5 Best tips to cut down on business travel expenses

While technology advancements have made interactions with clients cheaper to manage, corporate travel expenses are still in the top five business overheads. Here’s five tips to cut down your company’s corporate travel expenses.

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Use Technology

If you are a small to mid-sized business, the travel costs will be hard on the hip pocket. But thanks to high quality graphics and fast speed internet, video conferencing has made it easier for companies and their clients to interact. Not only does it reduce the businesses carbon footprint, but it saves the cost of travel for all those “potential clients.” Coupled with a top of the line webcam, free programs like Skype will have you laughing when your new monthly bill comes in at an all time low.

Avoid Pesky Roaming Charges

How many times have you received your employee’s phone bill and realised its $1,000 more than it should be? Perhaps it’s those annoying international roaming fees. One five minute call can cost you upwards of $10. Now imagine if the call was more than an hour. I’d hate to think! There are a few things you can do to avoid racking up the roaming fees. For one, you can use a Travel Sim, it’s a pre-paid sim card that lets your receive and make calls at a discounted rate (The cost per minute from Sweden to Australia is 39c a minute). Although this is still pricy, it’s considerably better than international roaming charges and it will avoid your employees going over their limit. Another cost saving tip is for your employees to utilize Wi-Fi spots where available. They’ll be able to use free call and text apps like Skype and Viber to get in contact.

Use A Travel Management Company

If you don’t have the time to scour through travel and accommodation deals then partnering up with a travel management company is a wise move. To put it simply, they’ll do all the boring stuff for you by finding the best price and sequentially saving you money. In Australia, FCm Travel Solutions is the best option for business travellers. Not only do they specialise in that area, but they have partnerships with over 16,500 hotels worldwide, will find you the best flight for that day and organise all your extra travel and leisure activities. They’ll even reduce your carbon footprint if you want! As Aaron Glaskin, Travel Manager at FCm Travel Solutions, says “Why spend hours in the internet trying to find the best airfare or hotel rate when we can do that for you?” Well Mr Glaskin, I wholeheartedly agree. You can check them out at http://www.au.fcm.travel/

Look For Discounts

If you do have the time to search for discount deals, then try expanding your search efforts to other search engines. We normally use, Expedia or Webjet, but often they’ll leave out information about budget airlines or regional airports. Try Kayak.com, Skyscanner.com.au or Whichbudget.com to view more cost effective options.

Ensure Your Corporate Card Had Limits

Employees can sometime view the company credit card as a bottomless pit. You’ll sometimes get the statement back and think “Did they really need that $300 dinner for one?” You can establish daily spending limits for food, car and hotel room with your staff and clearly list them in your travel policy and on a uniform expense report form.

Do you have additional ideas about reducing the cost of business travel? Share them in the comments below.

5 Best tips to cut down on business travel expenses
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