The Recession-Fueled Rise Of Pre-Trip Authorization

Sept. 7, 2009 - PRLog -- Growing demand to ensure employees are traveling with good reason and within policy requires that managers have information before a trip is ticketed, not after the trip is over. Fast-improving technology is helping to make that wish come true.

A recent survey of procurement practices in Business Travel News found that 71 percent of corporations have rolled out some form of pre-trip notification or approval.

Companies wanting information on their travelers’ bookings before – instead of after – they travel is nothing new, but there are several reasons why demand for pre-trip authorization tools is on a steep incline. The first is economic.

“Over the past year, the recession has significantly increased the focus on getting this information and making a decision prior to the ticket being issued,” says Michelle Seevers, manager of internal travel technology solutions for BCD Travel, Americas.

In particular, companies understand that the best way to save on the price of a business trip is not to take the trip in the first place. As a result, they are assessing bookings rigorously to ensure the investment is justified.

“Our European customers also want to understand where their travelers are going and why,” says Klaus Goddard, BCD Travel’s director of online technology solutions, EMEA. “For many, that requires consolidating online and offline processes that today are separate. A strong authorization tool enables us to develop a standard cross-border process irrespective of market or GDS in use.”

In addition to knowing that each trip is a valid business requirement, clients also want to know that expenditures are policy-compliant and reasonable.

”They want to know if their travelers are staying at preferred properties to ensure compliance with vendor contracts,” says Seevers. ”They also want to know if travelers are booking via online tools, which generally produce a lower transaction fee.”

Advancements in technology have also powered the surge in pre-trip authorization. Whether reservations are booked online or through an agent, authorization tools can now fully automate the process from request to approval and send it on to ticketing in a totally touchless environment.

For example, BCD Travel’s TripSource: Authorizer automatically routes targeted transactions to the traveler’s line manager or approver, who can authorize or decline the trip via a mobile device. Travelers can access the tool to view the status of their reservation and are automatically informed when a trip has been authorized. The agent no longer needs to get involved in time-consuming tasks like deciding whether a reservation requires pre-trip approval and following up with the authorizer and traveler.

Volkswagen Group of America is among the growing number of corporations that recently moved to an automated process. After using a manual pre-trip approval process for years, VWGoA embraced automation to gain an added level of transparency by allowing trip approvers to view actual airfares when acting upon travel requests.

“Within the approval tool, the travel approver has all the information needed to either approve or decline a trip—or to perhaps ask a few questions of the traveler,” said Camille Paluscio, manager of Travel, Meetings & Events at Volkswagen Group of America.

The automated system is seamless to VWGoA travelers, who book flights using either an online booking tool or through an agent. When a reservation is made, a travel authorization request is sent to a first-level approver, who may sign off on a domestic trip without additional authorization. International reservations require a second-level approver, usually the executive in charge of a business unit, who again acts on the request via the automated system.

“The move to TripSource gave us the missing component,” said Paluscio.

Ease of use and complete automation leads to strong user adoption and considerable savings in time, administrative costs and “touch” fees.

”With technology making authorization so much simpler, and an intense focus on ensuring all travel is justifiable, pre-trip processes are shifting from being an exceptional practice to being standard practice,” says Seevers.

Five tips for making pre-trip work:

1. Be clear about your pre-trip requirements
Make sure you know what information you want, why you want it, how it fits into your strategic travel program and how you are going to act on it. Examples of information you might seek include:

• What is the purpose of the trip?
• Is the traveler an employee or a contractor?
• Was the lowest fare taken? If not, why and what was the price difference?
• Did they book a car and, if so, was it a preferred vendor?

2. Choose the right technology
Are you looking for a Web-based solution or something simpler such as the ability to approve or decline via e-mail? Both types of solutions have benefits and disadvantages. When considering any pre-trip authorization tool, make sure you clearly understand what the product offers.

3. Make pre-trip intervention meaningful
“If you are going to invest in a pre-trip approval product and then approve all trips, the investment will not produce a return on investment,” says BCD Travel’s Michelle Seevers.

4. Use pre-trip authorization discriminately
To be cost effective, a pre-trip authorization tool should be used in conjunction with a well-defined travel policy. Properly defined goals and well-written rules will reduce the workload of line managers because the tool can be programmed to forward only those trips for approval that are targeted for review (such as a non-authorized class of travel, non-billable travel or non-use of preferred suppliers).

5. Make sure the process is fast and efficient
The system will only work if you keep an accurate list of the managers to whom bookings should be sent for approval. In addition, the managers should be trained to give prompt responses instead of sitting on bookings for several days. Air fares are only guaranteed once the ticket is issued. If a manager delays for too long, the price may have risen by the time they finally give approval.

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About BCD Travel: BCD Travel is your all inclusive corporate travel agency offering competitive ongoing corporate travel management solutions to companies across Australia. We do more than simply organise your corporate travel, we also coordinate conferences and incentives and assist staff with personal holiday planning to any destination worldwide.

Part of the BCD Global Network, BCD Corporate Travel Australia has access to a huge network of domestic and international suppliers, enabling us to source the best fares and rates available and negotiate exclusive deals for our corporate travel clients. Our state-of-the-art online travel booking tools make it all so easy.

For more information visit the BCD website: http://www.express.bcdtravel.com.au