I wanted to share a vital aspect of corporate travel that often gets overlooked – the role of trained professionals in the process.
Imagine allowing a heart surgeon to perform dental work – it just doesn't make sense. Similarly, entrusting untrained staff with booking company travel can lead to numerous pitfalls and financial risks.
To minimise these potential risks, it's worth considering the involvement of seasoned travel management businesses or in-house travel experts. They bring valuable negotiation skills, industry know-how, and the ability to tackle the intricacies of corporate travel. This approach ensures your company reaps cost savings, aligns with travel policies and experiences smooth business trips.
Emphasising professionalism in travel is crucial. A meticulously managed journey can genuinely enhance your company's financial performance. If you're interested in delving further into this subject, I invite you to explore my reasoning on this topic below.
The Pros of Leaving it to the Professionals:
1. Accuracy in Passenger Names: Trained travel professionals ensure correct passenger names matched with ID, avoiding boarding issues, security hassles, and rebooking fees.
2. Proper Visa Information: Booking travel means verifying complex visa requirements. Errors here can lead to denied boarding, denied entry and hefty fines for employees travelling internationally.
3. Timely Flight Connections: Trained staff understand the importance of well-timed flight connections, preventing missed flights, expensive rebooking, and significant delays.
4. Efficiency and Productivity: Trained travel experts save time by finding the best options quickly, boosting efficiency, and preventing reduced productivity due to prolonged research.
5. Consistent Booking Procedures: Professionals use centralised platforms, ensuring clear data tracking, expense management, and effective vendor negotiation.
Cons of Untrained Staff Handling Travel:
1. Costly Booking Errors: Incorrect names on flights can lead to avoidable costs, impacting company finances.
2. Risk of Visa Mistakes: Mistakes in visa information might result in denied entry, missed travel opportunities and fines for international travel.
3. Missed Flight Connections: Untrained staff may underestimate the importance of well-timed connections or may not have access to airport and airline minimum connection times required, causing missed flights and costly rebookings.
4. Wasted Time: Employees may spend excessive time researching the trip compared to the efficiency of an expert, affecting overall productivity.
5. Inconsistent Procedures: Untrained staff using different platforms can lead to data chaos, making expense tracking and vendor negotiation challenging.
6. Cancellation Challenges: Untrained staff may not know airline and hotel cancellation policies, causing potential financial losses for the company.
7. Emergency Preparedness: Handling travel emergencies can be challenging for untrained staff, impacting the company's ability to manage crises effectively.
8. Complex Itineraries: Travel involving multiple destinations or specialised arrangements can be intricate, causing inefficiencies when handled by untrained personnel.
9. Missed Cost Savings: Untrained staff may lack the negotiation skills to secure discounts, upgrades, and other cost-saving benefits from travel suppliers.
10. Reduced Productivity: Booking errors, visa problems, or missed connections waste valuable work time, impacting overall productivity.
Leaving travel bookings to untrained staff can result in an array of costly issues for your company. It's wise to engage dedicated travel professionals or experienced travel management companies to ensure cost savings, adherence to travel policies, and smooth business travel experiences. Just as you wouldn't let a heart surgeon perform dental work, entrust travel to those skilled in the field.
