In short, today’s corporate travel manager needs to be a jack of all trades, able to analyze data at one moment while effectively communicating with a headstrong Millennial about the importance of policy compliance in the next moment, and understanding the ins and outs of a contract in the next. And that’s just in an ordinary morning.

To better understand the skills and challenges of today’s corporate travel manager, AirPlus surveyed 143 corporate travel managers in early January.

The results clearly show that most corporate travel managers do not enter the field already armed with the knowledge they need from coursework or previous positions. Instead, they have picked up their knowledge while on the job—close to three-quarters (71 percent) said anywhere between half and 100 percent of their job-related knowledge has come from learning on the job. Only 9 percent said on-the-job learning accounted for less than 25 percent of their job-related knowledge.

Download the full survey results here:

AirPlus_The Wire_January 2012

As corporate social responsibility (CSR) increasingly becomes part of mainstream business practice, companies are revising not only their own practices but looking to their preferred suppliers to reinforce important CSR goals. According to the 175 corporate travel managers AirPlus surveyed in November about the CSR initiatives at their own companies and throughout their supply chain, this is especially true in the area of environmental standards.

Unlike other CSR categories, the green initiatives of suppliers can have a direct impact on a company’s own goals for reducing the environmental impact of business travel. To that end, the percent of travel manager respondents who expect green initiatives of their preferred suppliers was 42 percent – significantly higher than any of the other categories in the survey. Implemented at 55 percent of the travel managers’ companies, those percentages also represent less of a gap between what corporations do themselves and what they expect from their preferred suppliers than in any other category in the survey.

Despite relatively high expectations of supplier CSR initiatives, few companies currently include CSR criteria in their travel supplier RFPs, ranging from a low of 10 percent who include it in payment RFPs to a high of 15 percent who include it in hotel RFPs.  Slightly more plan to include such initiatives in their RFPs in the coming year, with car taking the lead at 19 percent, then hotel at 16 percent, air at 14 percent and payment at 10 percent. However, the majority currently have no plans to include that kind of criteria: 63 percent of corporate travel managers say they have no plans to include CSR criteria in their payment RFPs, followed by 62 percent for air and 57 percent for both hotel and car.

The lackluster numbers are not surprising given that while the majority of respondents do say they consider CSR and green initiatives when making their final decisions, for most respondents, this is not a consideration that’s key to final decision-making process. Only 2 percent said such initiatives were of “critical” importance in the preferred supplier decision-making process. Another 15 percent said such information was “important” to the process, while the highest number – 43 percent – said it was “considered.” The remaining 40 percent said it was either “not very important” or “never considered.”

For a complimentary copy of full survey results, please click here:
AirPlus The Wire December 2011

Additional Resources:

New Business Travel Emissions Reporting Standards Expected Next Month

Despite Rising Emissions, Bloomberg LP Plans No Travel Cuts 

Corporations looking to cut back on travel moved to alternatives such as , webcasting and teleconferencing in the midst of the recession.  AirPlus asked corporate travel buyers this month about the current state of travel alternatives.

The responses show that the concept of virtual meetings has become firmly engrained in corporate culture. Only 1 percent of those surveyed said that virtual meetings have decreased as in-person meetings and travel increased in the past year. Nearly one-third (32 percent) said virtual meetings have increased in the past year, but they have not replaced in-person meetings, while another 32 percent said virtual meetings have increased as a replacement to in-person meetings and travel. For another third (33 percent), the volume has remained steady.

For the majority of respondents, the most compelling reason for travel alternatives is the increased cost of travel, ranked by 63 percent as the most “urgent” reason for turning to travel alternatives. “Decreased budgets” was the next most cited urgent reason, with significantly fewer respondents – 32 percent – ranking it the most urgent.

And while champions of travel alternatives tout the beneficial effects on employee quality of life and corporate social responsibility, these are not the most compelling reasons for most respondents.

Regardless of the reason for choosing travel alternatives, the travel professionals who responded to the survey were decidedly ambivalent about the effectiveness of such decisions. More than two-thirds (68 percent) would only commit to saying remote conferencing is “sometimes” as effective as meeting in person. Another significant group was even less convinced of the effectiveness of remote conferencing: Six percent said it was “never” as effective as in-person meetings while 15 percent said that was “rarely” the case. Only 12 percent was firmly in favor, saying remote conferencing was “almost always” as effective.

For a complimentary copy of full survey results, please click here:
AirPlus The Wire November (PDF)

Additional Resources:

Sabre Teams with Polycom on Remote Conferencing Booking Platform

Videoconferencing Set to Soar: Buyers, Planners Must Stake Claim

Former BCD Travel Exec Developing ‘Global Videoconferencing Network’

Through the end of last year and the beginning of this year, industry experts were bullish on business travel, with business travel predictions for volume and pricing nearing or exceeding pre-recession levels.

But a negative U.S. jobs report in early July, coupled with a Standard & Poor downgrading of the U.S. government in early August and ongoing economic problems throughout Europe, brought up the specter of a double-dip recession and put corporate travel departments on notice that growth might not continue at predicted rates.

To take an in-the-moment pulse on the potential effects of negative economic indices, AirPlus surveyed 152 corporate travel managers at the beginning of September about the state of their corporate travel budgets and plans.

The economic uncertainty was clearly reflected in the world of managed corporate travel. Survey respondents were nearly split when asked if they expected their company’s travel program to feel immediate pressure to control volume/costs in light of some economic indices and public sentiment about recovery turning from flat to negative. Nearly half – 47 percent – said yes, they did expect to feel immediate pressure, while slightly less – 41 percent – said no. Another 12 percent simply didn’t know.

Those who did expect to feel pressure to make changes were prepared to pull several cost-saving levers in the next six months. More than half anticipated stricter pre-trip approvals (58 percent) and shifting more travel to web conferencing or telepresence (56 percent). Significant numbers were also prepared to implement class of service restrictions on air (44 percent) or hotel (30 percent) and tighten other air policies (34 percent). Nearly one-quarter (23 percent) were even prepared to impose a temporary travel freeze.

Among the 19 percent who said “other,” several noted strategies revolving around stricter monitoring and adherence to policy and delaying or decreasing travel, although not an outright  ban of all travel.

It is in this uncertain economic climate that corporate travel managers begin 2012 corporate negotiations, balancing the potential for budget and volume cuts against anticipated rate increases.

For your complimentary copy of the results, please click here:

AirPlus_The Wire_October 2011

Additional Resource:

Advito Projects Higher 2012 Travel Prices

As with most areas of travel policy, those that address issues of safety and are ever changing, as technology, employee demographics, a volatile economy and worldwide political, economic and environmental conditions continue to influence business travel.

While the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil a decade ago propelled the concept of corporate traveler security into the limelight, leaps in technology have made it increasingly possible for corporations to better pinpoint the exact location of travelers through their travel management companies with online booking tools and to communicate with travelers through email, cell phones and corporate intranets.

AirPlus surveyed 143 corporate travel managers in early September about the effects of such events on their travel policy. Such occurrences are the true test of the efficiency of security plans and can expose weaknesses in existing travel policy. What works on paper can’t always been executed as planned, policy gaps may exist, or travel policy may simply be silent on issues of safety and security.

More than one-third (34 percent) of those surveyed responded that these events had propelled them to create or revise their existing safety and security policies. An even higher number – 39 percent – were revising their communications policies and procedures for emergency situations.

The role of technology in both tracking and communicating with travelers has become increasingly critical and to that end, nearly one-quarter of the respondents (22 percent) said they were implementing new technology to assist in emergency travel situations. Other strategies that corporate travel managers have recently implemented were expanding the scope of expense policies related to travel disruptions (13 percent) and driving education around alternative forms of travel for emergency situations (11 percent).

For your complimentary copy of the results, please click here: AirPlus The Wire September 2011

According to the results of an AirPlus survey of corporate travel buyers, travel managers continue to have difficulty finding efficient and accurate ways to track ancillary fees. The process can be so overwhelming that nearly half (44 percent) are not tracking the airline ancillary fee data in any way. When it comes to expense reporting, 38 percent rely on travelers to include their ancillary fees manually in expense reports, while only 7 percent include fee menus in those tools and 15 percent have automated capabilities built into their expense reporting tools.

Outside of expense reporting, a small number are currently looking to other options for tracking: Five percent track ancillary fee information through their travel management company (TMC) and 11 percent are manually reviewing corporate cards for likely airline fee data.

That range of current approaches highlights the ongoing challenges of tracking airline ancillary fees. If they’re captured at all, it’s across multiple platforms.

Industry-wide attempts at providing solutions have so far fallen short: There’s been little traction from a Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) task force created to tackle the issue, the International Air Transport Association’s electronic miscellaneous document (EMD) has not been adopted by U.S. carriers and an optional fare-filing system for carriers from the Airline Tariff Publishing Company has gained little participation.

There has, however, been some movement on the part of individual suppliers. For example, solutions have been rolled out this year from expense provider Concur and data consolidator TRX, while Continental has been providing some detail on baggage expenses as part of regular reporting to corporate clients. This summer, AirPlus released a new set of reports capable of sorting hundreds of ancillary fees into five categories, the first of its kind.

Across the board, most industry estimates put ancillary fees at somewhere between 2 and 4 percent of a corporation’s total air spend. Concrete information on ancillary fees would provide corporations the ability to better negotiate with airlines as well as set more accurate budgets.

Survey Methodology
For this issue of The Wire, AirPlus International surveyed 101 corporate travel buyers in North America and Europe from June 3 to July 8, 2011.

Click here for your complimentary copy of the full results:

AirPlus The Wire August 2011

Additional Resources:

Lack of Transparency: Companies Seek Ways To Track Airline Ancillary Fees
http://www.procurement.travel/news.php?cid=ways-to-track-airline-ancillary-fees.May-11.31

AirPlus Addresses Ancillary Fees With ‘Assumption Engine’
http://www.management.travel/news.php?cid=ancillary-fees-AirPlus-Assumption-Engine.Jun-11.15

Many corporate travel managers are optimistic about business travel in 2012, with nearly half of the corporate travel managers responding to an AirPlus survey expecting both their company’s total room nights to increase in 2012 (47 percent) and their company’s overall hotel budget to increase (48 percent). Another 44 percent expect their total room nights to stay the same, while only 9 percent are anticipating a decrease.

Along with more travelers and increasing budgets comes the expectation of increases in negotiated hotel rates. Almost half of those surveyed (49 percent) expect their negotiated hotel rates to increase by 1 to 5 percent, while another 8 percent expect increases of 5 to 10 percent. Those who expect their rates to remain the same come in at 22 percent, while 16 percent anticipate a decrease of 1 to 5 percent and 6 percent think they’ll see a decrease of more than 5 percent. None of those surveyed expect an increase of 10 or more percent. The expectations of the corporate travel managers are generally in line with those coming from hotel companies: Chief executives of several hotel companies have publicly stated they plan to push for corporate transient rate increases of high single digits during 2012 contract negotiations, similar to where they say the 2011 negotiated rate changes landed.

Hotels have good reason for optimism on the rate front. As demand continues to increase with more business travelers back on the road and supply of hotels rooms constrained, especially in the United States, rates have increased through the year. Occupancy has also been boosted by a return of corporate group business.

Click here for your complimentary copy of the full results:  AirPlus_The Wire_July 2011

Additional Resources:
Hotel CEOs: Corporate Transient Rates to Increase Again in 2012

For the past several years, industry insiders have been warning corporate travel managers that they ignore social media at their own risk. That warning seems to be resonating as increasing numbers of travel professionals say they see the value of social media sites as a way to enhance a corporate travel program.

According to the results of a spring 2011 survey conducted by AirPlus International, 59 percent of those surveyed believe social media helps travel managers understand what is most important to travelers and anticipate their needs, a significant jump from the 41 percent who said the same in a similar AirPlus survey last year.

However, that knowledge doesn’t always translate to concrete action in supplier choices: 42 percent said social media sites help travel managers select partners based on information shared by travelers, leaving a gap of 17 percent between understanding needs and using that information to determine partners.

There were also leaps in perceptions of benefits to travelers: two-thirds of those surveyed (66 percent) believe that social media sites increase traveler satisfaction through real-time knowledge sharing – up 18 percent from last year. And 40 percent believe such sites encourage and improve traveler camaraderie and morale, more than double the 19 percent who said the same last year.

Given the numerous ways that travel professionals believe such sites can enhance a corporate travel program, it’s no surprise that the survey also showed a growth in the numbers of those who participate in social media platforms themselves. Whether for personal use, professional use or a combination of the two, 83 percent of respondents indicated they participate in social media sites this year, compared to 77 percent last year.

When asked about specific social media platforms, respondents showed a clear preference for several social media sites, whose usage has increased in the past two years. LinkedIn users, for example, which held virtually steady in 2009 (58 percent) and 2010 (59 percent), jumped to 74 percent this year, while Facebook users grew more modestly, going from a low of 45 percent in 2009 to 55 percent last year to 62 percent this year. The numbers who claimed to use Twitter dropped slightly, from 31 percent last year to 28 percent this year, and MySpace has clearly lost favor, moving from 5 percent in 2009 to less than 1 percent this year.

Download your complimentary copy of the results here:

AirPlus The Wire June 2011

Additional resources:

Chewing-(And-TrimmiChewing (And Trimming) The Fat: Buyers Leverage Multifaceted Traveler Communications Programs

Youthful Workforce Pushing Travel Tech Advancements: Managers Mobilizing Their Travel Strategies

While mobile travel tools and applications have become plentiful in the leisure travel market, few solutions have targeted corporate travel. Many business travelers are using their own mobile devices and adapting leisure-focused tools to meet their own needs.

This year, however, has seen a flurry of activity on the part of corporate travel vendors as they race to release mobile applications and specialized mobile websites dedicated to the business traveler. Recent and upcoming releases of mobile solutions this year include enhancements to expense reporting tools, itinerary management, traveler alerts, security and status features, and the promise of what’s been the holy grail of corporate travel management – online booking that embeds corporate policy.

In a recent online survey, AirPlus International asked travel stakeholders about their current mobile travel management strategies in the face of a rapidly changing marketplace. According to survey respondents, the early jumps in adoption of mobile technology have slowed down, at least temporarily, when it comes to the numbers of business travelers carrying smart phones or other wireless-enabled devices. For example, according to survey respondents, 38.1 percent estimated that more than 90 percent of their company’s travelers currently carry a smart phone or other wireless-enabled mobile device, up only 3 percent from the 35 percent estimated in 2010.

It’s likely, however, that corporations will continue to see increases in adoption of mobile technology as such devices jump in popularity through the population at large. Nielsen reports that 31 percent of all mobile subscribers owned smart phones at the beginning of this year and predicts that 50 percent of mobile phone.

Click here for complete survey results:

AirPlus The Wire_May 2011

Additional Resources:

Killer Apps & Mobile Menaces: Travel Apps Most Apt
Mobile Booking Apps Are Only Just Starting to Deliver

Ancillary fee solutions, better mobile technologies, and data consolidation – these are the areas where travel buyers and suppliers see the need for more innovation in the managed travel space, according to a new survey released by AirPlus International.

Among 130 respondents – 79 percent travel buyers and 21 percent suppliers – fewer than 38 percent felt that the managed travel players were keeping pace with changes in the travel industry overall.  More than 46 percent felt the managed travel space has failed to bring effective products and services to market to address changing supplier strategies, traveler technology demands and pressure from company management to optimize travel programs.

Suppliers responding to the survey, expressed fewer concerns than buyers with the rate of managed travel innovation, but were still critical. Among suppliers, 50 percent said the industry was effectively keeping pace with changing needs, while 36 percent said no. Those numbers were ostensibly flipped for travel buyers: 34 percent said innovation was on track, while 48 percent wanted more.

To drive the innovations they want for the industry, travel managers must engage in the issues, continue to vocalize their needs and press suppliers to meet them with better solutions.

Click here for complete survey results: AirPlus_TheWire April 2011

Additional Resource:

Killer Apps & Mobile Menaces