It is no secret that travel management and procurement can be incredibly time-consuming. Luckily, numerous travel procurement tools automate at least one aspect of the process, allowing you to use your valuable time more efficiently.
Why Use Automation
Before exploring the various corporate travel management online booking tool options, get a quick refresher on why automation is so helpful. We already mentioned the time-saving aspect of it, which is why it is among the most essential tips for busy Travel Managers, but there are more benefits than that.
Travel procurement automation can:
- Save your travel procurement team’s time
- Save money in labor hours
- Save money by delivering hotel and air travel savings
- Control and monitor travel expenses with real-time data
- Manage your business travel policy
- Enhance business travel auditing and performance
Choosing Your Procurement Tools
It’s important to remember that you won’t automatically notice benefits by choosing just any of the corporate travel management automation tools. You have to select the right ones. From automation to other features, the following are some crucial elements to keep in mind when considering which travel procurement tools to use:
- Automation: Not all tools will have an element of automation, but the best do. This lets you make the most of your time by allowing the platform to handle complicated tasks.
- Cost Optimization: Your chosen corporate travel management automation tools should also involve some element of cost optimization. The way that the tool delivers this can vary, but the important thing is that it will be able to save you money. Some good specific features to look for include comparisons with previous prices and real-time oversight.
- Collaboration: At the very least, your corporate travel management online booking tool should allow multiple team members to access the information in your corporate account. After all, a few companies only have one person handling all the travel procurement and logistics. Even if you only have one person in the role, you want room for expansion. You also wish managers and employees could access their travel information.
- Tracking Approval: Your chosen tool should be able to follow your corporate travel policy regarding who can make confident decisions. If there is a sole procurement team, no approvals may be needed. However, if you let employees make travel decisions, this is an important feature to look for.
- Whatever Integrations You Need: Don’t forget to think about other tools involved in managing corporate travel and ensure you choose a solution for travel procurement automation that will integrate with them.
With that in mind, look at some of the tools that can help you with corporate travel management automation.
Oversee
Oversee is an excellent resource for corporate travel management automation, especially if most of your business travel involves air travel. While Oversee is known for its features for finding and managing business flights, it is also expanding into offering hotel solutions.
Oversee’s most popular feature is the ability to reshop flights (and hotels) after booking them. This lets you plan but helps ensure you get the lowest price, thanks to flight price tracking. This ability to check prices allows Oversee to deliver price assurance for TMCs. There are also solutions for and to provide travel insights that can further help you optimize your costs.
After your travelers have found a flight within company policy, it is time-consuming to monitor for price drops and rebook accordingly. FareSaver Air Price Assurance automatically checks for lower fares and reissues cheaper tickets that fall within your travel policy. Your traveler stays on the same flight, in the same cabin, and in the same seat type.
Maximize hotel savings effortlessly with HotelSaver from Oversee. As rates fluctuate and prices drop, HotelSaver automatically delivers better hotel rates, saving you time and money. Tailor the program to fit your unique business needs, gain real-time insights with an intuitive dashboard, and ensure compliance with your travel policy.
The Takeaway
Using corporate travel management automation tools will let you reduce work for your travel procurement team and save money in the process. Products like Oversee are particularly useful, as they allow you to cement your corporate travel plans while taking advantage of future price reductions.
Request a demo of Oversee’s Travel Spend Optimization Solution.
