Companies are slowly allowing their traveling employees to upgrade to business-class
September 27, 2011
After the recession that began in 2008, travel managers restricted premium-class travel options, but things are slowly returning to normal. The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), reports that the number of North American companies that allow premium-class air travel increased 5 percent over 2010 numbers, according to USA Today. The same report also shows that only 10 percent of companies in North America allow business travelers to upgrade to business or first-class
"Cost savings is still on top of their mind, but we're definitely seeing loosening up of some of the restrictions that were in place in who could travel in business class," Megan Costello, the managing director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, told the news source. "But it's slow and steady, not a huge opening of floodgates."
The GBTA survey also showed that 56 percent of companies still require their employees to choose less-expensive flights that may leave up to two hours before or after the time they would prefer to get going.
One way that companies can save money for their travel budget can be to have their employees use a long-distance phone card while they are abroad for business.