What Is Travel Leakage/Rogue Travel?

Savvy travelers seek the most cost-effective transportation and lodging, and business travelers are no exception. While many businesses require employees to use specific booking tools to make travel arrangements, many workers go ‘rogue’ and organize their own trips. This travel leakage, or “invisible travel,” causes issues around budgeting and safety that businesses want to avoid.

Travel Leakage Leads to Higher Costs and Safety Concerns

Undocumented travel bookings are problematic for businesses, particularly in budgeting and accounting. When employees arrange travel outside of the official travel channels, they may transgress guidelines for vendor selection and spending limits. Along the same lines, expense reconciliation becomes more onerous when accounting departments must collect and organize receipts from multiple vendors.

Additionally, rental car, hotel and airline companies may offer corporate discounts that might be at risk if not enough employees book through them, as those discounted rates are often negotiated based on the expected volume of travelers. 

Rogue Travelers Put Their Safety at Risk

Businesses have a duty of care for their employees on corporate trips, and travel management companies can facilitate traveler security if itineraries remain visible to all parties. Travel leakage, however, interferes with a company’s ability to support employees on trips, whether the dangers remain limited to petty theft and weather concerns or becomes as serious as a rise in the level of terrorist attacks. 

Employers using travel management programs can incorporate travel tracking into their risk mitigation strategies, but only if the employees use the tools provided when creating their itineraries.

Employee Choice Encourages Program Compliance

Some travel leakage is inevitable, especially among younger professionals and “bleisure” travelers. However, companies can curtail noncompliance by providing alternative options for employees. The global COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a shift in thinking for businesses: How can we address the need for collaboration and client contact while cutting costs and reducing employee travel fatigue? The solution is to leverage the power of choice, such that employees can simultaneously make their own travel decisions, stay in line with the company travel policy and earn meaningful incentives:

Multiple lodging and rental options empower workers: Companies can allow choice based upon location, price and quality.

Flexible travel policies build mutual trust: Transparent travel requirements and expectations enhance the relationship between employer and employee.

Incentives for employees improve motivation: Reducing travel leakage benefits the company, while employees can pocket the savings.

Rogue business travelers usually select lodging based on price points and proximity to desirable locations, such as local attractions or restaurants. Online booking tools that offer more options encourage employees to use the company’s chosen agent, especially if the program is easy to navigate.

Businesses Can Reduce Travel Leakage With the Right Tools

As businesses seek ways to trim their travel budgets without impacting employee effectiveness, the availability of online booking tools and employee incentives combine to minimize travel leakage and keep employees safe.

Rocketrip accomplishes this with our Price to Beat (P2B) system. How does it work?

Based on a company’s historical travel trends, travel policy and current market data, the Rocketrip algorithm sets a P2B for every air and hotel search your employee conducts. If the employee chooses an itinerary below the P2B, the employee and employer split the savings. 

Visit Rocketrip to learn how a smart online booking tool can enhance your corporate travel planning and add tangible benefits for your employees.