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Corporate travel management (CTM) is the process of planning, organizing, implementing, and monitoring a business's trips and entertainment expenditures to help ensure that employee travel is efficient and effective and that employees comply with the company's travel policies and procedures. The word "corporate" in corporate travel management doesn't necessarily mean CTM travel programs are only for corporations. Mid-size and even smaller businesses can also benefit from a successful CTM program. The many benefits may include significant cost savings, better alignment of travel with company objectives, and improved travel experiences for employees.
How Does Corporate Travel Management Work?
A corporate travel management program can be flexible to help meet a company's needs as they inevitably change over time.
With that in mind, a CTM team's tasks and responsibilities might include:
Approving or directly booking airline flights, ground transportation, hotel accommodations, restaurant reservations, and tickets for entertainment venues
Assisting employees with passports, visas, and other travel-related documents
Approving or, when appropriate, denying reimbursement of employee business travel and entertainment expenses
Managing employee use of business credit cards
Coordinating, managing, or monitoring other business travel or entertainment-related activities
CTM teams aren't involved in employees' personal travel arrangements.
Staff levels for a CTM program can also match the company's needs. A small or new CTM program may do well with one part-time or full-time employee to help ensure compliance with travel policies and procedures, and an outside travel agency to research, recommend, and book travel services. A larger CTM program might need two or more employees and an additional, outside travel agency.
A corporate travel agency, sometimes called a travel management company (TMC), can handle a variety of travel tasks. These may include:
Planning itineraries
Booking flights
Making hotel and dining reservations
Securing tickets for entertainment venues
Renting cars or other vehicles
Arranging ground transportation or ride-shares
Some TMCs may also help their clients create travel policies, review travel advisories, shop for and purchase travel insurance, rebook missed flights, plan remote conferences, events, and meetings, and audit travel expenses to help ensure compliance with company policies and identify potential future savings.
Together, a company's travel specialists, whether they're employees, agents, or a combination of both, can manage both domestic and, as needed, global travel to meet the company's objectives. The latter might include lowering costs and helping to ensure that other human resources and finance personnel aren't unduly distracted or overly burdened by employee travel arrangements or travel management tasks.
Some CTM programs allow employees to make their own travel arrangements as long as they coordinate with the CTM team and comply with the company's travel policies. Others require that the CTM team make all the arrangements for all employees. The full-control approach limits employees' options, but may help to capture more discounts, enforce tighter spending caps, and help ensure that all arrangements are made through the company's approved vendors.
Some CTM program teams use sophisticated travel management software systems that can aid in booking travel, managing or capping expenditures, and reporting and analyzing expenses, among other features. Some systems can access current flight data, hotel room availability, and other real-time travel information.
Businesses with modest travel needs may choose to include their CTM program within their human resources or finance department. Businesses with extensive travel needs or farther flung operations may be better served by a separate, dedicated CTM program.
Benefits of Corporate Travel Management
A successful CTM program can provide valuable benefits, such as significant savings in travel and entertainment expenditures, reduction in non-CTM employees' time devoted to making travel arrangements, better alignment of travel activities with the company's objectives and goals, improved record-keeping for travel expenses, and better-informed oversight of travel-related risks and safety issues.
At a minimum, a good CTM program can achieve:
Cost savings. The CTM team may find better deals and negotiate bigger discounts for airline flights, hotel stays, travel insurance, and other travel-related costs.
Time savings. The CTM team can know how to make travel arrangements quickly and efficiently so employees who travel can spend less time figuring out how to get where they need to go.
Policy compliance. The CTM team can make sure the company's travel policies align with objectives and are top of mind for any travel planning.
Given these important benefits, a CTM program may be a smart move for almost all types and sizes of businesses.
How Business Credit Cards Help Simplify Corporate Travel Management
Some companies manage business travel expenses by requiring employees to pay their own travel costs out of pocket and then turn in expense reports to be approved for reimbursement. While this process can be common, it may prove difficult and time-consuming to manage due in part to the extensive paperwork required.
Fortunately, other business travel management solutions are available. Among those are business and corporate credit cards, which can be used within a CTM program.
Similarly to credit cards for individuals, business and corporate cards can help simplify travel management and reduce paperwork by making it easier to monitor expenses and reconcile transactions. Business and corporate cards can feature expense-tracking systems designed to enable managers to reduce paperwork, monitor spending, help ensure travel policy compliance, and integrate travel expenses into the company’s CTM and accounting systems.
Business and corporate cards may also have additional features, such as fraud protection, and can provide a myriad of perks, such as card rewards, eligible benefits on air travel or hotel stays, and access to airport lounges that can help employees stay productive while they wait to board their flights.
Consider The American Express Corporate Platinum Card®
With the American Express Corporate Platinum Card, you can get more from your spending. Capture additional value for your employees, your company, or both when employees make eligible purchases on their Corporate Card. Plus, most Corporate Cards come with travel and lifestyle benefits that employees can enjoy. Speak to a specialist to learn about the different options for benefits, Membership Rewards® points1,2, cash back3 in the form of a statement credit, and incentives available with select Corporate Program products.
Simplify, Save, and Succeed with Corporate Travel Management
Business travel helps enable companies of all sizes to better manage remote operations, explore new markets, meet with valued suppliers, and secure new clients. While the investment of time and funds can be significant, there may be no better way to forge strong business relationships than to be out in the world, meeting face-to-face with other professionals.
1. Enrollment in the Membership Rewards® program is required. The American Express® Corporate Green Card and the Global Dollar Card - American Express® Corporate Green Card is charged a $55 annual enrollment fee. A program fee is not applied for the American Express® Corporate Gold Card, American Express Corporate Platinum Card®, Global Dollar Card - American Express Corporate Platinum Card®, and Global Dollar Card - American Express® Corporate Executive Gold Card. Some Corporate Cards are not eligible for enrollment. For a full list of eligible Corporate Cards, please see the full Membership Rewards Terms and Conditions. Card Member eligibility for enrollment is based upon the company’s participation in the Membership Rewards program. Employees with Corporate Green Cards selected to earn individual Membership Rewards® points must call the number on the back of their Card to complete enrollment. Enrolled Corporate Card Members get one Membership Rewards point for every dollar of eligible purchases charged on enrolled Corporate Green Cards, Corporate Gold Cards, and Corporate Platinum Cards®. Eligible purchases are purchases for goods and services minus returns and other credits. Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, cash advances, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, or purchases of other cash equivalents.
Terms and Conditions for the Membership Rewards® program apply. Visit membershiprewards.com/terms for more information. Participating partners and available rewards are subject to change without notice.
The value of Membership Rewards points varies according to how you choose to use them. To learn more, go to www.membershiprewards.com/pointsinfo.
2. Enrollment in the Corporate Membership Rewards program is required. Only the American Express® Corporate Green Card, American Express® Corporate Gold Card, and American Express Corporate Platinum Card® are eligible to enroll in the Corporate Membership Rewards program. The Program Administrator is charged a $90 annual enrollment fee for each enrolled Corporate Green Card. A program fee is not applied for the Corporate Gold Card and Corporate Platinum Card®. Get one Corporate Membership Rewards point for every dollar of eligible purchases charged on enrolled American Express® Corporate Cards. Eligible purchases are purchases for goods and services minus returns and other credits. Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, cash advances, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, or purchases of other cash equivalents. If the Corporate Card Member is transferring from an existing Membership Rewards program to the Corporate Membership Rewards program, the Card Member will have 30 days to use any existing Membership Rewards points before they are forfeited.
The redemption value of Corporate Membership Rewards points varies according to how you choose to use them.
For the full terms and conditions for the Corporate Membership Rewards® program please visit americanexpress.com/corporatemrterms for more information. Participating Corporate Membership Rewards partners, available rewards, and point levels are subject to change without notice.
3. With the American Express Corporate CashBack® Program, companies can earn one percent (1%) cash back on eligible purchases made with the Corporate Green Card earning Corporate CashBack. The cash back is issued in the form of a monthly statement credit to the company’s centrally billed account. To earn the one percent (1%) statement credit, American Express must receive and post full payment for all of the transactions included on the company’s billing statement prior to your next statement date. Company will not receive a statement credit if the Card account is cancelled or in default. The annual fee(s) for each Corporate Green Card earning Corporate CashBack include (i) an annual membership fee of up to $75 and (ii) an annual program fee of $90, which will be billed to the Card account.
The Corporate CashBack Program must be requested by the Company and is subject to American Express approval. The following transactions are not eligible purchases and will not earn the cash back statement credit: purchases of American Express® Travelers Cheques or American Express® Gift Cheques; foreign currency purchases and any related fees; convenience check transactions; purchases and reloads of prepaid cards; Card account fees and charges (including but not limited to late payment fees, Card account annual fees, interest charges and delinquency charges); fees for Card Member services enrolled in by the Company and/or the Card Member.
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