Quest allows company admins and travel managers to limit what type of reservations can be booked without needing approval. This guide will walk you through the key considerations and best practices for setting up your company’s travel policies.

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Configuring Travel Policies by Flight Duration

AllFly’s platform allows you to set travel policies based on the duration of flights. This flexibility ensures that your employees travel comfortably while adhering to budget constraints.

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Here is a general recommendation on where to start when thing about travel policies:

• ‍0-4 hours: $500 cap, economy‍
• 4-6 hours: $800 cap, economy
• ‍6-12 hours: $1,350 cap, economy & premium
• ‍12+ hours: $1,750 cap, economy & premium

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By tailoring your policies to the length of flights, you ensure cost-effectiveness while maintaining traveler comfort.

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Everyday Business Travel vs. Event-Based Travel Policies

Quest allows you to create travel policies that apply to everyday business travel as well as policies that are specific to events. This distinction is important because events often have unique requirements, such as larger group sizes or special accommodations.

• Everyday Business Travel Policies: These are the standard policies that apply to regular business trips, ensuring consistency and cost control across all routine travel.
• ‍Event-Based Travel Policies: Since events are more specialized, you can create policies that are tailored to the specific needs of each event. This might include different budget allocations, class of service preferences, or specific routing requirements.

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Using AllFly’s Forecast Tool for Budgeting

Accurately budgeting for travel is essential, and AllFly’s Free Forecast tool can be a valuable resource in this process. The Forecast tool provides insights into median fares, which can serve as a reliable benchmark for setting your travel budget.

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The median fare gives you a realistic expectation of what you should be paying for flights, avoiding the extremes of overly expensive or unusually cheap fares.

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Why you should avoid using Google Flights for analysis

While Google Flights is a popular tool for checking flight prices, it’s not ideal for corporate travel analysis.

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Here’s why:

• Basic Economy Pricing: Google Flights often displays Basic Economy prices on its listing cards. Most corporate travel programs prefer to avoid Basic Economy due to its restrictive conditions, such as limited baggage allowances and non-refundable tickets. The difference between Basic Economy and standard Economy can range from $50 to $100.‍
• Impact on Budgeting: Relying on Google Flights could lead to under-budgeting, as the prices shown may not reflect the true cost of travel for your employees.

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Budgeting for large groups

When managing travel for groups over 150 people, special considerations need to be made. Airlines typically sell the cheapest seats first, so if you have a large group, the initial prices you see online may not be representative of the final costs.

If a significant number of employees are traveling from the same city, we recommend calculating your budget using the 5-7th cheapest fare available and adding 50%. This approach accounts for the likely increase in fare as cheaper seats sell out.

For example, if 50 employees are flying from JFK to Palm Springs and the initial fare is $450, you might be able to secure the first 10-20 tickets at that price. However, the remaining tickets will likely cost more. In this scenario, budgeting at $675 per ticket would be a more realistic estimate.

By following this method, you can avoid unexpected expenses and ensure that your travel budget covers all necessary costs.

We also recommend that if you group is between 200-300+, you strongly consider hosting your event near a major international airport.

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Communicating your company's travel policy to employees

Communicating your company’s travel policies before employees book travel is crucial to ensure that everyone understands the rules and expectations, particularly regarding cancellations.

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When an employee cancels a non-refundable ticket, the value of that ticket often becomes an eCredit tied to the traveler’s profile, which is standard practice among many airlines in North America.

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It’s important to clearly instruct employees that these eCredits should not be used for personal travel but must be retained for future business purposes. By setting and communicating these guidelines upfront, you help safeguard company resources, maintain compliance, and ensure that any potential travel credits are appropriately managed and utilized for future business needs.