A business travel booking tool for your company. What should you consider when choosing one?

Organizing business travel in a company where employees regularly travel for work is a complex logistical task that requires consideration of many important elements. Primarily, the importance of business travel compliance with internal company policies, cost optimization, and time savings is paramount. A comprehensive business travel booking system should automate processes, from planning and reporting to settlement. In this guide, we'll discuss the key aspects to consider when selecting a tool to make business travel intuitive for employees and transparent for managers.

Intuitive interface and extensive search options

Even an advanced tool, packed with a variety of options, will be useless if its operation is complicated and unintuitive. The functionality of a travel management system largely depends on how it's used. Here's what makes a travel booking tool easy to use:

Easy navigation and menu, clear and legible icons

Intuitive and logically arranged step-by-step booking process

Aggregation of offers from various providers (hotels, flights, trains) in one place, without the need to switch between dozens of websites

An extensive search option, transport, and accommodation (in addition to standard filtering, the tool should enable sorting by price, defining budget ranges, selecting a specific carrier, and displaying key information about the hotel, e.g., the distance of the hotel from the city center with visualization on a map)

The possibility of reserving round-trip transport immediately and choosing direct or transfer connections according to preference

Implementation of travel policy

Adhering to corporate travel policies is crucial and allows for cost optimization. A significant advantage for business travel managers is the ability to define price limits and acceptable hotel standards directly on the platform. Technologically advanced tools even allow for defining policies for specific geographic regions (the ability to assign travel policies to specific destinations, such as countries or continents).

With a travel policy implemented, employees can immediately see which flights and hotels are compliant with company policies when planning a business trip, making it easier for them to plan their own business trip. Furthermore, the recommended hotel option is very useful, allowing you to create a list of preferred accommodations. This way, travelers planning a trip will see the company's recommended accommodations at the forefront.

Possibility to post messages for traveling employees

A travel organization platform should allow travel managers to place short messages at various stages of the booking process (e.g., "Remember, we prefer XYZ airlines", when booking long-haul flights). The administrator can easily distribute current travel policies, regulations, and safety tips to travelers.

Automation of processes related to the settlement of business trips 

For a travel management tool to truly streamline workflows within a company, it must offer specific features for finance and travel managers. The most important of these include:

Collective invoice for all business travel services

Generating advanced reports and the ability to configure these documents to precisely match the scope of data to the individual needs of the company

Defining cost centers and assigning travel to a specific employee group (e.g., the sales department) or to a given project. This allows for transparency and control of the travel budget

Digital document flow for business travel. This option allows employees to attach all receipts directly to the tool. Documents are stored securely and always at hand. This simplifies the billing process

Support for employees on business trips

Comprehensive business travel management encompasses more than just booking tickets and accommodations and settling business trips. It also provides support for employees located in other countries. Therefore, the ability to contact agents 24/7/365 is crucial. In the event of an emergency, such as a theft, a canceled flight, or a booking issue, employees can count on quick assistance and resolution. The traveler tracker feature also proves crucial in this regard. It allows employees to monitor their location (with their consent). This feature is particularly useful in the event of unforeseen events, political crises, or natural disasters. Integration with external platforms, such as Sherpa, is also crucial. This allows you to check directly in the system whether a visa or specific vaccinations are required for the destination country.

Predefined events 

Predefined event functionality can be very useful, especially for companies that regularly send employees to various events, such as trade shows or industry conferences. In a comprehensive system, the administrator should be able to create a trip template, defining dates, budget, preferred hotels, and permitted airlines. Invited employees can then independently book travel within established rules. This eliminates the need for individual approval of each trip and ensures full compliance with applicable regulations.

A booking system that simplifies business travel

Choosing the right tool, rich in various functionalities, allows you to streamline the organization of business trips within your company. Employees don't have to waste time on formalities related to business trips. They also have great flexibility in choosing specific transportation and accommodation options. In turn, your company gains the assurance that business trips are being organized according to established rules and within the established budget. All the features described in this Guide are available on the worktrips.com platform. Explore them during a personalized presentation and see how simple travel management can be.