6 ways your company can reduce business travel expenses

Whether it's meeting clients, attending conferences, or sealing deals, corporate travel is an indispensable part for many companies in today's global business landscape. However, with the pressure of inflation and rising costs, costs of corporate travel have also been on an upward trend. If your company is also scrutinising your operational costs associated with corporate travel and looking for ways to reduce costs, here are some ways which could help you to reduce the costs of business travel.

1. Plan in Advance

Given the nature of business trips, last-minute travel sometimes can't be helped. Unfortunately, last-minute trips often come with inflated costs. Where possible, plan ahead and book your flights and accommodations well in advance for cheaper prices and possible promotional offers. Additionally, flexible travel dates can help you score better deals, as prices tend to fluctuate based on demand.

2. Seek alternatives for transport options

Flying into major airport hubs is convenient, but they are sometimes much more expensive than flying into a smaller airport. Consider also the options of a direct flight with a flight that has a stopover. Of course, this could mean greater inconveniences and longer travel time, so it is important to evaluate and consider the trade-offs when deciding on the itinerary.

Consider also alternate means of transport where viable. Trains are sometimes a good alternative (if viable). While the journey is longer, they are often cheaper, and you could actually get more work done en route as opposed to being on a flight.

3. Weigh the total costs of travel

It is often easy to look at travel costs individually, but little things add up. The air tickets for a certain travel date could be cheaper, but hotel rooms for that period of stay could add up to be more expensive. Or, it might be cheaper to fly into one airport, but it might be more expensive to get from that airport to the city center. When evaluating the dates of travel and travel options, it would be useful for the corporate travel proposal to include the expected total cost of the trip rather than to evaluate individual line items.

4. Consider the need for a corporate travel agency

Larger corporations often have an appointed corporate travel agency to help manage and carry out flight and hotel bookings. Corporate travel agencies often have access to lower flight fares and accommodation deals, which could be useful for sourcing for the best deals. In addition, using a travel agency could free up the time that employees would otherwise need to spend searching for flights and accommodation options.

However, corporate travel agencies often come with a fee. If your company is a small company that doesn't have a high volume of business travel, then it could actually be more expensive to engage a corporate travel agency.

Furthermore, travel agencies do not always guarantee the lowest prices, as it also largely depends on the deals that the travel agencies have with their airline and hotel partners.

5. Use Travel eSIMs in place of Data Roaming

Using travel eSIMs in place of data roaming is a low-hanging fruit for corporates to reduce expenses associated with business travel. Business travelers will need to check their emails, get work done on the go, access the internet for client meetings, and still be available in case clients might need to call them. Data roaming has always been a preferred way for business travelers to stay connected due to the convenience it brings about. However, data roaming comes with a rather hefty price tag.

Travel eSIMs are a great alternative, offering a similar level of convenience to travelers, while allowing cost savings of up to 75%. With travel eSIMs, travelers do not need to go through the hassle of getting a local SIM card, and they can easily install the eSIM on their device just by scanning a QR code. They can also still have their primary line active and remain contactable, while using data from their travel eSIMs.

6. Streamline travel expense management

Travel expense management is a time-consuming and painful process for both the person submitting their expense claims and the person processing the claims. Look out for solutions that can help you streamline your travel expense management.

One such solution will be to partner with an eSIM provider that allows you to manage your data-related travel expenditure through a centralised portal. With a centralised eSIM management portal, eSIMs can be purchased centrally and issued to travelers as required, reducing the need to submit and process claims for data-related expenditures. Businesses would also be able to better manage their budgets for such expenses.

Get on board Nomad's eSIM Management Portal for businesses

If you are looking for a solution to better manage your organisation's travel costs, look no further. Nomad's eSIM solution for business and enterprises can help you to save costs and streamline your operations around data-related expenses. You can also make analysis on how much data is required on a typical business trip, allowing you to find opportunities for further cost optimisation.

Interested to find out more? Schedule a demo, with us and our sales representative will be in touch.