Month: June 2016

Categories
Travel Management

The Downside Of Using Online Booking Sites

When the time comes to book upcoming business travel, many companies ask their employees to take on the responsibility. They are often told to use public online booking sites or book directly through the website of a specific airline or hotel.  Though this may initially seem like the easiest way to book travel, it often isn’t the best solution for a company.  Here are our top five reasons why booking through online sites are not always the best option for corporate travel management:

What every company should know about online booking sites:

  • Time.  It takes time to shop every airline website for the best deal. Your employees should be focusing on their ‘real’ job, not bogged down by price checking travel on different sites.
  • Hidden Charges.  Most online booking websites and airline websites charge a service fee.  In many cases, it is hidden in the small print with the taxes and then further buried in a hyperlink.  Additionally, they are often missing out on vendor discounts or bundled deals by booking for themselves.
  • No Travel Policy Enforcement. What stops your employee from booking a more expensive hotel or choosing a first class seat? Without an enforcement on travel policy, what may seem like a tiny splurge to them, could be taking a toll on your bottom line.
  • Duty of Care. When a traveler books from an outside source or multiple sources, the only way the company can provide their duty of care obligation is to have the traveler email a copy of each segment of their trip to one person in the organization.  It is that person’s responsibility to keep track of each traveler. That can easily get confusing and stressful should something go wrong.
  • No Data. Companies typically have no data to negotiate better rates when available. We often see that internal reporting and analysis of their travel management is also lacking.

Working with a TMC provides additional benefits

Travel management companies, including Christopherson Business Travel, specialize in understanding these downfalls and provide solutions for your business travel needs. Whether it’s keeping employees within your travel policy, or just the convenience of booking, there are many benefits to using a travel management company. Though our clients can customize their plans, below are a few of the benefits that are always included for our clients.

  • Discounted and negotiated airfares, hotel and car rental discounts.
  • Company travel policy, so your travelers can’t book Business Class and stay at the Four Seasons without your knowledge.
  • Christopherson’s partner discounts – we have discounts with airlines and at more than 40,000 hotels in over 170 countries.
  • Travel approval notification for managers, if desired.
  • Safety and security alerts for Duty of Care responsibility, using geo-location technology in case of an emergency.

Christopherson Business Travel has more than 60 years of experience with business travel management. Combine that with our mobile travel technology and superior customer service, and it’s no surprise we have a 97 percent client retention rate. Please contact us to learn more about our corporate travel packages or read or recommended blogs below.

Read next: What Are The Benefits Of A Travel Management Company

 

Categories
Business Travel Travel Management

How To Stay Under Your Corporate Travel Budget

Managing corporate travel is a tough job with many moving parts. Not only are you, as the travel manager, accountable for everything going smoothly, but also responsible for any unforeseen glitches. The biggest frustration is often budget. Check out our seven tips to keep you under your corporate travel budget.

7 tips to stay under corporate travel budget

  1. Book travel early. Did you know that even just a two day difference in purchasing a plane ticket can make a big difference? One study looking at the difference in business travel purchase behavior between men and women, found that waiting only two days for a ticket was a difference of 113 dollars. We know that business travel is often last minute, but keep in mind–even an extra day in booking can make a big difference.
  2. Take into account all the details and agendas before booking. How long will your travelers be staying? Are there any alternatives that may work better than the norm? For instance, it might make more sense to purchase metro cards for travelers in New York City, rather than renting a car. Driving and parking in large cities are often a pain anyway, and you will also avoid parking fees.
  3. Review travel receipts in more detail. Give yourself more time to look through the details of submitted travel receipts. Does anything unnecessary pop out at you? Nipping those unnecessary expenses can add up to big savings.
  4. Create and actively use travel incentives. Give your team of business travelers incentives to stay under budget. This keeps them motivated to shop for the best price. You can also encourage them to become loyalty members with your preferred vendors. This allows you to fulfill your contract agreements while your travelers rack up personal travel points.
  5. Stay organized. Work to proactively take control of the next trip. Know what’s needed and don’t be caught scrambling to make travel plans at the last minute.
  6. Establish preferred vendor relationships. Developing these relationships will definitely benefit you in the long run.
  7. Hire a travel management company. Sometimes the best solution is having an expert manage your travel in order to get the most out of your budget and valuable time. Most travel management companies, including Christopherson, are affiliates of global companies. This allows them to provide the individualized customer service experience you need, with global relationships and discounts that help you always get you the best price on business travel.

Staying on top of your travel is not difficult, but it does take additional time and forethought. Try out our tips this month and see if you notice any difference in travel costs. Let us know what you find. Or, contact us if you would like to know more about how Christopherson Business Travel can save you time and money.

Categories
Business Travel Travel Management

Top 10 Reasons You DON’T Need a Travel Management Company

Nowadays, it seems like there’s list after list of reasons that you “NEED” to do something.  But sometimes, perspectives need to be altered. That’s why today we are focusing on the top 10 reasons you don’t need a travel management company to assist with your business travel needs.

10 Reasons You Don’t Need a TMC:

  1. Saving the company money simply isn’t that important to you or the company
  2. Ensuring the safety of your travelers isn’t a critical responsibility
  3. Its not important for the company’s employees to be more efficient
  4. Paying travel suppliers more than needed sounds like a great idea
  5. It doesn’t matter if unused tickets expire, or are being misused
  6. Maintaining a spreadsheet is preferred to a professional reporting system
  7. A preference for getting nothing vs. earning corporate travel loyalty points
  8. Love living by the saying: “We’ve always done it this way, so why change now?”
  9. When there’s a travel problem, it’s a ‘thrill’ to spend 2hrs on the phone solving it
  10. Enjoy having no one to call for help, after missing the day’s last flight home

The bottom-line is that if you travel any more than never, it probably doesn’t hurt to have a travel management company on your side.  Christopherson Business Travel is an award-winning travel management company. With more than 60 years of experience, our cost-saving solutions and dedicated travel experts have saved companies thousands every year. Contact us to learn more. Or, keep reading about the benefits of using a travel management company.

Categories
Business Travel Travel Management

5 Signs You Need A Corporate Travel Management Company

You are busy. Between today’s deadlines and propelling your company to the next level, you likely don’t have time to sort through details. And corporate travel may be one of those details you are ignoring. Unfortunately, this aspect of business plays a major role in the functionality of your company as well as the lives of your employees. Without a corporate travel management company (TMC) to assist you, you may be missing out on valuable resources and savings. But how do you know if you would benefit from a TMC?

5 Signs That You Could Use a Corporate Travel Management Company

  • You lack the human resources. The task of travel management often falls on someone with a completely different title, who likely hasn’t been trained in corporate travel. This wastes company time and money when that person should be doing their “real” job, but is stuck trying to buy tickets and wrangle itineraries.
  • You lack patience. Do you struggle to know which deals are the best deals? Do you have other things to do than spend the afternoon comparing sites, flight routes, and prices? With a travel management company, let someone else find the best deals.
  • You have little or no travel management industry knowledge. Do you know the most effective practices for corporate travel policies? How about negotiating airline or hotel contracts? You may be missing out on standard practices or budget saving tips.
  • Your analytics and reporting are non-existent. Just like other areas of your business, analyzing and managing the expenses and trends of your corporate travel program is important for running your business overall.
  • You don’t have an emergency plan for travelers. Should your employees face an emergency when traveling, do you have a plan? Do they know what to do next? Travel management companies can provide additional duty of care support when you need it the most.

If you answered “yes” to any of the signs above, you would certainly benefit from using a business travel management company. Let the corporate travel experts handle the details, while you focus on your company’s growth and success. Christopherson Business Travel has more than 60 years of experience, and continually ranks one of the top travel management companies in the country. Learn more about our advanced travel technology and what else makes us different.