A corporate travel program allows employees to travel on behalf of the company. This may be to close more business, serve existing customers, develop partnerships, or expand market coverage. When developing a travel program, your company should define how business travel will align to your existing business strategy.

Travel management companies (TMCs) may make money through a commission earned on travel bookings or by charging a booking fee. Some even charge their customers a fee for speaking to customer support. Fortunately, a great TMC saves clients money through negotiated discounts and a reduction in the time it takes to book and reschedule. This should more than cover the cost of using a TMC.

A travel management system is the technology that automates and streamlines corporate travel management. Functionalities of the system typically allow employees to book business travel within budget, help managers review noncompliant travel requests, offer business expense tracking, process expense report reimbursements, and help the finance team gain visibility into budget management and forecasting.

Corporate travel is typically booked through a business travel management platform that allows business travelers to search for flights, hotels, rental cars, and more. It's ad hassle-free way to book travel for business because the company travel policies and exclusive corporate travel rates are already built in.

A travel management companies (TMC) is designed to assist your business travel program with the day-to-day operations, including travel booking, expense tracking, and traveler safety. A good TMC can provide your company with technology for all of your travel program's stakeholders, including travelers, their managers, and your finance team. Working with a TMC can improve the efficiency of your travel program.

Travel agents are ready to assist you with travel bookings, changes, and cancellations. They can search inventory across multiple suppliers through a global distribution system (GDS), allowing them to find the best business travel options quickly. Travel agents typically field support requests via phone, email, and in-app chat. They can also pull up airline and hotel policies to clarify the options when a traveler is considering changing their business travel itinerary.