FAQs
At Strand Business Travel Management we are on hand should you require any further help on preparing
your company travel policy, or even if you just want clarification on any points.
Writing the Travel policy
Making Travel Arrangements
Who should write and update the travel policy?
We would work with the department or individual that possesses extensive knowledge of your travel and world regions for this policy
development. They would be responsible for publishing the
document with collaboration from other areas in the company.
Who should be subject to the policy?
All employees, including those overseas, should be subject to your travel policy
including consultants, job candidates, customers and sub-contractors.
The policy should take into consideration that travel expenses are more difficult
to track overseas, and that differences in international laws and cultures could
make it impractical or inadvisable to mandate adherence to various policies.
We would recommend for this reason that your department coordinates with one country
or region at a time for an initial international policy.
Should policy apply equally to all levels of employees?
This depends on the company. It is important that the policy is
seen to be fair and indicates to employees that management is
serious about controlling costs throughout all levels of the
company. However, the policy must be practical – clearly
changing planes to save on the cost of a ticket is not always best
use of a senior level executive’s time.
How forceful should the policy be?
This is dependent on the company and its culture:
- Wording can clarify that policies are company mandates.
- Policies can be presented as guidelines, with explanations required when the guidelines aren’t followed.
- Policies can be presented as standard procedures carrying the company’s official stamp of approval, under the signature of the Managing Director/CEO or Head of Finance.
- Policies can be of different force for different company units or locations.
Should there be an international policy or should individual countries have separate policies?
Strand Travel Business Management can work with you to determine whether an International
or Domestic policy is best for your company. Bringing overseas locations into
a worldwide consolidated travel programme is often one of the most difficult aspects
of travel management since travel purchasing varies from one country to another.
While a comprehensive policy should be consistent worldwide, it also needs to
take into consideration different cultural issues.
As international travel is both more expensive and demanding of travellers than domestic travel, should there be a separate policy covering it?
In our experience, international travel policies can vary depending on which countries
are visited and the length of the trip.
Whether or not a separate travel policy has been established, we recommend that
any travel policy must include important international travel issues such as Passport
and Visa acquisition, health certificates, security and where to turn in an emergency.
How should travel arrangements be made?
We recommend that travel arrangements should ideally be made through one appointed
travel management company. Consolidating all bookings through one company provides
a cost-control mechanism, with uniform quotations and policy. It can also assist
with providing integrated management reports on all business travel, which can be
used in negotiating volume-based discounts with suppliers.
Is pre–approval by an employee’s superior necessary?
Many companies rely on pre-trip exception reports from their
agency that lists travellers who have made reservations that are not
in compliance. We can provide these reports if required for an agreed, additional charge. These reports can be sent to travellers themselves,
their supervisors and/or senior management. Often, just knowing that
such reports exist improves compliance.
How far ahead of time should trips be planned?
We would recommend that trips are planned as far in advance as possible. It is
difficult for companies to have a precise rule, since meetings and plans can change,
so flexibility is key.
However, if an employee knows a trip is planned, the company can take advantage
of booking lower, advance purchase ticket prices.
