Price monitoring for business travel — what changes in accounting?

For Accounting

INHALTSVERZEICHNIS

• The actual process — step by step
• What documents are generated during a rebooking?
• A concrete example from practice
• How does this work with hotels?
• What does this mean for my month-end close?
• Which bookings are monitored, which are not?
• Data protection & GDPR

What is price monitoring? 

After each flight or hotel booking through Intertours, an automated price monitoring system runs continuously. The system observes whether the booked price drops. When a lower price is detected, it automatically rebookings — to the same route, the same hotel, the same conditions. Result: Your company pays less without changing your booking process.

Why does this make sense? 

Flight and hotel prices are not static. Airlines and hotels adjust their prices daily — based on demand, available capacity, and algorithms. A flight that costs EUR 450 today may be available for EUR 350 in three days — same route, same time, same cabin. Without monitoring, this price movement goes unused. Price monitoring closes this gap.

The actual process — step by step

When price monitoring detects a lower price, the following process runs:

1. Step 1 — New (lower-priced) service is booked: The system automatically books the new, lower-priced option. In this new booking, the Intertours share is already shown - this is invoiced directly (see Step 2).
2. Step 2 — New invoice is created: The invoice for the new service is issued. It shows the new (lower) price plus the Intertours share.
3. Step 3 — Original booking is cancelled: After the new service is booked and documented, the original booking is cancelled.
4. Step 4 — Credit memo is issued: You receive a credit memo for the original booking amount.

The result for your accounting: Two separate documents per rebooking — the new invoice (with the new amount and Intertours share) and the credit memo (with the reimbursement of the original booking price).

What documents are generated during a rebooking?

Important: All documents carry the same reference numbers as the original booking (booking ID, traveler, cost center). This ensures unique allocation in your accounting system.

A concrete example from practice

How does this work with hotels?

With hotels, the process is different: The system monitors hotel rates. When a lower price is detected, the system automatically rebookings.

Depending on your setup, there are two options:

1. The traveler simply pays less at checkout than originally expected.
2. You receive the reduced hotel price invoiced by us.

For your accounting: A separate credit memo is typically not required — the savings take effect directly at source (at the hotel). The rebooking is still fully documented in the Savings Report.

What does this mean for my month-end close?

Rebookings can occur with time lag — the system monitors until 12 hours before travel begins. This means: A rebooking may occur in a different accounting month than the original booking.

Practical recommendations for your reconciliation processes:

• Allocate new invoices and credit memos using the booking reference number of the original booking.
• Use the monthly Savings Report (provided by us) as your reconciliation document — all rebookings are fully documented there.
• For year-end close and audits: A consolidated proof of all savings is available on request.

Which bookings are monitored, which are not?

Monitored: Standard flight bookings and hotel bookings where economic savings are possible.

Not monitored:

• Flights under EUR 200 ticket price (savings too small)
• Low-cost airlines (technically incompatible)
• Prepaid (non-refundable) hotel bookings
• Rooms with accessibility requirements
• Bookings where potential savings are below economic thresholds

Data protection & GDPR

Your passenger and travel data are fully protected:

• Personal data is fully anonymized before processing.
• The monitoring system stores no personal information.
• Data storage is on Amazon Web Services with server location Ireland (EU).
• Fully GDPR-compliant — no data processing risk for your compliance department.