Making Budgets Easy for Business Travel
TravelBank makes budgeting easy for business travelers by following three best practices to help reduce costs: set a budget goal, visualize and track your spending and save money.
Set a Budget Goal
With in-depth knowledge of the travel industry, TravelBank is able to set a travel budget based on market prices. All you have to do is select your destination and the figures populate almost instantly. The budget is broken down into categories like flight, hotel, transportation and daily allowance so it’s easy to see how much money you have to spend on what.
Visualize and Track Your Spending
TravelBank turns your budget into a visual tracker. You can use it to see where your money is being spent. If you find it is easy to cut back in one area (say you decided to stay with friends in NYC), you’ll be able to see at a glance how much money you’re saving on a hotel and treat yourself to a little splurge in another category (like enjoying a nice dinner or upgrading your seat on the return flight).
Perhaps, the best part is how easy it is to track spending during your trip. It’s as simple as taking a photo of a receipt. With the click of a button you have an up to date visual of your budget. This feature can also be used to track local expenses such as cell phone bills or meetings with local clients.
Save Money
Since you can’t manage your budget if you don’t measure it, you’re much more inclined to meet your goal with the visual tracker. You can see exactly where you have room to spend, and where you need to slow the spending.
The simplest way to save is to differentiate between needs and wants. You need a place to stay, but you want to be centrally located. You need a flight, but you want extra leg room. Once you sift through the needs and wants, you can sometimes find a way to satisfy both with a little work.
If you are flexible with where you stay, by booking an Airbnb instead of a hotel for example, you can save money while still getting a place in the center of town like you wanted. If you get smart with the airline you choose (pack lightly to avoid baggage fees or use miles), you may have room in your budget to upgrade the leg room.