When you’re tasked with finding a corporate travel agency, where do you even start? You know your company’s unique needs and traveler preferences are vital to a successful partnership, but what else should you be considering?
From streamlining bookings to negotiating discounts, the right agency can make all the difference in your business travel program. But what are the must-haves, and how can you guarantee you’re getting the best value for your company’s travel budget? You’re about to find out.
How to choose the right corporate travel agency
When selecting a corporate travel agency, start by identifying your company’s specific needs and traveler preferences, as this will help you evaluate potential agencies and guarantee a seamless partnership that meets your unique requirements.
You’ll want to choose a corporate travel agency that can effectively manage your business travel needs, providing a thorough travel management platform that streamlines bookings, optimizes expenses, and offers 24/7 assistance.
Look for an agency that can negotiate discounts, certify compliance with your corporate travel policy, and provide real-time visibility of employee movements.
A modern, innovative agency that understands the dynamic challenges of the business world is essential. They should be able to adapt to emerging trends, resolve problems remotely, and offer sustainable travel options to offset carbon footprint.
What is a corporate travel agency or company
As you prepare to partner with a corporate travel agency, crucially, you need to understand what they do and how they can benefit your business.
A corporate travel agency or company specializes in planning and booking business travel, ensuring compliance with your company’s travel policy. They offer services such as booking flights, train tickets, hotel rooms, transfers, car rentals, and on-site activities.
These agencies act as travel management companies (TMCs), booking and managing travel for your business, providing travel solutions and support for cancellations, and negotiating group rates and corporate rates.
In essence, corporate travel agencies provide turnkey holidays and tailor-made tours that meet your budget and duty of care requirements.
They offer benefits like simplified online booking, better resource management, discount travel, and expert advice from travel agents with insider knowledge.
By partnering with a corporate travel agency, you can supplement a lack of in-house resources or expertise, and receive travel support to alleviate the burden on office managers.
They’ll also provide reporting on travel spend to help you track and optimize your budgets, and employ a proactive travel risk management (TRM) policy to keep your employees safe.
Who is a business travel agency ideal for
Frequently, companies with limited resources or complex travel needs find that partnering with a business travel agency is the most effective way to manage their corporate travel programs efficiently and cost-effectively.
When you’re looking to choose a corporate travel agency, it’s vital to ponder whether your company would benefit from their expertise.
If you’re a small to medium-sized business (SMB) struggling to manage company travel in-house, a business travel agency can be a game-changer. You’ll also find their services valuable if your business has frequent travel, multiple offices, or remote teams.
Additionally, if you’re lacking travel management resources or struggling to maintain compliance with company travel policies, a business travel agency can help.
If you have a large number of employees who travel for work, a business travel agency can provide scalable solutions to manage travel spend and optimize travel programs.
Finally, if your business operates in an industry with unique travel requirements, such as consulting or finance, a business travel agency’s specialized knowledge and expertise can be a significant asset.
What are the benefits of using a business travel agency
When you partner with a business travel agency, you can expect a range of benefits that will transform your corporate travel experience.
You’ll be able to simplify your booking processes, guarantee travel policy compliance, and save money with corporate/group rates.
1. Simplify booking processes by outsourcing
By outsourcing business travel management to a corporate travel agency, you can offload tedious tasks like booking itineraries, gathering invoices, and interacting with third-party customer support, freeing up valuable time for more strategic pursuits.
This allows you to focus on what matters most – growing your business.
When you choose the right corporate travel agency, you can simplify your travel booking processes, reduce travel spend, and improve the overall business travel experience.
With a travel management company, you can enjoy negotiated discounted rates with suppliers, and agents can manage complex travel systems and make frequent changes.
They can also provide 24/7 assistance in the required language, ensuring that your employees receive the support they need, whenever they need it.
By outsourcing business travel management, you can maintain travel policy and expenses, streamlining your travel program.
This allows you to analyze expenditure on each trip, ascertain expenses to a particular department, and gain valuable insights for strategic decisions.
2. Ensure travel policy compliance
You can guarantee 100% compliance with your company’s travel policy by partnering with a corporate travel agency that offers customizable, automated, and centralized solutions.
This certifies that all bookings are aligned with your company’s travel policy, eliminating any non-compliant bookings and resulting savings.
By outsourcing travel management to an agency, you can save valuable time by delegating tasks such as booking itineraries, gathering invoices, and interacting with 3rd party customer support.
This allows you to focus on more strategic aspects of your business.
A corporate travel agency helps track and report travel spend, creating a suitable company travel policy that certifies compliance and optimizes business travel budgets.
By maintaining travel policy and expenses, agencies streamline a company’s travel program, providing valuable insights into budgets and expenses.
This enables you to make informed decisions about your business travel spend, certifying that you’re getting the most value out of your travel budget.
With a corporate travel agency, you can rest assured that your company’s travel policy is being followed, and your business travel spend is being optimized.
3. Save money with corporate & group rates
Tap into the power of corporate/group rates to dramatically reduce your company’s travel expenses, revealing substantial savings on flights, hotels, and rental cars.
By partnering with a corporate travel agency, you can take advantage of negotiated rates that aren’t available to individual travelers.
This can lead to significant cost savings, which can be reinvested into your business or allocated to other areas of your travel budget.
A corporate travel agency can help you optimize your travel spend by providing access to exclusive rates, discounts, and promotions.
They’ll work with you to develop a tailored travel program that meets your company’s specific needs, ensuring you’re getting the best possible value for your travel expenses.
With a corporate travel agency, you’ll gain visibility into your travel budget, allowing you to identify areas for cost optimization and make data-driven decisions.
4. Have a specialist to speak to at any time
Having secured significant savings through corporate/group rates, your company can now focus on another critical aspect of business travel management: having a specialist to speak to at any time.
This dedicated expert can simplify your business travel management, saving you valuable time and increasing productivity by up to 30%. With a 24/7/365 support system, you can rest assured that last-minute changes, cancellations, and unexpected travel disruptions will be handled efficiently, minimizing travel-related stress.
Your specialist will provide expert advice on travel policy compliance, expense reporting, and travel data analysis, enabling you to make informed decisions and optimize your travel program.
As your single point of contact, they’ll streamline communication, reduce errors, and provide a personalized travel experience, resulting in higher employee satisfaction and increased loyalty. Additionally, they’ll offer valuable insights into travel trends, vendor negotiations, and industry best practices, helping you stay ahead of the curve and maximize your travel budget.
5. Concentrate on your business operations
By outsourcing business travel management to a specialized agency, companies can redirect their attention to core operations, unencumbered by the administrative burdens of travel planning and expense tracking.
This allows you to focus on what matters most – growing your business.
With a corporate travel agency handling the logistics, you’ll save valuable time and resources.
You’ll no longer need to dedicate staff to booking itineraries, gathering invoices, and dealing with third-party customer support.
Moreover, a business travel agency can help you optimize costs through negotiated discounted rates with suppliers.
Their expertise in managing complex travel systems and making frequent changes will also reduce your expenses.
By outsourcing travel management, you’ll gain access to detailed reports on spending by team, department, or project.
This visibility will enable you to make informed decisions and allocate resources more effectively.
With a corporate travel agency, you can concentrate on your business operations, knowing that your travel program is in good hands.
6. Detailed cost tracking and reporting
You gain unparalleled visibility into your travel expenses with a corporate travel agency, which provides detailed cost tracking and reporting to help you optimize your travel program.
With real-time access to travel spend data, you can identify areas of inefficiency and implement cost-saving measures.
This level of transparency also enables you to track employee compliance with company travel policies, reducing the risk of unauthorized expenses and improving overall travel program management.
Furthermore, the agency’s reporting capabilities provide valuable insights into travel patterns and trends, allowing you to negotiate better rates with suppliers and make more strategic travel decisions.
By integrating a corporate travel agency’s travel management system into your expense management process, you can expect to reduce your overall travel expenses by up to 20%.
This means you can allocate more resources to enhancing the travel experience for your employees while maintaining a tighter grip on your company’s travel budget.
What are the drawbacks of using a business travel agency
When relying on a business travel agency, travelers often find themselves limited in their ability to book travel easily and within company policy, which can lead to frustration and inefficiencies.
You might feel restricted by the agency’s processes, which can hinder your productivity.
Furthermore, management and administrators lack control, requiring them to request information from the agency, which can be time-consuming and inefficient.
The technology used by traditional business travel agencies is often not advanced, providing limited user-friendly access to trip information and making it difficult for employees to manage their travel arrangements.
Additionally, many agencies don’t offer low-cost vendors, resulting in higher travel expenses for companies.
To make matters worse, the high fees charged by business travel agencies can increase overall travel spend due to agency fees and service markups.
These drawbacks aren’t applicable to Utravel
Although the above drawbacks generally apply to most companies operating in the industry, here at Utravel we’ve done our best to learn from industry failings and create a service that provides all of the benefits of using a business travel agency, without any of the downsides.
This means we go above and beyond to streamline the booking process, so it’s incredibly efficient, and handle all of the time consuming tasks so that you don’t have to. Our fees are very competitive and our service is too, which is the reason we have so many repeat customers/clients.
What to consider when choosing a corporate travel agency
To guarantee a successful partnership, it’s crucial that you assess a corporate travel agency’s capabilities and services before making a decision, considering factors that impact your business’s bottom line and traveler satisfaction.
When choosing a corporate travel agency, consider the agency’s reputation and experience in organizing business trips, as well as its ability to negotiate discounts and optimize expenses. You want to choose the right agency that can provide the best travel program for your company.
Evaluate the agency’s technology, user experience, and mobile optimization, as well as its ability to provide real-time travel support and travel spend reporting.
Look for an agency that offers a combination of human service and technology, providing a modern and innovative approach to corporate travel management.
Consider the agency’s ability to adapt to changing business needs, its flexibility in booking and canceling travel arrangements, and its compliance with corporate travel policies.
Finally, check if the agency provides additional services that cater to specific business needs, such as sustainable travel options, travel insurance, and duty of care support.
How much do corporate travel agencies cost
Understanding the cost structure of a corporate travel agency is vital to determining its value, as fees can vary widely depending on the level of service and type of bookings.
When you’re evaluating the cost of a corporate travel agency, you’ll typically find that they charge a transaction fee, which can range per booking. Some agencies may also charge a management fee, which can be a flat fee or a percentage of your total travel spend, ranging from 1% to 5%. The cost of a corporate travel agency can also depend on the level of service required, with fully managed services typically costing more than self-booking tools.
Generally, the cost can be offset by the savings achieved through negotiated rates, policy compliance, and travel optimization.
When choosing a corporate travel agency, look for the best business travel management companies that offer a transparent and cost-effective solution for your business travel needs. A good travel management agent can help you optimize your travel spend and provide valuable insights for strategic decisions.
Why choose a business travel agency like Utravel
By partnering with a business travel agency like Utravel, you can rest assured that your company’s travel needs are in expert hands, providing a seamless and cost-effective experience for your employees.
When you choose Utravel, you’re opting for tailored travel support services that save time and money on business trips. Our efficient and reliable corporate travel solutions guarantee that your employees’ trips are well-planned and executed.
With Utravel, you can make business travel great again. We specialize in corporate travel, business travel, and first-class travel, certifying that your employees receive exceptional support throughout their journeys.
Our 24/7 travel support provides immediate assistance in case of emergencies, and their real-time updates help travelers navigate unexpected situations.
By choosing the right travel agency like Utravel, you can make informed decisions about your company’s travel policy, optimize travel spending, and certify policy compliance.
Our detailed reports and analytics provide valuable insights on travel expenditure, helping you understand travel patterns and trends.
Conclusion
You’ve got the insight to choose the perfect corporate travel agency for your company’s needs.
By considering your specific requirements, weighing the benefits and drawbacks, and evaluating costs, you’ll find a partner that streamlines your business travel management.
With the right agency, you’ll optimize expenses, guarantee policy compliance, and enjoy 24/7 support. Now, make an informed decision and take your corporate travel to the next
Contact us today at Utravel to put your corporate travel plans into action!
