How TMCs can help you book and save on business travel flights

1. Crafting your corporate flight policy: The foundation of smart travel

We'll help you develop a corporate flight policy that aligns your travel practices with your business goals. We'll create a strategic document that guides every booking decision.

We'll help include critical elements such as:

• Preferred airlines and fare classes
• Booking procedures and advance purchase requirements
• Expense guidelines for upgrades, baggage fees, and other ancillary travel costs
• Safety protocols for air travel
• Sustainability considerations, such as carbon offsetting options

We'll also create visual summaries of your travel policy and set up regular reviews to keep it current.

2. Providing online booking systems: The digital edge in flight bookings

Corporate Traveller offers modern booking tools that streamline your flight reservation process, ensuring travel policy compliance while giving travellers some autonomy.

Our tools feature:

• Quick comparison of flight options across multiple airlines
• Travel policy compliance checks built into the booking flow
• Real-time visibility into flight spend and savings opportunities
• Mobile accessibility for on-the-go bookings and itinerary management
• Integration with major airline loyalty programmes

3. Mastering airline negotiations: The art of the deal

We excel at developing strong relationships with airlines and negotiating favourable contracts, leading to discounts and substantial savings over time.

We employ strategies like:

• Leveraging your total flight volume across all company travel
• Pushing for flexible fares that allow changes with minimal/no fees
• Negotiating for perks like priority boarding

4. Maximising airline loyalty programmes: Points, miles, and perks

Corporate Traveller can help turn your corporate flights into future savings by strategically leveraging airline loyalty programmes. Here’s how:

• Implementing a company-wide strategy for collecting and using miles
• Negotiating status matches or challenges for your frequent flyers
• Exploring corporate reward programmes offered by major airlines
• Educating employees on maximising point accrual and redemption
• Exploring options for pooling points or miles at the corporate level

5. Analysing your flight data: The numbers game

At Corporate Traveller, we excel at diving deep into your corporate flight data to uncover insights that can drive smarter booking decisions and corporate travel policy refinements.

Your TMC should have the travel technology to help you with:

• Tracking key metrics like average ticket price, advance booking windows, and corporate travel policy compliance rates
• Identifying patterns in booking behaviour that may be driving up travel costs
• Benchmarking your flight costs against industry standards
• Analysing route-specific data to negotiate better deals on your most travelled paths
• Using predictive analytics to forecast travel demand and optimise advance bookings

6. Implementing innovative approval processes: The gatekeeper approach

When planning business travel, your TMC can help create a pre-trip approval system that balances control and efficiency, ensuring every flight booked aligns with business needs and travel policy guidelines. For example, we can assist in setting up:

• Clear approval thresholds based on flight cost, destination, or traveller seniority
• Automated approvals for routine flights to reduce administrative burden
• Integrated approval workflows with booking tools for seamless processing
• Systems for justifying exceptions to standard policy

7. Educating and engaging your travellers: The human element

Corporate Traveller can help engage your employees in the process and help them understand the impact of their booking decisions.

Your TMC can help with strategies like:

• Providing regular training on your flight booking policies and tools
• Communicating clearly about why certain airlines or booking methods are preferred
• Establishing feedback loops to improve your flight programme continually
• Creating recognition programmes for employees who consistently book cost-effective flights

8. The long game: Strategic planning of business travel

Your TMC can help you take a long-term, strategic view of your corporate flight needs to maximise savings and efficiency over time.

• Encouraging bundling of trips to reduce overall flight costs
• Evaluating alternatives to air travel for short distances or frequent trips
• Mastering the art of advance booking to get better booking rates