Challenge
In countries where we do not have a wholly owned operation, we maintain a fully integrated Travel Partner Network (“Travel Partner”) comprised of local agencies. One of our Travel Partner’s who is based in Israel had a customer who was expanding their business across the globe—and fast.
The company was looking for a globally-managed travel program that could handle their business endeavors. This travel program had to be able to capture comprehensive data while saving money at the same time. Knowing this, our Travel Partner approached us, American Express Global Business Travel (GBT), to collaborate and deliver on a single global travel management program.
The company was highly impressed with our global offering. With plans ready to execute, we began the program expansion into their over 31 countries around the globe.
Solution
At the time, the company had a third party pre-travel approval and expense system. Since they wanted to continue using this system, our client management team brought in subject matter experts to collaborate with the company and the expense tool vendor to ensure the system could integrate with our system.
With collaboration, we were able to customize the approval process, incorporate travel booking, and ensure approvals triggered the appropriate fulfillment action—all while reducing costs. Travelers who initiated an online-qualified reservation in the pre-booking tool were auto-directed to the online booking tool—which alleviated offline transaction fees.
The company wanted a truly global system. Together, we successfully implemented a cohesive process that followed policy adherence, booking methods, and reporting.
“Whether a traveler is in Brazil or the United States, they all follow the same processes,” said Nancy, American Express GBT Client Manager. “Having a common process across the world made traveling easier for their employees, but also for the company when they had to provide robust reporting.”
Since the program was implemented the same way across the world, they were able to combine each country’s travel volume. By reflecting this larger spend, each country was able to take advantage of better discounts and leverage their negotiating power with vendors.
Results
Consolidation had a substantial positive impact.
- Expanded to 31+ countries in three years¹
- Sizeable program savings of $1.9¹ million in 2015
- Dedicated regional managers to oversee and manage policy compliance
¹ Source: American Express Global Business Travel Reporting
- INDUSTRY: Technology
- TRAVEL SPEND: $50M+ USD
- TRAVELERS: 1,000+
CHALLENGE
- Incremental costs
- Multiple travel programs
- Complex processes
SOLUTION
- Integrated travel booking processes within existing third-party pre-travel approval and expense system
- Streamlined into one travel policy across all countries
- Consolidated travel spend to enable better vendor negotiation power
RESULTS
- Expanded into over 31 countries within three years¹
- Savings of $1.9¹ million
- Dedicated regional managers to oversee and manage policy compliance