|
BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE: DAILY BRIEFING | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
|
BW ONLINE DAILY BRIEFING |
 | |
 | |
 |
||||||
How to Keep Travel Costs from Going Sky-High Weigh convenience against savings, and try that out-of-the-way airport Looking to control costs at your company? One of the first areas to examine ought to be travel -- the third-largest controllable item in corporate budgets -- says Thomas Nulty, president and chief operating officer of Navigant International (FLYR), an Englewood (Colo.) travel-management company. Nulty outlines the 10 most common things employees do that drive up costs and offers some money-saving alternatives. 1. Taking unnecessary trips. Do three people really need to fly to that trade show in Las Vegas or swing across the continent in search of new markets? It can be a difficult call, but employees don't need to travel in groups when one person can do the job. 2. Selecting flights based on frequent-flyer programs. Nulty says that much superfluous travel is the result of employees' bids to accumulate frequent-flyer miles, often in an effort to get upgraded to first class. Employees shouldn't be permitted to book trips -- especially toward the end of the year -- to acquire enough miles for preferred status. 3. Traveling first class. It's often unnecessary, except for certain senior executives or those who need to do confidential work in flight. 4. Booking higher-cost fares to get upgrades. Sometimes employees purposely book pricey coach fares, almost ensuring upgrades to first class. 5. Always booking fares from the most expensive airports. Lower fares can often be found from airports that are a little farther away. For example, consider leaving from New Jersey's Newark Airport instead of New York City's LaGuardia. A caveat: Flight times are often not as good, and there are usually fewer nonstop flights. 6. Avoiding the low-cost airlines. Big mistake. There are some bargains to be had for the searching. 7. Rejecting one-stop or connecting flights. O.K., so it's a pain to stopover in St. Louis. But the savings can add up to hundreds of dollars. 8. Taking all day to travel. Employees will often slot out the entire day for travel, even for flights of a fairly short distance. Whenever they travel, employees should be encouraged to take laptops or paperwork with them to do work en route. 9. Not being flexible about flight times. The most convenient time to travel may not translate into the best fare. Convenience must be weighed against savings. 10. Staying overnight unnecessarily. Often the business at hand can be transacted within one day, making an overnight stay -- and a pricey hotel room -- unnecessary. On the other hand, a Saturday-night stay can often reduce an airfare dramatically. As in other cases, says Nulty, "It's a balancing act where you weigh the value of the person's time against the money that can be saved." Nulty works with corporate clients whose annual travel budgets range from $500,000 to $50 million. He suggests that corporations set up monitoring systems to catch policy infringements before the travel occurs. "You want to take the time to establish a thoughtful travel policy," he advises. By Jane Todaro in Washington
EDITED BY DOUGLAS HARBRECHT
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ |
| |
 | |
RELATED ITEM: 11/15 Dogfight in Cyberspace: The Online Travel Biz Heats Up  Assistive Technology barker.online Byte of the Apple Eye on Japan Hers.online Inside Wall Street Not-So-Neutral Corner Online Asia Power Lunch Privacy Matters Sector Scope Sound Money Street Wise Washington Watch News Flash Archive | ||||||
