Small-business travel savings moving in right direction

By Chris Amorosino
Free-lance writer in Unionville, CT

Small businesses still pay more for travel than tourists or large corporations, but some new incentives are helping to close the gap. Airlines, hotels and car-rental companies all now offer special discounts and programs for small businesses, sometimes even for one-person firms.

This year and last, many major airlines launched frequent-flier-type programs for small to midsize businesses. Northwest offers E-Biz Perks, American Air Lines has Business ExtrAA, and Continental calls its program RewardOne. Details vary greatly, but the concept is to reward your business’s loyalty with points you can use for free tickets, upgrades, airline club memberships and other perks.

You do need to travel a significant amount to take advantage of these programs. Jeff Sonenstein of Globe Travel Service in Bristol says a business must spend at least $10,000 per quarter on one airline to qualify.

Although scarcer than the airlines’ small-business incentives, hotel bargains can be found at chains including Holiday Inn Express, the Four Seasons and Radisson. These chains and others now have sales representatives dedicated to serving small businesses and offering discounts. When you call a hotel, try asking for the small-business specialist or the corporate sales manager.

Among car-rental firms, you’re most likely to find the biggest price breaks with the smallest companies. Almost all car-rental firms will give a 5% corporate discount, but some smaller rental firms more aggressively court small businesses. Qualify for Alamo Rent A Car’s Business Benefits program and your business will get a 10% to 15% discount, plus bonuses like free upgrades. Dollar Rent A Car Systems Inc.’s program has a Fast Lane Club with corporate discounts and upgrade coupons.

Savings on the Web

Certainly the Internet has made finding business travel bargains easier. Some Web-based travel services will pool your small business with others to qualify you for negotiated rates and discounts of up to 40%. They’ll also help your business lower travel costs by tracking travel expenses per employee, posting your company travel policies, and producing monthly expense reports. One such site, Rezport (http://travel.americanexpress.com/travel/rezport/), says its customers save 9% on hotels and 20% on airfare. BizTravel.com claims savings of 10% to 40% on hotels and 2% to 15% on airfare. CompanyTRIP.com says it cuts business travel costs an average of 30%.

Other sites that cater to self-planners are Flifo.com, thetrip.com and itn.com. Some sites specialize in providing consumers and businesses a combined listing of discounts available across many airlines. Sometimes referred to as consolidator sites, they include LowAirfare.com, OneTravel.com and 1800airfare.com. OneTravel.com will search its database of "Internet-only" airfare deals for any last-minute specials.

Actively manage your travel

By monitoring your own business travel, you or one of your employees can often spot savings. Review the staff’s travel patterns for frequent destinations and see if making minor scheduling adjustments will cut costs. Ask hotels, airlines or car-rental companies if they’ll give a discount for your guaranteed business.

But be careful. Weigh the potential travel cost savings of serving as your own travel manager against the time you’ll need to devote to the task. If you have elaborate or multileg trips with changes, refunds, lost tickets or other complications, you’re better off using a professional travel agent.

With American Express Corporate Services predicting that travel expenses will rise 3% to 4% in 2001, including a 5% increase in business airfare, now is a good time to explore ways to cut your travel costs. Travel providers are beginning to try to cater to small and midsize businesses. You can save by starting to look for those bargains.

1. When you call a hotel, always ask about special business traveler rooms and rates.
   
2. Consider staying at an economy hotel.
   
3.  If you have a strong relationship with a large corporation, ask if you can become part of their discount deal (with both hotels and airlines).
   
4. Book through a car rental company operating outside of airport grounds.
   
5. See if the car rental company offers a frequent-renter program.
   
6. If possible, avoid renting a car. Take a taxi instead.
   
7. Fly on a discount, no-frills airline or subsidiary such as Southwest, Shuttle (United), Frontier, Jet Blue, Vanguard Airlines, AirTran, Legend or Delta Express.
   
8. Take advantage of lower weekend fares by setting up meetings for Monday morning.
   
9. Book as far in advance as possible.
   
10. Use a secondary airport in a smaller city (for example, Baltimore rather than Washington, D.C.).
    
11. Join frequent-flyer and premier clubs for the mileage programs and preferential treatment.
    
12. Use an e-mail alert or customized portal to automatically alert you when special deals to your frequent destinations are announced.
    
13. Put all travel expenses on one corporate credit card that offers incentives like free tickets ($40,000 in travel might earn you a free airline ticket, according to Bristol’s Globe Travel).

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