Reducing business travel expenses

With the economy still uncertain and many businesses looking for ways to save money, cutting back on your business travel expenses may be one of the smartest things you can do. Avoid laying off people as you will see that your productivity levels decrease and it can also impact your employee morale as your other employees are forced to take on the extra work to keep the company running.

The problem with business travel expenses is that they are at an all-time high. It seems as though many airlines are trying to save money as well and they have increased their costs. You now have to pay for luggage and many airlines are charging you for food and beverage on the flight. Since you have to pay for luggage, one thing you can do is to start packing lighter and try to avoid checking a bag. Some people have found that buying travel items when they get to their destination is easier than trying to pack them and take them on the airplane where they are often taken out at security checks anyhow.

Hotels have also increased their prices as well in order to stay alive. Becoming a member of Wyndham Rewards is a great way to save on numerous motel/hotel options. These places are decent to stay at, nothing fancy so you will need to become comfortable staying in 2 star hotels. Many of them come with free WiFi where some of the bigger hotels are starting to charge for WiFi. As a business owner, you will need to have access to the internet on your vacation in order to stay in touch with your staff and to make sure the business is running appropriately.

Do not discount the power of the internet. You can find so many valuable resources with the internet that it will be easy for you to dramatically cut your travel expenses. Travelocity and other travel sites will run online specials and if you book them early enough, you will be able to drop the cost of the hotel stay and airfare.Try to book your stay at least 60-90 days in advance to get the best rates on hotels and airfare.

Take a look at discount airlines like Southwest airlines and JetBlue. Both of them have lower prices on airfare and Southwest is advertising that they will not charge you for your luggage. Although you may not be able to get the same type of seats with the discount airlines, the savings is definitely worthwhile for your company.

Consider getting a corporate credit card that offers savings on airfare and hotels. Discounts on travel expenses no matter where you can get them are worthwhile. The way you save with credit cards usually comes down to how often you travel. As you make travel purchases on the credit card, you can get double the rewards. You will be given points and after you build up enough points you can cash it in for free hotel stays and also free airfare. The other nice thing about credit cards is that many of them also reward you with free dinners and tickets to concerts and plays. This is a great thing to have as you can use these rewards to entertain potential employees or clients.

View all of the various airlines websites and look into the discounts and offers they have. This will help you to see which ones you want to fly with so you can start getting the discounts and "royal treatment" from these sites. Join their frequent flyer clubs and make sure you are entering the number each time you book a flight.