Travel – Do I Have To??

This is nice...yet another guest blogger is about to make their debut on 1 Procurement Place! This time it's the turn of Lisa Hurst. Lisa has worked in the travel procurement field as both practitioner and consultant for quite a few years and, having worked with her personally, I can certainly say she knows her stuff. Lisa possesses an innovative, humorous and insightful take on this often challenging area for procurement professionals. I hope you'll enjoy the first of several posts from Lisa on this oh so sacred cow spend category....


Do you travel much? If you do, then you'd probably rather not. I used to love to travel. At the age of 5 I started flying from San Diego to Chicago every summer to visit my grandmother. I would get so excited as travel day approached and when the day of the trip arrived I would get dressed up in my Sunday best - hat, gloves, the whole enchilada. Now when I travel I have a special outfit made for comfort and minimal stripping - a sweat suit.

My grandmother was complaining recently that people don’t get dressed up any more to fly like they used to. Of course she hasn’t flown in over ten years so I had to explain the new landscape: first you book a trip online because if you want to speak with someone it will cost you at least $5; then you need to print your boarding pass at least two hours prior to your flight or the ticket you paid for will be sold again, with no refund to you; then when you get to the airport you have to wait in a mile-long line, unpack half your bag (you don’t dare check one as it adds another $50 to the trip), pack your toiletries into 4 ounce bottles and make sure it all fits into a quart bag, strip off half your clothes (for which I always felt I should get at least $1 per item), take your shoes off, then pray as you walk through the metal detector that you did not forget a quarter or learn the hard way that the silver bracelet you received as a gift is really plated. I could go on but you get the idea....

I’ve heard it over and over again that travel procurement is easy. Really? I’ve been doing it for years and have yet to find someone who understands all the intricacies and complexities. What I have learnt is that one of the best defenses in controlling travel expense is to have a policy in place that is mandated. If the policy is not enforced then you can kiss your opportunity for control and savings goodbye.

Another learning is that prior to creating your policy you first need to make hundreds of decisions! Starting with do you have the volume for an onsite agent? Should you use a brick and mortar agency or an online booking provider? Will the agency option you select allow your company the authority and ability to enforce travel policies for everyone?

When you've made your agency decision you have the complexity of selecting and negotiating with your preferred travel providers. Does your airline volume warrant a front end discount or a backend program? For hotels do you have enough volume to negotiate a chain wide discount or do you go with your agency’s discount options? Then it's on to the car rental companies and negotiating best possible rates for your company's main business travel locations. And this is just the top of the iceberg. You now need to deal with all the minutiae that can really escalate your costs if you do not address them and put all the necessary controls in place. With airlines you need to determine your stance on checked bags, pillows and blanket fees, eligible reasons for changing/cancelling a ticket, and dealing with business and personal air travel expenses. What standard of hotel will you allow your employees to stay in - Luxury/resort? High end? Mid/low? Will you require that the hotel needs to include free parking, breakfast and shuttle? And car rentals are really getting out of control with all the taxes imposed at airport pickups. Will you require off airport rentals to save costs? Can employees rent GPS? And what about those last minute dashes to the airport that result in refueling charges?

Oh and let's not forget the white elephant in the room….yes, many travelers have their own personal preferences for the airline, hotel and car rental agencies they use based on their status and the personal perks they receive from using those providers! So should you decide not to mandate travel policy and/or hold travelers accountable for complying with them then you can watch your company's travel costs sky rocket as employees make the rational choices that personally benefit them most.

Well…I’m off to find that sweat suit and my quart size toiletry bag! Wish me luck and safe travels to you!