How to Create a Travel Policy for Your Company

If you are thinking of creating a travel policy for your company or organization then you will want to start off with some basic rules for your employees to follow. Your policy is only successful if you enforce it. Having a travel policy puts you on the way to corralling your travel spend and increasing your preferred supplier base.

Your travel policy should include information on Air Travel, Rail Travel, Car Rentals, Ground Transportation, Hotel Stays, Personal Travel, How to Book Travel, and How to Be Reimbursed for Travel Costs.

For Air Travel you will want to establish a consistent rule. It might be no first class travel allowed with no exceptions. Business class travel might be allowed for flights over 6 hours or only for International flights over 6 hours. Depending upon the amount of travel that your company or organization does it can approach airlines and request a discount. Airlines do not easily give these out. They want a promise that you will meet a market share goal or they will retract the discount. The more travel you put on one carrier the higher your discount can be. That is why you do not want too many airlines in your airline program.

For Hotel Stays your company should decide on either a spend cap per city or they might have an established hotel program which lists the hotels they are allowed to stay in. If your organization spends enough room nights each year at a property then they are more apt to offer you a yearly discount. Again, the discount is based on volume and whether you meet your market share goals. Having too many hotels in your hotel program will dilute its worth and will be a waste of time.

For Car Rentals most companies choose one main Car Rental Company and then might have a secondary for sold out situations. Some of these companies might offer you a discount but most will offer you perks like free upgrades or free rental days.

If you decide to include and reimburse for ground transportation you will need to be specific when writing your policy. Will you cover limousines? If so, what size? Is there a distance limit? Most companies only allow for taxi's or rental cars.

Not every company uses Rail Travel. If your company uses Amtrak a lot then you can also approach them about a discount but they are not very negotiable. Set a policy about using rail in Europe or in other countries if you think this will be something that will be used. Can they book business class or first class rail?

Some companies allow spouses to travel with the employee if they are designated as VIP's. Allowing family members to travel with your employee can end up costing you a lot of money. When writing your travel policy, think about if you will allow an employee to add on a personal trip to their business trip. If you do, will you only pay for the business portion? How will you work that out in order to be fair to all employees?

When you get to the part about How to Book Travel, you will need to decide whether you will use a designated travel agency or whether you only want them to book with an online website like Orbitz or Expedia. You will need to compare what each has to offer, what reporting they offer, and all the costs involved for your company. Ask if they offer any type of security reporting too. In the case of a travel emergency you would want to know where all of your employees are at that moment in time. It is well worth the extra cost.

For reimbursement you will need to establish how they will submit their expenses, how long they would wait for reimbursement, will you offer corporate credit cards, and who will be doing spot checks to be sure you are only paying for actual corporate travel costs.

As you can see, there is a lot involved with writing a corporate travel policy. Establishing a group of preferred suppliers is key to obtaining the best discounts for your company. Negotiate with a small group of suppliers in each category and then publish your list on your company website. Make is as user friendly as you can and remember to keep it updated whenever changes occur.

Most corporate travel management companies will help you to create and enforce a travel policy. While you will pay a management fee and possibly transaction fees, the cost is well worth the peace of mind. Some small local travel agencies can also assist if you have a small travel program and your employees are in the local area. Do your research and compare what every one has to offer so that you can make an educated decision.