5 Effective Business Travel Management Tools

With many companies sending employees out on the road, the realization of how difficult the travel booking processes can get also emerges. Booking corporate business travel can be challenging, but these 5 tools can help manage them with greater efficiency:

 

Traditionally, booking corporate travel by making each booking, trying to find budget-friendly options, and collecting proof of purchase was the norm. However, the modern era has revolutionized how companies and employees book work-related trips with advanced business travel solutions. Thanks to modern technology, these effective tools help travellers leave behind their worries over trip bookings, unsettled claims, and more.

 

 

So, here are the best tools that can enable more automated, centralized, and organized bookings, thus becoming imperative for every company booking business travel:

 

 

The challenges associated with work-related trips start with business travel booking. Finding an easy way to book for comprehensive travel needs can be a task. There are limited options available to initiate the booking process:

 

• Option 1: Booking through an offline travel agent.
• Option 2: Individually booking from online travel websites.
• Option 3: Utilizing online travel booking tools.

 

While the former two methods are more traditionally preferred, they have several drawbacks. They can be time-consuming as these methods involve extensive research across multiple channels to find the alternative that best meets the requirements and fits the budget. They also come with limited business travel booking options and offer little customization. 

 

On the contrary, a more tech-agile online business travel platform simplifies the booking process by:

 

• Catering to comprehensive travel booking needs- hotel, flight, bus, train, cabs, etc.
• More options to choose from owing to a large inventory with business-specific locations.
• Easy customizations with quick modifications and cancellations on bookings.
• Facilitate bookings that are integrated with the company’s policies to avoid non-compliance.

.. among many more.

 

 

A significant aspect of business travels is managing travel expenditure. Booking for work trips involves several payments and invoices. These monetary transactions could be made through a centralized company card or require employees to make self-payments that can be claimed later during the reimbursement process. This leads to extensive paperwork and invoice filing that can often complicate the whole process. This is why there is a need for business travel and expense management. 

 

A good expense management tool can help keep track of every single payment incurred by employees on their work trips. These tools can even assign the expenses incurred by a team, thus creating a sense of accountability, which can help in keeping the expenditure within budget.

 

 

 

Another valuable tool for booking online business travel is one that can help travellers plan a trip by making all the bookings from a single platform. The accessibility offered by such platforms over app and desktop makes on-the-go bookings a lucrative option. They are even adept at notifying users of their travel bookings while also letting them know of any cancellations or trip modifications. Furthermore, features like seat selection and choosing accommodations in prime business locations can take your business travel planning one step ahead by prioritizing your comfort and convenience. Additionally, accessing the trip plan from anywhere can make travel management more flexible.

 

 

Manual bookings and managing business travel expenses give a microscopic view of the expenditure and bookings. On the other hand, automated tools offer greater visibility, that too in real-time. They can generate reports that can provide valuable insights regarding the expenses incurred. It can even highlight the booking patterns and spending trends, enabling stakeholders to make crucial decisions based on the compiled reports on expenditure management, like spending patterns, policy violations, claims and reimbursements, etc. These informed decisions can significantly contribute to a company's financial health by finding out the possible limitations of business travel and expense management.

 

 

Corporate travel is full of surprises, and the challenges that accompany business travellers on their work trips can be numerous. As a result, the fifth most relevant travel management tool for any employee venturing out on a business trip is a support tool. Dedicated help that is readily available 24/7 to resolve any query when the employees are on the move is an essential aspect of duty of care that organizations cannot neglect. A support team that aids in resolving issues related to the reservations, modifications, expenses, claims filing, and more is irreplaceable when it comes to improving employee experience on an online business travel booking.  

 

 

 

Hence, these tools can facilitate work trip planning, booking, and management through integrated business travel management solutions. myBiz by MakeMyTrip is the ideal platform that offers a seamless travel experience by being a one-stop solution that combines all of the above-mentioned tools to offer a personalized and organized travel experience to business travellers. It also provides easy integrations to ensure complete compliance, customizations, and round-the-clock customer support for comprehensive corporate business travel management.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

Q1. What is the need for business travel management tools?

Ans. Business trips are complex to manage. Hence, business travel management tools can simplify the processes involved, thus saving both time and money.

Q2. What are the important features of an ideal travel management solution?

Ans. Features like automation, quick bookings, invoice generation, real-time reporting, easy policy set-up, and more that simplify the booking process along with the management of employees’ business travel are crucial for every company.

Q3. Can a travel management tool offer business travel deals?

Ans. Yes, the right corporate travel management solution can enable higher savings by offering exclusive business travel discounts on every booking.

Q4. How to choose the best business travel management companies?

Ans. It is best to find an ideal corporate travel management company that offers planning, booking, reporting, management, and support tools on a single platform for ease and convenience.