Open booking is the practice of allowing corporate travelers to book travel through any channel they choose—including direct supplier websites, third-party apps, or travel agencies—rather than through a mandated corporate booking tool.A response to the ever-increasing number of travel booking sites and apps, open booking gives travelers the freedom to book however they prefer, whether that's direct with a hotel, airline, or rail provider, or via a third-party website.
Open booking in corporate travel management
Open booking has become a hot topic as more booking options emerge. For companies, it raises important questions around travel spend visibility, policy compliance, and duty of care. When travelers book outside approved tools, those bookings aren't automatically captured in company reporting systems—making it harder to track where your people are and what they're spending.
Open booking vs. managed travel
With managed travel (sometimes called closed booking), employees book through a designated corporate booking tool or travel management company. This approach gives organizations full visibility into travel spend, ensures policy compliance, and supports duty of care by tracking traveler locations in real time.Open booking, by contrast, lets travelers use any platform they like. The trade-off? Greater flexibility for the traveler, but less control and visibility for the company.
Pros of open booking
- Travelers can use platforms they're already comfortable with
- More choice and flexibility when searching for options
- Can sometimes surface deals not available through corporate tools
- Reduces friction for infrequent travelers
Cons of open booking
- Makes it difficult to enforce travel policies because bookings made outside approved tools are not automatically captured in company reporting systems
- Compromises duty of care—if you don't know where your travelers are, you can't support them in an emergency
- Hinders the accuracy of management information and spend reporting
- Can lead to missed savings from preferred supplier agreements
- Creates extra work reconciling expenses at month-end
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