Policies are a hallmark of managed travel programs. They can address booking channels, supplier selection, allowable purchases, risk management processes and many other areas. Some are guidelines that encourage travelers. Others are requirements that employees must follow.
“Blended” travel at American Airlines is trending down and approaching its historical level, potentially undermining one element of a narrative about why the company changed just about everything it does with the managed corporate travel market. Some of its arguments about how the market has changed met with skepticism. That doesn’t mean it’s going to…
Corporations focused a procurement lens on travel en masse beginning around the turn of the century. The new emphasis on spend management surfaced questions about the return on investment in trips, and with the 2007-2008 financial crisis, companies began demanding answers. Some industry organizations attempted to answer the demand with research, but it did not…
To accelerate growth and support its leisure travel diversion, Navan next week will relaunch its program rewarding business travelers who purchase “cost-conscious” hotels. It will label eligible hotels in search results with a “Rewards” symbol and exclude rates negotiated by employers. Because “this year has taught us that reducing costs is the No. 1 priority…
Some corporate travel programs are blocking American Airlines now that the carrier has removed many fares from traditional third-party distribution channels. Observations like this one from SAP Concur align with anecdotes from several corporate buyers who are reacting to both the distribution move and AA’s overall de-emphasis of the corporate market. But preventing travelers from…
What should travel managers tell company employees about the distribution changes American Airlines is making? As one communicator who works in the weeds of airline distribution said, it’s clear as mud. But there’s only so much that travelers need to know. A few travel managers offered some ideas, but for the most part, crafting a…
Capturing pre-trip data from bookings made directly is one way to deal with American Airlines’ planned distribution fragmentation in April. Some see it as merely a backup plan. It likely requires change management and communications to corporate travelers. A leading player in this area, Traxo, in December got an endorsement from the largest corporate travel…
Researchers again found virtual communication offers “limited” capacity to replace face-to-face meetings. But with support for predicted reductions of between 20 percent and 30 percent in business travel volume due to trends accelerated by the pandemic, they argued that understanding how businesspeople choose between travel and virtual “has become urgent.” Researchers at the University of…
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