Are you getting the most out of your travel management company?
With corporate travel tech undergoing regular upgrades, shifting priorities, and the growing demand for business travel, it’s easy to overlook the tools and services your TMC offers. But a TMC working at its full potential can streamline your travel program and allow you to take a breath.
We’ve rounded up the most underutilised tools and services we hear about. Helping you ask the right questions, make informed decisions, and level up your travel program.
It’s easy to miss some of the TMC tools and services available when there’s so much going on. My team and I see it all the time. But with access to detailed reporting for easier reconciliation and management, on-the-go tech, carbon offsetting, and VIP services, there’s a real opportunity to increase sustainable outcomes, traveller experience, and programs.
— Kate Taylor, Head of Account Management
Tools
Traveller tracking and duty of care
Why it’s underutilised: Emergencies happen, normally without a heads up. And when they do, there’s often a scramble to figure out where everyone is and who is impacted. Too often, this only gets thought about when a crisis hits, leaving travel managers caught out.
Why it matters: Traveller tracking lets you monitor your team’s real-time location via an interactive map. It’s a proactive approach to managing safety, compliance, and communication, so you're always a step ahead and ready to take action when needed.
Expense and spend management
Why it’s underutilised: Tracking corporate travel expenses can be messy and time-consuming. Many companies still rely on manual tracking or standard reporting, making it hard to get a complete picture of spending patterns.
Why it matters: Integrated expense management tools streamline reconciliation, claiming, and expense reporting. Allowing you to identify cost saving opportunities, overspending incidents, and keep tabs on your corporate travel budget and travel expenses.
Virtual payment solutions
Why it’s underutilised: Traditional credit cards work fine for some, but for one-off business travellers, temp staff, or tech-savvy people, they’re not exactly convenient or flexible, and they come with a host of risks.
Why it matters: Virtual payment options provide secure, one-time-use digital cards that simplify payments. They’re ideal for travellers and travel managers looking for a solution that is more secure and flexible, with easy tracking and control.
Mobile apps
Why it’s underutilised: Some travellers and bookers prefer the desktop booking process or rely on contacting customer service for new and updating bookings (and that’s okay). But they do miss out on the ease and independence of having everything at their fingertips.
Why it matters: A TMC's mobile app gives travellers on-the-go access to itineraries, bookings, and live support. Instead of waiting on hold for support or rushing to find a laptop, they have everything they need in the app. Plus, they’ll appreciate the flexibility of handling changes on their own and receiving push notifications for any itinerary changes.
Traveller profiles and preferences
Why it’s underutilised: Let’s face it, no one loves keeping profiles up to date; we’re all too busy just getting by. The result, though, is that many traveller preferences, loyalty numbers, and other details don’t get entered or updated. Leading to missed points, perks, and customised experiences.
Why it matters: When you take a minute to build out traveller profiles, the system pre-fills details like loyalty numbers, passport info, preferences, emergency contact details, accessibility information, and more. It’s a seamless way to ensure your travellers get a more personalised experience every time.
Sustainability reports & offsetting
Why it’s underutilised: Sustainability is a priority for most businesses, but day-to-day corporate travel impacts can often go unnoticed. Some don’t realise how many emissions are being contributed each trip, how to leverage data analytics, how to offset emissions, or where to even start.
Why it matters: Sustainability reports and clever software calculate your corporate travel’s carbon emissions, identify trends, provide actionable insights to offset emissions, and serve up sustainable content to travellers and bookers. Some online booking tools also have the functionality offset those emissions right in platform.
Custom reporting
Why it’s underutilised: There’s no shortage of data out there, but it’s only useful if you know how to leverage it. Many companies are only scratching the surface, missing out on valuable insights.
Why it matters:
With sleek, drillable custom reporting, you can get the answers you need in minutes. No sifting through endless data or lines of a spreadsheet, just ask, and you’ll see trends, spending patterns, and travel behaviours clearly, so you can make informed decisions faster.
Automated policy enforcement
Why it’s underutilised: Out-of-policy bookings can be an ongoing issue for any travel program, and manual tracking is tedious. Without a system to automatically drive compliance, policy violations that drive up costs and create unnecessary friction are inevitable.
Why it matters: Automated policy enforcement ensures compliance with your company’s travel policies from the get-go. The system flags or prevents non-compliant bookings, saving money and enforcing guidelines without extra work.
Services
VIP and concierge
Why it’s underutilised: VIP services are often reserved for top execs, but the truth is, anyone who values personalised service can benefit from a little extra touch.
Why it matters: VIP and concierge services offer perks like priority boarding and curated itineraries, elevating any travel experience and ensuring your team enjoys a seamless, stress-free journey.
Benchmarking
Why it’s underutilised: Some might know their program's travel spend and behaviour, but without context, it’s hard to tell if they’re really getting the best value from travel suppliers or if there’s room to optimise.
Why it matters: Benchmarking services helps compare your travel program against industry standards and competitors, uncovering significant savings opportunities, compliance gaps, and areas to optimise. This travel data can allow you to make competitive choices, and drive smarter decisions.
Hotel auditing
Why it’s underutilised: Unless you’ve been in corporate travel for a while, the added fees, or inconsistent rates that can come with booking hotels can catch some off guard. Making it tough to stick to travel budgets and even harder to know if you’re getting the best rates or benefits out there.
Why it matters: Some TMCs offer hotel rate auditing to ensure you’re only paying agreed-upon rates and getting the best terms. They’ll check reservations, negotiate rates, cancellation policies and perks, and even manage hotel relationships on your behalf.
Account managers
Why it’s underutilised: Your TMC contacts offers a wealth of knowledge, but many clients don’t fully take advantage of their account manager’s expertise.
Why it matters: Your account manager can provide custom recommendations, spot savings, and help optimise travel plans for long-term success. They’re the experts in the industry, with valuable insights into trends, tools, and hidden opportunities.
Meetings and Events
Why it’s underutilised: Many businesses treat meetings and events as an afterthought or manage them in isolation from their travel programs, missing out on the full benefits of integrating these services. Group travel, incentive trips, and event management are often handled manually or with limited resources, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities.
Why it matters: By leveraging a TMC’s meetings and events services, you can streamline the planning, coordination, and execution of group travel, incentive trips, and corporate events. This integration ensures cost control, smoother logistics, and an overall better experience for attendees.
TMCs have always been important cogs in business travel, but their role goes beyond booking flights and managing itineraries. Corporate travel management companies are strategic partners that enable multi-national companies to manage all the ins and outs of their travel needs while meeting broader company goals such as cost savings, policy, sustainability, and traveller well-being.
We want our customers to make the most of us, take advantage of what’s on offer, and ultimately drive greater value in the business travel programs.
— Kate Taylor, Head of Account Management
TMCs have always been important cogs in business travel, but their role goes beyond booking flights and managing itineraries. Corporate travel management companies are strategic partners that enable multi-national companies to manage all the ins and outs of their travel needs while meeting broader company goals such as cost savings, policy, sustainability, and traveller well-being.