Discount Corporate Travel Programs Worth Joining

Every company wants to save money on business travel, and the idea of getting a "corporate discount" is an alluring one. Airlines and hotel chains market a wide array of business travel programs, all promising special rates, exclusive perks, and a better experience for your traveling employees. However, not all of these programs are created equal. Some offer real, tangible value, while others are little more than a marketing gimmick, offering "discounts" on fares that your employees should not be buying in the first place.

For a travel manager or a finance leader, it's crucial to understand which programs are actually worth the effort of joining and promoting to your team. The best programs are those that are free to join, easy to manage, and provide rewards for the spending your company is already doing. This guide will break down the different types of corporate travel programs and highlight the ones that are most likely to deliver real value to your business.

The Myth of the Negotiated Airline Deal (for Most Companies)

Let's start by debunking a common myth. For most small and medium-sized businesses, spending a lot of time trying to negotiate a formal, contractual corporate discount with a major airline is not a good use of time.

• The Problem: These formal contracts usually require a very high minimum spend (often upwards of $500,000 per year with that one airline). More importantly, the discounts they offer typically only apply to the most expensive, fully-flexible economy and business class fares. Your cost-conscious employees are likely booking cheaper, more restrictive fares that aren't eligible for the discount anyway. This is the truth that airlines don't tell you about corporate discounts.
• The Verdict: For all but the largest corporations, a formal negotiated airline deal is often more trouble than it's worth.

The Real Value: Small Business Loyalty Programs

The real opportunity for most companies lies in the free-to-join small business loyalty programs offered by the major airlines. These are not negotiated contracts; they are simple loyalty schemes that reward your company for its travel spend, in addition to the frequent flyer miles your employees earn personally.

• How They Work: You enroll your company in the program (which is free). You then add your company's program number to your travel management platform. The platform will automatically attach this number to every booking made by your employees on that airline. Your company then earns points for every dollar spent.
• The Rewards: These company-level points can be redeemed for valuable rewards, such as:
  • Free flights.
  • Upgrades to business class.
  • Airport lounge memberships.
  • Elite status for key travelers.

This is a no-cost way to get real, tangible value back from your travel spend.

Top Small Business Airline Programs Worth Joining

1. Delta SkyBonus

• Who it's for: Companies that have a significant amount of travel with Delta Air Lines and its partners (like Air France, KLM, and Virgin Atlantic).
• Why it's great: It's a straightforward, points-based system. The rewards are valuable and relatively easy to redeem for flights and upgrades.

2. American Airlines Business Extra

• Who it's for: Companies that fly frequently on American Airlines and its Oneworld alliance partners (like British Airways and Japan Airlines).
• Why it's great: Similar to SkyBonus, it's a simple, free-to-join program that rewards your company's loyalty with points that can be converted into flights, upgrades, and lounge memberships.

3. United PerksPlus

• Who it's for: Companies with a high volume of travel on United and its Star Alliance partners (like Lufthansa and Air Canada).
• Why it's great: It offers a similar value proposition, allowing your company to earn points that can be redeemed for a variety of travel rewards.

The Strategy: You don't have to choose just one. You can, and should, enroll your company in the programs of all the major airlines you use. A modern travel management software like Routespring allows you to store all of these corporate loyalty numbers and will automatically apply the correct one when a booking is made.

The Hotel Program Opportunity: Where Negotiation Actually Works

Unlike with airlines, negotiating a discount directly with hotels is a very real and effective strategy for companies of all sizes.

• The Strategy: Use your travel management platform's analytics to identify the cities where you travel most and the specific hotels your employees are already staying at. If you can show a hotel that you booked 50 room nights with them last year, you have significant leverage.
• The Deal: Approach the hotel's Director of Sales and ask for a negotiated corporate rate. You can often get a 10-20% discount off their public rates. Even more importantly, you can negotiate for "soft" benefits that have real value, such as:
  • Free high-speed Wi-Fi.
  • Complimentary breakfast.
  • A more flexible cancellation policy.
  • Last Room Availability (LRA), which guarantees you get your rate even when the hotel is busy.
• The Impact: A preferred hotel program is one of the most effective ways to achieve direct, hard-dollar savings on your T&E spend. Our guide to hotel negotiation provides a step-by-step playbook for this process.

The Ultimate "Discount Program": A Great Travel Management Platform

While airline and hotel programs can add value, the single most powerful tool for "discounting" your travel is a great travel management platform. It saves you money in ways that a simple loyalty program cannot.

• It Automates Savings: A platform like Routespring saves you money by automating cost-control measures. It enforces your advance booking policy, guides users to the lowest logical fare, and automatically recovers and applies unused ticket credits. These automated features will save you far more money than any airline point system.
• It Provides Total Visibility: By centralizing all your travel data, the platform gives you the insights you need to make smarter spending decisions and to effectively negotiate with hotels.

Conclusion

The secret to saving money on corporate travel is not to chase the mythical airline discount. It is to build a smart, efficient program that leverages the right tools. Enroll in the free airline small business programs to get valuable rewards for your existing spend. Use the data from your travel platform to negotiate high-impact deals with your preferred hotels. And most importantly, use a modern travel management platform to automate your policies and streamline your processes. This combination of strategies will deliver far more value than a traditional corporate discount ever could.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How much money do we have to spend to get an airline small business program to pay off? Since these programs are free to join, they pay off from your very first booking. The more you spend with a particular airline, the faster you will accumulate points for valuable rewards. There is no downside to enrolling.

2. Can an employee still earn their personal frequent flyer miles if the company is also earning points? Yes. This is a key benefit. With these small business programs, the employee still earns their own personal miles in their frequent flyer account, and the company earns its own, separate points in its Business Extra or SkyBonus account. It is a "double dip" that benefits both the traveler and the company.

3. We are a very small business. Can we really negotiate a hotel rate? Yes, if your travel is concentrated. Even if you only have 20-30 room nights a year, if they are all at the same hotel near a key client, that hotel's sales manager will likely be very willing to offer you a discount to secure your loyalty. Volume at a single property is more important than your company's overall size.

4. Our employees like to stay at Airbnbs. Are there corporate programs for that? Airbnb does have a business travel program, "Airbnb for Work," which provides a dashboard for travel managers to track employee stays and spending. While it can be a good option for longer-term stays, it's important to have a clear policy around the safety and security standards for Airbnb properties, as they are not as standardized as hotels.

5. How does a travel management platform help us manage all of these different programs? A good platform acts as your central command center. You can store all your different airline and hotel loyalty program numbers in the system. The platform will automatically apply the correct number to each booking. It will also highlight your preferred hotels with your negotiated rates in the search results, making it easy for your employees to make the right choice.