When your employees are jetting all over the world on a regular basis, it is crucial that your company has the best travel policy possible.
Using the right airlines, flying to the right airports and using the most appropriate reward schemes will save your company money and your employees stress, allowing them to represent your business at their best.
Lounges
If, as a company, you require your employees to travel often, they will spend a lot of time in airports. Checking into the terminal’s premium lounge is the best way to make sure that this time isn’t dead time. Even if a flight is delayed, your team can make much better use of their time working from a quiet, comfortable lounge, than sat on a meta bench overlooking the runway.
Because of this, the quality of an airline lounge’s rewards should be an important factor in which scheme you choose. If you are based in the UK, BA have some of the best lounges including the decadent First Class Concorde Room in Heathrow. Business class lounges offer a great range of services with BA, making the OneWorld frequent flyer programme a good option for UK companies.
Alternatively, independent airport lounge programmes can give you access to a huge range of lounges regardless of which airline you fly with. Lounge Club membership, for example, could give your company access to hundreds of lounges from Aalborg to Zurich, freeing you from the constraints of choosing airports or flights going to terminals with specific lounges.
Air Miles
Air miles are another crucial factor in choosing which airline reward programme to join.
One vital question to ask before you decide is, what can you actually buy with the points you acquire? In many schemes, popular flights are often excluded from the air miles reward programmes. There has been a lot of ‘devaluing’ of these schemes in recent years, meaning what you can actually purchase with your miles is getting more miserly every year. Speak with one of our expert Travel Managers to ensure you get the best deal possible.
However, even though popular flights are often off-limits, using miles to upgrade flights you have already booked can often be a better move for your employees. Employees who travel very frequently will appreciate the extra space and comfort over a cheaper holiday ticket in the future. Some airlines also offer air miles for groups of employees, for example BA on Busienss, so your company can collect air miles and limit costs even on expensive, luxury flights. Our Travel Managers can talk you through this process.
Airline Credit Cards
You can also earn miles with some business credit cards. This can be a great morale boost for your company since you can use the points earned to reward employees – either family holidays for them or upgrades on their business flights.
As well as helping with flights, these cards often have other benefits, too. Lloyds’ Avios credit card ensures you do not incur fees for transactions made abroad. This can be a great money saver when travelling for business. Additionally, this can cut down long, time-consuming expense forms, as it removes the need to withdraw foreign currency cash.
Simplexity offers the corporate travel agency services that can make your global business succeed. Give us a call today on 0203 535 9290 or email info@simplexitytravel.com to see what we can do for you.