Industry: All, Financial Services
Travel Spend: $1 Million USD
Travelers: 100
Mirrored travel volume 29¹ times its initial volume for greater negotiation power
¹ Source: American Express Global Business Travel Reporting
Significant savings through PREFERRED EXTRAS including: Domestic & International Discounts and Preferred Hotel program discounts on best available rates or free amenities
Reduced costs by eliminating the need for an onsite travel manager and incorporating PERSONAL ASSISTANT
In 2015, Allianz Asset Management (AAM) began seeking ways to improve efficiencies within their travel program. Having a smaller travel program in regard to number of travellers, AAM was looking for better ways to save money. To do this, they created a goal to align their travel program with an affiliated company’s travel policy because of the tremendous benefits that could follow. Managing their travel program under their affiliated company’s policy could give them better negotiation power with a larger pool of vendors, bigger discounts based on travel volume and the ability to have global and customised reporting capabilities.
That’s when they returned to us, American Express Global Business Travel (GBT), to implement a program that would work with their affiliated company’s program while receiving superior service and excellent program support and, most importantly, incorporate cost savings.
First, we collaborated internally to understand the successful elements of the existing policies. With that insight, we began developing and implementing a travel program that was consistent with those of their affiliated company.
We then matched global and custom reporting capabilities and made sure that the reports were compatible and configured accurately.
Our next focus was on how we could maximise cost savings. AAM’s affiliated company had numerous air contracts, a global hotel program and used several car service companies. We added these options to AAM’s travel program so they could gain new discounts and, ultimately, save money.
One of the many benefits that came along with this implementation was AAM’s opportunity to use PREFERRED EXTRAS—an American Express GBT savings program that provides reduced rates and added amenities that other Travel Management Companies (TMC’s) may not be able to offer.To further enhance the customer experience with PREFERRED EXTRAS, we negotiated exclusive amenities, upgrades and travel perks not available to the general public as part of our supplier discount programs. Additionally, these programs helped eliminate spend outside of AAM’s travel program.
Lastly, AAM was already using Concur™ Expense (an expense management tool) with its previous TMC. Since we also offer services with Concur, we facilitated the transition from the previous TMC, nearly uninterrupted. Additionally, AAM was using onsite travel agents to help travellers book business trips. With a focus on savings and process streamlining, we integrated PERSONAL ASSISTANT, a solution that replaces an on-site travel manager while still providing a high level of personalised service. This solution was perfect for AAM—they still had a tailored booking service but it no longer involved an onsite travel agent.
Having prior knowledge of AAM’s travel program combined with an already developed policy with their affiliated company made the implementation deploy right on time, with no delays. AAM now has more accurate, customised reporting and greater visibility to policy adherence—all of the elements they were looking for in a successful travel management program.