What is a travel management system?
A travel management system helps travel managers book, track and analyse business travel. Typically, a travel management system refers to a platform that offers travel inventory, travel policies and reporting, but this can also refer to the overall process of managing corporate travel.Key features in a travel management system
When you’re comparing travel management systems, it’s important to understand which features are the most impactful. Here are the features that can help you manage travel safely, efficiently and cost-effectively.2. Customisable approval workflows
What happens if a trip needs to be booked outside of your policy? Good question.Your travel management system should include approval workflows inside of the platform, so that if anything falls outside of policy, the person booking a trip can request approval and save their trip details (instead of sending an email and losing all their hard work of selecting the right itinerary). You should be able to set up these approval workflows however you want, such as picking different approvers for different teams and customising the level of strictness.Is approval required for all trips or just trips that fall out of policy or just trips booked by certain travellers? Your travel management system should include robust customisation.4. Support included at no additional cost
Paying a fee for every support call is really old school and really expensive. Your travel management system should include support at no additional cost to you. This way, you know exactly what you’re paying for and there are no surprises at the end of the month. Also, travellers can get the support they need when they need it without worrying about upsetting anyone in finance for a bunch of support calls.7. Consolidated invoicing
The easiest way to track your business travel is to book it in one place. However, some travel management systems don’t act as a single vendor, meaning you’ll still have a lot of different invoices. To save time and hassle on business travel, choose a system that consolidates all of your monthly travel into a single vendor invoice. The finance team will love you.9. Easy booking, including self-booking for travellers
Even if you don’t plan on letting travellers book for themselves, you still want a smooth booking experience and great UX for the employees who are in charge of booking travel.If you do plan on allowing self-booking, then you choose a travel management system that travellers love, one that is enjoyable to use, meets their needs and provides them support when they need it.10. Methods of transportation that matter to you
You expect your travel management system to have flights and hotels and most likely cars. But what about trains? If trains are a common way that your employees travel, then you should choose a travel management system that includes them.Why should you vet for methods of transportation (and even lodging sources like Airbnb) that your company uses regularly?So you can further consolidate your business travel into a single platform that’s easy to manage and track.11. Mobile app for travellers on the go
Do we really need to check for the existence of a mobile app? Yes, we do. Some travel management systems don’t have their own mobile apps, or they offer apps that are clunky and challenging to use. Before onboarding your entire team to a new travel management system, you should download their app yourself and test the experience.13. Easy to see what’s in and out of policy when searching
Wouldn’t it be lame if your travellers couldn’t tell that a hotel was out of policy until they were already excited to book it? Yeah, that would be terrible. Whether it’s a hotel or a plane or a train, your travellers should be able to see if something is outside of policy before they even click on it.15. Save traveller information
Booking business travel doesn’t have to take 2 hours. When you save every traveller’s information in your travel management system (including legal name, travel document country and number, birthday, etc.), it can take a whole lot less time—minutes even.17. No long term contracts
If you don’t like your travel management system, you shouldn’t be forced to use it.Popping champagne bottles at the end of long sales cycles is the old way. Trying a system out, seeing if you like it and leaving it if you don’t is the new way. When vetting the travel management platform, check that you don’t get locked in.The system that you use to book and manage travel can have a huge impact on your experience as a travel manager and on every employee who travels for work.Start saving money on business travel for your company today! book a demo and we'll show you how
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