Take 5 With A Travel Manager – Planning For The New Financial Year

Now’s a great time to re-assess your travel policy, and the best way to get started is to put some time aside to speak with a Travel Manager. We’ll help you run through what’s in place, what the year ahead looks like, and how that all fits into the policy.

This process can yield great results. For example, I recently helped a company that was booking flex fares for every booking, which in their instance was unnecessary. Our review highlighted this and when we saw the spend associated with always using flex fares, we changed it to best fare and saved our client 100k. Another great idea is firming up hotel rates - you can do this by looking at any regular stays and then working towards better rates based on loyalty.

Also, this is a chance to consider your duty of care. By locking in a regular stay arrangement, travellers get a more familiar and comfortable experience. Make sure you take a look at your policy around traveller flying times too and shift them to amenable flying hours where possible

Need help with your corporate travel arrangements? Our Travel Managers are dedicated, experienced and knowledgeable. When you work with Flight Centre Business Travel, you’re choosing peace of mind. Direct access to the same person, who gets your business – and its travel needs – inside and out.

Check if your processes are working the way you want them to. Is your communication with your Travel Manager set up suitably? If it’s currently formal and structured, could a less formal approach be better?

At Flight Centre Business Travel, our approach is hyper-personal, so we’re always happy to work however works best for you. And remember, check that you have the correct authorisers listed, and that roles haven’t changed.

Take a peek forward into the year ahead and flag any major events coming up in the calendar. This could include conferences or major projects, for example. Once these are identified, we can work together to make advance bookings, get the best rates, make the biggest cost savings, and also ensure we can secure hire cars or hotel rooms.

For example, I know from personal experience that there’s a shortage of vehicles in mine spec currently available, so the sooner we know about a project, the better chance we have of taking that stress away from the start.

As part of your overall business travel health check, make sure all of your traveller information is up to date, such as passports, personal details and contact details.

You should get an end of year financial report from your Travel Management Company, like Flight Centre Business Travel, so take some time to work through this and look for patterns. This could include spend patterns, supplier and destination patterns and more.

It’s amazing what the data can tell you sometimes, such as shifts between the volume of domestic travel vs international travel – and that can have a big impact on your purchasing power. 

Of course, data is the secret weapon when it comes to negotiating with suppliers and securing favourable rates, discounts or added benefits.

Preparing your business travel policies and procedures for the new financial year is an important, yet rewarding, process. Don’t put it off, it can really set you up for success!