10 tips to reduce travel costs and increase efficiency.
Are you ready to restart your travel program in 2022? Included in this blog post, you will find 10 tips to reduce travel costs. If you have traveling employees, it’s more important than ever to ensure your travel program is up to date. And it needs to take into account the added travel complexities of COVID. We want to help lessen your load for 2022. It’s about finding efficiencies within your travel program and ensuring your employees are armed with relevant travel information.
1) Tighten up your corporate travel policy
Develop and implement a travel policy that provides details about per diem payments at various destinations. You need to support preferred hotel chains where you have established a discount rate. Likewise, outline expense reimbursements and limits that require a manager’s signature in advance if exceeded.
The most successful business travel policies are simple, concise, and mandated. Travel policy adherence needs to be monitored/owned internally by someone in your business to measure, track and take corrective action for non-compliance.
2) Require approvals for out of policy bookings
Establish a travel approval process to ensure you won’t have the problem of canceling trips after they’ve been booked.
Most Travel Management Companies offer online booking tools which allow you to choose which employees can book their own hotels and flights, and monitor their bookings easily. This allows you to control the booking process and the ability take corrective measures if needed.
3) Consolidate your bookings
Consolidation is one of the most important aspects of a successful travel program. A centralized travel program provides your business with better control of travel bookings, data, expense management, and reporting. Above all, consolidation provides insight and big picture data to leverage your travel volume and increase savings. With a focus on policy management and reporting, consolidation drives accountability and results. Furthermore, it allows you to better monitor your business’ performance and travel budget.
4) Take advantage of Airline Corporate Discounts & Perks
Leverage your TMCs relationships and negotiating power to establish corporate discounts for your company. You will also get extras including complimentary upgrade credits, meal vouchers, and access to lounges.
5) Take advantage of applicable Hotel Discounts
Negotiate or renegotiate corporate rates with hotel chains common to your frequent destinations. Look for hotels that offer amenities such as complimentary breakfast, late check-out, airport shuttles, etc. Most TMCs participate in corporate hotel programs and also negotiate exclusive discounts of their own, which they extend to their clients.
6) Take advantage of car rental and airport parking discounts
Set up and secure corporate discounts with your preferred car rental companies. Likewise, you can take advantage of parking discounts for any employees that park at the airport. Most major TMCs already have discounts in place that can be leveraged easily for immediate savings.
7) Get professional help for tips to reduce travel costs
TMCs can you navigate the added complexities of traveling during COVID, while also helping you achieve your business goals. They can provide guidance and even perform an audit of your existing travel policy to ensure best practices and leverage available benefits. Your travel partner should provide detailed and actionable reporting to ensure you are aware of areas of opportunity. They also provide duty of care services to ensure your company is covered and your employees travel safely.
8) Get an Account Manager who knows travel!
When deciding on the right Travel Management company ensure that your assigned account manager possesses in-depth knowledge of the travel industry. Ask the travel company if they can provide references, and for specific examples of insights that helped a company achieve their business travel goals. Anyone can run a report and send it to you. Can your Account Manager find the story in your data, and identify trends and opportunities? Travel experts and account management work hand in hand, and can open a world of savings and efficiencies for your company.
9) Help your employees be more productive on the road
You want your travelers to be able to stay focused on their work and not on organizing their trip. Ensure their trip goes as smooth as possible by arming them with the necessary tools to ensure they can be as productive as possible.
For example, Plus Travel Group syncs employees’ travel schedules and full trip details in their calendars. And use flight tracking software that will send automatic notifications to employees the moment a flight is delayed, canceled, or changed. This system also sends check-in-in emails as soon as you are eligible to check in.
10) Get clear travel data and detailed/transparent invoicing
How do you know if your travelers are booking the lowest available in-policy options? Do you have reporting that shows the difference between the fare booked vs. the lowest in policy fare? Most TMC’s can provide this kind of detailed reporting to drive additional cost savings. Invoices should show booking detail split out and not simply the travel company’s name and a lump sum. Moreover, a lump sum creates issues with reconciliation and isn’t transparent, leaving you open to errors and overcharging. Most TMC’s can provide detailed spend reports by travelers to help with reconciliation! Above all, what systems and processes are in place to ensure you are getting the lowest logical fares? There are many options out there. How does your TMC navigate this landscape and source the best fares?
Implement these tips to reduce travel costs now and get your travel program on the right foot in 2022!
Interested in talking and learning more? PLUS Travel Group helps businesses better manage their travel programs while also bringing savings and efficiency to the table. Book a free consultation call!