Business Travel Tips

The annual survey for the hotel industry by J. D. Power & Associates, revealed the highest-rated hotels in guest satisfaction in the U.S.

The top rated hotels for the guests were these: Ritz-Carlton (luxury segment); Embassy Suites (upscale segment); Hilton Garden Inn (midscale, full-service segment); Drury Inn & Suites (midscale, limited service segment); Microtel Inns & Suites (economy segment); and Homewood Suites (extended-stay segment).

The survey is based on responses from 47,634 guests who stayed in domestic hotels from June 2006 to June 2007.
“Guest satisfaction” is defined by room quality, reservations process, the check-in and check-out experience, hotel services and amenities, and prices. (source: The New York Times)

A survey, released last week by Avis at the National Business Travel Association’s annual convention in Boston, shows Business travelers who rent autos often waste an average of 1 1/2 hours per trip.

More than 80 percent of 6,300 Avis customers who responded to the survey say they spend an average of 44 minutes stuck in traffic during a three-day business trip. At least half of those who responded say another half an hour is wasted getting lost, and 12 minutes go down the drain while in line to pay tolls. More than 42,000 business travelers who rent Avis vehicles were asked in May to fill out the survey. (source)

Rental companies rent additional products, such as electronic toll-collection devices and a navigation system that provides alternate routes in traffic, can help customers avoid wasting time on the road.

A new web-based management information (MI) data reporting solution, American Express AXIS @ Work, has been unveiled by American Express Business Travel.

The new American Express AXIS @ Work builds on and advances its predecessor solution (known as American Express @ Work Reporting) with enhanced user navigation and MI reporting capabilities such as: an intuitive graphic user interface; dashboards featuring key indicators; standard reports to simplify information gathering; customisable reports to suit unique needs.

McGraw, Senior Vice President and General Manager, American Express Business Travel North America, says: “American Express AXIS @ Work represents a step change technological leap in how we will help our clients with spend analysis, preferred supplier management, travel policy effectiveness and traveler purchasing compliance.” (source)

Corporate travel managers are gathering in Boston for the annual meeting of the National Business Travel Association (NBTA). It’s a meeting involving managers who are responsible for all business travel within their respective companies.

The main goal for corporate travel managers these days is to ensure traveler compliance with corporate travel policies.
 USATODAY.com says it involves also traveler’s security issues.

If travelers use preferred travel suppliers and stay within policy guidelines they can be easily contacted in an emergency. When employees book outside the corporate policy guidelines they may be more difficult to locate during a crisis situation.

The newspaper lists a few tools corporations make use of to facilitate travel policy compliance.

- Use of a self-service online booking tool
It guides travelers to the suppliers endorsed by the company’s travel policy (Non-compliance may take the form of selecting an airline or hotel that is not on the preferred provider list or perhaps that traveler didn’t use the corporate online booking tool to purchase their travel).

- Compliance Champions
They monitor and improve travel policy compliance, works with non-compliant employees to determine the reasons for non-compliance

- Travel Liaisons
They are not directly enforcing travel policy compliance, their role is to train people to use the online booking tool and give travelers a better understanding of the travel policy to help them understand why they see the results they see when using the self service booking tool.

With international routes are becoming a more important source of revenue for airlines, increasingly carriers are upgrading their business class service to compete in the lucrative business class long haul market

American Airlines is to unveil its new business class seat for its Boeing 777 aircraft.
The seats are as wide as 26 inches if both armrests are moved out of the way – 3 inches wider than the 767 version. There’s also about 2 inches of extra leg room.

Also United Airlines announced its revamped international business class cabin.
Cushier seats that recline flat, larger personal TVs and noise-canceling headphones are among the new amenities that United will begin rolling out this fall for the airline’s long-haul business travelers.
By 2009, United expects to have the new business class cabins available on its entire 97-plane international fleet. (source)