Tag: Travel Management

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How to Select the Right Corporate Travel Partners

I recently had the pleasure of attending the GBTA- North Carolina’s Education Day.  Themed ‘Bridging the Travel Gap’, it focused on helping both buyers and suppliers bridge the gaps that may exist during the purchasing process. The keynote speaker was Neil Hammond of Goldspring Consulting and he focused on Better Engaging the Buyer and Supplier Relationship. While he delivered a breadth of beneficial material, I really enjoyed his process on selecting the right corporate travel partners. By breaking it out into steps, it makes the process less daunting. It also allows for increased communication and guidelines, ensuring everyone’s needs are met for future travel management practices.

Selecting the right corporate travel partners for your business:

  1. Involve any key stakeholders to get internal support. Gaining this support is especially helpful when a introducing a new policy or changing vendors.
  2. Align your message internally in order to deliver the same message to your travelers.
  3. Educate key decision makers as necessary. Take the time to explain why vendor options are being evaluated.
  4. Define your strategy in advance of collecting a proposal. Will you be awarding a single contract or multiple?
  5. Survey your travelers. This will give you a clear picture of what travelers like and also in keeping their opinions in mind, will ensure buy-in as you proceed in the decision making process.
  6. Agree on your decision making process. What parameters are you looking for? Do these align with your company policy? Do you have a clear timeline for the implementation of this change?
  7. Clearly express your requirements to potential suppliers.
  8. Evaluate suppliers, engaging throughout the process to gain clarification and provide updates on your timeline, if necessary.
  9. Execute a decision according to the defined timeline.

While making a change to your travel program is never easy, following these steps will help you stay organized while selecting your corporate travel partners. And remember, Christopherson is always here to help. With more that 60 years experience in corporate travel, we understand the challenges that businesses face with travel management. If you would like to discuss the process of choosing corporate travel partners in more depth, feel free to contact us, or read our additional blogs below.

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Business Travel Travel Technology

How Christopherson Provides Organization for Travel Management

Denver

It could be the ‘type A’ personality in me, but I often think there’s room for improvement in most situations. I’ve also noticed this trait in many travel managers, procurement officers and executives. In positions as busy as these, isn’t the job more manageable with a structured and reliable system? Fortunately, I know Christopherson can provide that oh-so-necessary organization for travel management tasks. Our technology allows for peace of mind and instant access to information for company’s travel management needs. Why are we so confident that we can provide that satisfaction? Read some of our top benefits below:

How Christopherson provides organization for travel management

  •  With our AirPortal 360™ Dashboard and Mobile App, you have a 360° view of your travel program instantly and at all times.
  • No more digging through your inbox to find a traveler’s itinerary. Christopherson’s SecurityLogic® will tell you exactly where your travelers are in seconds. You can even look at their past or upcoming trips by customizing your search.
  • Eliminate that spreadsheet tracking your company’s unused tickets. AirBank® technology seamlessly tracks the unused funds from cancelled tickets. We even provide reminders, ensuring they are used before expiring.
  • All of your traveler’s pertinent travel information and preferences is stored in our Traveler Profiles, allowing you to take one less step when booking. There is no need to keep a series of post-it notes on your desk with traveler’s information written on them.
  • Lastly, eliminate the need to “shop” for fares prior to booking a trip. With PolicyLogic™, your company’s travel policy is built into our software. When travelers book their travel either with an agent or through one of our online booking tools, your travel policy will always comply.

By choosing Christopherson Business Travel as your travel management partner, you are signing on from streamlined and organized travel management. We are at the forefront of travel technology, and have been since we opened our doors in 1953. Contact us to learn more about our AirPortal® platform, and how we can declutter your travel management procedures.

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Business Travel Travel Technology

Christopherson Business Travel and your Risk Management Program

I recently had the pleasure of hearing Charles Brossman, a prominent risk management author and consultant speak at GBTA- North Carolina’s Education Breakfast. His informal but informative conversation educated our group on the legal terms associated with risk management. These terms, coupled with real- life examples, left us thinking about ways to improve the risk management programs for our own organizations.

How Christopherson provides risk management security

Guess what? By partnering with Christopherson as your Travel Management Company, you already have the shoe on the right foot. Housed in our AirPortal 360 platform, SecurityLogic allows travel managers can access real-time threats. This includes security updates, weather, traffic, airport delays, and disaster alerts. These alerts can be automatically pushed to travelers via text and email. With the intuitive Safety Check feature, you can request safety verification from your travelers, from anywhere in the world. Once activated, the traveler will immediately be messaged. Knowing that you are worried about their safety and they can also quickly respond. Additionally, SecurityLogic provides multiple global map overlays. All travel information is geocoded to street-level accuracy. So you can zoom into any country, city, or street to find risks near your travelers.
Learn more about how Christopherson can assist with your duty of care and risk management goals.

Charles Brossman is the author of the book “Building a Travel Risk Management Program: Traveler Safety and Duty of Care for Any Organization”. For more information on Charles Brossman and his services, see his website.

Christopherson Business Travel provides full-service travel management for companies. With advanced technology and customized service, we are one of the top TMCs in the nation. Contact us to learn how we can save your company time and money on future travel.

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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.