4 smart ways you can reduce business travel costs now

Martin Go
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With inflation impacting business travel, it is time to assess how business travel costs should be prioritised and where possible, how to reduce costs. Business travel is invaluable for many reasons including cementing good business deals and providing the opportunity to establish positive personal interactions with existing or new business customers.

For travel managers, this is quite a challenge and true enough partnering with a Travel Management Company (TMC) is definitely a good step in the right direction since they can already assist in getting the best deals while trimming down unnecessary spending

Still, evidently and understandably enough there is still a need to cut corporate travel costs without affecting the positive benefits of business travel. Here are four smart ways we have ‘up our sleeve’ to save your company money

1. Cashback

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Travel cashback is a great way to get money back on your average monthly spend. Aspire is an all-in-one finance operating system for businesses that helps companies pay and manage their expenses in a smarter way. You can have a multi-currency account if it is needed and will save on all transactions as  Aspire has the lowest FX rates. 

TruTrip has partnered with Aspire to help you achieve savings on your travel spending – quickly and effortlessly. You can simply sign up for an Aspire card which is easy to do as it is 100% online and takes just five minutes. The great thing here is you can use your Aspire card for all business digital purchases and not just travel. Aspire calculates your cashback on your monthly card expenditure and pays it promptly into your Aspire account.

At the moment, Aspire TruTrip10 Cashback is running an easy and useful promotion. With this, all new Aspire card users will be eligible for a cashback of 10% on all payments made to TruTrip Pte Ltd via the Aspire Card within 90 days of account opening. 

2. Plan and book ahead

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A great deal of time and money can be saved by planning business trips well in advance with travel flexibility in mind. As business trips are often dependent on scheduled meetings with key personnel that may have to be re-arranged, flexible travel arrangements are important to business travellers, but the problem comes because they can be penalised for re-scheduling or cancelling at short notice.

In the drive to reduce business travel costs, it is essential to initiate a practical digital corporate travel policy for your company that is clear, concise and easy to access. Saving money on business travel requires effort from all employees. The corporate travel policy should give clear guidelines about the fare types and hotels employees should be booking plus full details of the aspects not covered by business expenses. 

Advanced and flexible bookings will help you find competitive’ early bird’ fares that are often times cheaper to cancel than buying a last-minute air ticket at a much-increased price. Travel flexibility you may need is having an option to cancel for any reason up to 24 hours in advance of the trip and get an 80% cash refund, which Truflex offers. Truflex has a certain amount of subscription charged on each travel booking. Compared to the cost of cancellation fees and premium fares, it offers real value for money.  

Travel expenses can also be submitted electronically which saves both time and money. With the right platform, individual employees will feel empowered as they can make their own travel arrangements.

3. Incentivise employees

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A positive approach works well for encouraging employees to help reduce the cost of business travel. Many companies have found that rewarding employees when they choose low-cost airlines and hotels and keeping their travel costs really well-controlled really works. Rewards vary from gift cards and pre-paid credit cards to company lunches and cash bonuses.

In addition to this, in research done by Mckinsey and Company, Asian business travellers prove to be more motivated to initiate and participate in the company’s effort to reduce business travel costs when their efforts are recognized and rewarded. 

It was proven that motivation can be greatly increased when desirable incentives are introduced. In an article published by Celebrity Cruises, the difference is certainly impressive,

‘… a 22 per cent gain in performance after implementing a new program, jumping to 44–48 per cent for programs in place longer than six months. Another study found that firms with effective incentive programs enjoyed 31 per cent lower voluntary turnover.

To gain an edge in their markets, businesses invest in rewards including cash, gift cards, trophies, recognition, time off, professional development, trendy merchandise, and the most coveted award of all, leisure travel’. 

4. Look into other travel choices    

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The cost of all aspects of business travel can be reduced. Many hotel rates are open to negotiations with travel managers and this can be very effective if you have employees travelling regularly to various cities covered by the same hotel group. You as the travel manager, business or HR leader can directly bargain for the lowest price with the best amenities. 

However, keep in mind that the lowest price may equate to poorer quality of rooms. Another choice you can opt for is open market rates. This is advisable for business travellers who are comfortable with booking at the last minute, most hotels are more willing to offer their rooms at a lower price as the dates close in. No one wants an empty room. 

If a hotel is an ideal choice for accommodation, it is best to check the small print first to avoid daily parking and Wi-Fi fees. These may sound insignificant, but they soon add up.

If you have several employees visiting the same location, sharing a hire car is preferable – not just to reduce costs but also to reduce your company’s carbon footprint. If you are drawing up a corporate travel policy, it is important to clarify specific ground transport expenses and accommodation that will be covered by your company. 


Get in touch with us today and save money on your business travel expenses

At Trutrip we use many ways to accomplish this goal for our clients. We work with local and global suppliers to give you a great range of hard-to-beat fares and rates. Find out how you can reduce costs, not value by  booking a demo or signing up for free trial