Even though the COVID-19 pandemic changed the state of the world, many people continue to travel for business. Whether employees travel to visit other company locations, meet with clients, attend conferences or training, or to close a deal with a new partner, travel continues to be a vital part of doing business. Business trips are generally covered by the company, and most managers try to encourage cost-effective travel. Many companies implement a formal business travel savings plan.
Here are 10 ways to save money on business travel:
1. Find a Platform that Offers a Corporate Discount Program
There are different ways in which a company can book a trip for their employees. One of the easiest to achieve corporate travel savings is by working directly with a platform that can be customized according to your needs. With a corporate discount program, you can access travel perks for your employees by creating your own customizable platform. This means you can use your company logo, the domain name of your choosing, your brand colors, and your company credentials to launch your own custom, in-house travel booking site.
On a custom travel booking platform, your company Y will have access to wholesale rates on travel (meaning on items like hotels and car rentals. Wholesale rates guarantee cost-cutting and save you money. Your company will also be able to track your employees’ travel records on your own booking portal.
2. Keep Flexible Dates in Mind
There are several saving strategies that companies can put into place to guarantee they are cost-cutting when it comes to business travel. One way to do it is to work with flexible dates in mind and take a look at the change in prices which varies depending on the day you want to fly out. If you are able to change the dates of the trip without affecting your business, it is a great way to guarantee you are saving money.
When working with your employee to book their trip, ask them for a few options regarding dates and times in which they can fly out and they can return. That gives you enough room to figure out which dates would work best to stay within budget.
3. Put a Travel Policy in Place
Every business has their own policies regarding how they work and how employees must behave while at work or while representing the company. A great way to save money on business travel is to create your own travel policy to guarantee that every employee is on the same page when it comes to their business trips. This policy should be very specific, clear, and easy to access for everyone to refer to when booking a trip. However, employers must keep in mind that the policy will have to change throughout time to stay on top of business needs.
A travel policy should include a few standard things such as the approval process for each trip, establish whether employees can book economy or business class tickets, the kind of hotels and car rentals the employees can look into, the expenses permitted per day per employee, and whether the employee will receive a company credit card or will have to present receipts for reimbursement upon return. Having a travel policy will work as an optimization tool when planning, budgeting, and saving money on business travel.
4. Stay on Top of Travel Spending Trends
A good travel records keeping system can help employers keep track of where the most money is spent and where it can be saved. You can take a look at which employees spend the most money on travel, where the money is spent (i.e. plane tickets, hotels, car rentals, airport expenses), and what changes can be made in order to help cost-cutting.
5. Sharing Transportation
A key way to focus on expense reduction is to encourage employees to share transportation. If there are two or more employees traveling on the same day from the same airport, you can encourage them to take the same car to the airport. As an employer you can either provide a rental car or a pickup service to drop them off at the airport at the same time. Or you can offer to pay for the parking at the airport if they all share one car.
If there are two or more employees going to the same destination, encourage them to share one car rental. This will reduce the cost of several cars being rented and the gas that they will have to pay for while they are away. This is a corporate travel savings trick that should be added into your travel policy and every employee should be encouraged to respect this whenever possible.
6. Offer Budget Incentives
Every company must have a very clear budget presented to their employees on the amount of money that can be spent while on a business travel. This must include flights, accommodation, car rental, and their meals. The budget should be presented to them every time a trip is booked so they are aware of any changes that may have happened since their last trip considering the changes in the economy and rates for every element that goes into planning a business trip.
As part of your policy, you can offer incentives or bonuses to those employees who are budget-friendly. This will encourage them to stay within budget and not overspend when traveling. It is a great way to encourage corporate travel savings.
7. Create an Approval Process
Employees know that every business trip planned must be approved by their employer even if it is to visit a client or close a deal. In order to guarantee you are saving money on business travel, it is encouraged to create an approval process that will review the expenses of the trip, including those fees that will be paid while at the destination. This way, the employee knows the budget available and can make any changes if necessary.
The approval process should be straightforward and clear so employees know what to expect, what to add to their presentation, and how to stay within the budget. It is a great way to help them stay in touch with your travel policies and to know how to help manage the cost of each trip.
8. Book the Trip in Advance
Most people know that booking a trip last minute will mean the prices go up and everything is more expensive, including plane tickets, hotels, and car rentals. Some trips may come as an emergency depending on the business you lead and booking a trip the day before or the day off cannot be avoided. However, whenever possible, encourage employees to book their business trip in advance.
By booking everything in advance, you will be able to find better rates and even work with travel discounts. This also gives you access to the travel flexibility, being able to change the dates if necessary to stay inside the predetermined budget.
9. Avoid Airport Parking
As mentioned before, one of the best ways to save money is by encouraging employees to share transportation. This is particularly important when traveling back and forth to the airport. Most airports have a high fee to park the car for a long period of time, therefore, if you avoid airport parking, you will be saving money on business travel.
In order to help employees reduce this, you can offer a pickup service that will drop them off at the airport the day of their flight and pick them up upon their return. This will be a much lower expense than parking a car for several days and reimbursing the employees for what they have spent.
10. Use a Travel Rewards Credit Card
Although some companies have the policy to reimburse their employees after they return from their trip and have presented their receipts, it might be a better option to help cost-cutting by giving them a travel rewards credit card. These types of cards will give you access to different kinds of rewards for the money you spend on flights, hotels, car rentals, and some restaurants.
The rewards can be as cash back or travel discounts that will benefit you when booking the next trip. Even after giving them a credit card, it is important to remind employees of the budget they must stick to. One way to guarantee this is possible is to set a limit on the credit card on what can be spent on every trip.