3 Essential Tools for Business Travel Management

Business travel can do a lot for your business. It can also be expensive and take up a lot of time in the form of planning, searching for flights and accommodations, booking, payments, and settling up accounts. Fortunately, there are business travel management services that can reduce the work and expense of managing your company’s travel program.

Booking Tools

Travel booking has become more sophisticated in recent years, allowing travelers to research travel costs and accommodation options before booking. Businesses can now make use of business travel booking tools that refine what general booking engines can do: Travel-management software can help employees find the best prices on suitable lodging and other travel needs while also ensuring compliance with budgets and other travel policies.

Streamlined Payment Options

Business travel can create financial headaches for all parties: The traveler, your accounting department, and your management/executive teams. Here are just a few of the challenges:

·  Setting and sticking to predetermined limits on travel expenses

·  Making payments to hotels

·  Processing charges and employee reimbursements

Streamlined payment options, such as proprietary payment cards that connect with apps and software can reduce the need to pay separate bills for individual employees while they are on the road. These tools can also streamline expense tracking and reimbursements, reducing the need to collect documentation (such as invoices and receipts) to ensure proper accounting.

Traveler Support & Safety

All businesses have a duty of care toward their traveling employees. This duty of care includes:

·  Knowing where your employees are staying and their travel routes.

·  Understanding potential dangers and threats, such as weather emergencies, natural disasters, and civil unrest.

·  Developing protocols for assisting your employees in case of an emergency.

·  Assisting employees who are injured or become ill while traveling in getting appropriate medical care.

Your business should have travel policies in place that enable your staff to connect with employees and help them to reach safety if travel conditions become dangerous. Mobile apps and online travel trackers are important to ensure that your home staff can locate traveling employees and help get them home or to another, safe location. Another option is a 24/7 assistance hotline which can help your employees find appropriate services and rebook lodging and transportation as needed.

What CLC has to Offer

CLC Lodging offers multiple tools for your business travel needs, including:

·  The CLC Mobile app, which allows team members to research and book accommodations throughout the country, all at CLC’s pre-negotiated and discounted rates. The app also contains important details about each property, such as whether a hotel offers truck parking.

·  The CLC Trip Card allows you to provide your employees with a dedicated, virtual credit card for business travel. You set the parameters, such as pre-approved categories, dates, and amount: Expenses are tracked and categorized, your employees don’t have to use personal credit cards, and you can keep costs under control.

·  Centralized invoices: Book hotels through CLC Lodging and you’ll have one place to pay for your stays, instead of having to sort multiple payments and reimbursements.

·  24/7 Traveler Support and Safety: Use CLC’s Traveler Tracker mapping to quickly locate current hotel reservations. And our experts are always available for reservation changes and traveler support. 

Interested in learning more about CLC Lodging’s business travel services, tools, and support? Visit us online today and request more information.