Our customer’s products are sold in over 56 countries worldwide including Costa Rica, Germany and India. Its technicians and engineers travel with the machines to install, commission, program, test and provide training onsite. As a result, the company has an extensive corporate travel program.

Given our customer’s location, all overseas flights require a connecting Rex flight domestically, followed by the overseas leg of the trip. Other costs include accommodation, lounge memberships, hire cars, taxis and meals. In total the company’s travel program can cost upwards of half a million dollars a year. As a result, it is extremely important for them to have visibility of all transactions to keep costs as low as possible.

Another important factor for our customer is flexibility in their travel program. Depending on their clients’ requirements, when a technician visits they may need to extend their trip beyond what was booked. Additionally, when machines need to be serviced unexpectedly, last minute trips will need to be booked on short notice.

Before partnering with AirPlus International, the staff booked trips themselves or through local travel agents using corporate credit cards. This was making it increasingly difficult to manage costs and ensure travellers were complying with the travel policy. Additionally, our customer had also previously fallen victim to fraud, with up to three people each year needing their card to be replaced.

The old process was also leading to the creation of a large volume of invoices which created headaches for both the travellers and the admin team. All invoices needed to be coded by the traveller to enable the admin team to reconcile. This was usually at the bottom of the staff member’s priority list which meant that they would continually need to be chased. Once the admin team finally had the coded invoices, reconciliations would take 4-6 hours a month to complete.

Frustrated with the lack of visibility, inefficiencies and time wastage in their travel booking and payments process, the company set out to find a new solution in September 2016. We were recommended for our cost effective and straightforward travel payments solutions which would save them time and money.

The company met with AirPlus International and after exploring the numerous options and benefits signed up on the spot. They opened an AirPlus International Company Account to book all flights through the UATP network and now has single-use virtual MasterCards issued for all hotel transactions. The virtual cards are generated in the traveller’s name, have a credit limit assigned based on the travel policy and are locked to a merchant code.

The adoption of the AirPlus International Company Account and single-use virtual MasterCards has led to a seamless and compliant process for the traveller, while significantly reducing the risk of fraud. The combination of UATP and the Mastercard network provide the greatest acceptance, while at the same time ensuring that our customer incurs a low merchant fee.

All transactions appearing on the company’s monthly statement include customised data fields they selected including department and order number. These are captured at the time of booking with their TMC. This allows them to have increased visibility of their travel spend and the ability to make informed decisions regarding their travel program.

According to our customers, the benefits of partnering with AirPlus International were immediately felt.

“Our travel payments and reconciliation process has become so much simpler since we partnered with AirPlus International. Reconciliation of our travel invoices used to take up to six hours, now we can download the report into our financial system in one click with the whole reconciliation process taking no more than 10 minutes a month.’”

“For a small admin team, creating those time efficiencies is really valuable. It means we don’t have to hire additional people which is good news for our cash flow. It also reduces human error. We also find that our admin staff are happier as they can focus on more strategic work rather than the monotonous reconciliation work.”

Our customer is particularly pleased with the simple and comprehensive reporting capability.

“I used to have to search through all invoices to discover travel information. Now I can pull a report on a certain person or department and immediately have access to timely and meaningful information.”

Other benefits our customer has recognised include reductions in fraud and an easier process for its travellers.

“The process for paying for hotels is now much easier. Our travellers’ accommodation and breakfast is pre-paid via the virtual card so our staff don’t need to worry about it. Previously we had situations where staff had lost their wallet and phone and weren’t able to check-in to their hotel. Now, the new process solves that problem for our staff. It also means that our corporate cards aren’t being used nearly as often which reduces the incidence of fraud. We haven’t had any fraudulent activity since we switched to AirPlus International.”

The AirPlus International Corporate Account has also enabled the company to have greater control over costs as well as enforce compliance with the travel policy.

“By limiting travel bookings to the approved providers under our travel policy, it has become much easier to reinforce compliance with the policy. This has ensured that everyone in the business is treated the same. This has also helped us keep costs down – I’d estimate that we would now save about $10,000 a year thanks to the new system.”

Our customer has enjoyed partnering with our team who worked relentlessly to offer a more streamlined travel payments process.

“The AirPlus International team have made things really simple and painless. They are trustworthy, easy to work with, responsive and have always answered our questions quickly. We haven’t had any complaints from the team when it comes to adopting the new system, which can be rare with a new system. Overall our partnership with AirPlus International has made everything so much simpler.”

Other benefits our customer has recognised include reductions in fraud and an easier process for its travellers.

“The process for paying for hotels is now much easier. Our travellers’ accommodation and breakfast is pre-paid via the virtual card so our staff don’t need to worry about it. Previously we had situations where staff had lost their wallet and phone and weren’t able to check-in to their hotel. Now, the new process solves that problem for our staff. It also means that our corporate cards aren’t being used nearly as often which reduces the incidence of fraud. We haven’t had any fraudulent activity since we switched to AirPlus International.”

The AirPlus International Corporate Account has also enabled the company to have greater control over costs as well as enforce compliance with the travel policy.

“By limiting travel bookings to the approved providers under our travel policy, it has become much easier to reinforce compliance with the policy. This has ensured that everyone in the business is treated the same. This has also helped us keep costs down – I’d estimate that we would now save about $10,000 a year thanks to the new system.”

Our customer has enjoyed partnering with our team who worked relentlessly to offer a more streamlined travel payments process.