For certain companies, especially those with a large sales force, travel expenses are a major operating cost item requiring special programs to minimize travel expense on the part of all employees. Although allowable travel expenses may be covered by company policy, there are many ways that a travelling employee can minimize travel expense, reduce cost and contribute to the company’s profitability.
The major areas of an employee’s travel expense will come from air and surface travel, hotel accommodations and meals. By being a smart and resourceful traveller, an employee can cut down on travel expense in these areas. Here are some ideas recommended by travel advisors and seasoned globetrotters.
Travel expenses constitute one of the most nebulous and contentious areas in business, spanning the fields of compensation, human resource management and overall operating expenses. It is also one of the most fluid areas defying the establishment of any long-term, or even medium-term, policy. The basic issues that influence policies related to travel expenses are the type of work, geography, transport situation, culture, competition and tax regulations.
The industry a company operates in and the types of work employees do is the first consideration in the establishment of a policy on travel expenses. A sales-oriented company employing a large number of sales representatives will skew its policy towards this line of work. On the other hand, an industrial business consisting mostly of factory workers will probably have a travel expenses policy with purely managers in mind.
