Pros/cons of business/corporate booking platforms

[bcarmicle]

Inspired by:

TrainSplit does have a (frankly, somewhat poorly advertised) B2B offering with support for on-account (invoiced) payments, lodged card payments, displaying travel policies, fully-itemised expense receipts, spending reports, BackOffice access for viewing/managing company bookings and collection of department/cost code/other information at checkout time

This all seems useful for a finance team to control and manage rail travel expenses, but I was wondering if any business platforms offered any general benefits to employees booking through them as opposed to e.g. getting reimbursed? Most companies would require booking through the business platform presumably if they had one, but if there wasn't a requirement, is there any particular incentive to do so?

For example, I believe Evolvi had a special arrangment which could issue tickets valid for TfL services using special CCST gate passes, so would be attractive to those starting with a Tube transfer (as ToD/self-print/mTickets/eTickets wouldn't work), but I don't think that exists anymore.

Similarly, are there any negatives to booking through businesss platforms? I assume companies could set rules to e.g. only allow Standard class fares as per their travel policy, but supposing that the company didn't set any restrictions, what disadvantages are there to booking through standard retail channels? Presumably nothing for Club Avanti/LNER Perks, for one?

 

[Adam Williams]

This all seems useful for a finance team to control and manage rail travel expenses, but I was wondering if any business platforms offered any general benefits to employees booking through them as opposed to e.g. getting reimbursed? Most companies would require booking through the business platform presumably if they had one, but if there wasn't a requirement, is there any particular incentive to do so?

It's a good point, and back when I was in the world of infosec consulting at a consultancy I always did my own travel bookings with my own (cashback) credit card and had the costs reimbursed afterwards. I also did my own hotel bookings with my own IHG or whatever rewards account. There was no reason to use the corporate travel provider because a) they were basically incompetent and usually suggested much more expensive tickets/flights/hotels than were necessary and b) you lost out on all personal benefits.

I'm not sure what a good answer to this really is. One idea we've floated in the past are more permissive travel policies - e.g. if your company says you can only book up to the cost of a walk-up standard class ticket, then TrainSplit could allow you to (pragmatically) book in advance using First Class Advances where these are more cost effective. Maybe there's also room for providing for leisure travel discounts / frequent purchaser rewards, though the latest squeezes on commission don't really help with introducing these sorts of initiatives. Corporate bookings already get a lower rate of commission than B2C bookings.

Frankly though, it seems like there are a lot of big companies and organisations where they force use of one particular platform for all business travel bookings and employees really don't have the choice - it's the finance team calling the shots and they'll pick the platform that helps them the most / integrates into SAP or whatever accounting software backend they use the best - this is how you end up with god-awful booking systems which employees hate to use and are really poorly designed. The employees aren't the customer!

 

[alistairlees]

I’m sure there’s room for improvement in this area

 

[Gaelan]

I was wondering if any business platforms offered any general benefits to employees booking through them as opposed to e.g. getting reimbursed?

Not everyone is in a financial position where they can front their employer tens or hundreds of pounds, for one.

Presumably nothing for Club Avanti/LNER Perks, for one?

LNER perks just takes an Aztec code or TOD reference, so I don’t see why you couldn’t claim credit for corporate-booked tickets.

 

[sor]

I work at a megacorp and can see the value of a properly integrated system. I haven't had to book any travel post-COVID and our expenses system has changed since then, but in ye olde days they had some way of linking Trainline to it. I do not have a corporate card but I also don't have to pay upfront for train tickets, I guess they have an arrangement to pay for all bookings and that somehow percolates automatically into the right employee's expense record so we can go in and justify it just as we would any purchase.

Also in ye olde days, we clearly bought enough tickets to justify an on site collection machine. I think that disappeared pre COVID and they flipped the bookings to allow any card to collect. I guess with the impending rise of e tickets and smartcard ticketing this is perhaps not the draw for corporate procurement bods as it was then.

AFAIK we aren't allowed to make bookings in another way. They don't even like it much if you go around the procurement processes for low value items that are cheaper from XYZ than any "approved" supplier, and delivered more quickly too.

Maybe GBR (if it's still on) could provide a unified rewards system that corporate portals could allow you to link your bookings to? Wishful thinking I guess.

 

[Haywain]

Not everyone is in a financial position where they can front their employer tens or hundreds of pounds, for one

And many wouldn't want to as there may well be some wait to get repaid.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Our corporate booking process amounts to "Use your company credit card on our website or one of our ticket offices", with Rail Warrants (to be exchanged at one of our ticket offices) provided as a last resort.

Not sure why we don't use our in-house Business Travel Service, but it is what it is.

 

[Watershed]

Not everyone is in a financial position where they can front their employer tens or hundreds of pounds, for one.

Not everyone, but the overwhelming majority of people in such situations would be eligible for a credit card, that they could use to avoid being out of pocket whilst waiting to be reimbursed.

 

[MrJeeves]

integrates into SAP or whatever accounting software backend they use the best - this is how you end up with god-awful booking systems which employees hate to use and are really poorly designed

Hello SAP Concur, one of the most vile pieces of software I've used in years...

 

[3rd rail land]

Hello SAP Concur, one of the most vile pieces of software I've used in years...

My employer uses Concur and I am free to use whatever platform I desire to book travel. I have a corporate credit card so if I use this then the expenses will automaticity appear in Concur about 3-4 days after making the transaction.

 

[MrJeeves]

My employer uses Concur and I am free to use whatever platform I desire to book travel. I have a corporate credit card so if I use this then the expenses will automaticity appear in Concur about 3-4 days after making the transaction.

For us, any rail travel over £100 needs to be booked through the platform, but anything under that can be booked by us (or bought at the station) and claimed back through the company.

 

[Puffing Devil]

My current megacorp uses Trainline. The costs are excessive - booking fees + ticket fee, even for etix.

Plus they charged a £10 refund fee on an abandoned journey (cancelled train), which should have been free as "that's what in the contract for any refund".

 

[Class800]

Inspired by:



This all seems useful for a finance team to control and manage rail travel expenses, but I was wondering if any business platforms offered any general benefits to employees booking through them as opposed to e.g. getting reimbursed? Most companies would require booking through the business platform presumably if they had one, but if there wasn't a requirement, is there any particular incentive to do so?

For example, I believe Evolvi had a special arrangment which could issue tickets valid for TfL services using special CCST gate passes, so would be attractive to those starting with a Tube transfer (as ToD/self-print/mTickets/eTickets wouldn't work), but I don't think that exists anymore.

Similarly, are there any negatives to booking through businesss platforms? I assume companies could set rules to e.g. only allow Standard class fares as per their travel policy, but supposing that the company didn't set any restrictions, what disadvantages are there to booking through standard retail channels? Presumably nothing for Club Avanti/LNER Perks, for one?

Everywhere I've worked it's been optional

 

[Adam Williams]

The costs are excessive - booking fees + ticket fee, even for etix.

I feel like TMCs know they can get away with it.

I stayed in a hotel recently for some voluntary work that I do, and the organisation covered my travel/accommodation expenses. For reasons that still allude me, the corporate travel bookings agent managed to book one night in a Travelodge for about £270 and nobody involved in the process batted an eyelid. They had plenty of notice, too, the date had been set in stone for a long time. I pushed quite hard to book and expense the train travel myself and saved the taxpayer £110 over the price the corporate travel folks wanted to book and charge for (apparently they were unable to apply Railcard discounts!). It seems to be an operation to extract the most commission rather than save their clients money.

 

[Hadders]

My employer requires me to use the corporate booking site, operated by Agiito. Payment is made direct by the company, no need for me to claim and pay back.

I'm not aware of the contract detail but I suspect that while the appears to be booking fees etc there will be a rebate of some description atthe end of the financial year.
Reporting is available by department, project etc which is very useful in understanding and challenging costs
Also, the company knows where its employees are when travelling - very important if there was to be an emergency situation eg. a terrorist attack.

 

[xotGD]

I have to book via our corporate travel provider.

Every time you book a ticket that is cheaper than a standard class open return a message pops up saying that the saving of £xx.xx will be recorded somewhere.

This facilitates the purchase of First Class Advances under some circumstances. Which is nice.

And of course I don't have to pay and then claim back.

 

[Class800]

Some tickets or whole routes or means of transport aren't available via click travel and key travel which are the providers I have worked with. Assuming info from my work admin is correct. These include Heathrow express, megabus/falcon, many tfl fares and metered as opposed to set fare taxis. Are people who have to use agent unable to use these modes of transport ?

 

[fandroid]

I travel internationally and in the UK on behalf of a charity. The charity used to book rail travel in the UK but very soon realised that we volunteers could just about always get better value for money than they or their travel provider could. Using personal credit cards is the way to keep the cash flow positive as expenses are always reimbursed quickly. As for always knowing where we are when working, there's a simple online system we use that's far more accurate than Trainline ever could be!

 

[Bletchleyite]

The key advantage for the company is that they can get statistics and exert control over purchases, and have things like pre-approval for certain things (e.g. you can price up a journey and hold the fare then you have to call your manager to get them to approve it for it to be ticketed), or control other things like stop people just picking Anytimes when cheaper options exist or controlling when First Class is applicable.

For the employee there's only an advantage where the company chooses central settlement, not all do.

I've used ClickTravel and Evolvi and don't really like either from a user's point of view, Evolvi is particularly clunky and complex.

 

[Class800]

Sectors work at different speeds. Calling manager for approval wouldn't work in my sector. Would have to wait for next monthly meeting or if urgent email and get something within a week depending on availability. It's for a reason we have more autonomy

 

[johncrossley]

If you have to use your company's system to get train tickets then you miss out on cashback through your bank/credit card.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If you have to use your company's system to get train tickets then you miss out on cashback through your bank/credit card.

I find taking cashback on out of pocket reimbursed expenses decidedly questionable.

 

[johncrossley]

I find taking cashback on out of pocket reimbursed expenses decidedly questionable.

Does that mean you have to go out of your way to use a card that doesn't offer benefits? The only winner would be the card company.

 

[Adam Williams]

I find taking cashback on out of pocket reimbursed expenses decidedly questionable.

Why's it questionable?

Business travel is inconvenient at best for employees and a downright PITA at worst. I used to spend hours of my own time on Sundays and Friday evenings travelling when I worked at a consultancy.

Cashback, first class travel (where the letter of the expense policy didn't forbid it) and delay repay made it somewhat bearable.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Why's it questionable?

Because expenses are paid to reimburse what you spent. If your card company gives you back 5%, then you didn't spend it.

Your salary covers your time and inconvenience.

 

[jfollows]

When I had a "company credit card" which was really just a fee-free card (to me) which I was responsible for settling in full each month, I declined to take it and used my own credit cards instead. I did not feel in the least bit wrong in taking any minor personal benefits which came from this.
When I changed job I ended up with a centrally-settled Government Procurement Card, so I used this all the time for expenses including travel expenses.
The topic is about business booking platforms, though, and in all cases I complied with the requirements to use these, which changed over time in my second job. It has to be realised that, being the public sector, our management did not really care about saving money but didn't want the Daily Mail to pick up on civil servants travelling First Class at the public's expense, so having a central booking system ensured that this did not happen.I would buy a Standard Open Return to London, which was within the rules, and upgrade to First Class on the train at my own expense, not forgetting the 20% tax relief on the unreimbursed expenses this personal cost represented.
I always obeyed the letter of the rules, and I was on good terms with our finance people. Chatting to them on occasions they told me of the things that people with a Government Procurement Card tried to get away with, I can't remember the details now, but the people in question acted arrogantly towards the rules in ways that I would never have considered for a moment. If I ever had to do anything "unusual" with it, I'd run the details past the finance people first to ensure that they and I had a paper trail approving its use.
PS I have a friend, who doesn't work for any company that I worked for, who told me that Avanti Delay Repay had effectively paid for her petrol last year. I don't personally have a problem with that.

 

[TAS]

Some tickets or whole routes or means of transport aren't available via click travel and key travel which are the providers I have worked with. Assuming info from my work admin is correct. These include Heathrow express, megabus/falcon, many tfl fares and metered as opposed to set fare taxis. Are people who have to use agent unable to use these modes of transport ?

My employer would let me claim expenses or use a company card for things not available via our booking portal - a different provider to those you mention (which if I remember correctly only covers National Rail and Eurostar services, flights and hotels, and possibly also ferries and car hire). We do have a separate arrangement with some taxi firms in key locations for us, but not using them doesn't seem to be a problem.

It's a fairly pragmatic position - for most things it gives the company more control and better reporting and means employees without company cards aren't waiting for reimbursement from our rather slow expenses system, but accepts that this won't work for every possible journey someone might be making on company business.

 

[jfollows]

I do recall that my employer's booking system couldn't book "low cost" airlines when they started up. I had to get "special dispensation" to be able to use SouthWest Airlines for a Raleigh-Austin return trip in 1999, the reason being that at the time all the "old fashioned" airlines required a change en route, whereas there was one direct flight a day with the low-cost airline which coincided perfectly with when I needed to fly. I imagine the same company now "requires" the use of low-cost airlines in preference to the others.

 

[TAS]

I do recall that my employer's booking system couldn't book "low cost" airlines when they started up. I had to get "special dispensation" to be able to use SouthWest Airlines for a Raleigh-Austin return trip in 1999, the reason being that at the time all the "old fashioned" airlines required a change en route, whereas there was one direct flight a day with the low-cost airline which coincided perfectly with when I needed to fly. I imagine the same company now "requires" the use of low-cost airlines in preference to the others.

Weirdly, the booking agent we use says that, due to a dispute between the system they use and Ryanair, we may get an email from Ryanair warning that the booking has been made through an unauthorised agent and gives instructions on what to do if this happens. So far I haven't had to worry about this.

The agency's online platform is quite clunky, but generally I (or a PA) will just call them, tell them the requirements and they'll email back with options and then make the booking. I tend not to bother with this for train tickets, where the interface is broadly similar to most other booking sites, but for hotels and flights it's much easier to call.

 

[xotGD]

I (or a PA) will just call them, tell them the requirements and they'll email back with options and then make the booking.

I never trust this sort of arrangement. Half the time, they don't find the flight that you found yourself and want to take.

Having to email the agent a screen shot of the flight you want, that they say doesn't exist, and then paying them commission because they are the experts. Pfft!