1. Identify priorities for everyone involved in the travel process
- The business traveler wants an itinerary that doesn’t cause unnecessary sleep-loss, a comfortable room with WiFi, and maybe an extra day to explore a new city and turn a business trip into personal travel – a.k.a a “bleisure” trip.
- The office manager needs a travel policy that works and a travel management solution that doesn’t take too much time away from other tasks. The travel booking process should be seamless: they shouldn’t need to open hundreds of tabs or contact loads of travel consultants or agents just to book flights.
- And finally, the finance manager needs instant access to all travel spend so they can make budget decisions in real-time and optimize cost savings.
2. Use a booking platform that allows travelers to book their own travel
- They don’t need to bother the office manager or travel manager for a simple booking.
- They don’t need to write complicated emails or fill out forms with multiple itinerary options.
- They can choose the itinerary they want and how they would like to travel (car rental, booking on different airlines, taking a train etc.).
- They can choose their preferred airlines and lodging.
- They can track their frequent flier programs.
- An online booking platform tailored for business travel can help ensure travel policy compliance.
Ultimately, self-booking allows travelers to save time, save administrator’s time, and get the options they want within the predetermined travel budget.Use a booking platform that allows travelers to book within policy automatically or to save desired trips that an administrator can then finalize if you need more control. This way, an office manager or travel manager can review inside the platform which requested bookings are incomplete. No more back-and-forth emails!
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3. Streamline your policies and approvals process
- Price guidelines or limits based on the city of destination
- Travel insurance requirements
- Guidelines based on traveler group (such as team, role, office, or country)
- Required level of control (pre-approve all trips, no trips, or just ones of a certain price/length)
- The person who is approving each traveler/team (the team lead, project lead, or travel manager?)
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