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Travel Value & Perks
Who Says You Can’t Have Both?
By Michael Roney
After a couple of cool years, business travel is heating up again, with 57% of senior finance executives expecting to maintain or increase spending, according to the latest American Express/CFO Research Global Business & Spending Monitor. Yet this positive outlook comes with some caveats, as companies now are demanding solid return on investment for all trips.
The current climate means that, more than ever, value and productivity are must-have benefits for business travelers, whether they’re on the road for global organizations or for small to midsize companies. But what about comfort for all of those days away from family and friends—or even a little luxury?
Fortunately, travel value and perks are not mutually exclusive, thanks to increased competition for business travel budgets among providers. This is good news if you align and leverage the full matrix of programs, promotions and conveniences, including:
- Loyalty Programs: Combine one or two loyalty club memberships such as Sheraton’s Starwood Preferred Guest or Lufthansa’s Miles & More with associated credit cards. Consider your own travel patterns and priorities in light of flexibility (minimal blackout dates with multiple ways to earn and spend rewards); currency (points that are widely transferable to other programs); and earnings power (how rapidly you earn elite levels and awards).
- Smart Airport Choices: Consider accessibility (superior public transportation options and speedy inter-terminal transit); terminal design with logical layout, convenient gate access and quality retail facilities (for example, British Airways’ sleek new Terminal 5 at Heathrow); connection efficiency and on-time departure history (usually a function of runways and weather).
- High-Tech Enhancements: Pick the providers that off er the latest real-time technology to speed your trip, including mobile check-in and status updates such as Continental’s TripAlert; lobby kiosks at Hyatt, Marriott and other major hotel chains; on-board Wi-Fi; e-receipts; and even in-flight mobile call service on British Airways and other carriers.
- Innovative Amenities: Combine online booking tools such as hotels.com with fast-track service options such as National Car Rental’s Emerald Aisle and special membership programs designed to allow small to midsize businesses to capitalize on large-company conveniences, flexibility and savings.
Enjoy Your ROI
Despite the infamous hassles with security and a la carte airline pricing, overall we’ve before never seen such a breadth of choice and opportunity for frequent business travelers. Ultimately, these customer-friendly innovations allow you to save time, increase your productivity, and—dare we say it—enjoy your trip while ensuring a solid return on your travel investment.
The Quick Airport Getaway, E-Receipts and Other Innovations
Strong travel return on investment requires getting ground transportation value. That includes making that quick getaway at the rental lot while ensuring that your costs reflect today’s business realities.
“Once travelers get off the plane, they have to be efficient in what the company needs them to do,” says Rob Connors, Assistant Vice President, National Car Rental. “They’ve already had a lot dictated to them throughout their business trip: what seat to sit in, which hotel room they’re getting, what time their meeting is the next day and so forth. So, we give our loyalty customers speed, ease and control of their choices.”
Giving New Meaning to “Express”
Connors certainly walks the talk. In just the past few months, National’s Emerald Club picked up a National Business Travel Association/Wall Street Journal Business Traveler Innovation Award, and SmarterTravel’s 2010 Editor’s Choice Award for Best Rental Car Loyalty Program. This recent recognition complements accolades received from TheStreet.com and other consumer satisfaction guideposts.
Why all the fuss? Consider the Emerald Club program, free and available in 56 cities nationwide. Here, National takes “express pick-up” and kicks it up a couple of notches, providing an entire aisle of available vehicles from which you literally choose the one you want to drive.
“The process starts by reserving a midsize car, but the Emerald Aisle will be stocked with midsize and above,” notes Connors. “If one day there’s an SUV on the Aisle and you choose to drive off in it, you’ll only pay the midsize rate. Club members get the double benefit of choosing their own vehicle and the enhanced value of the upgrade at no additional expense.”
Innovation Equals Value
Convenience like this stems from constant customer feedback, including National’s Service Quality index (NSQi), the results of which are measured and posted internally. “NSQi continually enhances the experiences of our travelers because our cities are so gung-ho on getting high scores,” Connors says. This same culture drives other National innovations:
- E-receipts allow you to immediately jump on the terminal shuttle to catch your return flight without waiting for a printout.
- TollPass™ provides convenient, automated payments on tollways in the Northeast and around the country.
- Flexible rewards let you direct your earnings to airline miles, hotel points or free rental day rewards—and all activity counts toward elite Emerald Club status.
- Monthly statements include your recent rental activity, accumulated free days, days to be earned for the next tier and upgrades you’ve received during the last rental period.
- National’s Business Benefits Program (www.nationalcarbizben.com) makes it easy for small businesses to set preferences and enroll employees in the Emerald Club, providing big-time perks and efficiency.
Today’s business travel is demanding, but fortunately National is pushing the value envelope for hassled road warriors. “Our mantra here is that we’re going to bring intuition, ease and control to car rental,” says Connors. “Our research tells us what our customers want, so we provide it and are constantly going back down that path.”
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