A simple 10-step guide to help growing businesses run safer, smarter and more efficient travel programs this year.
1. Start the year with a clear travel strategy
- Confirm your travel objectives for 2026 aligned to your sales growth, client relationships, training, and internal collaboration objectives.
- Reassess your travel categories and who needs to travel most often.
- Align travel policy settings with your business goals, not just last year’s habits
2. Review and refresh your travel policy
- Ensure rules are easy to understand and simple for employees to follow.
- Check approval processes and remove bottlenecks where possible.
- Update accommodation, airfare and expense guidelines to reflect current market conditions and employee expectations.
- Clarify what’s ‘essential’, what’s flexible and what’s optional.
3. Strengthen duty of care
- Confirm traveller tracking and emergency response processes.
- Review after-hours support and escalation points.
- Make sure new starters understand your travel safety expectations before their first trip.
- Work with your TMC to audit your risk procedures and close any gaps
4. Put traveller experience at the centre
- Ask frequent and infrequent travellers what slows them down when travelling for business.
- Prioritise comfort, clarity and predictability – small improvements to the travel experience can have big returns on productivity and performance.
- Ensure itineraries support productivity (reasonable flight times, enough rest, workable schedules).
- Provide travellers with easy access to help when plans change.
5. Check your travel tech for efficiency
- Check whether your team are full leveraging their online booking and reporting tools to reduce workload and drive efficiency.
- Integrate systems where possible so employees aren’t jumping between platforms.
- Ensure traveller profiles are kept up to date to improve booking efficiency and traveller experience. Consider HR feeds for accuracy and currency of employee information.
- Lean on technology for speed and accuracy – and on human support for judgement and care.
6. Build smarter travel booking habits
- Encourage early booking for domestic routes and accommodation where capacity is tight.
- Track fare trends with your TMC to understand supply peaks and price swings.
- Standardise preferred airlines, hotels and ground transport for consistency and value.
- Set clear expectations for changes, cancellations and rebooking.
7. Strengthen supplier relationships
- Review your airline, hotel and transport agreements.
- Confirm you’re getting the right mix of value, flexibility and service.
- Consider consolidating volume with a smaller set of suppliers to unlock stronger benefits.
- Use your TMC’s relationships and consolidated buying power to guide negotiations.
8. Keep an eye on budget – without limiting travel
- Identify areas where spend can be managed more efficiently (e.g., advance purchase, smarter routing, clearer approval paths).
- Review unused ticket credits and ensure they’re monitored closely to maximise redemption.
- Focus on value over cost-cutting – productive travellers deliver better returns.
9. Train your EAs, PAs and Travel Arrangers
- Provide a quick refresher on new policies, tools and escalation points.
- Equip them with templates and tools for pre-trip planning, approvals and group bookings.
- Reinforce the support available through your TMC so they’re not carrying the load alone
10. Set up quarterly travel reviews
- Check spend, savings and traveller feedback every quarter.
- Review what worked and what needs adjusting.
- Use these insights to refine your program progressively, not reactively.
A stronger travel program for 2026 starts with just a few simple steps.
2026 will reward businesses that plan ahead, support their travellers and use technology to make life easier – while relying on experienced human service when it matters.
Contact Spencer Corporate Travel today to discuss your business’s corporate travel needs.
