by Tanishka Goyal, Marketing Manager

When times feel as uncertain as they do right now, it’s easy to make decisions that feel right for the times but may hurt your travel program in the long term. We’ve gathered business travel tips and recommendations from veteran travel managers and Egencia account managers. These tips should help you optimize business travel program and prepare for when your business travelers get back on the road.

Actions you can take now

• Mitigate risk for your company and travelers: Do you still have travelers on the road? Take a few minutes to review how you can support them and their travel with these risk mitigation and management solutions and get the latest updates on travel options at the Egencia help center.
• Learn industry best practices: Join one of our virtual events or visit the webinar hub to learn how your business can manage risk, provide duty of care, and enhance travel safety during natural disasters or pandemic.
• Connect with your peers and Egencia leadership: Join the Egencia Connect Community for travel managers to hear how your peers are navigating through this crisis, share what’s worked for your company, and access many useful resources to support your business travel program management. Plus, you can tune into the online events and Q&As with Egencia leadership team to stay on top of the latest travel news.
• Take a deep dive into specific business travel management topics: With typical workloads disrupted, now is a great time to gain a better understanding of various business travel tips and topics that you’ve always wanted to learn more about. Use our library of on-demand videos or work with your account manager on things like setting up payment terms and getting the most out of Egencia Analytics Studio.
• Prepare now to get out of the crisis faster: ​ A little preparation will go a long way when travel inevitably amps back up.
• Remind your travelers about: 
  • What to do with unused tickets
  • When to use flexible rates
  • How to cancel or modify trips directly online
  • Updating their profile by adding their mobile number and emergency contact detail
• Review your business travel program: Your needs are likely going to have evolved after this crisis which means now is the ideal time to adjust your travel program, review your duty of care guidelines, and perhaps even add some sustainability components. Consider reviewing your payment solutions, for example, Lodge Cards can be used as a way to collect data and streamline reconciliations.
• Prepare for your program relaunch: With your travelers off the road for an extended period, it’s a good opportunity to re-educate them about the benefit of booking online and reinforce your business travel policy and guidelines. We’ve prepared a step-by-step program along with a set of assets you can customize with your company’s logo and specifics.
• Review communication preferences: Review your communication preferences to ensure we can reach you and your travelers with the right information at the right time. Consistent communication will be important to help travelers stay in the loop during this rapidly evolving time.

What not to do right now

• Do not deactivate/delete all profiles to block travel: Instead of deleting profiles, review your policy setup to make sure your travelers don’t take unnecessary risks. You can define a route or destination as out of policy or block the ability to book flights to specific destinations.
• Do not cancel all future bookings in advance: Many airlines, rail providers, car rentals and hotels will offer flexible cancelation policies and refunds closer to the date of travel if travel advisories are still in effect. You can see the latest cancellation policies here.
• Do not allow maverick buying (booking on various sites or directly through suppliers): Now more than ever, duty of care is important. Booking with Egencia can not only save time and money, it also ensures you can reach your travelers and give them the support they need for a safe return.
• Do not panic: Don’t make any rash decisions around travel right now as it’s going to take a while for a sense of normalcy to return. Consult with your account manager before making any major decisions regarding your business travel program and join the Q&As with Egencia leadership to get your questions answered.