If a problem is happening now, start here
Stay calm and assess the situation
Find the right solution to the problem
- For less impactful delays, offer support with rescheduling if needed, and communicate proactively to other teams about any work that might need to be shuffled to support the traveller.
- If the delay is significant or impacting mission-critical work, communicate with the airline or travel provider to see if you can reschedule the employee on another itinerary to mitigate the impacts of the delay.
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First things first: keep travellers safe
- Real-time alerts for weather, security issues, or travel disruptions such as flight delays or rail strikes.
- Visibility into where travelling employees are, and at-a-glance itineraries.
- 24/7 customer care or live chat support to provide immediate help if something goes wrong.
“[The main value of the TravelPerk platform] is in understanding our costs and the duty of care for our people — knowing where they are, in case there’s an emergency … that knowledge gives us the power to figure out what we’ve got to do next to save a bit more money or improve the experience for people. [...] It’s also giving people the power to manage their travel themselves and making it easy for them.”
Nancy McArtney Smith,Service excellence manager at Ampa
When possible, work proactively
Sarah
Will
Sarah’s company has a travel management platform (like TravelPerk) that provides real-time alerts about travel disruptions or potential issues.
The morning of the flight, Sarah’s travel manager gets a notification about thunderstorms forecasted for the afternoon which might impact Sarah’s evening flight.
So far, everything looks good, but Sarah’s travel manager uses the TravelPerk platform directly to change her to an earlier flight to avoid the storms.
Sarah flies out on a 12pm flight with no issues.
Will’s company booked the flight for him directly through the airline. The flight looks fine, so he heads to the airport as scheduled.
However, thunderstorms delay many incoming flights, and by 5pm, his flight has been delayed two hours. He calls the travel manager, frustrated. He has an important meeting at 8am the next morning!
The travel manager is already off work for the night, but she calls the airline to try to reschedule him. At this point, many alternate flights are full.
Will’s flight continues to be delayed, but after much frustration, he finally takes off at 9pm and gets into Paris just before midnight.
With the right tools, you can act rather than react
- Your company travel policy
- Communication guidelines and documents that outline who to contact in case of an emergency, responsibilities, and so on
- Levels of emergencies and SOPs
- A risk mitigation strategy
- A pre-trip checklist for travellers with important documents and emergency contacts.
“TravelPerk has added a lot of value because I have far fewer complaints which is good — because then I can spend my time on other more strategic things.”
Lydia de Kousemaeker,Strategic Buyer and Travel Manager at Fujifilm Europe B.V.
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Be ready to flex
- More options when you need to reschedule or cancel. Cancel or reschedule your flight for weather, an illness, business changes, or more — no questions asked, and get your money back.
- Avoid weather delays and strikes in advance. If your flight is delayed, cancel and take a train instead. Rail on strike? Change your trip dates or rent a car instead. You can work proactively to avoid disruptions without major financial costs.
- Built-in flexibility provides peace of mind — for you and your travellers. Book confidently knowing your itinerary can change if you need it to, without blowing your company budget.
- Flexibility improves employee satisfaction, reducing turnover and creating more loyalty to your company.
- Flexibility pays off. Investing in flexible travel solutions saves companies tens of thousands a year in both canceled trips, and in cost savings from being able to book earlier and adjust plans as needed later on.
- Cancelling up to two hours before.
- Get 80% of the money back on your trip, no questions asked.
- 100% of trips booked with FlexiPerk are refundable — air, train, hotels, or car rentals.
- Save, on average, 40% on flexible fares with FlexiPerk compared to standard flexible rates.
“I don’t have to wait [to book] anymore because I can book trips far in advance and save money. If it turns out that I can’t go, I cancel the trip and get my money back.”
Carles Ibars, Sales Manager at EU Business School
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The freedom to cancel anytime, anywhere. Get 80% back with FlexiPerk.
Hand over the reins (and regain some sanity)
- Travellers can make changes on their own. When disruptions occur, travellers can rebook or reschedule themselves, streamlining operations and allowing travellers to pick the options that work best for them.
- Travellers can book their preferred providers. Giving travellers the option of who to book with allows them to accumulate loyalty points and increase employee engagement.
- Travellers can make changes on their own while still staying within policy. Built-in policies and approvals means your travellers will see all the options that fit within policy, or can request something outside of policy and a travel manager can simply approve or deny. Less back-and-forth, more options, and no more chasing down travellers to stay within policy guidelines.
Make a communication plan
“Without TravelPerk, I imagine my role would be very time-consuming. Having to manage travel for so many people in different time zones is a real challenge, so if we didn’t have TravelPerk, I don’t know what would happen.”
Daniela Merizalde Usuga,Travel Manager at Storyblok
Make disruptions work for you by leveraging that data
- Do disruptions tend to have a specific cause? For example, European business travellers are most impacted by transportation strikes (27% of British travellers), while extended delays (38%) and weather-related disruptions (30%) were the biggest category for American travellers disruptions.
- Do disruptions tend to happen on a specific type of travel? (i.e. rail or flights)
- When do disruptions last the longest? For example, maybe there are more rail disruptions but they have less impact.
- Are there any ways you could have avoided these disruptions?
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