Considering
the Value of United Way Travel
Looking to maximize every dollar of your travel
spend? One smart way to do this is by assessing
your company's travel management needs. To help
in this effort, we've developed the following
analysis tool. What do you need?
1. An Applied Travel Policy
Applying a travel policy means your company
ensures that travelers book the appropriate service
levels for their trips and that preferred carriers/suppliers
are used. It also means getting volume discounts
from the airlines, hotels and car rental agencies
that save companies millions each year.
Consider these facts:
- Business Travel News (BTN) estimates that
a company with under $1 million in annual air
spend typically achieves a 10% discount on
negotiated fares.
- BTN research also indicates that companies
with annual air spend between $3 and $12 million
negotiate average discounts of 19% off of domestic
airfares. Without a travel policy to ensure
travelers utilize these fares as well as those
for hotel and car, however, these savings cannot
be realized. These money-saving opportunities
are why companies of all sizes not only negotiate
discounts with travel suppliers, but also apply
an enforceable policy to their employees' travel
decisions.
2. The Best Fares
The secret to getting the lowest prices, however,
does not end with corporate discounts. The way
to get the best fares is simple: have access
to the widest range of fare options—sometimes
fare sales and other promotions by airlines,
hotels, and car providers offer even better rates
than your corporate negotiated fare. Look at
it this way: If you don't get the biggest menu,
you are simply missing out on all the faring
options. How do we help? We offer the fullest
menu possible:
- Published fares
- Group meeting, bulk fares
- Discounted fares
- Consolidator fares
- Your negotiated fares
- Consumer Web site fares
- Our negotiated fares
- Airline Web site fares
What is the result of this larger menu of fares?
In a study comparing 12,000 itineraries made
by agents and Web sites, research firm Topaz
International found that agent fares were on
average 23% cheaper than the same bookings made
via the Internet.The agents' larger fare menu
is a major factor.
3. Sufficient
Data & Reporting
Smart companies also know that reports of their
travel spend enable them to quickly and effectively
track and analyze spending patterns. You use
travel expenditure reports to verify policy adherence,
and to properly analyze, budget and control travel
expenditures, as well as to monitor performance
against volume discount agreements for renegotiation
purposes with suppliers. Without these reports,
your corporate travel managers cannot adequately
perform their job of monitoring those expenses
that CFO's scrutinize for their tendency to balloon.
Here are examples of the reporting we provide:
- Travel spend by employee
- Employee travel policy adherence
- Travel spend by department
- Foregone travel savings
- Travel spend by airline/hotel/car
- Traveler location identification (disaster
planning) provider
4. Value-add Services
What about all those other factors that inevitably
come into play? The agency you work with, via
online or phone service, provides many additional
services to keep your employees, travel managers
and CFO's satisfied. Not surprisingly, these
services frequently add up to large savings for
your company. Examples include:
-
Changes to air/hotel/car itineraries
-
Unused ticket tracking and management
-
Upgrades
-
Post-reservation fare improvement searches
-
Location of employees in case of emergency
-
Faster service vs. the 30 minutes a traveler
averages booking online (PhocusWright)
-
Consulting help to assist you in renegotiating
the best supplier discounts and further lower
overall travel spend
To maximize every
dollar of your corporate travel spend, call us
today at 866-446-2172.
We'll help assess your needs, and provide you
with the most complete and cost-efficient travel
solution. |