All, Technology
$1-3M USD
50
Absolute Software (Absolute), a technology/communication company based in Vancouver Canada with offices world-wide, began developing business plans to expand globally. With this growth, international travel was inevitable. At the time, they were using a hotel booking solution that wasn’t providing the outcomes they were expecting. Fundamentally, their travel program required considerable reservation support, significant traveler satisfaction, and the ability to handle Absolute’s complex international travel. Traveling internationally also meant it was vital to have ample reporting with the ability to consolidate data.
Absolute realized these shortcomings were not an efficient use of time and money. That’s when they decided to switch to us—American Express Global Business Travel (GBT)—to help build a travel program with a comprehensive travel policy, increased consolidation, captured spend/activity, all while producing cost savings.
After settling in with a new travel program with us as their new Travel Management Company (TMC), we conducted an annual business review that identified the opportunity to improve Absolute’s hotel booking process.
Significant change came about by adding EXPERT AUDITOR; a highly flexible, automated pre-trip approval system that recommends hotel bookings for trips that did not have an attached hotel reservation. EXPERT AUDITOR’s built-in logic allows Absolute to optimize their travel policy by monitoring data fields captured in the reservation, and ensures compliance to auditing parameters.
“Absolute was able to consolidate hotel spend to increase savings, initiate negotiations directly with hotels for the best available rates, and meet their main goal—expand their business internationally,” said Leslie, American Express GBT Client Manager.
Absolute’s travel program changes incorporated additional benefits, including:
We knew how important it was that all aspects of the solution were clear and understandable. First, we trained travelers on how to add a hotel stay to an existing air reservation. Next, we worked with their procurement department to demonstrate how they could optimize reporting and controls of the program.
“With Absolute, it was crucial that we sufficiently educated travelers so they would adopt the changes,” said Leslie. “Providing training and documentation is one of the most important elements in revamping a travel program, and without it, Absolute’s new travel program would not have been a success.”