On our third podcast episode, Jay Campbell interviews Pam Massey about the new and old challenges of managing travel in a non-governmental organization, and how leadership change is prompting new approaches. Pam shared tips on communication and being flexible on policy for the sake of service quality, as well as her new thinking on travel management company RFPs. Later…
Atlanta – Travel policies range from simple and suggestive to complex and mandated but travel manager Michelle de Costa argued they need a “gray area so people can make the right choices for themselves.” Others try to make gray areas closer to black and white by stratifying polices based on traveler profile. Formerly Sapient’s director…
In need of an image makeover, United Airlines opened the year by holding employees accountable for lagging customer service. New baseline standards developed last year measure frontline workers on courtesy, graciousness and consistency. United had been working with Forbes Travel Guide on standards for each of the carrier’s work groups. The idea is to get…
[UPDATE, April 8, 2016: We published new information related to this article here.] Disintermediation of distributors gets a lot of attention, but the corporate travel profession also has doomsayers. Fears abound on outsourcing, realignment to procurement, generational challenges and technological change. Mobile computing has disempowered corporate policies and mechanisms of all sorts. Industry discourse has…
Well before gamification became a corporate travel buzzword, companies had straightforward ways to reward travelers for booking cheaper flights. Traveler incentive programs that share savings with those who book coach airfare when business class is acceptable are challenging but not uncommon. Now, a variation on the concept appeals to companies without robust travel-management programs and policies. Point-of-sale price benchmarks guide…
[UPDATE, March 8, 2017: Concur decided to “phase out” the Price to Beat feature, according to Rocketrip. The two companies announced an expanded partnership. More info here.] More than a decade ago, U.S. businesses started saving significant money due to what travel professionals called visual guilt. Mainstream by 2006, the notion is that when travelers…
For corporations and individuals looking to reduce their carbon footprints, business travel is a troublesome contributor. Chasing sales opportunities and growing revenue often requires travel. For some companies, business travel is the single biggest source of carbon emissions. In the middle of the last decade, green travel initiatives seemed to have momentum. But then the…
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