat Assignments and Confirmations

• Entertainment Reservations, including short excursions

• Documentation for Travel Required by Foreign Governments

• VIP Services How is the Contractor to be compensated for this additional work effort? If the Contractor is required to pay its staff additional compensation by country laws, will the Government reimburse the Contractor for these additional costs?

A8. -> There shall be no additional or separate reimbursement. Only the firm fixed transaction fees as stated in the solicitation are allowed.

Q9. The RFP requires onsite services at the Embassy, but also requires the contractor to provide “toll-free numbers for use by agencies’ employees to make reservations during the Embassy’s regular hours of operations. Remote is defined as areas where agencies would have to make long-distance calls to reach the Contractor” (RFP Section 3.10.7) and requires the Contractor to provide “emergency services outside regular working hours through a 24-hour, toll-free phone number, available to all Government travelers” ( RFP Section 13). RFP Section3.13,Project Management, requires the Contractor to “provide reservation agents, personnel and equipment necessary to assure that the highest quality of service is provided.” We are unclear on the staffing requirements as no transaction volume for either onsite services or offsite was provided. We have the following questions:

Section 4 identified the number of transactions for evaluation purposes as follows:

TRANSACTION DESCRIPTION Annual estimated Number of Transactions On-site Services - Domestic/International Transaction Fee (except for domestic rail tickets) -1,280 (Int’l::1,200, Domestic:80) On-site Services – Domestic Rail Transaction Fee- 320 Online Booking (Domestic/International Transaction Fee with Air, Rail, lodging or Car Rental) -0 Reservation & ticketing for On-Line Booking (E2Travel) for Domestic or International Travel with Air, Rail, Lodging, or Car Rental (just local fee, not CWT fee)-0

Q9 -1. The estimated transactions each year of the expected contract? Does the Embassy anticipate using online booking?

A9-1.-> Please see Amendment A001 for the change to Section 4, paragraph 3.0.

Section 4, paragraph, 3.0 is revised to read as follows:

3.0 The lowest price will be determined by multiplying the offered transaction fee for each contract line item in Section 1 for each period of performance by its respective estimated requirements set forth below. These requirements represent the estimates for each period of performance rather than the entire contract period, so the transaction fee for each period of performance will be multiplied by the same estimated requirements. The subtotals for the base and all optional periods of performance will be totaled to arrive at the total transaction fees to be charged to the Government. The estimates set forth below are based on official travel only, not personal travel. These estimates are provided only for purposes of computing the estimated transaction fee payment and are not guaranteed.

On-site Services - Domestic/International Transaction Fee (except for domestic rail tickets) 1,280 (Int’l::1,200, Domestic:80)

-Q9-2. If the Contractor is providing onsite staff, then is a number for the call center except for emergency services outside normal business hours necessary?

-A9-2. -> The contact number for call center is used for outside normal business hours only.

-Q9-3. Is the Contractor’s Project Manager required to be onsite at the Embassy? Is the Site Manager required to be onsite at the Embassy?

- A9-3. -> Project Manager is not required to be on site at the Embassy. Site Manger and Travel Counselors/Reservationists are required to be on site at the Embassy

Q10. Attachment 3, Government Furnished Property identifies the Government as providing 3 desktop computers in 335 square feet of space. So does that mean the onsite staff is limited to 1 onsite manager and 2 onsite staff? One of the desktop computers is listed to be in poor condition, will the Government provide an alternative desktop computer or is the Contractor expected to provide this desktop computer? Is there only one office chair provided for this office? Is the Contractor expected to provide other office chairs if there is more than one person onsite?

A10. -> Please see Section 1, Amendment A001 for revised attachment 3, “Government Furnished Property” Attachment 3, “Government Furnished Property” is revised as follows:

Attachment No. 3 Government Furnished Property

The Government shall provide 335 square feet of office space for travel contractor at the Chancery building and make the following property available to the Contractor as "Government furnished property" for performance under the contract. The contractor shall provide appropriate number of computers, desks and chairs and other equipment as needed based on its own evaluation of the volume of transactions.

3 Phone lines (no telephone equipment)

PROPERTY CONDITIONS CODE

1 - New or unused property in excellent condition. Ready for use and identical or interchangeable with new items delivered by manufacturer or normal source of supply.

Q11. RFP Section 14.5 Advance Deposits, page 28, states that “When advance deposits or fees are required by hotels or similar facilities for the arrangement of seminars or conferences, the Government shall pay the Contractor for such fees incurred.” At what point will the Government pay the Contractor? As carrying these advance payment represents a cost to the Contractor, can the Government provide any estimates as to the total number and total advance deposits and/or fees expected to be incurred by the Contractor?

A11. -> There have been no arrangement of seminars or conference arranged by the current contract. The Embassy will follow the agreed billing cycle, which is a monthly basis.

Q12. RFP Section 15.1 Billing and Payment Procedures, page 28-29, states: “Billing and payment procedures for transportation expenses will differ, as noted below, according to whether the agency is participating in the Government travel card program. Only the cost of official carrier transportation and excess baggage may be charged to the Government, plus the transaction fee..” However RFP section 14.4 Commissions by Service Providers, states “Other compensation for services provided under this contract may be in the form of commissions received by the Contractor from carriers, and suppliers of lodging, rental vehicles, and other travel services. The Government accepts no responsibility or liability for payment of such concessions. The Contractor is warned that commercial practices may not apply to the payment of commissions on Government rates.” If the Government is accepting no responsibility for any commissions why would the Government expect the transaction fee to be reduced by any commissions received? Please clarify.

A12. -> “The Government accepts no responsibility or liability for payment of such concessions” means that the Government is not responsible for any commission arrangements made by the Contractor. The Contractor can only charge the Government for the cost of official carrier transportation and excess baggage, and the transaction fee reduced by any commissions. The Government expects the transaction fee to be reduced by any amount the Contractor receives in the form of commissions from carriers, suppliers of lodging, rental vehicles and other travel services.

Q13. RFP Section 28, QUALITY ASSURANCE AND SURVEILLANCE PLAN list the performance threshold as “All required services are performed and no more than one (1) customer complaint is received per month.” This standard is quite stringent. Generally a standard for customer complaints is based upon a percentage of the overall transactions such as customer complaints should not exceed 2% of the overall transactions ticketed per month. In addition, the complaint to be considered valid must relate to services provided by and within the control of the Contractor. For instance, complaints concerning airline service such as being delayed or cancelled is outside the Contractor’s control. Would the Government consider revising the performance to be: “Customer complaints should not exceed 2% of the number of transactions ticketed monthly. To be considered as a valid customer complaint for this performance threshold, the complaint must be related to services within the control of the Contractor and be the fault of the Contractor”?

A13. -> The criteria is strictly based on the scope of work for this contract and the quality of services the USG requires.

Q14. In order to submit the best rate as possible, we would require approximate ‘total revenue’, ‘ratio of international / domestic’ and ‘ATP-average ticket price’ per month.

Since the form of payment will be cash not by credit card, above information will be very crucial for us to process this RFP.

A14. -> The approximate total yearly revenue is $1,450,000. The approximate volume of transactions per year is 1,600, international travel accounts for 75% and domestic travel accounts 25 % .

Q15. Are you looking for an onsite travel office at Embassy premises or can we fulfill your travel requirements from an offline CTO, through DTS (Defense Travel System) or email.

A15. -> We are looking for an onsite travel office at the Embassy. Please see Section 1, paragraph 6.0, “Space for Performance of Required Services”.

Q16. Paragraph 2.3 Pricing (page 4), how does the offeror fill out the chart?

Do I have to write down the percentage of transaction fee?

A16. -> The offeror is required to provide for the base year and each option year, the firm fixed price for each of the transaction fees listed in the pricing section of the solicitation. No deviations to this pricing section are allowed..

Q17. Would you please let me know the name of incumbent contractor and annual total amount($) of the contract?

A17. -> The current contractor is Sharp Aviation K. The current contract price is not considered relevant since this solicitation contains numerous changes in requirements from the previous contract.

Consequently, each prospective offer needs to review the requirements and determine how best to meet requirements to arrive at their proposed firm fixed transaction fee.