To make the most of your corporate travel budget, it is important to plan your program uses for all is worth it. Telling travelers for the lowest fare is not enough. Here are the items that should be considered when planning or evaluation of your travel program. 1. A well written travel policy and travel policy spread is the basis of any good travel program, and I consistently am amazed that so many companies as an outdated and poorly designed travel policies have, if they have one at all. It is not difficult to find a well-written policy. One is in the Internet are easy. What remains is that it been edited to reflect the corporate culture is, and disseminated within the organization so that everyone understands and agrees to follow him. For this reason, it is to have a good idea to make sure all signs of a copy of the travel policy to ensure that it has read, understood and owned by all employees in the company. I suggest that everyone in the company signs a copy of the travel policy, whether traveling or not. You can change positions in society and later needed to travel. A travel policy should not be long or complex. Some of the best travel policies I've seen were just a few pages long. 2. Centralized travel at home and abroad, many companies have not centralize their travel program and they pay a price in terms of a loss of Expense Reduction Opportunities and internal efficiency. Many travel companies that centralize not want to have anxiety, according to the traveler something they do not want to do with the idea that the centralization of travel requires the recruitment of a travel manager to do. Both may have legitimate concerns, but they do not have to be in most cases. By requiring travelers to book centrally, you are not necessarily so that they lose to the flexibility. You can centralize still travel travelers allow records of their own, either with a travel agency of your choice, or online via an ISP, you have to come together and have confidence By assigning someone the responsibility for the monitoring of travel you are always a central point of contact both internally and externally for travel issues. If your company spends less than $ 1,000,000 in air traffic, you probably do not need a full-time travel managers. In these cases, traveling the supervision of the Finance Department, Human Resources, or even a management assistant will be given. Here is a look at the benefits obtained by centralizing travel. centralize If you travel with a single agency, you will win in a number of important points. Enjoy a single point of contact for problems, while travelers are on the way and you will go to one unit for all your travel needs. Thus the problem of consolidation of a Tour deleted from several sources. By traveling together, you will gain significant economies of scale. If you can measure the total travel between different departments or locations, you can get more for your money from travel suppliers. This allows you more of the airline's soft dollar programs that encourage more free tickets and upgrades resources, received a higher percentage discount on our preferred airline, and negotiated better rates from your hotel and car contracts. Decrease your fulfillment costs as well as your travel agent will often discount their fees for a higher total volume of travel. 3. Mix of online booking and personalized service, this is a supplement to the previous item for centralizing travel with a travel agency calls. This is important, but here you do not have to use travelers need an online booking system, and it is not traveling, call the agency directly. By offering travelers the opportunity to do either, you will accomplish several goals. You reduce your cost performance, as online booking cheaper in terms of a service charge. By travelers the opportunity you give them a sense of control, so the morale and standing a better chance of a high acceptance. Thirdly, let a best practice of using the online booking engine for less complex routes open, and allows executives who travel a lot and complex routes directly with a travel agency that a higher level of service and may be booked a better overall travel experience, find it justified on. 4. Look under every stone While the majority of most travel programs revolve around the air supply, there can be savings examine several other areas to find. There are a few to look more obvious areas, such as negotiated hotel rates at your favorite hotel or rental car discounts with preferred suppliers. Often, your travel agent prices already through consortia and agency affiliations Autodiscount have contracts. There are also some less common areas that should be investigated. For example, if ground transportation is a concern, most suppliers' prices and a direct billing option to offer discount. Direct billing arrangements with hotels and car rentals are also a great way to increase efficiency and make the work of the accounting easier. 5. Take advantage of hard and soft dollar offer dollar contracts, most major airlines now hard U.S. dollars discounts and soft dollar incentives in return for loyalty to the company, their products. If your itinerary is over $ 1,000,000 to spend in the air, you can get a discount of the lowest rates from your carrier of choice in return for a share commitment. For your secondary carrier, or if your volume is less than the minimum of the airline is required, you can go in soft dollar programs for free tickets and free upgrades, extensions and Traveller status or airport club into force. These programs require little in the way of volume, but they are not well known, so you need to hunt for them or ask Baker travels or your current agency to point you in the right direction. 6. Do not neglect Hotel Hotel volume volume is sometimes overlooked, but it should not be. Negotiated tariffs had through your travel agent or directly with the hotel property of your choice. Some hotels in the nearby corporate locations are favorable rates for you negotiate in exchange for a minimum room / night engagement. By using a travel agent, you are likely to receive discounts of 5% to 50% on thousands of hotels worldwide. 7. Have at least one car rental car rental agreements are easy to force and require little in the way of the commitment of companies. Select has a partner, airport locations and a reputation for excellent customer service. You can save 5-10% very easy and can often negotiate tenant membership for all your employees. They more efficient and increase morale. You can can also power to make direct billing arrangements at the same time that the jobs of your travelers and accounting staff much less stressful. 8. Group meetings and understand contracts airlines and hotels discount air fares and if you travel groups or meetings at a single target from multiple points of origin. This session contracts you may fare discounts of 2-10%, and if you have enough passengers on one airline, you may be given free tickets to negotiations for the contract. The minimum requirement is usually 10 travelers in the same place at the same time. Some airlines have higher minimums so be sure ask created contract. Hotels discount their prices in a similar manner with a minimum of 10 nights. These discounts can be from 10% to a much higher discount, depending on workload and seasonal variations in the field. 9. Use metrics to improve reporting to consistently well-managed travel programs require continuous monitoring and financial control properly leveraged. Insist on timely and customized reports that are designed to give you the information you may need it the most. Through regular reporting on travel behavior and provider contract, you are in a better position to meet contractual commitments to achieving cost reduction targets and see where opportunities for future savings may lie. 10. Take advantage of all opportunities to increase passenger comfort and efficiency Finally, any well-managed travel program, change to the comfort and productivity of their passengers. If travelers are comfortable, they can concentrate on their key priorities that drive your business forward. If travelers are satisfied, they lead to a higher level. Ask if your agency can couple to update status of a preferred airline. Look in the shopping blocks Airport Club passes, so they are used strategically during the long and complex routes. There are many ways for travelers to the difficult and often grueling chore reward of the trip. This kind of rewards produce feelings of loyalty and increase productivity and efficiency. If you want to learn how your company make better use of their travel program's value to your bottom line and satisfaction of your management level, feel free to contact me. I am pleased to point you in the right direction.
