About the owner, Nellie Messenger:
"I’ve always said travel is like organized chaos. In the post 9/11 world, it can feel like it is simply chaos. I created Tribal Travel to offer unsurpassed customer service, individual attention, and an exceptional travel experience that goes beyond a simple booking. I make sure each client’s trip is easy and hassle-free whether they are traveling for leisure or business – and I’ll be there when complications arise."
Growing up overseas, travel quickly became one of Nellie's passions; she pursued that passion and got her first job working for the airlines. As her career in the travel industry progressed she had the opportunity to work in both corporate and leisure travel environments in a variety of sales and administrative functions. Over the years, Nellie found that she enjoyed the fast-paced and challenging atmosphere that corporate travel provided but also delighted in helping others plan their dream vacations.
In 2006, Nellie started work for a Southern California Tribal Nation. Over the course of her time there, she developed a wholly customized, in-house travel program that helped to cut costs by nearly twenty percent, and fulfilled the Tribe’s unique needs, while providing a level of customer service unrivaled in the corporate travel industry.
In 2010, Nellie established Tribal Travel, so that she could blend both the challenge of corporate travel and the fun of leisure travel. Oh… and that Southern California Tribe? Well they became her first client.
Corporate Travel
Travel is an organization’s second largest controllable expense (salaries and benefits are the first), with travel management a critical part of any company's bottom line. Unlike a fragmented system in the absence of an actual travel program, or a standard outsourced program, a centralized in-house travel program with a dedicated agent, allows for better communication, tighter controls, and better policy enforcement; all of which are essential to a lower bottom line.
Tribal Travel offers all of the benefits of an in-house travel program (access, savings, experience, and know-how), but unlike most travel management companies, we adapt to your needs. We will help you to create a program uniquely tailored to your organization. And Tribal Travel offers unparalleled customer service; when your travelers need assistance, they aren’t dialing a call-center; they’re contacting a dedicated agent or team, working only for your Tribe. The owner, Nellie Messenger, handpicks and personally trains her agents to ensure she delivers only the very best.
Leisure Travel
At Tribal Travel, we love vacations! Who doesn’t, right?! And nowadays, travel is easily booked on hundreds of online travel websites. But did you know that on average a travel professional saves $37 per ticket on airfare versus those DIY websites? Did you know that some major airlines don’t offer their flights and fares on all of those websites? The absence of some popular airlines from major booking engines -- the juggernaut Southwest being the most glaring – could potentially eliminate what could well turn out to be a specific traveler's absolute best itinerary from the options if they’re looking on the wrong site. Did you know that according to Orbitz, the average online transaction for airfare, from start to finish, takes 26 minutes? And that would be just on their site; imagine if you’d searched a few others before finally buying on Orbitz!
Today’s world is a busy one; work, family, friends… life. Wouldn’t you rather be doing something else than searching for the best fare or the right hotel in a city with which you’re unfamiliar? Benefits to booking through a travel professional are many, the least of which is airfare. Odds are, we’ve got contacts, connections, and knowledge about wherever you’re headed that will help to eliminate all of that legwork (and guesswork!) and ensure your trip is suited… to you.
Travel is our passion and we love sharing it. So sit back, leave the hard work to us, and get ready to enjoy your next vacation!