A corporate travel policy provides your company’s expectations and guidelines for employees travelling on business trips. It should mirror your company’s culture and values, prioritising employee well-being while aiming to control your business’s travel expenditure.
Here we have listed 6 points to consider when writing a corporate travel policy:
1. Define Your Objectives
Outline the company’s objectives, detailing who the policy is for and what goals the company seeks to accomplish. These objectives may encompass cost savings, increased compliance, and improved duty of care.
2. Engage Key Stakeholders
Key stakeholders, including HR, accounts, security/risk management, legal teams, as well as bookers and frequent travellers themselves can help shape the final policy. This ensures that you identify the needs of your teams and individuals from the outset and provides an opportunity for them to review and offer feedback on the policy.
3. Establish Clear Budgets
Clearly define budgets and maximum spending limits for accommodation, flights, and rail, including considerations such as:
- Flights: Determine acceptable booking windows, permitted cabin classes (which may differ for international or domestic flights), and any preferred suppliers or negotiated route deals.
- Accommodation: Set rate caps per night, specifying whether breakfast is included, and consider regional or city specific variations e.g. inside London and outside London. Determine if a nightly evening meal allowance is provided and identify preferred suppliers with negotiated rates.
- Rail: Specify recommended lead times, permitted classes, and considerations for first-class travel if it proves more cost-effective e.g on occasions a single advance 1st class rail ticket can be cheaper than a single standard class anytime ticket.
- Car Hire: Define permitted car sizes and acceptable insurance coverage levels.
You should also make it clear that any costs above the defined budgets will be out of policy, and that only in policy options should be booked. If this is not possible, then define an out of policy line manager approval process.
4. Implement a User-Friendly Travel Platform
A user-friendly travel platform is an essential tool for a successful travel programme, one that employees enjoy using, ensuring they opt for it consistently, therefore eliminating leakage. Mandate that all bookings are made through an appointed travel management company and its platform to minimise leakage and unauthorised spending. At arrangeMY, we provide arrangeMY trip, an award-winning corporate travel platform offering accommodation, flights, rail, and taxi bookings in one seamless interface, with built-in travel policy capabilities and approval processes. This automated system eliminates the need for employees to reference the travel policy repeatedly, ensuring 100% policy compliance from a company enforcement standpoint.
5. Consult with Experts
Seek guidance from Travel Management Companies like arrangeMY, who are experts in best practice recommendations for travel policies. arrangeMY’s account managers understand the unique requirements of businesses, providing valuable insights into best practices, cost-saving measures, and employee well-being support.
6. Communicate the Travel Policy
Once the corporate travel policy is drafted, ensure that employees read and understand it. Present the policy in an easily digestible format, with clear explanations of guidelines. Ensure easy access to the policy through your internal intranet site or a centralised location for quick reference.
For expert guidance and best practice recommendations on travel policies, contact the team at arrangeMY today:
Contact Number – 01905 610016
Email – sales@arrangemy.com
Website – https://arrangemy.com/
