Smart Tips for Booking Corporate Flights Efficiently

Booking flights is the most frequent and often the most expensive component of any corporate travel program. The process can be a major source of both financial leakage and employee frustration if not managed strategically. Simply telling employees to "find the cheapest flight" is an ineffective strategy that ignores the complexities of air travel and the value of a traveler's time. A modern, efficient approach to booking corporate flights involves a combination of smart policies, powerful technology, and an educated workforce.

This guide provides practical, actionable tips to help your company book flights more efficiently, control costs effectively, and provide a better experience for your traveling employees.

1. Mandate Advance Bookings: The Golden Rule of Savings

This is the single most impactful strategy for reducing airfare costs. The price of a flight increases dramatically as the departure date approaches.

The Strategy: Implement a firm and clear policy that requires all flights to be booked at least 14 to 21 days in advance. This simple rule leverages the pricing models of airlines to your advantage.
How to Enforce It: A policy is useless without enforcement. Use a travel management platform to automate this rule. The system should be configured to:
- Flag any flight search conducted within the 14-day window.
- Require a specific reason and a higher level of management approval for any last-minute booking request.
The Impact: Consistently adhering to an advance booking policy can reduce your company's annual airfare spend by 15-25%. It is the lowest-hanging fruit for travel savings.

2. Centralize All Bookings on a Single Platform

To control your flight spend, you must have visibility into it. If employees are booking on various consumer websites (Expedia, Kayak, airline sites), you have no control, no data, and no ability to enforce policy.

The Strategy: Mandate that 100% of all business-related air travel be booked through your company's designated online booking tool (OBT).
Why It's Critical:
- Policy Enforcement: It is the only way to automatically enforce your travel policy rules.
- Data Consolidation: It captures all of your spending data in one place, which is essential for budgeting, analysis, and negotiating with airlines.
- Duty of Care: It provides a real-time record of where all your travelers are, which is a fundamental requirement for travel risk management.

3. Define and Automate "Lowest Logical Fare"

The "cheapest" flight is not always the best or most logical choice. A flight that is $50 cheaper but involves a 4-hour layover is a poor choice for a salaried employee whose time is valuable.

The Strategy: Your policy should not require the absolute lowest fare, but the "lowest logical fare." This is typically defined as the most affordable fare that does not:
- Increase total travel time by more than a set amount (e.g., 2 hours).
- Involve more than one layover.
- Depart or arrive at an unreasonably early or late hour.
How to Automate It: A modern booking tool can be configured to automatically identify and present the lowest logical fare based on your company's specific definition. It can then require a reason code or manager approval if a traveler selects a more expensive option.

4. Be Smart About Cabin Class

The cost difference between Economy and Business Class is substantial. Your policy must be clear and objective.

The Strategy: For most companies, the policy should mandate Economy Class for all domestic flights and for international flights under a certain duration.
When to Allow Business Class: A common and fair policy is to allow Business Class for international flight segments that are longer than 8 hours. This recognizes the impact of long-haul travel on traveler well-being and productivity. A well-rested employee who can be effective upon arrival is a better investment.
Consider Premium Economy: This cabin class offers a great middle ground with more legroom and comfort than Economy at a fraction of the cost of Business Class. It is an excellent option for international flights in the 5-8 hour range.

5. Automate the Tracking and Use of Unused Ticket Credits

When a non-refundable flight is canceled, the value of that ticket is converted into an airline credit. For most companies, this is lost money because it is too difficult to track manually.

The Strategy: Use a travel platform with a built-in "credit bank" that automatically tracks all unused tickets across your entire organization.
How it Works:
1. A trip is canceled in the system. The platform automatically captures the credit details (value, expiration date, associated traveler).
2. The next time that employee searches for a flight, the system proactively alerts them that they have a credit available and allows them to apply it with a single click.
The Impact: This is a direct recovery of cash that goes straight to your bottom line. It's not uncommon for this feature to save a company 5-10% of its total annual air spend.

6. Leverage Airline Loyalty and Negotiated Fares

Encourage Loyalty: While you want the lowest logical fare, encouraging travelers to be loyal to a specific airline or alliance can have benefits. The elite status they earn can lead to perks like free checked bags, priority boarding, and complimentary upgrades, which improve the traveler experience at no cost to the company.
Negotiate Corporate Fares: If your data shows that you have a significant volume of travel on a particular airline or on a specific route, use that data to negotiate. Your TMC can help you approach the airline to secure a corporate discount that can be loaded directly into your booking tool.

Booking corporate flights efficiently is a science. It requires a strategic combination of clear policies, smart automation, and data-driven insights. By moving away from a manual, decentralized process and embracing a modern, platform-based approach, you can achieve significant savings while providing a better and more productive experience for your travelers.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Our employees say they can find cheaper flights on consumer websites. How do we handle that? This is a common misconception. Often, a fare on a consumer site may look cheaper because it is a "basic economy" fare that does not include a carry-on bag or seat selection, and is completely inflexible. Your booking platform should be able to show a true "apples-to-apples" comparison. Reinforce the message that booking on the official platform is mandatory for safety, data, and support reasons, and that the "total cost" of a trip is more than just the initial ticket price.

2. Should we allow employees to book on low-cost carriers (LCCs)? Yes. A modern booking tool should include inventory from LCCs like Southwest or Spirit. However, the policy should be clear. While the base fare may be low, these airlines charge extra for everything. The booking tool should be able to account for these ancillary fees to calculate the true total cost.

3. What is NDC and why is it important for booking flights? NDC (New Distribution Capability) is a technology standard that allows airlines to sell their products more effectively through third-party channels. It enables your booking tool to access the full range of an airline's offerings, including bundled fares (e.g., a fare that includes a checked bag and Wi-Fi) and personalized offers. Ensuring your travel management platform is NDC-ready is critical for having access to the best content and fares.

4. How do we manage last-minute, emergency travel bookings? There will always be legitimate reasons for last-minute travel. Your policy and approval workflow should be able to accommodate this. A booking made inside the advance purchase window should simply trigger a request for justification (e.g., "Client-facing emergency") and route to a manager for expedited approval. The goal is not to prevent all last-minute travel, but to ensure it is deliberate and approved.

5. How much can we really save by managing our flight bookings more efficiently? The savings are substantial. Between enforcing advance bookings, automating the use of unused ticket credits, and guiding travelers to the lowest logical fare, a company can realistically expect to reduce its overall airfare spend by 15-25% or more in the first year of implementing a well-managed program.