Corporate budgets are not unlimited as many employees often think on their business trips away from home but it is not worth explaining this to them. A more successful explanation might be that both travel costs and employees' bonuses come from the same limited budget. The Expert Business Advice website has prepared a few tips that will help you to reduce incidental expenses not only in hard times.
Transportation expenses
1. Arriving by car at a business meeting might make a good impression but it is definitely not effective or even good for your budget if employees have the possibility of using their own car. Expenditure on petrol, which is then charged to the company, often exceeds the genuine cost of transportation and you lose track. If no meeting with a client is involved, then there is no good reason not to use the train or bus. Today, a number of carriers provide relatively high quality service to make trips more comfortable for passengers and you can be sure that you are actually paying the real costs.
2. If you still choose to travel by car, either because the target destination is less accessible by other means, you do not have your own vehicle or you need to make the best possible impression, consider renting a car. In this case, explore the possibility of registering for some business programme for regular rental. Find out if it offers also the possibility of free rental days or provides additional discounts and bonuses.
Look rather for smaller companies and avoid extra services to the actual rental fee. Pay further attention to any restrictions contained in the contract in small print (especially concerning mileage).
3. You can also quite easily save on air travel. If you leave your vehicle at the airport, make sure that you park in the long-term parking area in order to avoid unreasonably high fees. Book flights ideally a month or more in advance and for between Tuesday and Thursday when fares are cheaper. You can also check-in via the internet. Check beforehand whether the price includes checked baggage. If, however, you are going on a shorter trip, you will perhaps manage only with cabin baggage, which is usually at no extra cost.
Fly more to alternative airports outside the city, especially where mostly various low cost airlines operate. Transport to the city centre is provided by rental car or taxi, as well as by regular shuttles.
If you do not have an overview of individual airlines, go to any flight aggregator site, where you will find the best deals for your chosen dates. You might try, for example, Letuska.cz, Pelikan.cz, Letenky.cz or Studentagency.cz.
If you undertake business flight trips on a regular basis, register with a customer programme and collect flight kilometres. Some airlines even allow you to collect both corporate and individual employees’ kilometres together. Moreover, you will gain some extra advantages, including possible discounts on accommodation and other benefits.
In today's instalment, we have focused strictly on travelling to the final destination at the lowest possible cost. The following part will show you how to deal with other costs associated with business trips.
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