Program
Overview and Evaluation |
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CRS consultants compile
extensive information about your company's management
and control of travel expenses. Travel policies and service
contracts (air, hotel, charge card, car rental, travel
agency, etc.) are expertly scrutinized and benchmarked
directly to current industry standards as well as companies
with similar travel volume. Fee-based program overviews
are frequently are the best starting point for more targeted
activities detailed below. |
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Sourcing
Travel Services |
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CRS has extensive experience with the
procurement of travel agencies, charge cards, and other
travel management services. CRS starts by developing
a shared understanding with clients of what they truly
need, and then issues customized request for proposals. We
manage the procurement process to keep vendors focused
on meeting your company's specific needs at the most
competitive pricing. CRS can manage the entire travel-sourcing process or provide targeted support to existing
procurements. |
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Travel
Management Programs |
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Companies with well-managed travel often pay
less for better travel services. More importantly, they
understand how and where their travel budgets are spent.
CRS will advise your company regarding options for obtaining
the best value for your company and making the most of
travel agencies, the Internet, and other travel technology. |
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Travel
Management Workshops |
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A one-day learning symposium, driven
by a company-set agenda, addresses travel-management
issues you deem most urgent to your program's success.
Current insights are offered and opportunities to streamline workflow
are examined. Also presented are new methods to enhance service levels for
company travelers as well as a variety of cost-effective
strategies. |
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Travel
Policy Development |
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CRS will provide expert direction in writing or revising
a succinct and enforceable travel policy to increase
cost savings and enhance services for company travelers.
A comprehensive travel policy checklist developed by
our team of experts alerts you to a variety of tax and
legal issues while assisting you in developing a policy
that effectively reflects your company culture and the
needs of all your travelers. Travel policies generally
must be reviewed in the context of a program overview. |
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Travel
Agency Audits |
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CRS consultants will review your travel
agency operations and the service configuration supporting
your company. We will ensure that you are getting the best
possible services at the lowest cost. When opportunities
for improvement are identified, we will quantify the
potential savings, provide advice on the next steps,
and support travel procurement in the negotiations process. |
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Airfare
and Hotel Reservation Audit |
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The most important step that a company
must take to manage travel is to have all company travel
booked through a designated agency. A successful travel
agency arrangement increases services while increasing
corporate controls and decreasing costs. CRS can determine
how well your incumbent agency is performing and either
improve your arrangement with them or find an agency
that meets your company’s needs more effectively. |
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Car
Rental Programs |
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Controlling car rental costs is a key
to reducing overall travel expenditures. Car rental agreements
offer lower fixed rates and usually cover insurance,
drop-off charges, and other surcharges. CRS consultants
will assess which vendors are the best fit for your company
and quickly put an agreement in place. |
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Hotel
Discount Programs |
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Controlling hotel costs is another
key to reducing travel costs. Even smaller companies
should be able to negotiate discounts at the hotels where
they frequently stay. CRS can help identify the hotels most
likely to agree to discounts, upgrades, and/or amenities,
and negotiate with them to get the best value available
for your company. |
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Preferred
Airline Programs |
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Many companies miss opportunities to
negotiate or implement savings with airlines. While direct
deals are available primarily for larger companies, midsized
companies can take advantage of other options to save on airfare to meetings
or to specific destinations, and/or direct travelers to
lower cost suppliers. CRS consultants will determine
what options will be most effective for your company
and put those deals in place. |
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Corporate
Charge Card and Payment Systems |
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Consolidating payment for travel expenses
through a single payment vehicle is a powerful management
tool that increases leverage and controls overall T&E
spending. CRS will find the best payment tool available
for your company based on usage, current systems, and
cost. |
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Meetings
Management |
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Few companies even know how much they
spend on off-site meetings. As a result, they spend too
much and create unknown liabilities. CRS will help your
company balance the needs for control and flexibility by creating
the most appropriate system for managing your
off-site company meetings. |
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Corporate
Travel Department (CTD) Options |
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Companies are now allowed to create
in-house travel agencies in order to avoid the costs of a third-party
travel agency. CRS will evaluate whether a CTD is a cost-effective
option and, if so, guide your company through the process
of applying for and implementing a certified corporate
travel department. |
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Implementing
a Corporate Travel Department (CTD) |
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If your company decides that a corporate
travel department is the most cost-effective approach
to purchasing and managing travel, CRS will assist with
completion of the application, as well as with key decisions regarding
service configuration, automation, and personnel, which will ensure that your CTD investment delivers the service
you need at the lowest cost. If requested, CRS can provide
continuous management oversight as well. |
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Benchmarking |
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Is your company managing travel effectively?
Are you getting the best possible value for your travel
dollar? CRS can tell you how your travel program stacks
up against the rest of the industry and advise on how to improve
that return. Benchmarking possibilities include your company's costs for the following: travel, travel agency, airlines,
hotels, and travel automations. CRS will not only tell
you whether you are paying too much, but also how to
get better service for less money. CRS can create and
moderate benchmarking groups, and/or evaluate how specific
travel agencies, services, and travel automation compare. |
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Travel
Websites and Portals |
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CRS can create—or optimize—your
travel website. Even best-in-class travel management
services will not add value if they are not communicated
clearly and updated regularly. A well-designed and well-supported
intranet travel site will achieve this objective. |
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Travel
Technology Audits |
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Travel technology, such as online booking,
management reporting, and expense-reporting systems,
can lower the costs of purchasing and managing travel
without reducing service levels. CRS will consider online
booking systems and Internet travel agencies, as well
as portals, reporting, and expense reimbursement systems
to assess how well your company leverages travel technology
to lower costs and improve controls. |
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Online
Travel Booking Systems |
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Online booking systems for companies
are different from the many well-known travel websites
because they can store and enforce policy rules, as well
as guide travelers toward lower-cost options that they
may not have considered. CRS will ensure that your company
is using the best system possible at the lowest cost. |
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Online/Internet Travel Agencies |
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Several large online consumer websites
for booking travel have deployed business services claiming
to offer the same services as conventional agencies at
lower costs. CRS will advise whether one of these new
entrants in the corporate travel marketplace will work
for your company and, if so, which one will work best. |
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Negotiations
and Contracting |
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The economics of travel management
are complex and non-intuitive. Worse, the complexity
of travel distribution channels can work against the
best interests of corporate customers. CRS consultants
are travel procurement specialists who know all the ins
and outs of travel contracts. They will ensure that your
company gets the best possible financial terms on the
services your company really needs from travel agencies,
airlines, hotels, and other service providers. |
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Implementation
Management |
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In order for the various components of a travel
management program to work together, they have to be
well assembled. CRS partners with your corporate team
to make sure that travel-related services are deployed
correctly, and that travelers have the training and information
needed to make the best travel choices. |
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Global
Travel Management |
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As your company grows internationally,
you face new challenges and opportunities that can cost—or
save—significant amounts of your travel budget.
CRS can advise regarding the best options for travel
services worldwide. |
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Limousine
and Sedan Services |
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Executive transportation services can
be cost-effective time-savers, or they can waste money while making
it harder for senior managers to travel. CRS can help
companies using these options ensure that they are getting
the value they pay for. |
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Surveys |
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To create and maintain a travel management
program that meets all your corporate needs, it is important
to know what your travelers think. CRS can deploy and
analyze surveys online that will give the truest picture
of traveler impressions and experience. As an alternative or
supplement to written surveys, directed interviews
with key travelers and decision makers can be conducted. However gathered,
user data will help your company get the services it
needs and avoid payment for services that add no value. |
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Financial
Analysis |
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The economics of travel distribution
are complex because so many costs are buried in standard
fees. CRS knows the financial realities of
the industry and what services should be bundled or unbundled.
CRS will provide true total costs of travel services. |
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Sarbanes-Oxley Audit |
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Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) legislation creates
landmines for travel managers and senior executives
since its provisions clearly apply to corporate travel.
CRS attorneys and consultants advise on SOX compliance
programs and can assist with SOX-related litigation.
(See Expert Witness.) |
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Expert
Witness Services |
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Several CRS consultants are licensed
attorneys and are able to support travel-related litigation
as expert witnesses. CRS also has a unique ability to
audit travel bookings made since 1985. CRS can audit
agency expenditures and payments, and analyze procedures
related to Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. |
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Outsourced
Travel Management |
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Our experienced
corporate travel managers are able to support this
function for clients on a temporary, part-time, or interim
basis. CRS acts as the client advocate to maintain
travel management programs and ensure that travel suppliers
deliver on contracts and promises. |
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Travel
Management Recruiting |
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CRS can help companies find full-time
travel-management experts to manage corporate travel
programs in house. CRS has the experience to ensure that
candidates are personally and culturally compatible with
your company, in addition to having travel-management
expertise. |
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Corporate
Aircraft Analysis |
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CRS can evaluate the total cost of
operating executive jets and other forms of corporate
aircraft. CRS also analyzes the proposed use of owned
or leased planes and provides perspective as to how these
planes are used by other companies. |
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Travel
Industry Research and White Papers |
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CRS consultants perform independent
research in various areas, including traveler surveys,
travel managers, travel agencies, and suppliers. CRS also
benchmarks competing travel agencies and travel-automation
vendors. Surveys and benchmarking can be supplemented
with our knowledge of best practices in travel management as well as the history of the travel industry. |
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Airfare
and Hotel Reservation Audits |
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CRS works directly with your company's
travel agencies and all of the airlines' computerized reservation
systems to provide you with an INDEPENDENT, THIRD-PARTY
travel-audit service. Each reservation is reviewed to
ensure the airfare booked is the LOWEST FARE AVAILABLE
at the time of booking and ticketing.
We will identify all air travel reservations that may
be altered in accordance with your travel policy to further
reduce your company travel costs prior to spending company
funds. We also identify any hotel reservation that was
not booked using the company options or agency preferred
programs. We then can rebook to these alternate options,
with the approval of the traveler, to further
reduce costs proactively. Click here to learn more about Airfare
and Hotel Reservation Auditing Services. |
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