Adding Flexibility to Improve Traveler Experience

No matter how large or small your travel program is, you have travelers who are affected by your travel policy decisions. It’s important to think about the individual traveler and their journey to identify areas where there may be pain points. Unhappy travelers can have decreased productivity and overall poor morale, which eventually could cost the company in many ways, up to and including that employee. 

Consider these simple policy changes if elevating your traveler journey is on your priority list.  

Creating Choice Through Flexibility

Here are a few of our favorite and most common travel policy options that can make a huge difference for your employees and their sentiment towards company travel:  

Lift Restrictions on Departure Cities

While smaller airports may be more expensive, consider allowing a traveler to depart from a location closer to home. By opening options to your employees, you are allowing them to spend their time in a more meaningful way. Whether that be on the job rather than in the car, preparing for that big presentation, or even more personally, time with their family, you are putting time back in their day and showing them that you value how they spend their time.

Allow Direct Flights

Similar to lifting departure city restrictions, this added benefit puts choice and trust in the employee’s hands to do what is best for both company efficiency as well as for the individual. While layovers may come with a cheaper fare, direct flights allow for increased productivity for the company as well as improved health and safety for the employee by having fewer physical stops. 

Increase Per Diem

Increasing the amount of spending money available allows travelers to make options more aligned with their dietary and personal eating habits which may include DoorDash or Uber Eats. If you are reviewing your per diem rates and wondering where you stack up, check out this Per Diem Index to see how you compare. Keeping business travelers happy, healthy and safe on the road may be worth a few dollars more. 

Include TSA-PreCheck

Every traveler sees it when they go through security: the TSA PreCheck line. Those who travel frequently and even those who don’t often look at that empty line with envy. By providing TSA PreCheck, even if only for the biggest road warriors in your company, you are granting an experience where employees feel valued.. 

Every travel program has goals and budgets. How you craft your policy is dependent upon your unique organizational needs. Some of the ideas stated above might make a huge impact on your travelers while others may not be within the scope of your program today. Our goal at Fox is to create a dialog with you on how to best serve your travelers and your organization.  

As travel policy continues to evolve, you can rely on Fox World Travel to be your advocate and consultant to ensure you have what you need to keep your travelers well taken care of.