HOW LEAKAGE CAN DERAIL YOUR TRAVEL PROGRAMME (AND HOW TO STOP IT)
OUR COMPREHENSIVE GUIDEWhen it comes to business travel, leakage has nothing to do with burst pipes…
Think of your travel programme as a bucket. Inside the bucket are all of your travellers who can be carried from place to place, safe within its boundaries. But what happens if your bucket develops a hole? Your well-formed travel policy begins to leak, your travellers spill out, and you risk losing control.
Leakage refers to travel bookings made by your employees that sit outside of company-approved channels, policies, costs, or suppliers. These “rogue travellers” result in fragmented travel data, reduced spend visibility, and a weaker negotiating power with suppliers.
Preventing leakage is a vitally important step in ensuring your travel policy works effectively and stands the test of time. In this article, we take a closer look into the causes of leakage and give practical advice on what you can do to prevent it.
WHAT IS LEAKAGE?
Identifying the Problem
Put simply, leakage is any travel that is booked or paid for by your employees outside your pre-approved travel policy. The common symptoms are:
An employee books a flight directly through an airline’s website rather than through their Travel Management Company (TMC) or online booking tool.
An employee reserves a hotel room through a website that is not in your policy instead of using any negotiated corporate hotel rates you have access to.
An employee pays for a flight or car hire themselves – using a personal credit card or cash – instead of using the company’s approved payment method.
An employee books themself a business class flight, a premium seat, or a luxury hotel room that exceeds the cost set out by the company travel policy.
5 Ways to Prevent Leakage in Your Travel Programme
1. Create a Clear Travel Policy From the Start
Your travel policy doesn’t need to be brimming with complex terminology or dense walls of text for it to be effective. If it’s written in simple (yet informative) language, communicates on a clear, human level, and is easy to read, your travellers will be far more likely to adhere to it.
Your policy should explain your approved booking methods, preferred suppliers, spending limits, and payment procedures without becoming a chore to read.
How a TMC Can Support You
- By helping you design your ideal travel policy based on industry best practices
- By embedding the policy into your booking system so employees automatically follow the rules
- By providing guidance on policy updates when the world of travel changes
2. Use an Approved (and Easy to Use) Online Booking Tool
Having a solid and easy-to-read policy is one thing. Actually making travel booking easier is another. Ensure that your chosen online booking tool or platform is simple to navigate, offers a comprehensive selection of travel content, and (ideally) can be accessed via a single sign-on environment, such as Gray Dawes Travel’s YourTrip within the PORTAL platform.
All of this will encourage travellers to stay firmly within the managed programme and demonstrate the many benefits of staying within company policy.
How a TMC Can Support You
- By providing an easy-to-use and comprehensive online booking tool backed by real business travel experts.
- By integrating your preferred rates and suppliers within the online booking tool.
- By offering you real-time data to show levels of policy compliance and identify areas for improvement.
3. Communicate and Train Your Employees
When you live and breathe your travel policy, it’s easy to assume that everyone will find it as straightforward as you do. Besides knowing the practical process of booking travel within policy, employees also need to understand why following policy is important.
Leakage is far less likely if everyone within the organisation is well-informed about the reasons and objectives behind why a travel policy is in place.
How a TMC Can Support You
- By delivering training sessions or tutorials for the online booking tool you are using.
- By providing easy-to-access user guides and Always On customer support.
- By helping travel managers communicate the benefits of the travel programme with all stakeholders.
4. Monitor Travel Data Consistently to Identify Leakage
Building the travel policy and getting your travellers to follow it is only the first step. You need to constantly monitor your travel data – such as that reported through our YourData platform – to identify travel trends and identify bookings made outside the approved programme.
Remember that preventing leakage requires regular attention. Just because something works today doesn’t mean it will work tomorrow, and it is OK to tweak and change approaches if it leads to better outcomes.
How a TMC Can Support You
- By offering you the tools and support to produce travel reports which identify compliance levels and leakage patterns.
- By identifying departments or individuals that frequently book outside the programme.
- By providing recommendations when things change to help get your programme back on track.
5. Negotiate with Suppliers for Preferred Agreements
Negotiating rates with travel suppliers can go a long way. By arranging and signing agreements with preferred airlines, hotels and car rental suppliers, you can secure lower corporate rates.
A global TMC like Gray Dawes Travel will have strong relationships with suppliers across the world, built from years of mutual trust and support, which your organisation can benefit from.
How a TMC Can Support You
- By negotiating contracts with travel suppliers on behalf of you and your company.
- By ensuring the chosen suppliers are prioritised in the online booking tool.
- By tracking the usage of your preferred suppliers to maintain (and improve) negotiated rates.
PREVENTING LEAKAGE STARTS WITH A TEAM OF BRILLIANT PEOPLE…
At Gray Dawes, our people are your people. We believe that better business travel is far greater than the sum of a slick online booking tool or access comprehensive data – it’s an essential human experience built by experienced travel consultants that care.
Our High Touch approach to corporate travel can help take you that extra mile and keep your travellers fully invested in your carefully-constructed travel programme.
LEAKAGE CAN SIGNIFICANTLY UNDERMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR TRAVEL POLICY
When employees book outside your policy and your approved channels, you lose the benefits of negotiated rates, proper data, and the ability to make your travel more cost-effective.
However, leakage can be effectively reduced. By offering clear travel policies, a robust online booking tool, employee training, and consistent monitoring of travel data, you can reduce the number of travellers “going rogue”.
TMCs like Gray Dawes Travel can also play a crucial role in supporting these efforts. By providing an online booking tool tweaked to your preferences, utilising years of supplier relations to secure negotiated rates, and offering practical support at every step of the travel process, your travel programme can be elevated to the next level.
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