Last updated: April 2026
After challenging years that saw a significant downturn in the travel industry due to the pandemic, business travel has been making a strong comeback. PwC highlights that businesses spend more than £240 billion each year on corporate travel, with approximately 20 per cent on airfare. This trend signals renewed confidence in face-to-face meetings, conferences, and on-site visits. As companies navigate this resurgence in business travel, the need for efficient expense management has never been greater.
You may want to know more about why business travel cards can be a great benefit to your company, what different types are available, and which features you should consider when choosing the best one for your company’s needs. Whether you are a small business with occasional travel obligations or a large corporation with a workforce travelling for business purposes, there is a business travel card out there that is perfect to match your needs.
What are business travel cards?
A business travel card is a payment card issued to employees specifically for covering expenses during work-related trips, linked to a company account for centralized billing and expense tracking. These cards are designed to facilitate and manage expenses that occur during business trips, allowing employees to charge travel-related expenses directly to the company. Moreover, many offer features and benefits tailored to corporate travel needs.
Key features of business travel cards:
Expense tracking: Detailed reporting features make it easy to track and categorize expenses.
Spending controls: Companies can set spending limits and restrictions on business travel cards for keeping control over travel expenses.
Rewards and benefits: Many business travel cards offer rewards, such as airline miles, hotel points, or cash back on travel-related purchases via partnerships. These perks can help offset travel costs and provide additional value to cardholders.
Centralized billing: Instead of employees using personal funds and seeking reimbursement, business travel cards centralize billing, making it easier for finance teams to manage and reconcile expenses.
Enhanced security: Business travel cards often come with advanced security features like fraud protection, EMV chip technology, and the ability to quickly freeze or deactivate cards if lost or stolen.
Note on APEC Business Travel Cards: The APEC business travel card is a separate travel document (not a payment card) issued to business travellers who are citizens of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation participating economies. This document accompanies your valid passport and can replace a visa for up to five years when visiting other APEC economies if pre-clearance has been obtained during the application process.
Different types of business travel cards
| Card type | Best use case | Spending limits | Control features | Ideal company size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate cards | Frequent business travellers needing comprehensive expense tools | Flexible, company-defined limits | Full expense management integration, detailed reporting | Medium to large companies |
| Pre-paid travel cards | Budget-conscious trips with fixed spending requirements | Pre-loaded fixed amount | Cannot exceed balance, excellent budgeting control | Any size, especially SMEs |
| Lodge cards | Centralized travel bookings with policy enforcement | Company-defined per booking | Restricts to preferred suppliers, enforces travel policies | Medium to large companies |
Corporate cards are issued to employees and are linked to the company. They offer comprehensive expense management tools and are ideal for companies with frequent travellers.
Prepaid travel cards, on the other hand, are loaded with a predetermined amount of money before the trip. Once the balance is depleted, the card cannot be used, making it a great budgeting tool.
A specialized version of corporate cards for travel are lodge cards – they are designed specifically for business travel and offer centralized control, policy enforcement, and seamless integration with expense management systems. You can also keep control by allowing for bookings from preferred service suppliers only.
Why do you need a business card for travel?
Over the last few years, business travel cards have emerged as invaluable tools to streamline the financial aspects of corporate travel. These specialized cards are designed to simplify expense tracking, reduce administrative burdens, and enhance financial controls for both employers and employees. By opting for the right business travel card, companies can optimize their travel budgets, improve employee satisfaction, and empower their finance teams to focus on more strategic initiatives.
Every business person who travels a lot should be able to focus fully on the preparation, execution and follow-up of the trip and not have to worry about finances. Business travel cards give them this freedom, while also providing more security for the company and saving time for everyone involved.
The advantages of a business travel card summarized:
- Enhanced employee satisfaction: Requiring employees to cover costs upfront and await reimbursement places undue financial stress on them. A business travel card alleviates this burden, ensuring employees can focus on their work without financial worries.
- Significant time savings: A business travel card automates expense tracking and categorization, simplifying the reporting process and saving valuable time for all involved.
- Improved security: A business travel card provides a unified and secure payment method, reducing the risk of fraud and unauthorized transactions while ensuring consistent tracking and control over expenses.
What to consider when finding a solution for your business
Use this checklist to determine which business travel card solution best fits your company's needs:
How many business trips does our company take? — Higher trip frequency typically justifies more robust card solutions with comprehensive expense management features.
How many people in the company have to make business trips? — More travellers may require scalable solutions with easy card issuance and management.
How is expense management organized in the company? — Consider whether your current systems can integrate with the card solution for seamless data flow.
What rules and workflows exist in the finance teams? — Ensure the card solution supports your existing approval processes and compliance requirements.
How much flexibility should be granted to employees? — Determine whether you need strict spending controls or more autonomy for travellers.
How secure does the solution need to be? — Evaluate fraud protection features, card freezing capabilities, and transaction monitoring needs.
How scalable does the solution need to be? — Consider future growth and whether the solution can accommodate expanding travel programmes.
Streamlining corporate travel with Smart Lodge Cards
Integrating Smart Lodge Cards into your spend management ecosystem moves travel from a manual administrative task to a controlled, automated process.
Centralized Oversight: Finance teams gain real-time visibility into travel expenditures, simplifying reconciliation.
Automated Policy Enforcement: By linking the card directly to travel guidelines—such as class-of-service restrictions for short-haul flights—companies can prevent non-compliant bookings at the source.
Supplier Alignment: Preferred vendor partnerships are reinforced automatically through the booking platform, ensuring negotiated rates are consistently utilized.
Perk’s Smart Lodge Cards offer a comprehensive solution for business travel management, combining convenience, automation, compliance, and real-time insights to help companies optimize their travel expenses and streamline their processes effectively.
1. One card for all your travel bookings:
Consolidating travel expenditures onto a single lodge card removes the need for multiple payment methods. This centralization simplifies the booking process for flights and hotels while providing finance teams with a unified view of cash flow and budget utilization.
2. Fully automated travel expense management:
Direct integration with expense management software automates the tracking and categorization of transactions. By removing the need for manual data entry, the system minimizes human error and accelerates the overall reporting workflow.
3. Automated reconciliation:
The system automatically matches transactions with corresponding digital receipts or invoices. This replaces manual verification, ensuring greater accuracy for tax compliance and internal audits while significantly reducing the time spent on month-end closing.
4. Real-time insights:
Immediate access to spending data allows finance teams to monitor travel costs as they occur. These real-time insights enable more proactive budget management and the ability to identify spending trends before they impact the bottom line.
5. Built-in compliance:
Policy enforcement is built directly into the payment infrastructure. Organizations can pre-set spending limits, restrict specific expense categories, or lock in travel guidelines (such as cabin class or preferred vendors) to ensure 100% adherence to corporate rules.
6. Easy administration:
Card management tasks such as card issuance, activation, deactivation, and reporting can be easily handled through the Perk platform. This ease of administration reduces the administrative burden on finance teams and ensures smooth card management processes.
7. Eliminate manual reports:
Automated data capture removes the requirement for employees to compile and submit traditional expense reports. This shifts the focus back to core business objectives while ensuring that all travel data is captured accurately and instantaneously.
Frequently asked questions
- A corporate card is a general-purpose company payment card for various business expenses, while a business travel card is specifically designed for travel-related purchases with features like travel rewards, policy enforcement, and integration with travel management systems.
- Lodge cards are ideal for medium to large companies that want centralised control over travel bookings, need to enforce travel policies, and prefer to restrict bookings to preferred suppliers.
- Yes, prepaid travel cards are particularly well-suited for small businesses as they provide budget control with pre-loaded amounts and don't require extensive credit arrangements.
- Typical expenses include flights, rail tickets, hotel accommodations, car rentals, meals during travel, and other travel-related costs as defined by company policy.
- Business travel cards automate expense tracking and categorisation, provide real-time spending visibility, eliminate manual reimbursement processes, and ensure policy compliance through built-in controls.
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