Is it time to outsource your company's business travel needs?

04 May 2021 · 9 MIN READ

Key takeaways

Business travel outsourcing delegates booking, management, and support to a TMC, freeing your team for real work
Signs you need to outsource include overextended travel managers, frequent booking errors, and unrecovered VAT
Outsourcing provides 24/7 support, automated VAT recovery, flexible bookings, and real-time disruption alerts
Consolidated invoicing simplifies expense reconciliation and month-end reporting
A good TMC covers all aspects of duty of care and travel risk management

Business travel outsourcing is the practice of delegating corporate travel booking, management, and support to a third-party travel management company (TMC) rather than handling it in-house.Business travel. It's complicated. From strikes to cancellations to booking errors, disruptions happen in the travel industry. When they do, they can have a ripple effect that costs your company far more than the trip itself. Companies should consider outsourcing business travel management when in-house travel managers are overextended, travel disruptions go unmanaged, and costs such as unrecovered VAT are being left on the table.But how do you know if it's time to outsource your company's corporate travel management to a professional business travel outsourcing platform? Maybe this story will give you a few clues.

Diary of a business trip

John's alarm clock goes off at 5 am. It's a big day. He has to be at Stanstead airport in a few hours to catch a red-eye to Seville, where he is the keynote speaker at a sustainable energy conference.John has been working till midnight the past week on his presentation, so he hasn't had time to make any travel arrangements himself. Laura, his company's travel manager, has taken on other responsibilities over the past year while company travel has been on hold. John is confident, however, that Laura had the time to organize everything for this important trip.On the airport train, he has a look at his printed itinerary. The flight isn't direct - there is an hour's layover in Madrid. Did Laura tell him that? Maybe she did, but he was so involved in preparing his presentation it didn't register. She probably chose a cheaper non-direct flight because the company's travel budgets have been slashed in recent months.John arrived on schedule at Madrid Barajas airport and sails through border control. However, his heart sinks when he looks at the departure board and sees his flight to Seville has been canceled. How can that be? He learns there has been a snap strike at Seville airport.Why didn't Laura let him know? Oh, that's right, she is in a sales meeting all day and probably has her phone turned off. He is due to speak this evening in Seville and has no idea how to get there, but guess he's going to have to figure out this one by himself.Ah yes! A train. He remembers a friend telling him he took a fast train from Madrid to Seville last year. Taxi to the main train station. Phew! The next train to Seville leaves in an hour, but 225 euros one way? Ouch! That won't make him popular with Greg, his company's finance manager. But what can he do?On the train to Seville, John again pulls out Laura's printed travel itinerary and looks for the hotel she has booked on Google Maps. Hang on! She said it was a short walk from the conference center and Google says it's a 30-minute drive away. Can't be right surely? Ah I see, the hotel group has two properties in Seville, and Laura booked the wrong one. He reads the 'no changes or cancelations' conditions on his voucher and his heart sinks.Despite a stressful start, John's presentation at the conference is a success! He spends the next days enjoying Seville, especially the city's amazing tapas, this time remembering to pick up all food and taxi receipts to present to Greg. He expects some push back for the five-star dinner he paid for a handful of potential clients, but at least he can get a refund on all sales tax right? That should make Greg happy.John arrives at the airport a few hours early for his flight home and heads to the VAT refund office with a pile of receipts. After waiting about 30 minutes for his turn in the queue, he hasn't moved. John gives up, heads to his departure gate, and tries his best to not feel guilty about presenting Greg with a stack of VAT-related paperwork when he gets home.

Why didn’t Laura let him know? Oh, that’s right, she is in a sales meeting all day and probably has her phone turned off. He is due to speak this evening in Seville and has no idea how to get there, but guess he’s going to have to figure out this one by himself.Ah yes! A train. He remembers a friend telling him he took a fast train from Madrid to Seville last year. Taxi to the main train station. Phew! The next train to Seville leaves in an hour, but 225 euros one way? Ouch! That won’t make him popular with Greg, his company’s finance manager. But what can he do?On the train to Seville, John again pulls out Laura’s printed travel itinerary and looks for the hotel she has booked on Google Maps. Hang on! She said it was a short walk from the conference center and Google says it’s a 30-minute drive away. Can’t be right surely? Ah I see, the hotel group has two properties in Seville, and Laura booked the wrong one. He reads the ‘no changes or cancelations’ conditions on his voucher and his heart sinks.Despite a stressful start, John’s presentation at the conference is a success! He spends the next days enjoying Seville, especially the city’s amazing tapas, this time remembering to pick up all food and taxi receipts to present to Greg. He expects some push back for the five-star dinner he paid for a handful of potential clients, but at least he can get a refund on all sales tax right? That should make Greg happy.John arrives at the airport a few hours early for his flight home and heads to the VAT refund office with a pile of receipts. After waiting about 30 minutes for his turn in the queue, he hasn’t moved. John gives, up, heads to his departure gate, and tries his best to not feel guilty about presenting Greg with a tone of VAT-related paperwork when he gets home.

Outsourcing travel management

None of the above are uncommon scenarios - they happen to thousands of travelers, every single day. If they sound familiar to you, it may be time to consider business travel outsourcing.Here are the key indicators that your company could benefit from outsourcing:

Your travel manager handles multiple roles and is stretched thin
Booking errors occur frequently due to time constraints
No 24/7 traveler support when disruptions happen
Unrecovered VAT is leaving money on the table
Lack of real-time disruption alerts for travelers
Complex expense reconciliation creates month-end headaches

But first, let us break down why John's business trip did not go according to plan, starting from the back office.Like many travel managers in small to medium-sized companies, Laura handles other tasks within the company, sometimes balancing these duties with part-time travel management. Either way, navigating travel bookings, business processes, and timetables drains both time and resources.The company's finance manager Greg is tasked with reducing costs wherever he can, but particularly on corporate travel. He knows Laura is time-pressed, but he still relies on her to cultivate good relationships with travel agencies and travel agents to get the best corporate travel discount programs out there.He is aware business travel generates a lot of VAT that he is entitled to claim back , but rarely has the time for the complicated claim forms to take advantage of these cost savings.And John. He barely had a moment in the past week to speak to Laura, so left all arrangements to her. He understands that things can happen, but what he needed was human contact to get him through it all. He needed a digital platform or app to provide him with real-time solutions. Or even better, someone who is on call 24/7, and would have given him peace of mind and guided him on the most efficient way to get to his conference on time and stress-free.

In-house vs. outsourced travel management

Dimension

In-house management

Outsourced management

Cost control

Limited visibility, manual tracking

Consolidated invoicing, real-time spend data

Traveler support

Business hours only, dependent on availability

24/7 concierge service

VAT recovery

Time-consuming manual claims

Automated VAT recovery

Booking flexibility

Often locked into non-refundable rates

Flexible modifications without penalties

Disruption response

Reactive, delayed communication

Real-time alerts and proactive rebooking

Benefits of outsourcing business travel management

Outsourcing your business travel requirements to a travel management company is a way to keep your employees traveling well, efficiently, and with optimum traveler experience. Here are the specific benefits:

24/7 traveler support: Access to concierge services whenever disruptions occur
Automated VAT recovery: Reclaim eligible sales tax without manual paperwork
Flexible booking modifications: Change or cancel bookings without heavy penalties
Real-time disruption alerts: Receive push notifications about delays or cancellations before they impact your trip
Consolidated invoicing: Every expense itemized on one invoice for easier reconciliation

Make sure you choose outsourcing services that cover all bases in travel risk management.Facilitating cancellations or modifications in an instant, no questions asked, is key. Perk's Flexiperk booking tool does this, on an easy-to-use platform that guarantees competitive rates and the highest quality within your budgets.What's more, contact information, invoices, travel policies, and travel programs can be generated with a swipe, so no more fumbling for printed documents and log-in codes for multiple suppliers of travel services. All these features save in-house travel managers like Laura time, additional costs, and headaches.Rather than feeling stranded at Madrid airport, John would have been able to contact Perk's 24/7 concierge service via our app, who would have provided peace of mind and advised him on alternate travel arrangements. He could also have switched his hotel booking for a more convenient location without paying a heavy penalty.As for Greg, the finance manager, Perk's VAT recovery service could save time and significant amounts of money in unclaimed sales tax. And having every single expense for John's business trip itemized on the one invoice? Well to people like Greg, that's priceless.