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Business travel insurance for the overseas businessman

Business travel insurance is a must-have for anyone who travels a lot due to his/her occupation. There are many companies out there that cater to those who are interested in business travel, providing coverage for their computer equipment. The Internet is a great source to find out more information about this particular type of travel insurance, with reliable companies presenting their services in detail.

Once you have found a company to serve your interests, make sure you check out the levels of cover and other conditions implied in the contract. Business travel insurance can guarantee laptop cover but also provide coverage for delayed business equipment. The period during which you are insured for business travel is up to you, varying between 24 and 60 days. Sometimes, you may discover that there are companies providing an additional coverage for winter sports.

The interesting thing about business travel insurance is that it can be taken both by the employer and the employee. When it comes to the employer, the travel insurance covers the following: business equipment, computer equipment and business money. The employee benefit from family travel insurance (kids are covered for free), they are provided with the winter sports coverage and even insured for adventure sports. As you can see, these specialists have really thought about everything wanting to satisfy their clients in every way. After all, it seems right to have the best possible coverage when you have to go on a business travel.

If you want to be certain that you have chosen the right policy, then you should start by checking out all the things covered. As it was already mentioned, the business travel insurance covers business equipment. What does this actually refer to? Anyone who goes on a business travel needs a computer or a laptop, thus you can certainly understand why computer equipment and additional communication devices are covered. Their owner is insured in case of loss, theft or damage that has incurred during the business travel.

Standard cover for travel insurance refers to: medical expenses, travel delay or personal liability. There is also a cover for business travel insurance, addressing the following: business equipment, computer equipment, employee replacement and business money. There are two additional covers, one reserved for winter sports and the other for golf. These are annual policies and you will have to think long and hard whether they are right for you. Do not sign any contract for business travel insurance unless it covers medical emergencies and health care expenses.

Business travel insurance is a smart thing to have, especially if you want to protect your assets during your travels. You can easily see if you need an annual policy once you determine the number of business travels you need to undertake each year. Read carefully for the fine print and choose the best one for your needs!

Tags: Business, businessman, Insurance, overseas, Travel

The Economic Recession Diet for Business Travel

Cutting travel program fat without compromising strategic objectives

The global economic downturn is hitting business travel where it hurts: According to a new survey by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), more than 70 percent of U.S. travel managers plan to spend less on corporate travel in 2009. The results represent a sharp shift from an earlier ACTE poll (Sept. 2008), which found that only 33 percent of U.S. travel managers were planning on cutting travel spend in the year to come.

While the ACTE survey may have focused on the U.S., the challenges faced by travel buyers and travel managers cut across all sectors of the globe. From reducing travel to tightening travel policy, and from renegotiating with suppliers to adjusting travel behavior, travel program stakeholders are intent on cutting trips and curbing expenses.

The silver lining to the financial storm clouds, says Kathy Jackson, executive vice president.

Story highlights:

* Travel buyers and managers now able to make changes that were impossible in the past

* New role for account managers in understanding and supporting client business drivers

* Changes to travel policy, approval process, traveler behavior are leading savings mechanisms for cost-conscious companies

* Demand management and online technologies are key supports

For Global Client Management at BCD Travel, is that the economy is enabling travel buyers and their respective teams to make changes that, quite frankly, have never been achievable in the past.

The challenge, adds Jackson, is to save on travel spend without compromising on business objectives: “As hard as it may be to foresee, the recession will not last forever. Companies will need to emerge from the downturn with plans for growth and solid business relationships in place- and travel is a crucial element in supporting growth and retention initiatives.”

Teri Miller, senior vice president for Global Client Management in the Americas for BCD Travel, sees a major opportunity for travel management company account managers in the current situation: “Account managers need a deep understanding of the customer’s business drivers to enable them to anticipate and add value, rather than react. As an example, if a client is closing manufacturing plants in three countries, our account manager will explain how travel patterns will shift as a result, illustrate what effect that may have on supplier contracts and provide a plan for optimizing potential impact.”

What steps are BCD Corporate Travel clients taking to combat the recession?

Companies need to look beyond the big-ticket items, says Jackson, and filter adjustments through every component of a trip. “It may be tempting to focus exclusively on air ticket costs, but for some programs, air may make up only as much as 20 percent of total T&E expenditure. Our account managers, often with the support of a consultative engagement from Advito [the independent consulting branch of BCD Travel], help clients focus on the total cost of trip, including hotel, ground transportation and even restaurant costs.”

A list of some of the decisions in which BCD Travel is supporting its clients’ recession-management travel strategies is below.

The choices and decisions being made represent a major opportunity for companies to make lasting beneficial changes to their travel programs, says Jackson: “As with any diet, success is incumbent on making change a way of life, not a 30-day wonder regime.”

Changes in travel policy

Growing corporate cost-consciousness is manifesting itself most prominently in the refinement and enactment of more stringent travel policies. Among the common cost-cutting elements BCD Travel is seeing: shifting from business class to coach class (variations include mandating coach class for all travelers regardless of hierarchical level and increasing the business-class flight-time threshold); down-tiering hotels (i.e., three-star instead of four-star); mandating the use of public transport rather than taxis; and retaining frequent flyer miles for business travel rather than personal travel.

BCD Travel is also seeing an increase in the use of rail and low-cost carriers within EMEA, says Felix Vezjak, senior vice president for Global Client Management in EMEA: “Companies are much more likely to accept what were formerly seen as inconveniences (i.e., secondary airports) in exchange for savings. However, particularly in the case of low-cost carriers, companies need to ensure that their travelers always use the preferred booking channels (online booking tool and agency) of choice to ensure adequate reporting and security tracking.”

For further suggestions on refining and enforcing travel policy, see our Feb. 2009 article “Reliance on compliance.” Changes to travel approval process

Whether it’s instituting an official approval process where one might not have existed or – as is more common – making existing processes more restrictive, this cost-cutting method is winning wide-spread support among BCD Corporate Travel clients as an easy “quick win.”

As part of a concerted travel-cost reduction effort, one of BCD Travel’s global clients, which has over US0 million in annual travel spend and more than 325,000 employees worldwide, changed its travel approval process radically to incorporate the following:

# No travel unless approved by a vice president on a single trip basis (<150 VPs in the company)

# No last-minute travel (under seven days’ advance purchase) unless approved by an executive vice president (<15 EVPs in the company)

Demand management (travel reduction or travel freeze)

More and more companies today view demand management as one of the biggest opportunities they have to control or reduce costs without compromising their overall business goals and requirements.

Among the possible steps companies can take to reduce travel demand:

# Eliminate all non-client-related travel

# Freeze attendance at industry conventions and conferences

One BCD Travel client refers to internal meetings as the “mother of all travel,” and has implemented the following methods to reduce the travel they generate:

# Prioritize video/web-conferencing for internal meetings

# Reduce number of meeting participants (all participants must be on agenda)

# Require meetings to be planned around travel, rather than vice versa

# Eliminate hotel nights before and after the meetings

# Choose meeting venues based on total cost, including travel and employee time spend

Travel management company as educational and staffing resource

BCD Travel has played an important role for several major clients in helping educate travelers and travel arrangers on a range of subjects in order to improve their ability to support the companies’ savings initiatives. For some clients, BCD Travel account management has provided workshop sessions for travel bookers; for others, the company has created “Tips and Tricks” documents for cost-savvy travel that clients have made available to all travelers.

Some clients have also had to face internal downsizing, resulting in the loss of key travel personnel. In one recent case, following the departure of the travel manager, BCD Travel has been able to dedicate a resource to that role. The account manager has also supported the client by conducting analyses to forecast further headcount reduction ahead of online adoption drive. This headcount reduction has been written into the budget for 2009.

Increased use of online booking tools

In order to save on transaction costs and streamline processes, companies are increasingly mandating that all domestic or point-to-point travel be booked online. Online tools can also play an important role in supporting changes to the travel policy and to traveler behavior, says Miller: “Companies can modify booking tools to ask travelers about the necessity of a trip or offer alternatives to the journey before proceeding to booking.”

Program consolidation

Finally, says Jackson, the economic downturn may present a significant “carrot” for companies that had been looking into consolidating their travel services regionally or globally: “Consolidation of multiple country services into a multinational service center, for example, can represent considerable savings in resource and process costs. However, companies must be sure that their organization is prepared to fully support consolidation in order to fully achieve the benefits. That means asking questions like, ‘Do we have a consistent travel policy in place that spans the markets involved? Are there language constraints that would be met by the service center?’”

Tags: Business, Diet, Economic, Recession, Travel

By a Large, Business Travel is not a Pleasurable Experience

Business travel has become so common that a considerable proportion of the corporate world of America is spending more time in airplanes and hotels than on their couches or in their automobiles.

According to a recent estimate, about 40 million adults in the US travel on business at least once a year to a location about 50 miles from home. More than 20 percent of the trips made by African Americans, for instance, are related to their work.

Those who do not need to travel frequently on business consider business travel glamorous and exciting. However, in reality, business travel is often arduous.

It is tough physically, tough on the family, and especially tough on the pockets of businesspersons who do not have the luxury of generous expense accounts to take care of their travel expenses.

In addition, those who travel on business regularly, quickly wise up to the fact that a stress-free and safe journey requires the smooth functioning of a number of interconnected factors, which includes the vagaries of the weather.

According to a study conducted recently, monitoring business travel trends:

> 58 percent of business travel is undertaken for association meetings and conferences,

> 43 percent comprising of business travel made by individuals,

> and 29 percent for corporate meetings.

The study also identified some of the most popular destinations within the US for business travel. They are:

> Washington, D.C.,

> New York,

> Los Angeles/Long Beach,

> Chicago,

> Atlanta,

> Boston,

> Houston,

> Minneapolis-St. Paul,

> Detroit,

> and Dallas.

Irrespective of what the destination is, business travel is seldom an enjoyable experience. Some companies will allow their business travelers the opportunity to enjoy their travel surroundings but this is usually short lived depending on the demands of the trip.

Business travelers, who have to make frequent trips, need special facilities to ease the hassles of traveling. Airlines and hotels are increasing the levels of services they provide in order to meet the growing demands of business travelers:

Usually, business travelers research fares on their own and make their reservations online. According to a survey, it was found that only 32 percent of corporate travelers used the services of travel agents for their reservation needs, while the rest, 68 percent, preferred using the internet or online services to plan at least some part of their business traveling arrangements.

Business travelers are usually technologically conversant; hence, choose to handle all their traveling arrangements through the Internet, limiting the necessity of having to interact with travel agents and professionals dealing with customer service.

Most tourism related sites offer one-stop travel facilities for reservations of flights, booking rooms in hotels, and providing transportation on the ground.

Major airlines like Delta and American have included travel-friendly features like locating cheap fares, finding economical hotel accommodation, and hiring cars on a rental basis inexpensively on their websites.

Travelers, thus, can make arrangements for an entire business trip, which includes seating preferences, confirming special food requests, and a text message or e-mail verifying their flight status and information about the departure timings with a few clicks of the mouse button.

Most of these sites provide boarding passes that can be printed out and online check-ins within 24 hours of the departure of the flight.

At the airport, those travelers in a hurry can take advantage of check-in kiosks in order not to have to wait in long lines, and get their boarding passes and their seating information.

Frequent Flyer Miles, Automatic Upgrades, and Comfortable Seating:

One of the biggest perks of traveling frequently on business is the facility of accumulating points, which can be exchanged for vacations. Travelers, therefore, are always on the look out for hotels offering generous points facilities.

Frequent air travelers also favor automatic upgrades and comfort inside the airplane, such as generous legroom and additional storage facilities overhead. Business traveler programs like EliteAccess provided by Continental Airlines offer comforts like guarantees of no-middle-seat and upgrades to the first class if possible.

Getting Value for Money:

Companies are constantly curtailing overhead expenses by cutting down on the travel allowances they give their executives, while business travelers look for ways in which they can maximize their allowances to the fullest.

For example, several hotels offer free breakfasts, while others provide complimentary facilities such as a welcoming snack or allowing their guests to make free long distance and local calls. Many hotels also offer free newspapers, tea and coffee.

Feeling at Home Far Away from Home:

Business travelers are so frequently away from home that they look for services that replicate their home comforts.

Although hotels are selected primarily for value and location, but business travelers expect home-like comforts like high quality toiletries, comfortable bedding, choices in beverages, cable TV and films, broadband internet access, exercise and convenient check-in/out facilities, and so on.

Tags: Business, Experience, Large, Pleasurable, Travel

Corporate Travel Agents Help In Managing Corporate Business Travel

Traveling for your business does not necessarily means buying expensive ticket for your last minute bookings. With the help of corporate travel agents or the corporate travel agencies it is very easy to get affordable corporate business travel to domestic and international destinations.

The corporate business travel is managed by many of the corporate travel agents, who can help you search for cheap tickets for your air fare. These corporate travel agents can also help you find cheap hotel bookings also; that your corporate business travel is easily affordable by you. They work for special corporate travel agencies that deal in corporate travel packages and can make all kinds of arrangement for your business travel.

If you need to travel in a large group for a special event, then again the corporate travel agencies can come to your aid. The corporate travel agents can get you good discount on your corporate business travel bookings. The areas covered by the corporate business travel may include booking tickets for your flight journey, bus journey or your train journey. They can also get bulk booking for your corporate business travel group and can get you good discounts on the booking.

The corporate travel agents can also arrange for your transportation and can get you the best information regarding your booking. Many of the corporate travel agencies function online as well and this makes it convenient for people to learn about the different types of corporate business travel. You can contact their online corporate travel agents, who may provide you with the required information related to the package deals. Booking your business corporate travel through the corporate travel agents can save you a lot of money and help you cut down on the expenses.

If you need to contact corporate travel agents online, who may be able to assist you with your travel plan then you can visit corporatetravelagency.co.in. The travel portal has good corporate travel agents who can provide you with the best corporate packages and deals. They can design your corporate trip for you and thus you can leave the travel plans on them and look forward to a well managed and affordable business trip.

Tags: Agents, Business, Corporate, Help, Managing, Travel

Business Travel Insurance

Anyone that travels a lot should consider travel insurance, but those that travel for business often overlook the importance of this protection. Business travel insurance is simply a good idea because it can provide you with the protection that you need whether you are travelling just a short or long distance away from home. You never know when you are going to need the protection that insurance can provide, so you should look into business travel insurance before you go on your next trip.

The great thing about business travel insurance is that the individual can purchase it or a company can purchase it. Many companies are choosing to purchase the insurance for all of their employees that travel. This is a very economical way to buy the coverage as many companies can offer bulk buy discounts. This can be a particularly good idea for companies that host a lot of conferences, meetings, team building events, training courses, product launches, and the like. Many businesses offer corporate hospitality outings and the like, and even on these fun getaways employees should be protected and business travel insurance is a great way to get that protection.

If you happen to be an employee that travels to a lot of business oriented annual general meetings, exhibitions, seminars, or conventions and you aren’t provided with business travel insurance you can buy it yourself. The coverage is not at all expensive, and you may even be able to purchase the coverage at the same time that you plan an event or plan your travel, which will make it convenient to purchase. When you purchase this protection you can go on your business travels and not worry about what would happen if you were robbed, if your luggage was lost, or if you needed medical attention in an area where your usual medical or dental insurance was not valid.

Many of us think about travel insurance when we are going on vacation or visiting exotic vacations, but this is not the only time when you need the protection that this type of insurance can provide. Business travel insurance is just as important as the insurance that you would buy when flying across the world for an exotic vacation or honeymoon because there is just as much opportunity for you to encounter health problems or circumstances that you just did not plan for. Why should you be any less equipped to handle these problems on a business trip than you would be when you are on vacation? When you leave home you should feel safe, secure, and confident in your abilities to handle any situation and with business travel insurance you can do this.

If you don’t travel often or you only travel once a year you can opt to purchase your business travel insurance for just one trip. All you have to do is disclose when you will be travelling, where you will be going, and when you will be returning. This is generally very affordable and will offer you the protection that you should have on your one trip. If you travel all the time for work you can choose to buy your business travel insurance for the whole year. While this is more expensive in the beginning, it is cheaper over the course of the year than it would be to purchase the coverage every time you go away on travel. Many times there are also different levels of coverage to choose from, so you can choose from very basic coverage to very extensive coverage, based on your needs. When you purchase the travel business insurance you may want to consider the areas that you travel to as well as what sort of coverage your other insurance coverage may provide as this information will help you determine what sort of coverage you need.

It used to be more difficult to buy travel insurance, and that is why many people simply opted not to do it. In many cases you had to go right to an insurance agent and you had to fill out a ton of paperwork, or you could go to a travel agent and do the same thing. Now, you can purchase your business travel insurance right along with your other travel needs such as but not limited to your event planning services, your car rental services, lodging, transportation, and airfare. This is very convenient and allows for those that didn’t want to bother with the coverage before because of the hassle to purchase the benefits of travel insurance. Next time you receive notice that you have to travel for your job, why not look into travel business insurance and see what protection it can offer you? It’s better to have the protection and not need it than need it and not have it!

Tags: Business, Insurance, Travel