Travel Management: Are your employees wasting your money?

When I was vice president of administration for a Fortune 500 corporation, one of the top three expense categories was travel and meeting planning.

I monitored this department like a hawk, and I could write a book about the creative ways in which employees tried to benefit themselves, and cost the company money. 

For example, one key executive who was approved for flying business class would book his own ticket, then change it to economy class and pocket the difference.  His expense account would show the $10,000 cost, not the $1000 one. People would book a hotel, no matter as to the cost, just so they would add to their points for that chain.

They did not care that the airline price was much lower if they flew on another airline, they didn’t even check. All they wanted was to stay with one to build their frequent flyer points.

They hid their family travel on the company expense account, and rarely had restaurant receipts. They would jump in a taxi at an airport, and didn’t think twice about paying $100 for the ride. A regular expense was to pay $150 for a bottle of wine with dinner, and say the client recommended it.

The first thing I did at any company I was with was to put a new policy into place that no one could book their own travel. They wasted too much time on doing this, and their time should be spent on doing what they were hired for. 

We had to use a travel agency, with expert staff who handled worldwide corporate travel. They followed my policy, and anyone trying to beat the system was reported on, much to their surprise. This way, I knew that the agents would use the best price airline, and I had a computer tracking system so I could see where our expenses were going.   

We used hotels which not only gave our staff a free breakfast, but also in many cases especially overseas, picked them up from the airport free of charge. A good travel agency has systems which will show every airline and price, going to the destination for the day requested. They will be also able to see who is offering a special for that time frame. We have seen offers such as, “book within the next 24 hours and it is $199 to London”, instead of $1000.   

Many times if you leave a day earlier, you can get a half price ticket if there is a special. The public, trying to book travel on their own, does not have access to all this information.

For an offsite meeting, the department head’s assistant would pick a hotel, and make all the arrangements having absolutely no travel negotiations background.  This I quickly put a stop to.   

The travel agency recommended three hotels in the selected area, and then negotiated for group rates, free rooms when allowed, and special pricing for meals and certainly no fee for the meeting space. If it was an overseas meeting, then it was all the more important to deal with a specialist who knew the area.   

We chartered planes on many occasions. This is a very cost effective way to handle an incentive trip. For a multi-national corporation, bringing staff in from all over the globe, travel management was a key issue.

No matter whether you are flying to New York or Bangkok, it is important to let an expert handle the arrangements. It takes one telephone call, or an e-mail, to get the trip booked, instead of the time you would have to waste trying to do it yourself.

VIP’s and frequent flyers will get the best possible seating as well as upgrades if available if booked through a travel agency who does high volume with the airline in question.    

Booking yourself on the internet will often time receive the worst accommodation in the house and not necessarily at the best price.

The smart traveler deals with a travel professional. They usually have clout being part of a consortium such as Signature Travel Network, which is a large consortium doing six billion dollars in worldwide sales. Consortia hotels regularly give clients upgrades, and will bump a reservation to make sure their agency booked reservation receives priority. When there is a disaster, like a volcano erupting, a national strike, or bad weather, travel agents know how to get our clients home quickly and efficiently. 

Without a travel agent, you are on your own.