How to Save Money on Business Travel Bookings without Compromising on Quality?

While engaging in business travel, employees incur a variety of expenses. But they spend a substantial part of business travel budgets on essential and expensive travel products like flight, accommodation, and car rental. Your organization can reduce the average cost of business trips by saving money on business travel bookings.

But you must remember that employees often experience stress when they lack the option to book their choice of travel solutions. Also, you can keep employees safe and comfortable during business trips by allowing them to compare and choose business travel solutions.

While streamlining corporate travel management, you can save money on business travel booking using multiple strategies. But you should ensure that none of the strategies impacts employees’ business travel experience and safety. 

Here are some ideas you should consider to save money on business travel booking without making work travelers experience stress.

11 Ideas to Save Money on Business Travel Booking without Impacting Work Travelers

1. Set and Enforce Travel Policies

Your organization can control costs efficiently by making work travelers know what travel products they can book and what they cannot book. It is always important to simplify and streamline the business travel booking process by setting travel policies.

However, you also need to ensure that employees do not violate organizational policies while booking business travel. The enforcement is essential to make employees stay within policy limits while booking their choice of travel products.

2. Centralize Business Travel Booking

Most organizations these days control costs by centralizing business travel booking. When you centralize business travel booking, business travel arrangements will be made either by an in-house travel manager or a travel management company.

The travel management company or travel manager will ensure policy compliance and explore ways to control costs. Also, they will curtail costs by opting for tickets that can be modified or canceled without paying fees or penalties.

3. Get Negotiated Rates

Vendors and suppliers get repeat business by offering business travel products at corporate rates. Your employees can book travel products at less than public rates using the corporate code provided by the airline or hotel chain.

But you can get corporate rates only by negotiating with various travel product suppliers. Your organization can negotiate with the suppliers directly through the in-house travel manager. Otherwise, you can get better rates by implementing travel management software or working with a travel management company.

4. Launch Preferred Vendor Programs

Your organization can boost employees’ work travel experiences by supporting self-booking. But self-booking creates opportunities for employees to choose from many suppliers and vendors. Some of these suppliers may provide travel products at higher rates.

You can make employees book travel products provided by specific vendors by launching preferred vendor programs. The program will ensure that employees get high-quality travel products without spending more money.

5. Require Pre-Trip Approval

When you make pre-trip approval mandatory, employees have to send business travel requests to specific managers or supervisors. They can start business travel booking only after the request is approved by the respective approver.

While approving the business travel request, the approver will ensure that the employee is not violating travel policies or crossing policy limits. Hence, it will become easier for your organization to control travel booking costs.

6. Ensure Early Travel Booking

Employees often escalate costs by delaying business travel bookings. They spend more on transportation and accommodation by making last-minute bookings. Your organization can save money on business travel booking by making employees plan and book business trips early.

Your organizational travel policies must instruct employees to complete business travel bookings in advance of the business trip. However, you must allow employees to make last-minute bookings in case of emergencies.

7. Include Alternative Travel Products

It becomes easier for employees to save money on business travel booking when they have the option to choose from alternative travel options. For instance, an employee can control costs by choosing homestays instead of hotels.

Likewise, she can save money by opting for carpooling instead of car rentals. Hence, you must enable employees to access travel inventories consisting of both conventional and alternative travel products.

8. Provide Corporate Credit Cards

Like personal credit cards, corporate credit cards enable users to earn rewards and rebates on their spending. Your employees will earn loyalty points when they book business travel products using corporate cards.

They can redeem loyalty points to earn discounts while making business travel bookings in the future. Hence, your organization can save money on business travel booking in the longer run by providing employees with corporate credit cards.

9. Leverage Real-Time Data

The automation of corporate travel management helps your organization gather travel and expense data of employees regularly. You can get actionable insights by analyzing the data collected from real-time sources.

The actionable insights will make it easier for you to review overall travel spend and find opportunities to control travel costs. You can leverage data-driven insights to save money on business travel booking by making informed decisions.

10. Incentivize Employees to Save

Your organization can control costs by encouraging and incentivizing employees to make cost-efficient travel choices. You should implement software that helps employees estimate the average cost of a business trip. At the same time, you should incentivize employees to spend less than the estimated business travel cost.

Employees will make cost-conscious booking decisions when they earn a part of their savings as rewards. However, you must ensure that no employee feels that your organization compels them to book low-budget travel solutions.

11. Implement Travel Management Software

In addition to centralizing business travel booking, travel management software helps your organization control travel booking costs. While configuring the software, you can define travel guidelines and approval workflow.

The software will enforce organizational policies in-policy travel products to each employee. At the same time, software provided by leading travel management companies enables employees to get negotiated rates and leverage the best deals.

Conclusion

Your organization can control the average business trip costs by saving money on business travel bookings. But you must focus on saving travel booking costs while meeting employees’ expectations and improving their business travel experience. You combine and implement the right cost-saving strategies by adopting best practices and leveraging real-time data.