Corporate travel is the cornerstone of success for many businesses with global operations. It’s an important tool for building and maintaining client relationships and expanding your business in new markets.
However, managing your corporate travel requirements can quickly become a time-consuming exercise.
Juggling flight bookings, hotel reservations and complex itineraries, all while remaining compliant with budgeting, governance and risk management policies, can divert time and resources from core business activities.
A TMCs role is to ease the administrative burden on your business. By outsourcing the complexities of corporate travel, you can help boost your productivity and achieve your key business objectives whilst making the most of your most valuable asset: your organisation’s people and their time.
In this blog, we explore how partnering with a TMC could free up time for your business.
1. Expertise and Industry Knowledge
Managing corporate travel programmes requires a strong understanding of key trends, technologies and regulations within the industry.
Individual businesses often lack the time or expertise to navigate the intricacies of corporate travel independently, and so look to TMCs to draw on their industry experience and connections.
This allows them to obtain optimal terms and rates for airfares and other expenses without diverting significant internal resources to research and price negotiations.
At BFP, we have more than 26 years experience in corporate travel and significant buying power with Internova Travel Group; this partnership allows us to negotiate and secure the best possible rates for airfares on your behalf.
Our team of travel experts have an unparalleled understanding of international airfare tariffs and will always benchmark every long-haul booking against airline websites so you don’t have to.
2. Streamlining the booking process
One of the key functions of a TMC is to simplify all stages of the booking process for your corporate travel. This encompasses all aspects of your travel management programme – from flight reservations and hotel bookings to transfers and ground transportation.
At BFP, our in-house travel management software possesses a number of powerful tools which make planning, approving and scheduling your corporate travel programme as efficient and hassle-free as possible.
Our 360 Search and 360 Roam technologies continually scan seating and airfare inventories, even after a booking has been made, so we can secure airline seats matching unique traveller and business profiles at the best possible price.
Our online booking and organiser tools allow you to conveniently manage all travel and accommodation plans in one place while seamlessly uploading travel itineraries into your calendar.
3. Pre-flight administration
Keeping track of pre-flight administration can be incredibly time-consuming and onerous, particularly if you are managing the travel requirements for multiple employees, travelling to different destinations.
Luckily, thanks to our 360 Genius QC software and in-depth understanding of long-haul travel requirements, the BFP team can manage this entire process for you.
Our bespoke QC programme is fully integrated with all operating systems and aligned to client and traveller profiles, ensuring every detail of your booking and reporting is accurate and meets your requirements.
We are able to check and verify every booking to guarantee all your travel documentation is valid. We also ensure all financial data is validated to deliver accuracy and efficiency with every invoice.
From passports and visas to frequent flyer memberships, we take care of every detail to give you peace of mind each and every time you travel.
4. Round the clock care
Business travel doesn’t always adhere to initial plans – unexpected issues, delays and developments can arise at any time and do not respect time zones or standard office hours.
In order to respond promptly to time-sensitive issues including last minute changes of plans, flight cancellations and problems with accommodation, a good travel management company should be able to provide 24/7 support.
At BFP, we are on hand day and night to help you get your plans back on track as quickly as possible in the event something goes wrong. We quickly respond to all enquiries and itinerary changes meaning you don’t have to spend valuable time on hold with an airline or hotel. We also provide out-of-hours support allowing us to swiftly react to emergencies and urgent enquiries if they do come up outside of business hours.
This means our clients have more time to spend building relationships, attending events and achieving their business objectives.
5. Tracking, budgeting and analysis
Managing your corporate travel is not simply booking flights and hotel accommodation. It requires accurate tracking and reporting of travel patterns, expenses, and carbon emissions to continually identify cost-savings, improve efficiency and boost environmental performance.
We provide in-depth, real-time travel reports giving you quick and easy access to data-driven insights into your travel programme, broken down by traveller, airline and destination.
By combining emissions tracking, budgeting and a carbon offsetting widget into one integrated platform, 360 Green allows you to calculate emissions of airlines and accommodation before committing to purchase, making meeting your sustainability goals quick and seamless.
