Managed Travel Isn't Just for Big Companies

What growing mission-driven organizations need to know about managed travel — and why the right partner changes everything.

There is a moment that most operations directors at growing organizations know well. Someone on the team books a flight on a personal card. Another person books a different hotel than the rest of the group. A speaker misses a connection, and no one quite knows who to call. By the time the trip is over, you have three different expense reports, two missing receipts, and a headache that has nothing to do with travel.

If that sounds familiar, this post is for you.

Managed travel is often talked about as if it belongs to large corporations with full-time travel departments and hundreds of employees moving around the world at once. That is a misconception worth clearing up. Some of the organizations that benefit most from a dedicated travel partner are smaller, mission-driven teams: nonprofits, faith communities, consulting firms, advocacy organizations. Teams where one person is managing travel on top of everything else. Teams where every trip matters because the work behind it matters.

At Lawal Travel Services, that is exactly who we serve.

We're Not Navan. We're Not Concur. And That's the Point.

If you have looked into managed travel solutions before, you have probably come across names like Navan or Concur. These platforms are built for volume. They are designed to process thousands of bookings efficiently for large corporations with dedicated travel departments and enterprise-level budgets.

That is not who we are. And it is probably not who you are either.

At Lawal Travel Services, we work with consultants, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and mission-driven teams doing meaningful work in their communities and around the world. Our clients are not managing hundreds of travelers. They are managing faculty, staff, speakers, and conference attendees. They need someone who understands their rhythm, their people, and their mission — not just their itinerary.

The difference between a travel management platform and a travel partner becomes clearest in moments like this:

When one of our clients hosted a major international conference in Cape Town, South Africa, the work did not begin and end with flights and hotel rooms. We sourced a youth choir for the opening ceremony. We coordinated furniture rentals for the event space. We found a photographer and videographer. When it became clear that some attendees did not speak English, we helped solve the translation challenge. We made reservations for a group dinner that became one of the highlights of the trip. We arranged ground transportation for the entire delegation. And when our client asked us to be on-site, we were there — coordinating between the hotel and every vendor so their team could do what they came to do: run a world-class conference.

No app does that.

We also handle the financial logistics that quietly drain operations teams. When a company card is provided, we book directly on it — logging every travel request and delivering receipts so your CFO is not chasing down expenses at the end of the quarter. No surprise reimbursements. No employees floating costs on personal cards while they wait to be paid back. Just clean, documented travel spend that aligns with your protocols from the start. One client's bookkeeper told us she no longer has to hunt down receipts or chase people for documentation. That single shift — from chasing to receiving — is what managed travel actually feels like from the inside. 

And here is something most people do not think about until they are stranded at an airport: we book flights directly with the airline whenever possible. That means if something goes wrong, your traveler has direct standing with the carrier and cannot be turned away with the dreaded "call your travel agent." You can still call us, and we will be working it from our end too. But your traveler is never left without options in real time. The same applies to hotels. When we can book directly with the property, we do — so your team members keep earning their loyalty points on every stay.

We see ourselves as an extension of your team, not a vendor you log into. Whether we are working with you on a pay-per-use basis for one-off trips or on retainer as your ongoing travel partner, the relationship is the same. We learn your people, your preferences, your priorities, and your budget. We anticipate problems before they become yours. And when things go sideways — because in travel, they sometimes do — you are not submitting a help ticket. You are calling us.

We work with organizations whose work gives us a genuine boost. Helping mission-driven teams fly — literally and figuratively — is why we do this.

Lawal Travel Services vs. Navan & Concur: How We Compare

When operations directors at growing organizations search for travel solutions, they typically land on one of three options: a self-service booking tool, an enterprise travel management platform, or a boutique travel partner. Here is how they compare:

The bottom line: if you need a platform to process high-volume corporate bookings at scale, Navan and Concur were built for that. If you need someone who knows the difference between your executive director's window seat preference and your keynote speaker's dietary restriction — and can also find a youth choir in Cape Town — that is us.

Boutique by Design. Small by Choice.

Everyone seems to be chasing the same thing right now — scale faster, grow bigger, automate everything, 10x your revenue. We understand the appeal. We appreciate good systems and processes, and we use AI in ways that genuinely help us serve our clients better.

But we want to be honest with you: we like being small. That is not a placeholder until something better comes along. It is a choice we make intentionally, every day.

When you work with us, you are not a record in a database. We know your organization. We follow your work. When you post a win on LinkedIn, we are genuinely cheering — and probably sharing it. We show up to the relationship the same way we show up to your travel logistics: with care, with attention, and with some personal investment in how things turn out for you.

We work with consultants, nonprofits, faith communities, and mission-driven organizations because their work matters to us. That is not a marketing line. It is the honest reason we built this business the way we built it.

We use smart tools. We have solid systems. And we have chosen, on purpose, to stay small enough to actually know our clients.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. We only have a few people traveling at a time. Is managed travel really worth it for us?

Absolutely — and honestly, smaller traveling teams often benefit more from a dedicated travel partner than large corporations do. When you have fewer travelers, every disruption has an outsized impact. One missed connection for your keynote speaker is not a minor inconvenience. It is a crisis. A boutique travel partner gives your small team attentive, experienced support without requiring enterprise-level volume. We built our service model specifically for organizations with under ten regular travelers. We heard recently from an Executive Assistant at one of our client organizations. She sent a note saying how much time we had saved her. That is the most honest measure of whether this is working. 

2. How is working with Lawal Travel Services different from booking through Expedia or Google Flights?

Online booking tools are practical for simple, point-to-point trips. But they cannot anticipate your needs, advocate on your behalf, or step in when something goes wrong. They also handle only the transaction — not the full ecosystem of logistics that surrounds a business trip or conference. We manage everything from flights and ground transportation to vendor sourcing and group dining reservations. We book directly with airlines whenever possible, so your travelers always have direct access to the carrier when they need help. We book directly with hotels when we can, so your team keeps earning loyalty points. And we are a phone call away when plans change.

3. How does Lawal Travel Services handle expenses and payments?

This is one of the most practical ways we take pressure off your operations team. When a company card is provided, we book directly on it — no reimbursement process, no employees floating personal expenses while they wait to be paid back, no expense reports chasing receipts weeks later. We log all travel requests and deliver documentation so your CFO and finance team always have a clear picture of what was spent and why. For organizations with travel budgets and grant reporting requirements, this kind of clean paper trail is not optional. It is essential.

4. What happens when there is a travel disruption — a cancellation, a delay, a hotel issue?

Because we book directly with airlines whenever possible, your traveler has direct standing with the carrier. They cannot be turned away at the gate or ticket counter and told to call their travel agent. They have access to real-time assistance from the airline, and they can call us at the same time. We will be working the issue from our end while your traveler handles it on the ground. You have two points of contact working for you, not zero.

5. We're a nonprofit, faith-based organization, or small consulting firm. Do you work with organizations like ours?

Yes — this is exactly who we serve. We work with mission-driven organizations doing important work locally and globally. We understand that your budget is intentional, your time is limited, and your work matters. We show up as a partner who cares about both the logistics and the impact behind every trip. And practically speaking, our company card booking model, direct airline and hotel relationships, and receipt documentation mean you are always audit-ready — which matters especially for grant-funded and nonprofit organizations.

6. What does it cost to work with Lawal Travel Services?

Our pricing is structured around how your organization actually travels — not a one-size-fits-all subscription fee.

For organizations with consistent travel needs, we offer a retainer arrangement. Retainer pricing is based on the number of anticipated travelers and the frequency of travel throughout the year. Our retainer currently starts at $3,000 for a 12-month period, billed at $250 per month, with a minimum of 25 travel days. For many organizations, that is less than what gets spent untangling one bad trip.

For organizations that travel less frequently, our pay-per-use option is a more natural fit. Service fees are charged per traveler and based on the level of service requested — from basic booking assistance currently starting at $50 per trip, all the way through a fully managed itinerary that includes logistics coordination, vendor sourcing, and on-site support.

If you are not sure which model fits your situation, that is exactly what a complimentary consultation is for.

7. Are there any additional fees we should know about?

We believe in being straightforward about how our fees work so there are no surprises when you receive an invoice.

For standard travel — flights, hotels booked directly with the property, and car rentals — our retainer and pay-per-use rates cover the service. Where additional fees apply is when we go beyond commissionable bookings.

For non-commissionable lodging such as Airbnb or similar short-term rentals, we charge a 15% management fee. We book on your behalf, manage the reservation, and handle any issues that arise — the fee reflects that work. The same 15% management fee applies to concierge services like private chefs, photographers, and other vendors that fall outside traditional travel commissions.

Group travel is handled separately from both our retainer and pay-per-use arrangements. Managing a group requires a meaningfully different level of research, coordination, and contracting than individual travel, and our pricing reflects that. For domestic groups, there is a base fee of $500, which covers research, procurement, and contracting. An additional $100 per traveler is charged on top of the base fee.

We walk through all applicable fees during your consultation so you have a clear picture of what your trip will cost before we begin any work.

Ready to Stop Managing Travel Alone?

You did not start your organization to spend your time chasing flight confirmations and reconciling expense reports. That work belongs to someone who actually enjoys it. We do.

If you are ready to talk about what managed travel could look like for your team — whether that is one annual conference, a handful of staff trips per year, or something more ongoing — we would love to have that conversation.

 Jenita Lawal, MBA, is the Founder and Executive Travel Strategist of Lawal Travel Services, a boutique travel firm serving mission-driven organizations, nonprofits, faith communities, and consultants. She is a member of the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) and Travel Planners International, and holds a Signature Travel Expert certification.