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How Southern Response saved over $200K in cancellation fees with Engine

Booking hotels in the middle of a storm—with no time, no power, and no backup.

Industry
Disaster Recovery
Headquarters
Disaster Recovery
Company size
~220 employees

About

Southern Response Services is an Alabama-based staffing agency specializing in emergency restoration and industrial cleanup. When disaster strikes—hurricanes, floods, wildfires—they deploy hundreds of skilled workers to help with recovery and cleanup. In some of the most chaotic conditions imaginable, they help restore homes, power, and peace of mind. But with massive crews moving fast, they needed a way to book hotels just as quickly.

Industry

Disaster Recovery

Headquarters

USA

Company size

~220 employees

Results at a Glance

$200K+ saved

with flexible cancellation options with Engine

$72K

saved in travel last year

93%

reduction in booking time

""

Calling hotels on my own, they’d say, ‘We can’t give your money back. Too many people need rooms.’ But Engine let us cancel. That has been great.

Kelly B.
, 
Southern Response Services

The problem

Booking hotels in the middle of a storm—with no time, no power, and no backup.

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Before Engine, Kelly B. spent entire days on the phone trying to secure hotel rooms for 100+ workers. Calling hotel after hotel, trying to confirm availability, checking power status, and locking in rates. And even when hotels looked available online, many couldn’t update their listings because they had no electricity or phone lines.

The solution

Engine made it easier to book faster, flex smarter, and scale during emergencies.

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Before Engine, Kelly spent 12–14 hours coordinating travel for even small deployments. Now? It takes her under 30 minutes. And when it comes to larger

groups, all she has to do is send an email and Engine’s dedicated group booking team handles the rest.

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And thanks to Engine’s double rewards, they’re not just traveling smarter—they’re reinvesting those points back into their community support efforts.

Engine has been a godsend.

— Kelly B.
Get started for free

With Engine

One Email Replaced Endless Phone Calls

“During a storm, I’ve been on the phone for 10, 12, 14 hours trying to find hotels, ” Kelly said. “With Engine, I can book it in 30 minutes. ”

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For big deployments, she hands it off to the group bookings team. “All I have to do is send an email—and I get a response within 2 4 hours. That’s a huge time savings for me.”

Why FIexPro Changes the Game

In emergency work, plans shift constantly. Crews may stay one week or four. With FIexPro, Kelly can cancel unused rooms and get most of the money back-either as credits or not billed at all.

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“Calling hotels on my own, they’d say, ‘We can’t give your money back. Too many people need rooms.' But Engine let us cancel. That has been great."

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Points That Make a Difference

Sometimes it’s not just about business—it’s about doing good.

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Southern Response earns loyalty points every time they book through Engine. Kelly puts those points to work in meaningful ways—sometimes for supervisors on the road, other times for something much bigger.

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“There was a family in our community—their 2-year-old son was sick and had to go to Boston to a specialty hospital. We were able to provide hotel rooms for two weeks using points so the family didn't have to worry about that expense."

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For a company rooted in care and response, the ability to give back like this makes a difference beyond the job.

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It. Advice to Other Companies? Just Try It.

Kelly had a bad experience with another provider in the past, but she kept an open mind, and gave Engine a shot. That decision saved time, money, and stress.

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“All of us have been burned by one company or another, but we can’t let that stop us from finding something better. If I hadn’t tried Engine, we’d still be wasting time and losing money.”

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All business travel, one Engine

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Frequently asked questions

We’re glad you asked!

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Hotels want to reach business travelers while companies with traveling workforces want the best rates they can get.

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Our platform brings everyone together to radically simplify trip management and give everyone exactly what they want. By booking with Hotel Engine, you and your company will save substantially in both time and money.

By providing great value to our hotel partners, we get great rates. That means we can take a small cut of each booking — enough to cover 24/7 Member Support and continually re-invest in new technology — and still offer deals to our members that are up to 60% less than the online public travel sites. That’s why we can keep Hotel Engine free to join and use.

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No membership fees, no contracts, and no minimum spend.

We want our members to have plenty of options when booking lodging. Our platform currently offers 750,000+ properties worldwide.

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You'll find just about every hotel in the U.S. on our platform. If you don't see a specific hotel when you search, it's likely because the hotel is fully booked during your dates. In those rare cases, we'll show you nearby comparable properties with availability during your travel dates.

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We’re in the business of radically simplifying trip management for everyone, and we believe great hotel rates should be accessible to everyone, too.

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That’s why Hotel Engine is free to join and use — no membership fees, no contracts, no minimum required spend, no catch.

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‍Click here to learn more about our pricing.

Individual hotel properties set their own cancellation policies, which are clearly displayed during the booking process (you’ll see whether the room is refundable, and the last date you can cancel and receive your money back). After booking, you can find cancellation policy information in the “Important Information” section of your confirmation page.

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If you need to keep travel plans flexible, there are two great options available.

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  1. You can select the Flex option during the booking process. Flex allows you to cancel any reservation up until noon the day of arrival or cut a trip short mid-stay and get refunded — regardless of the hotel’s cancellation policy.
  2. If your company signs up for FlexPro, every traveler is fully covered with our highest degree of flexibility. With an annual plan, FlexPro costs $2,000 ($167/mo) covering everyone in your company. If you want to go month-to-month, Flexpro costs $200 - again, covering everyone in your company.

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