It’s Time For Travel Managers To Take ‘Deep Breaths’ And A Step Back
Some corporate travel operations have moved from crisis mode to a more strategic phase. With virtually no business travel activity underway, everyone will be there soon enough. There’s plenty to do. According to industry consultants and travel buyers, managers can find opportunities to add value in areas including supplier relations, policy management and digital transformation. A more strategic view can help them take care of another top priority: career preservation.
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Managing Unused Airline Tickets When Cash Is King
Strapped for cash and facing volumes of canceled itineraries no one modeled, carriers are offering incentives to those willing to reuse credit rather than request refunds. For corporate accounts, that could come in the form of bonuses added to residual values stored on UATP cards. Pooling unused credit in that way is an idea favored by some travel managers bracing for the accounting on an unprecedented number of unused tickets.
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WorldAware Analysis: ‘Normal’ Is Most Likely 12 To 18 Months Away, And Don’t Look For Indications From China
Depending on factors including how intensive care units cope with the surge of Covid-19 cases, a return to relative normalcy is most likely between 12 and 18 months away, according to timelines laid out this week by WorldAware. Other variables include whether recovering from the illness gives people immunity and for how long; when researchers develop a vaccine; whether and when widespread testing becomes available; and whether the virus is seasonal, suggesting a second wave.
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Sabre Thinks About Applying For Government Lending
Sabre is considering applying for federal relief, which would require it to agree to partial government ownership and constraints on payments to shareholders and certain employees. Like travel agencies, Sabre is technically considered a “ticket agent” and thus appears to be eligible for loans under the CARES Act signed last week by President Donald Trump.
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Trump Suggests Reversal On Recent Limits To Meal, Entertainment Deductions
President Donald Trump said Sunday he wanted to restore deductibility for corporate meal and entertainment costs, potentially reversing some regulations he signed into law in 2017. The president said he would ask Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia “to immediately start looking into the restoring of the deductibility of meals and entertainment costs for corporations … so that corporations can send people to restaurants and take a deduction on it like they did in the old days.”
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Coronavirus Exposes Weaknesses In Business Traveler Tracking
It’s unfortunate when an event requires an emergency review of tracking systems so employers can help business travelers out of harm’s way. Worse yet is when they can’t trust those systems. With the glut of cancelations this month, false reports showed travelers at originally intended destinations when they never made the trip.
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‘Hope And Help’ Here
Travel industry professionals not dealing with immediate health issues for themselves or their loved ones are nonetheless leading an uncomfortable existence. Many are natural networkers and extroverts. Spending nearly every minute within the same four walls is a mental health challenge. At least our plethora of communications tools are allowing us to stay connected. For an extremely large number among this group, one of several worries is unemployment. Your peers are here to help.
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