Utilizing a Travel Management Company such as Covington Travel is beneficial to businesses of all sizes. We help large corporations keep their arms around what can be an unwieldy expense item. At the same time, we help smaller businesses achieve economies of scale that they could not attain alone. In broad strokes, here are five benefits of managed travel.

1. Cost control – Businesses need to travel and that can be expensive, but by looking at the big picture and controlling travel expenditures, they can lower overall cost while maintaining the quality of the travel experience. Covington Travel adheres to each business’ individual travel policy when making reservations and provides comprehensive reporting so responsible parties can easily see travel patterns. Astute businesses use these management reports to reign in practices that are over budget or outside travel policy.
2. Volume matters – Travel vendors do indeed offer incentives ranging from guaranteed upgrades to significant discounts to entities that provide a high volume of bookings. The problem is that the bar is so high, typically only the very largest businesses have the number of bookings needed to even approach the negotiation table. A TMC has marketing and consortium affiliations that allow their clients to reap the benefits of the TMC’s cumulative booking volume. All of Covington’s clients have access to our negotiated rates with thousands of hotels and multiple car rental programs.
3. Risk Management – Unmanaged travel makes it difficult to know where a business’ employees are at any given time. If travel arrangements are made through multiple sources, there is no single source to capture comprehensive location information. In the event of a work stoppage, weather disaster or political disturbance a TMC can identify any reservations they have made that might be affected. At the first notice of any disruption, Covington Travel provides Global Traveler Support by identifying travelers who may be affected and reaccommodates them or notifies the business as applicable.
4. Time is money – Planning business travel requires time – valuable time that travelers could use to do more of what they do best – and managed travel saves time. Covington Travel’s experienced travel advisors know the best airline routings to get the lowest fares and keep up to date on the ever-changing fare rules. We can quickly recommend a hotel near a meeting place and know the best ways to get around the city. That’s what we do best, so travelers can spend their time doing what they do best.
5. Personal touch – Individuals have unique travel preferences that improve the quality of their business trips. That might be a preference for vegetarian meals or ground floor hotel rooms. Whether travelers make reservations by phone, email or online booking tool, Covington has real live people at the other end, ready to connect and serve.  

Managed travel is much more than having a travel policy. It’s about having a professional partner who you can depend on for accurate and timely information. It’s about getting assistance and ideas for cost containment. Most importantly, it’s about relationships. To find out more about how Covington Travel can help you manage your travel, please contact our Business Travel Services department.