Business Oriental

Archive for the ‘Business Travel’ Category

Traveling yearly for a vacation somewhere on the beach to sip frozen drinks, and obtaining to go away your laptop at home, is one thing. However, most of the business travelers who hit the road once a month or once every week do not have that luxury. With air travel restrictions on baggage being tight, and just downright expensive, it means that that the business traveler desires to choose their laptop bag wisely. It desires to be easy to hold, fit quite not just a laptop but a variety of things, and easily stow within the overhead or the seat in front. Styles and colours vary primarily based on a frequent flyer’s style, however some of the best pc baggage have certain options in common. ? Trolley sleeve: Many frequent flyers strive to avoid checking baggage, not simply because of the expense, but as a result of of the added trouble and time that the method adds to the trip. This often results in one bag with garments and essentials (usually on wheels) and then a “personal item” just like the laptop bag. The simplest approach to nada through airports is for that laptop bag to slip on high of the wheeled bag to be ready to ride along. The laptop bag stays in place as a result of a trolley sleeve slides simply over the handle of the wheeled bag. Running through airports with Mobile Edge’s casual tote laptop bag, for example, is straightforward as a result of of this feature. ? Wheeled laptop bag: Not all laptop baggage have them, but wheels positively speed up obtaining through the airport and can save a traveler’s back at the same time. A wheeled laptop bag is perfect for the day-tripper who just desires to carry the laptop and maybe a change of shirt, or perhaps for the commuter running through the streets of the city. High Sierra’s variable-wheeled laptop case is a virtual office on wheels, offering protection for a laptop and compartments for something that someone can need to carry for daily’s price of business. The telescoping handle retracts thus that someone will hand carry the bag and then stow it easily underneath the seat in front. ? Organizer pockets: There are never enough pockets for the traveler. Having exterior pockets for tickets and a water bottle makes for straightforward access. A front zipper pocket with slots for business cards, keys, and phone/PDA could be a necessity. In the inside, having giant compartments for numerous projects will keep a traveler organized on the road. Skooba satchel 2.zero luxe has all of this and weighs less than 3 pounds (after all, that’s at the beginning is packed into it.) ? Padded shoulder strap: The next best factor to having a wheeled laptop case, for the person who is carrying a laptop brief on his shoulder or wearing a laptop backpack, is padded shoulder straps. With even the tiniest amount of weight, a bag strap will dig into the shoulder if not properly padded. The Manhattan Portage wallstreeter laptop messenger is an example of a designer laptop bag that gives a cushioned shoulder strap for a comfortable journey. ? Checkpoint-friendly laptop baggage: Luggage that are labeled checkpoint friendly or TSA compliant mean that the laptop will keep in its compartment while going through the x-ray machine. The Transportation Security Administration requires for a bag or sleeve to be compliant that it not have metal or different components blocking the view of the laptop in the x-ray. Kiva’s ez-check laptop case may be a good example of a laptop transient that has this feature. If somebody encompasses a favorite bag, then it is also an choice to simply carry a laptop sleeve that comes out at security, just like the Greensmart laptop sleeve.

Cutting travel program fat without compromising strategic objectives

The global economic downturn is hitting business travel where it hurts: According to a new survey by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), more than 70 percent of U.S. travel managers plan to spend less on corporate travel in 2009. The results represent a sharp shift from an earlier ACTE poll (Sept. 2008), which found that only 33 percent of U.S. travel managers were planning on cutting travel spend in the year to come.

While the ACTE survey may have focused on the U.S., the challenges faced by travel buyers and travel managers cut across all sectors of the globe. From reducing travel to tightening travel policy, and from renegotiating with suppliers to adjusting travel behavior, travel program stakeholders are intent on cutting trips and curbing expenses.

The silver lining to the financial storm clouds, says Kathy Jackson, executive vice president.

Story highlights:

* Travel buyers and managers now able to make changes that were impossible in the past

* New role for account managers in understanding and supporting client business drivers

* Changes to travel policy, approval process, traveler behavior are leading savings mechanisms for cost-conscious companies

* Demand management and online technologies are key supports

For Global Client Management at BCD Travel, is that the economy is enabling travel buyers and their respective teams to make changes that, quite frankly, have never been achievable in the past.

The challenge, adds Jackson, is to save on travel spend without compromising on business objectives: “As hard as it may be to foresee, the recession will not last forever. Companies will need to emerge from the downturn with plans for growth and solid business relationships in place- and travel is a crucial element in supporting growth and retention initiatives.”

Teri Miller, senior vice president for Global Client Management in the Americas for BCD Travel, sees a major opportunity for travel management company account managers in the current situation: “Account managers need a deep understanding of the customer’s business drivers to enable them to anticipate and add value, rather than react. As an example, if a client is closing manufacturing plants in three countries, our account manager will explain how travel patterns will shift as a result, illustrate what effect that may have on supplier contracts and provide a plan for optimizing potential impact.”

What steps are BCD Corporate Travel clients taking to combat the recession?

Companies need to look beyond the big-ticket items, says Jackson, and filter adjustments through every component of a trip. “It may be tempting to focus exclusively on air ticket costs, but for some programs, air may make up only as much as 20 percent of total T&E expenditure. Our account managers, often with the support of a consultative engagement from Advito [the independent consulting branch of BCD Travel], help clients focus on the total cost of trip, including hotel, ground transportation and even restaurant costs.”

A list of some of the decisions in which BCD Travel is supporting its clients’ recession-management travel strategies is below.

The choices and decisions being made represent a major opportunity for companies to make lasting beneficial changes to their travel programs, says Jackson: “As with any diet, success is incumbent on making change a way of life, not a 30-day wonder regime.”

Changes in travel policy

Growing corporate cost-consciousness is manifesting itself most prominently in the refinement and enactment of more stringent travel policies. Among the common cost-cutting elements BCD Travel is seeing: shifting from business class to coach class (variations include mandating coach class for all travelers regardless of hierarchical level and increasing the business-class flight-time threshold); down-tiering hotels (i.e., three-star instead of four-star); mandating the use of public transport rather than taxis; and retaining frequent flyer miles for business travel rather than personal travel.

BCD Travel is also seeing an increase in the use of rail and low-cost carriers within EMEA, says Felix Vezjak, senior vice president for Global Client Management in EMEA: “Companies are much more likely to accept what were formerly seen as inconveniences (i.e., secondary airports) in exchange for savings. However, particularly in the case of low-cost carriers, companies need to ensure that their travelers always use the preferred booking channels (online booking tool and agency) of choice to ensure adequate reporting and security tracking.”

For further suggestions on refining and enforcing travel policy, see our Feb. 2009 article “Reliance on compliance.” Changes to travel approval process

Whether it’s instituting an official approval process where one might not have existed or – as is more common – making existing processes more restrictive, this cost-cutting method is winning wide-spread support among BCD Corporate Travel clients as an easy “quick win.”

As part of a concerted travel-cost reduction effort, one of BCD Travel’s global clients, which has over US$450 million in annual travel spend and more than 325,000 employees worldwide, changed its travel approval process radically to incorporate the following:

# No travel unless approved by a vice president on a single trip basis (

Anyone that travels a lot should consider travel insurance, but those that travel for business often overlook the importance of this protection. Business travel insurance is simply a good idea because it can provide you with the protection that you need whether you are travelling just a short or long distance away from home. You never know when you are going to need the protection that insurance can provide, so you should look into business travel insurance before you go on your next trip.

The great thing about business travel insurance is that the individual can purchase it or a company can purchase it. Many companies are choosing to purchase the insurance for all of their employees that travel. This is a very economical way to buy the coverage as many companies can offer bulk buy discounts. This can be a particularly good idea for companies that host a lot of conferences, meetings, team building events, training courses, product launches, and the like. Many businesses offer corporate hospitality outings and the like, and even on these fun getaways employees should be protected and business travel insurance is a great way to get that protection.

If you happen to be an employee that travels to a lot of business oriented annual general meetings, exhibitions, seminars, or conventions and you aren’t provided with business travel insurance you can buy it yourself. The coverage is not at all expensive, and you may even be able to purchase the coverage at the same time that you plan an event or plan your travel, which will make it convenient to purchase. When you purchase this protection you can go on your business travels and not worry about what would happen if you were robbed, if your luggage was lost, or if you needed medical attention in an area where your usual medical or dental insurance was not valid.

Many of us think about travel insurance when we are going on vacation or visiting exotic vacations, but this is not the only time when you need the protection that this type of insurance can provide. Business travel insurance is just as important as the insurance that you would buy when flying across the world for an exotic vacation or honeymoon because there is just as much opportunity for you to encounter health problems or circumstances that you just did not plan for. Why should you be any less equipped to handle these problems on a business trip than you would be when you are on vacation? When you leave home you should feel safe, secure, and confident in your abilities to handle any situation and with business travel insurance you can do this.

If you don’t travel often or you only travel once a year you can opt to purchase your business travel insurance for just one trip. All you have to do is disclose when you will be travelling, where you will be going, and when you will be returning. This is generally very affordable and will offer you the protection that you should have on your one trip. If you travel all the time for work you can choose to buy your business travel insurance for the whole year. While this is more expensive in the beginning, it is cheaper over the course of the year than it would be to purchase the coverage every time you go away on travel. Many times there are also different levels of coverage to choose from, so you can choose from very basic coverage to very extensive coverage, based on your needs. When you purchase the travel business insurance you may want to consider the areas that you travel to as well as what sort of coverage your other insurance coverage may provide as this information will help you determine what sort of coverage you need.

It used to be more difficult to buy travel insurance, and that is why many people simply opted not to do it. In many cases you had to go right to an insurance agent and you had to fill out a ton of paperwork, or you could go to a travel agent and do the same thing. Now, you can purchase your business travel insurance right along with your other travel needs such as but not limited to your event planning services, your car rental services, lodging, transportation, and airfare. This is very convenient and allows for those that didn’t want to bother with the coverage before because of the hassle to purchase the benefits of travel insurance. Next time you receive notice that you have to travel for your job, why not look into travel business insurance and see what protection it can offer you? It’s better to have the protection and not need it than need it and not have it!