Business Travel Tips

Members of Southwest Airlines‘ frequent flyer program Rapid Rewards will be able to earn extra frequent-flyer miles when renting a vehicle from Avis as well as to receive a 25 percent discount on regular Avis prices.

Members who opt for a weekly rental of five days or more from now until August 15, 2008 can receive triple credits and save up to 25% off on rental price.

Main conditions:
- Rentals must be picked up by August 15, 2008.
- An advance reservation is required.
- To get this discount, enter code K024700 at time of reservation in the “Corporate ID/Rate” field on southwest.com.
- Requires a minimum five-day rental period.
Details of this offer on Southwest Airlines’ website.

Members of SkyMiles, the Delta Air Lines frequent flyer program, will be able to earn 200 miles a day when renting vehicles from Advantage Rent A Car.

Offers apply to one driver, 25-years or older. Valid at U.S. locations only. Expiring date: July 13, ‘08.

Offer details are available at www.advantage.com/delta.

According the analysis on business travel cost for 2007 released yesterday by American Express Business Travel, international rates experienced increases while rates in the U.S. remained stable.
Tight global supply and high fuel costs drove continued price growth for international business travel in 2007. However the average airfare for U.S. stabilized in 2007 due to a combination of factors including the expansion of low fare models and the behavior of travelers who book their trips further in advance by taking advantage of lower, advance purchase fares.

Herve Sedky, Vice President and General Manager, Global Advisory Services, American Express Business Travel, says: “Companies can achieve savings in this environment through a well managed, dynamic travel and entertainment program allowing the flexibility to adjust their travel policies in real-time accordance with fast-moving industry changes“.

American Express Business Travel has recently added Change Management as a consulting competency. A practice area that offers best practices for monitoring and influencing traveler behavior to improve compliance to corporate policies and procedures.
Frank Schnur, Vice President, Advisory Services, American Express Business Travel, says incremental cost savings made possible through this new practice area can range between 11 percent and 33 percent of a company’s total air spend.

Below data from American Express Business Travel’s analysis on business travel cost for (more…)

International car rental company Avis added two more rental outlets at airports in China.

Avis has opened a new rental outlet at Beijing International Airport — in the new international terminal 3, and another at Shanghai Pudong International Airport — in the new terminal 2.

In China Avis now offers services at the airports in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen and has offices in 14 cities.

Avis Rent A Car System, LLC launched a new service to provide its customers with information on concerts, sporting events, museums, galleries, festivals and other popular activities at 25 major business travel destinations in the United States. The service is available at www.avis.com/mywhere2.

Avis customers who rent Where2(TM), the Company’s portable GPS navigation system, can also save destination information found at myWhere2.com or anywhere else on the Web onto a Secure Digital (SD) memory card that can be transferred into the Where2 unit when they pick up their rental vehicle. […] A survey of frequent business travelers commissioned by Avis found that a majority of business travelers, 68 percent, have at least some time for leisure activities when traveling for business. Of those with time for leisure, 81 percent spend at least some of their after-work time for pleasure. In addition, 56 percent use a rental car when participating in such activities.

Bob Lambert, senior vice president of commercial sales at Avis Budget Group, Inc., parent company of Avis says:”Most business travelers don’t have the time or means to familiarize themselves with leisure activities and opportunities once they arrive at their destination. In fact, 23 percent of business travelers surveyed said they often wasted free time because they lacked the time and resources to plan in advance“. (source)