Last Updated on: November 4, 2024 at 8:52 am
With inflation impacting business travel, it is time to assess and prioritise how to reduce travel costs in a business. 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
In this article, we'll take a look at:
Travel cashback is a great way to get money back on your average monthly spend and is an effective strategy when considering how to reduce travel costs in a business. Aspire is an all-in-one finance operating system for businesses, helping companies pay and manage their expenses in a smarter way. With Aspire, you can have a multi-currency account if needed, saving on all transactions since Aspire offers 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.
A great deal of time and money can be saved by planning business trips well in advance with travel flexibility in mind. When considering how to reduce travel costs in a business, it’s helpful to focus on flexible travel arrangements. Business trips are often dependent on scheduled meetings with key personnel that may need to be re-arranged, making flexibility essential. However, last-minute rescheduling or cancellations can lead to penalties, so incorporating flexibility into your travel planning is a valuable strategy.
In the drive to reduce business travel costs, how to reduce travel costs in a business becomes a central concern, and implementing a practical digital corporate travel policy is a key solution. This policy should be clear, concise, and easy for all employees to access. Saving money on business travel requires effort from the entire team, and a well-defined corporate travel policy can provide clear guidelines on which fare types and hotels to book while also detailing any 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, helping the company understand how to reduce travel costs in a business.
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 focus on how to reduce travel costs in a business 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 on how to reduce travel costs in a business 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’.
‘… 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’.
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. When considering how to reduce travel costs in a business, another option is to explore open market rates. This approach is ideal for business travelers comfortable with booking at the last minute, as many hotels are more willing to lower their prices as the dates approach to avoid vacant rooms.
If a hotel remains the best choice for accommodation, it’s wise to check the small print to avoid unexpected charges like daily parking and Wi-Fi fees. While these may seem insignificant, they can quickly add up, impacting efforts on how to reduce travel costs in a business.
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.
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
TruTrip streamlines booking, management, and reporting for hassle-free business trips.