Corporate Travel Agency

Imagine having a reliable friend for our business travels, someone who not only takes care of all our travel arrangements but also helps us save money. That is what a good corporate travel agency can be for our company. They handle everything smoothly, from booking flights and hotels to ensuring our employees have a hassle-free journey.

Now, the big challenge is how to find this perfect travel partner tailored to our business needs. Here, I am sharing some valuable tips to guide us. Let’s read on.

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What Does a Corporate Travel Agency Do?

A corporate travel agency, also known as a travel management company, is like a helpful partner for our company’s travel needs. They take care of making travel easy and seamless for our employees and are available to assist them around the clock.

These corporate travel agencies provide us with a dedicated corporate travel agents who guide our employees in arranging their business trips according to our company’s policies.

Here are some of the essential tasks that corporate agencies handle:

• Booking Travel: They take care of booking flights, accommodations, and transportation for our employees, making sure everything is just right.
• Crafting Itineraries: They create detailed travel plans, so our employees know where they need to be and when.
• Handling Changes: If there are any changes or if someone needs to cancel or rebook a trip, they manage it all.
• Saving on Hotels: Corporate travel agencies often negotiate special rates for hotels, helping our company save money.
• Paperwork and Currency: This is one of the most important.  They assist with all the necessary documentation and can help with foreign currency exchange if needed.

To summarize, a corporate travel agency is like our travel expert, ensuring that our employees have a smooth journey while following our company’s travel policies.

Choosing the Right Corporate Travel Agency: What Matters Most

Selecting the perfect corporate travel agency is a big decision. It can greatly impact how smoothly and cost-effectively our business travel program operates. To find the ideal corporate travel partner, we should consider several factors like their booking platform, adherence to travel policies, customer service, and costing and more.

If we are planning about changing our current corporate travel agency or hiring new one for the first time, there are some essential things to think about when making our choice. First and foremost, let us try to understand our business needs. Here are some questions that can guide you:

• Why Hire a Business Travel Agency: What are the reasons we should look for partnering with a business travel agency instead of handling it internally?
• Desired Services: We should make a list of all the services we want the agency to provide for our business travelers.
• Dedicated Support: It should also be considered if we need a dedicated corporate travel agent to assist us throughout the travel management process.
• Cost Savings: The is the most important factor for some companies. Can these corporate travel agencies help us save money on our business travel expenses?
• Enhancing Travel Experience: Will this agency help in improving the travel booking experience for our employees?
• Data Insights: Do we need actionable insights into travel and expense data to make informed decisions?

Understanding our goals and expectations from a corporate travel agency will help us in the selection process. To create a seamless travel experience for our employees and maintain financial control, it is often essential to find an agency that combines personalized service with modern technology. Here are some key factors to look for when choosing a corporate travel agency:

1. Reputation

When it comes to picking a Corporate Travel Agency, reputation is key. Reputation means what people think about the agency and how they feel about their services. We can find out about this by reading reviews, testimonials, and feedback from other businesses that have used the agency. If we see lots of positive comments and good experiences, it is a sign that the agency is reliable and can be trusted. A strong reputation means that the agency has been doing a good job for a while and has made other businesses happy with their travel services. So, when we are looking for a Corporate Travel Agency, we should always check their reputation first. It can give us a good idea of whether they will provide us with the excellent service and support us need for our business travels.

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2. Wide Range of Hotels and Flights

When we are choosing a corporate travel agency, it is crucial to think about the variety of hotels and flights they can offer us. Some agencies work with only a few vendors who might not provide options for budget-friendly airlines and hotels. This limited selection could leave us with fewer choices that may not be the most cost-effective, resulting in higher travel expenses.

So, it is always a smart move to pick a corporate travel agency that gets its travel options from something called a Global Distribution System (GDS). A GDS can collect and organize travel choices from many different vendors, creating a vast inventory of corporate travel options.

Also, an extensive inventory should cover various modes of transportation like airplanes, trains, and cars, as well as accommodation options such as hotels and studio apartments. This variety can help us save money by finding the best travel deals that suit our budget and needs.

3. Easy Booking Process

Years back, travel planning used to involve lots of emails and phone calls between travel agencies and employees. But today, things have changed. We prefer not to spend too much time on emails and calls when booking our business trips.

That is why it is important for both travel managers and employees to have a user-friendly platform where we can log in and book our business trips themselves. It makes the whole process smoother and faster.

Moreover, the travel agency should assign a corporate travel agent to handle all the booking-related stuff. This agent would be the go-to person, a single point of contact who could help travel managers with any questions or issues instead of sending emails back and forth.

The system should allow for collaboration. Our Travel managers should be able to easily make changes like cancellations or re-bookings for employees. This way, everyone can work together seamlessly to ensure that business travel goes off without a hitch.

4. Modern Technology for Travelers and Administrators

Most of the time, corporate travel agencies don’t have one system that combines travel and expense information. When these systems aren’t integrated, it can be tough to ensure the safety of our employees and make sure everyone follows the company’s travel rules.

When choosing a travel agency, we should make sure they have good technology in place. This tech should give us a clear view of all the money spent on company travel. It should also help everyone stick to the company’s travel rules, and it should meet the requirements for taking care of employees.

We can also see if the agency’s technology includes some cool features, like a virtual travel consultant. This consultant can help us find ways to save money on all our company’s travel expenses.

Lastly, we can check if they have a mobile app with an easy-to-use design. This app can be handy for sending out travel alerts, notifications, and booking travel while we are on the move. It is all about making the travel process smoother for everyone involved.

5. The Right Travel Agency for Domestic and International Travel

When we are checking out corporate travel agencies, it is always smart to find one that is a good match for where our business travels most. For example, if our employees mainly travel within the country, we may not need a travel agency that has offices all over the world. However, if our team frequently travels abroad, it would be a good idea to consider a well-known travel agency with a global presence.

Additionally, it is always helpful to have a corporate travel agent who understands international business customs. This can make our employees’ international trips smoother and more comfortable. We might want to look for an agent who specializes in helping companies in our particular industry. This way, they will know the specific needs and expectations of our business, making the travel experience even better.

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6. Tracking and Insights – Analytics & Reporting

A lot of corporate travel agencies use systems that don’t give us all the information we need about our and our employees’ travels. When we don’t have all the details, it is tough for our travel managers to make smart choices that can make travel management more efficient and save money.

That is why it is important to pick a business travel agency that can give our finance teams a thorough travel report for all our business trips. For example, they might provide something called MIS (Management Information System) reports on a weekly and monthly basis. These reports include important things like who’s spending the most, how many last-minute bookings we are making, whether we are booking outside the company’s policies, and the places employees go most often.

Reports like these give us insights that can help us save money. They show us where we can make changes and improvements in our travel processes to be more cost-effective.

7. Addon Support for International Travel

When our employees are traveling to other countries, they might need some extra services to make their trip better. These services are called “ancillary” or “concierge” services. Some examples are access to airport lounges, renewing visas, and having business travel insurance. These services can be really helpful, but not all corporate travel agencies offer them unless we specifically ask.

So, when we are choosing a corporate travel agency, it is a good idea to find out what extra services they offer besides booking tickets. We should check if they can help our employees with things like getting passports, making visa processes easier, and explaining the importance of travel insurance. These extra services can make our employees’ international travels smoother and safer.

8. Data Protection

When it comes to business travel, there is a lot of sensitive information to handle, like our employees’ IDs and credit card details. If this information gets into the wrong hands, it can put both our employees and our company at risk.

That is why it is crucial to look for a corporate travel agency that knows how to keep this data safe. We should ask them about the process they have to make sure all the data, including our employees’ contact details and emails, is secure. It is a good idea to check if they follow global security standards to keep everything safe.

9. Personalized and Customized Support

When our employees are on a business trip, unexpected situations can arise. For example, during an international trip, they might need guidance on the quickest way to get to their work destination or the most convenient public transportation options. In these moments, having personalized assistance readily available is crucial.

So, it is important to see if the travel agency offers 24/7/365 support, especially for our employees traveling internationally. This support should be accessible through various communication channels like chat and phone or WhatsApp or email, and it should be available in multiple languages, especially during emergencies.

Additionally, we should ensure that they assign a dedicated corporate travel agent to our company who understands our employees’ unique needs. This agent should assist with trip bookings, including re-bookings and cancellations, offering swift and accurate solutions to any travel-related questions. We can also check online customer reviews or testimonials on their website to learn more about their customer service quality.

10. Getting Feedback from Others:

When we are considering a travel agency, it is perfectly fine to request contact details of their current or past clients. We can then get in touch with these references to learn about their firsthand experiences. This way, we can gather valuable insights and make a more informed decision about the agency. It’s a smart way to ensure that we making the right choice for our business travel needs.

Summing Up

Bringing a corporate travel agency on board can greatly improve the way our organization handles business travel. These agencies come with the added benefit of a dedicated corporate travel agent who can provide expertise and support for our travel needs.

It is important to select a modern travel management company. This kind of company understands the importance of having all our travel and expense processes in one place. They provide a single platform that accommodates our organization’s complete travel and expense needs, ensuring that we have better control, more insights, and fewer cost leaks in our business travel management.

Once we have looked into all of these important factors, we can narrow down our options and choose the corporate travel agency that fits our business needs best. With the right agency, we can travel confidently, knowing that our data is in good hands.

Worth Checking:

• The Top 20 Most Powerful Travel Agencies in 2023
• Wikipedia: Travel agency