Automated Travel Management Software – Simplifying and Streamlining Business Travel

External corporate travel agents on the other hand take care of all the travel planning and arrangements for several organizations. The entire responsibility for travel management is outsourced to an agency/agent that specializes in the travel management discipline. The person managing travel strategy will not be an employee of the company but engage their services whenever travel planning is needed. Payment to the external agency/agent is done as a commission or as a subscription fee.

The advantage of employing the services of travel agencies is that employees are freed from taking up other work responsibilities. Moreover, businesses can gain insights from their specialization in travel management. Travel agents can come up with the best travel plan that avails discounts and seasonal rebates on travel costs. The disadvantage of employing external travel agents is that it is difficult to scrutinize their work.

The Key Tasks in the Travel Management Workflow are Listed below:

Travel planning –

The main focus of travel management is planning ahead of time for business travel. The points that need to be considered include, choosing the right dates for travel, the best times for flights, the best accommodation, and whether airport transfers are needed. Employees or travel agents with in-depth knowledge of the travel industry are best suited for travel planning. Internally, travel managers can work on travel planning. Externally, a travel agency will ensure that travel is well planned and nothing is missed or forgotten.

Price negotiation –

Negotiating the price for travel and accommodation is an important part of travel planning. Corporate travel management involves arranging business travel at the best possible price. Travel agents need to skillfully negotiate with a number of vendors to avail the best price for travel. Travel management agencies are adept at price negotiations because their staff will be experienced in negotiations and will be in constant touch with people in the travel industry. Travel agents can leverage these contacts to get the best travel and accommodation deals.

Accommodation arrangements –

Arranging for accommodation for business travelers is an important part of travel management. Cost-effective accommodation arrangements require careful consideration of all available options of hotels, bed and breakfast, and even shared accommodations. One needs to consider the right number of rooms, the right number of days, and the right price while planning for accommodation. Rather than focusing on the cheapest accommodation or available accommodation at the required location, travel agents must evaluate travelers’ requirements and match them against the available options. Only after weighing various factors must they decide on the right accommodation.

Transportation –

In addition to the actual travel, transportation to the airport/station and to the accommodation also must be handled by travel management solutions. Transport arrangements form a huge part of travel planning. Booking flights, securing a rental car, arranging airport transfers, purchasing train tickets, and booking discount travel passes are all part of the transportation arrangements in travel planning. Optimizing the corporate travel strategy requires planning all these aspects well in advance, for the best possible price with the guarantee that travelers get to their destination on time.

Meeting and event planning –

Business travel is usually undertaken to attend meetings or business events. Travel planners need to include organizing these meetings or events within the scope of planning. For example, ensuring that everyone attending the event has the right credentials to get in and that they know exactly where they are going and what they are doing is part of travel management. When the planners are in charge of hosting the business event, deeper planning is required.

Managing travel expenses

Managing travel expenses is the most important part of travel planning. Staying within the allocated travel budget is a must while planning for corporate travel. Travel costs, accommodation costs, transportation costs, and extras, all of them need to be accommodated under a single bill, that too within the allocated budget. Travel managers can refer to financial reports in order to fine-tune travel arrangements as per the budget.

The role played by face-to-face meetings with clients and business partners in promoting business growth cannot be undermined. Building relationships with clients and partners becomes more meaningful and relevant when preceded by a personal meeting. Arranging for such meetings is a must for businesses of all types and scales. The best way to arrange these meetings is by using corporate travel management solutions. A travel management platform includes travel arrangements and a travel expense management system.

Travel management software is often confused with expense management systems. However, expense management is different from a travel expense management system. The former is concerned with all the expenses in the organization, while the latter is concerned only with expenses associated with corporate travel. The requirements of travel management software vary with the organization type.

What is a Travel Management System?

Travel management software or corporate travel management system is designed to help companies coordinate the travel activities and expenses of employees. Travel management apps handle a variety of tasks from booking hotels and flights to coordinating the travel schedules of all employees to recording travel expenses. A corporate travel management tool allows organizations and individuals to spend less time planning trips and logging travel expenses manually.

Other features of travel management include the automation of corporate travel policies and the ability to consolidate travel invoices and vendors. Archaic travel management methods followed by small to medium-sized businesses consisted of employees following the company travel policy to make travel bookings and then submit the claims for reimbursement.

This method would not work for large-scale businesses, where several employees travel at the same time and submit claims for reimbursement. The best way is to use a travel management app for making corporate travel bookings as per the company’s policies, submit reimbursement and get it approved automatically.

A travel management system equips the company and its employees with complete information on travel inventories, travel policies, reporting, auditing, and other services. A travel management platform can be used to manage travel arrangements for employees and also track travel expenses. Companies can ensure that travel policies are enforced and traced, and hold their employees accountable on all business trips with a corporate travel management tool. Other capabilities that a travel management system adds to a travel management strategy are corporate travel policy automation and the ability to integrate bills with accounting software for expense reimbursement.

Features of a Travel Management System

The features of the travel management solution are based on the unique requirements within the organization. Travel policies and reimbursement policies are different in different organizations. The right travel management system must take care of the entire travel management process – from logging travel requests to travel expense reimbursement. There are some must-have features of travel management systems that you cannot do without.

1. Managing travel requests

The most common way of logging a travel request is via a form that gathers information like employee name, employee number (code), travel details, and approving manager. In some cases, some of the fields in the travel request form are auto-filled.

2. Approval hierarchies

A completed travel request form is submitted to the travel management system. The system routes the request to the manager or approving authority as per preset rules in the software. The approval hierarchy may comprise multiple levels. Some travel management software provides auto-approval features and notification features for speedy approvals.

3. Policy Compliance

Adherence to company travel policies is a must for all business travel. When the travel management system takes care of policy compliance with travel requests, it lifts a significant workload off the manager’s shoulders. Travel management apps flag off any policy violations so that there is no scope for fraud or duplication.

4. Simple bookings

The main reason why companies go for travel management solutions is to simplify travel request processing and approval workflows. The employee’s travel planning must be carried out smoothly, and the manager must rest assured that all requests are well within the budget and compliant with travel policies.

5. Reporting and analytics

The travel management software must provide real-time reporting and analytics into travel request status and spending. Real-time updates enable managers to spot overspending and take necessary action to curb budget overshoot.

6. Multiple inventory options

The travel management platform must allow the best route to access flight and accommodation vendors. The software must allow users to get the best quotes, compare them, and choose the one that not only fits their travel requirements but is also pocket friendly. In short, the software must offer the best value for money and also provide a seamless booking and travel experience.

7. Easy-to-use interface

Overly complex user interfaces are a put-off for users. The interface must be simple and intuitive at the same time. Minimal or no training required for operating the software is ideal. Navigation through the software also must be smooth and seamless.

8. Integration

The travel management system must seamlessly integrate with other business systems. For example, the travel management system must integrate with the finance and accounting systems for quick and timely payments. The data exchange between travel management systems and other business systems must happen smoothly.

9. User support

The travel management platform must offer real-time flexibility to handle exceptions in travel request processing. User support must be available to quickly resolve any unexpected issues without causing delays in subsequent processes.

10. Cost-effective

The travel management solution must be a good value for the money. The software must take care of all the aspects of travel management- right from logging a request to expense reimbursement. The pricing structure of the software must be transparent and clear, without any hidden costs.

The choice of the travel management system is an important decision that an organization has to make. Software that provides all of the above features is definitely worthy of consideration. Cflow is a no-code workflow automation platform that can automate your travel management workflow within minutes. The easy-to-use user interface makes it super easy to create forms for any workflow. Reporting and analytics feature provides users with deep insights into process cycle times, bottlenecks, and efficiencies. The customizable dashboard in Cflow provides a bird’s eye view into all the processes in the workflow so that managers can make data-driven business decisions within minutes.