It is important for your business to have a travel policy that reflects your current business needs. A good travel policy will help to reduce costs and ensure that you are meeting your duty of care obligations as an employer.
To help you get started, we’ve put together our top tips below.
Keep it simple
Here is what you should include in your basic travel policy:
- Where your employees can book travel
- How employees can pay for their travel
- How the approval process works
- How employees can claim their expenses
- Booking Flights, hotels and ground transport
Set a benchmark
Analyse your recent travel patterns and make a plan by setting a target to reduce your overall spending costs.
Manage employee expectations
Even if your employee has a personal preference on where they would like to stay and what airline they would like to fly with, you will need to manage their expectations and offer them options that are in line with your company's travel policy.
Review and refresh your travel policy
Make sure you keep your travel policy up to date and ensure it reflects your current business needs. Ask your employees to give regular reviews and feedback on their trips.
Not sure if you need a travel policy? Check out what a travel policy can do for your business
Save money
By booking flights, accommodation and car hire through separate suppliers, you will most likely be acquiring unnecessary admin fees, merchant fees and service charges from the multiple companies you are using to travel and booking through for your trip. By using different suppliers, it diminishes your ability to leverage a long-term partnership with travel suppliers and you lose the additional benefits. By having a travel policy in place and using a single travel manager you can save money and time.
Great tip: Book in advance to save up to 21% on your travel.
Added benefits and loyalty upgrades
Travel suppliers are more likely to reward loyal customers with discounts and value adds in the long term. By booking with multiple different airlines, hotels and car hire companies, it may seem like a good idea to pick up a quick deal but in the long run it will reduce your chances of receiving upgrades and the added benefits that come with loyalty programmes from consolidated bookings.
All your bookings and expenses in one place
When it comes to tracking all of your travel expenses, it is more difficult when receipts and accounts are spread across a number of suppliers. The wider you spread your accounts, the harder it is to keep track of them and a greater chance of misplacing booking records, making it very difficult when it comes to travel administration and the accounting processes. By using a single travel manager and a travel policy, all of your bookings will be in one place, saving time trying to track them all down.
Top Tip: The most effective travel policies are the ones that are kept simple and easily accessible to your employees. This will drive adoption and encourage compliance. Be sure to gain feedback from your travellers to ensure that the policy is relevant and factors in their employee satisfaction. Aligning your travel policy with your business goals and culture is a highly important.- Raychil Coutts, Account Management Leader