1. Determine priorities for administrators, managers and travellers
- The business traveller 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 (check out our travel and expense policy template), and a travel management solution that does not take too much time away from other tasks. 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 to be able to make budget decisions in real-time and optimise cost savings.
2. Use a booking platform that allows travellers to book for themselves
- No need to bother the office manager or travel manager for a simple booking procedure
- No 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, using a train etc.)
- They can choose the air travel providers and lodging they want, managing their own hotel bookings and flight tickets
- They can track their frequent flyer programmes
- They can get all the benefits of an online booking platform tailored for business travel, while you get to make sure that they plan their trips within your company travel policy
Ultimately, self-booking allows travellers to save their own time and their administrator’s time, and to get the options they want within the pre-determined travel budget.Use a booking platform that allows travellers to book within policy automatically or to save desired trips that an administrator can then finalise 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 emails!Check out our guide on how to choose the best business travel agency to help manage your business trips.
3. Streamline your policies and approvals process
- Pricing guidelines based on the city of destination
- Travel insurance requirements
- Guidelines based on traveller group (such as team, 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 traveller/team (the team lead, project lead or travel manager?)