“Trust is good, control is better” – this saying also clearly applies to travel management. But it only becomes meaningful if the control is systematic and if sanctions are consistent against those in the company who don’t comply with travel regulations.

A recently released white paper from the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) and AirPlus International demonstrates not only how expensive noncompliance with travel regulations can be; the “Best Practices Guide to Corporate Travel Policy Compliance” also describes ways to monitor travel costs and uses case studies to report on the methods used by companies that have improved their regulations.

The guide provides a simple list of the most popular rules used to lower travel costs:

1. All travel costs have to be booked on the company credit card.
2. If the company has installed its own online booking tool or an ‘internal travel office’, then these have to be used in order to take advantage of preferred hotels and airlines.
3. Business travelers have to consult a list of low-cost partner hotels when booking. Staying in 5 star hotels is not allowed.
4. Hotels have to be booked as early as possible in order to avoid any price increases due to trade shows or events.
5. Booking a business class flight is only allowed in exceptional cases.
6. Trips should be planned in a strategically inexpensive manner: if possible, appointments should be set close together so that they can be taken care of in one trip instead of several small ones.

Over 130 travel managers and other experts were interviewed in March for the white paper. More than half of them confirmed a positive trend of increasing willingness of business travelers to comply with travel guidelines. The use of preset credit cards, conducting business with certain travel agencies and the use of do-it-yourself tools have all become more common – as has the consistent use of contractual partners when booking flights, hotels or rental cars.

This trend has been observed above all in European companies and large corporations with high amounts of travel. Its cause has been attributed to “stricter” behavior of travel managers. This relates to setting and controlling deadlines as well as consultations with employees who need to be put back in their place when it comes to their business travel expenses. The survey also notes the growing trend of travel managers to be as flexible as possible regarding meeting the needs of business travelers and respecting their previous experiences.

The white paper can be ordered for free at the following adress:

Whitepaper ACTE AirPlus Compliance