Have you ever noticed the large crowds lingering around the main entrance of the departure gates at Australia’s international airports?

You’d generally find two kinds of people there; a minority bidding their loved ones farewell and a majority frantically filling out their outgoing passenger card.

As of the 1st of July, 2017, these crowds have thoroughly thinned out with the elimination of the outgoing passenger cards.

The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, The Hon Peter Dutton MP, said the Government is committed to improving the traveller experience. Reducing regulation such as this one aims to get travellers to their destination more quickly by supporting a “move towards a more seamless, secure and simplified clearance process.”

Those entering Australia will still be required to fill out the paper-based incoming passenger card. The information collected on both the outgoing and incoming passenger cards are very similar in nature with additional information data collected from the latter.

Therefore, data will still be collected, measured and provided to users without the burden of having to provide the same information multiple times.

For all the talk of company travel policies, preferred suppliers, negotiated discounts and expense reports, it’s easy when discussing corporate travel management to get lost in the jargon and forget about the real, simple, human benefit that engaging a corporate travel manager can have for you and your SME business. Don’t get the wrong idea, having access to negotiated discounts on your preferred airlines and hotel chains while staying within the budget constraints of your company’s travel policy is a fantastic outcome, but the real ‘perks’ of establishing a relationship with a corporate travel management firm comes in the area of customer service. It’s these elements that you’ll be thanking your travel agency for in the years to come!

Emergency assistance

From time to time, global events can occur which we just have absolutely no way of predicting or controlling. From volcanos erupting over Iceland, to tsunamis battering coastal destinations or global conflicts descending seemingly overnight, these event wreak havoc on both domestic and global travel in the region. If you are unfortunate enough to be caught up in one of these events while on a business trip (and we hope it never happens), then it is immensely comforting and helpful to have a single point of contact who can work around the clock to assist you in any way they can. Instead of trying to call airlines and hotels in the middle of a chaotic situation (most likely at the same time as every other person in the airport), make one call to your travel consultant and they will calmly work with you to resolve your situation.

Flight changes

Whether you’re travelling for business or leisure, there are literally hundreds of reasons why you may need to end up changing your flight times. You may not have actually missed your flight – although that is one scenario – but when the time comes that you need to change your flight details it’s far easier to call your travel agency and get them to make your flight alterations than it is to ring up the airline yourself. For starters, there’s always a chance that the customer service desk for your airline will already be inundated with calls, so would you like to wait on hold for an hour to speak to a customer service rep, or would you rather your dedicated travel consultant make the call over an established communication channel, skipping the wait time altogether? We know which call we’d prefer to make…

Tailoring requirements

If your travels are only taking you to one city and that city has a major airport then booking a return flight from A to B is, in all honesty, not that difficult. But what if your journey is taking you to 3 or 4 different locations? Maybe your business commitments require you to loop back and visit the same city twice within your journey? Or you might even need to take several different flights in one day? When your travel itinerary starts to get complex and you have a limited amount of time to travel between your different destinations, it pays to have someone in your corner who knows what they’re doing and can help you work through the complexities of a multi-city or multi-country business trip.

We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about the perks of engaging a corporate travel manager to assist you with your business travel! If you would like to know more about how a corporate travel manager can help your business, contact us today.

So, you’re about to head off on a business trip. You’ve done wonders arranging your flights, accommodation and itinerary. Your flight leaves at a reasonable hour, your transfers to and from the airport are arranged and you’ve even managed a cushy suite in a preferred hotel.

Now the only thing standing between you and a profitable business trip is a 15 hour long flight. If that thought doesn’t fill you with dread, we don’t know what will!

No one enjoys being stuck in a metal tube for 15 hours with hundreds of other people, but here are 4 tricks that can help you survive your next round-the-world plane trip.

1. Don’t assume that you’ll be able to sleep on the journey

In theory, exhausting yourself before boarding a long flight and then sleeping for the whole journey sounds like the perfect plan. Time goes quickly and you wake up a couple of hours before landing refreshed and ready to take on the world. In reality however, this is almost never going to happen. You have no way of knowing which over-excited children, crying babies or chatty humans will be sitting next to you (even if you’re in business class!). It’s always best to be tolerant, patient and most importantly well-rested when you get on that plane so you’re ready for anything once you board.

 2. Pack some offline work to do mid-flight

With such a large block of time to kill, long-haul flights provide a great opportunity to get some offline work, editing or reading done which you may not have time to do once you reach your destination. You’ll want to avoid carrying too many bulky items like large books or folders in your carry-on bag, so keep your reading material to a minimum. If you want to go completely paperless, take your laptop.

 3. Take the Olympian’s approach: keep your fluids up and stretch!

It’s essential when travelling on a long-haul flight to not only minimise your discomfort but to also minimise your recovery time once you disembark. To avoid dehydration and stiffness, be proactive in keeping your fluid intake up while on your journey. And yes we mean water…not the complimentary red wine! Walk up and down the aisles and stretching every couple of hours are also important for reducing the impact that your longer flights have on the rest of your trip.

 4. Invest in some noise-cancelling headphones and an airplane adaptor

There’s no denying it, planes can be very noisy places. Even if there are no crying babies or passengers with loud coughs, the sound of the plane is loud enough to cause distraction. While they do the job, the headphones provided by airlines aren’t exactly top of the line. They don’t do a whole lot to cancel out plane noise and oftentimes can be quite uncomfortable to wear. Investing in a pair of quality noise cancelling headphones and an airplane adaptor allows you to block out that annoying background noise whether you want to use the in-flight entertainment system or listen to podcasts on your own device.

Next time you need to take a long-haul flight for your international business travel, try these easy tricks to ensure you survive your round the world journey! For more tips on how to take the hassle out of your small business travel, contact us today or check out our blog for more great SME business travel content!

For SME business travellers, claiming travel expenses once you’ve returned home has a significant impact on the overall cost of corporate travel activities. Correctly claiming travel costs ensures that your expenses are attributed to your business and not your own pocket. It also means you won’t have to waste time with the ATO when tax time rolls around.

Here are 4 tips that will help you claim corporate travel expenses properly the first time.

1. Keep an organised record of all your receipts

This one might seem like a no-brainer for all business expenses, but it’s extremely important to keep receipts from not only your large purchases such as flights and accommodation, but also smaller expenses such as food, ground transport and expenses which are incidental to your individual travel situation.

The ATO states that corporate travellers who are away for less than 6 nights in a row don’t need to keep receipts unless their travel allowance exceeds the Commissioner’s reasonable travel allowance limits. We believe that keeping a detailed record of receipts should be a matter of habit for any business traveller, regardless of the length of your business trip.

2. Keep a diary of your meetings and engagements

The key for SMEs when claiming travel expenses as tax deductions is whether or not the trip was necessary to the business for earning an income. It’s important to be able to prove a link between your travel expenses and earning business income. The easiest way to do this is to keep a detailed diary of your engagements while you’re away. Include information like meeting dates and times, locations, who you met, and the nature of your activities. Click here to get a free business travel diary template that we’ve put together for you.

3. Be clear about your business role and objectives whilst travelling

The role you play within your business can impact what you can and cannot claim as travel expenses. If you are on a roadshow to research new equipment, for example, this would not be assessed as tax deductible as your research is not directly related to business earnings. If, however, you are travelling to a trade or consumer expo as an exhibitor, this would be considered tax deductible[1].

 4. It’s fine to mix business with pleasure, but don’t claim your holiday time as part of your business trip

If you’ve travelled predominantly for business purposes but have chosen to add some leisure time onto the beginning or end of your trip, it would be unwise to try and claim expenses incurred during this time as tax deductible business expenses. You can still claim the business-related period of your travels, but you need to clearly indicate at which point the work stops and the fun starts!

Detailed expense reporting is a vital component of your business travel. As part of its services, a good corporate travel management provider will do the leg-work for you in this area. They’ll generate comprehensive records and reports of your business travel spend, allowing you to easily manage your expenditure and relevant paperwork.

To find out more about how you can improve your travel expense reporting, contact us today.

[1] For more info on tip number 3, check out this video from the Australian Tax Office. (Video link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO7g22XroLk)

1. Charge all your electronics before you start travelling

No matter how well you prepare for your business travel, once you leave your place and begin your journey to the airport, you lose a good deal of control. You’re at the mercy of traffic, bad weather, unforeseen international events and flight cancellations. If something unfortunate happens that causes a delay to your journey, you have no way of knowing when you’ll next have access to a power point and a bit of charge-time.  One thing you CAN control is remembering to fully charge your laptop, smartphones and tablets the night before you leave so that the tools of your trade have the maximum battery power stored from the get-go.

2. Don’t forget the adaptors!

Keeping on the subject of power, packing all the charge-cables in the world is useless if you arrive at your destination and notice that all the power points are different. It saves a good deal of frustration to do a quick google search of your destination to see which power sockets are used at your destination(s). Overseas power adaptors can be purchased from most electronics stores and at the airport.

3. Factor in your ground transport time

Always allocate time to get to the airport, check in your luggage and pass through security checkpoints. This tip is especially important if you’re travelling to the airport during peak hour or your flight is taking off during a busy period of the day. If you’re travelling to a destination for the first time or using a new hotel, think about how long it may take you to find ground transport and get to your accommodation once you land. Then add another 20-30 minutes onto your estimated travel time (just to be safe). To minimise the time it takes to arrange ground transport and travel to/from the airports, consider organising your ground transport requirements before you begin your journey.

4. Keep emergency underwear and essential toiletries in your carry-on

No one ever plans to lose their luggage, and unfortunately, you only find out once you reach your destination. You won’t get caught with your pants down…but you may end up with no spare pants at all. To ensure that you can still function if your bag gets lost during transit, always pack your valuables, chargers, important business documents, spare socks and underwear, and basic toiletries in your carry-on. If you have room, be ultra-prepared and throw a spare set of business clothes in as well.

5. There’s ALWAYS a reason to pack plastic bags

It may not be the first thing on every corporate traveller’s packing list, but there’s always a reason to remember plastic bags. Whether it be muddy shoes, damp swimmers, a leaky perfume bottle or soiled linen, one wet or smelly item placed in your suitcase is almost guaranteed to ruin everything else that’s in there. Having a small stockpile of plastic bags with you means you can separate messy items from your clean clothes and contain the damage while you’re on the road.

Think we’ve missed something? Write to us on Facebook with your best business travel tips, or contact us today to find out more about approaching your corporate travel like a seasoned veteran. 

The two most significant elements of any business’ corporate travel spend is usually airfares and accommodation. Most large corporations have preferred suppliers for these products and services with whom they have negotiated corporate discounts based on a high level annual spend.

For the average Australian SME who doesn’t think they have a large enough annual travel spend to negotiate an ongoing corporate discount arrangement, choices in where, how and who you purchase accommodation with can have a significant impact on your overall spend on business travel.

So how can SMEs minimise the cost of accommodation to ensure they’re getting the best value room rates?

To begin the process of minimising your accommodation costs when travelling for business, ask yourself these three (surprisingly simple) questions:

When do you book accommodation?

Booking your business travel arrangements in advance instead of last minute can have a huge impact on the price you pay for accommodation. In a market where prices for a hotel room can change dramatically based on room availability, it will always cost you less to book your accommodation well in advance. In short, if you know when, where and for how long you are travelling on your next business trip, save yourself some money and book your accommodation at the first available opportunity.

How do you book accommodation?

The methods and channels through which you make your accommodation bookings can also have a significant impact on the end price. There are many avenues you can take to securing your accommodation, from booking through online tools, to engaging a corporate travel management firm who will make the booking for you, to contacting your preferred supplier directly. Be aware that the path you choose may impact the price you end up paying.

This element is especially important to consider if you, like one third of all corporate travellers, amend your hotel booking before arrival. If you book your room online, for example, you may feel like you’re winning in the short term. Often however, the cheap rates advertised through online agencies are non-changeable and non-refundable, so if business plans change you’ll be unable to amend the initial booking and may lose the whole amount you paid.

Who do you book accommodation with?

Next time you book a hotel room for a business trip ask yourself, who am I actually booking with and what path is my money following?

Different agents and providers will have different arrangements with suppliers and this will alter the room-rate that they can offer you. At this point it would be easy to say, “Well then I’ll just go directly to the source and book with the supplier.” That’s all well and good, but you are just one individual, and if your business doesn’t have a corporate discount arrangement, then they have no reason to offer you the lowest price possible.

This is where corporate travel managers can come in handy. Because of the nature of their work, corporate travel managers often have ongoing relationships with accommodation suppliers which have been built over many years, so they have access to more options and better room rates. Engaging a corporate travel manager will give you access to the deals that they have taken years to procure.

Next time you or someone in your business needs to book accommodation for an upcoming business trip, ask yourself these fundamental questions. You’d be surprised by how much money you can save with a quick review of your business accommodation booking practices and policies. If you’d like some help with this review from a professional, or to simply find out more about corporate accommodation booking contact us today for more information.

The Search

The first step for most SMEs when making business travel arrangements is the search tab in their internet browser. A recent study by Google into the traveller’s road to decision indicates that around 69% of business travellers begin researching online before deciding where or how they want to travel.

The point of online research is of course to find the best possible deals on flights, accommodation and ground transport in order to minimise the cost and maximise the efficiency of your business trip. But are you actually achieving these outcomes?

The Cost Saving Myth

There is a commonly held belief among many SMEs that you can get the best prices by using the internet to book directly with airlines, hotels and ground transport providers. This process, however, takes time – a resource that is not only precious but often unaccounted for as an expense. Regardless of who’s tasked with making the travel arrangements, it can take hours or even days to comb the web for the best rates available.

The Booking Process Time

On average, it takes anywhere between 5 to 15hrs to complete the booking process starting from search all the way to post-booking amendments. Now take a second and multiple the number of hours by $20 (the average receptionist wage in Australia)

We hate to be the barer of bad news but yes, you are paying at least $100 more than you think per trip. The longer and more complex your itinerary, the more time it takes to complete the buying process and the larger your additional cost will be.

The Solution

The reality is, business travel booking is a process and does take time. Travel agencies still have to do the same work. However, they have the knowledge and resources to quickly sift through details – and they do it on their time, not yours!

If you factor in the extra time and money it takes to make last-minute changes to business travel arrangements, it can often end up costing more to do it yourself than it would to engage abusiness travel specialist.

You’ll still get the best rates on things like airfares and hotel rooms, you just won’t have to find them yourself. This saves you time and time=money if you’re at work. If you’re at home, it’s even worse because time now equals precious family moments!

A corporate travel specialist will help you to consolidate your different travel requirements so that details of your air travel, accommodation, ground transport and any other services you may require can all be found in one place. They also provide a single point of contact for you and any other travellers within your business in case of an emergency or if you need support while you’re away. That’s right, no more waiting on hold with an airline for 2 hours after your flight has been unexpectedly cancelled.

Keep in mind that corporate travel management providers also have established relationships with airlines, hotel chains and ground transportation companies, so there is every chance that they will be able to use their connections to get you a better deal than you would have found on the internet anyway.

If you feel like you spend too much time staring at airfare and accommodation booking pages,  contact us today to find out how you can get that time back.

There’s a good chance you’re reading this because you own, operate or are employed by an SME and you engage in some form of business travel. If this sounds like you, you may be asking yourself why do SMEs have such high comparative expenses when it comes to business travel? Furthermore, what can SMEs do to reduce costs?

According to the SME Association of Australia, 97% of actively trading businesses in Australia are SMEs. On top of that, SMEs employ roughly 70% of the Australian workforce.

As an SME, your business and its offerings are valuable and unique. We believe the solution to your travel management needs is just as unique, and that’s how your business travel should be approached.

Let’s look at one of the key issues stopping SMEs from reducing costs

Business travel these days is predominantly referred to as Corporate Travel. Businesses who frequently engage in corporate travel often minimise expenses by engaging a corporate travel management firm. But what if you’re not a corporation? What if you don’t travel as frequently as a corporation? What if you don’t spend $5 million per year on travel expenses?

In an industry which houses the word ‘corporate’ in its name, it can be a bit daunting to engage corporate travel services if you don’t consider yourself a large ‘corporation’. The problem is corporate travel providers are designed to deliver services that reduce costs. Granted some do a better job than others but we don’t want you to give up if you don’t wish to outsource this service.

We’re dedicating our blog to helping Australian SMEs get the best possible value out of their business travel spend, whether that be through reducing costs or increasing your efficiency to achieve more valuable outcomes.

We’ll be covering travel topics such as:

• Travel reward and loyalty programmes
• Accommodation and ground transport
• Claiming travel expenses once you’ve returned home
• Leisure travel – saving on holidays once the business trips are over

To kick things off next week we’ll be taking a look at the travel research and buying process, including how SMEs can maximise that most valuable of resources – time.

If you’d like to know more, contact us directly for additional information on how Australian SMEs can reduce the cost of their business travel.

It’s been a month since we launched our new Online Booking System and we’d like to share some case studies that we think you might find helpful … especially when you see how much our clients saved simply by using the new system!

Flights Case Study

Objective

Book a flight on Etihad Airways from Sydney to Cairo 3 days prior to travel in June

Situation

With a last minute booking, the best price the client could obtain from travel agents was $2,300.

Outcome

Through our new online system, we delivered a $500 saving for our new client. The only difference between the two flights was an additional stopover that added 1 extra hour to the whole journey.

Car Hire Case Study

Objective

Hire a car for 5 days in London for July.

Situation

After shopping directly on major car hire websites and getting a quote from one travel agent, the best rate obtained for was £700 for a VW Passat Sedan.

Outcome

Through our new system, we delivered a £440 saving (approx $770) for our client. The only difference was the client was able to get this significantly cheaper rate for an A-Class Mercedes Benz instead. A trade-off he was happy with to say the least.

But most importantly for you …

Not only does our new system provide great value, our award-winning customer service team is still here for you when you need offline support.

Click here to try our new Online Booking System, and bookmark our site today for next time you need to book travel!