Understanding the New Travel Process: Meet the Agents, Roadmap, and Profile Creation

Transcription

1 Understanding the New Travel Process: Meet the Agents, Roadmap, and Profile Creation April 24,

2 Agenda Areas of Review 1. Overview of New Process 2. Meet CAT 3. Roadmap 4. Creation of Travel Profile 5. Booking a Trip 6. Expense Submission 7. Answers to Questions that have been asked 8. Additional Questions 2

3 Overview of New Process Partnerships have been formed with: Concur CAT AirPlus Wright Express 3

4 Concur s View of Travel and Expense Management Book Trip Take Trip Complete Expense Report Audit/ Back Office Payment Reporting Concur Cliqbook Travel Concur Expense Concur Audit Concur Pay Concur Intelligence One Platform One Service One User Experience One Set of Reconciled Data

5 Overview of New Process Use of Concur travel and expense: All travel will be booked through Concur in one of two ways 1. Online through Concur Cliqbook 2. Call CAT (travel agency) All expense reports will be submitted and approved online through Concur Expense Reimbursements will be made through Concur Pay if traveler is signed up for ACH 5

6 Overview of New Process Use of CAT: May 1 st campus can begin using the agency this is not required at this point but recommended Empress direct bill relationship will end, use can continue but out-of-pocket expense Use of CAT will not require the travelers to pay out-of-pocket for air, rail, or hotels Once system is live in September use of CAT will be required 6

7 Overview of New Process AirPlus Relationship: Our AirPlus relationship will allow us to pay for airfare and rail with a corporate virtual account There will be no out-of-pocket expense for the traveler for air and rail charges Receipts will automatically flow into expense profile to be attached to a report 7

8 Overview of New Process Wright Express Relationship: Our Wright Express relationship will allow us to pay for hotels with a corporate virtual account There will be no out-of-pocket expense for the traveler Receipt will automatically flow into expense profile to be attached to a report This form of payment can also be used for parking, internet access and meals at the hotel where the traveler is staying 8

9 Overview of New Process Traveler will be responsible for out-ofpocket: Car rentals, meals, and incidentals Certain groups of traveler s will be eligible for the use of Rensselaer travel credit cards and debit cards. Presidential approval will be required. 9

10 Overview of New Process Summary of new process: Use of CAT will begin May 1 st not required Use of online Concur Travel and Expense and the use of CAT will be required in September (other agencies will not be allowed) No out-of-pocket cost for the Air, Rail and Hotel Out-of-pocket cost for Vehicles, Meals, and Incidentals Use of travel credit and debit cards will be limited with Presidential approval 10

11 Meet CAT Meet CAT You may hear them referred to as CAT Lorrie Lewis Vice President Laura Miller Director of Business Development Laurie Danforth Corporate Travel Manager Terri Canavan Regional Office Manager 11

12 Meet CAT Offices in Clifton Park, New York and Colchester, Vermont. Ranked 32 nd largest travel management company in the U.S. according to Business Travel News 2009 report. Locally owned and operated for over 60 years. Affiliations with Travel Leaders and BCD Travel, two of the top three travel management firms in the world. Dedicated travel counselors with an average of 18 years experience. Premier customizable online booking tool and expense reporting program. Our philosophy is based on cultivating relationships, enabling us to discover with our clients their needs and how we can meet and surpass them. 12

13 Value Added Services Crisis Management - we know where all your employees are at any given time, and we will work to get them home as soon as possible. Customizable online booking tool applies corporate policies to help travelers stay in policy/budget. With the option of integrating to various expense reporting programs. 24 hour emergency traveler support. Our Global Alliance Hotel Program offers discounted rates and valuable amenities at over 15,000 properties. Seat & Fare checker automation searching every 24 hours for improved seat assignments and lower fares. Strategic account management and customer service. International travel desk. No Bias. Our goal is to find RPI employees an airline ticket that has the correct balance between cost & efficiency. Specialized groups and meeting department. We have access to ALL fares including web, government and consolidator. Un-used ticket tracker. Quality Assurance each reservation is processed through all of our standard quality control checks, in addition we can customize checks specific to your travel policy requirements. Travel policy enforcement and assistance in developing and/or updating. VIP service. Green initiatives. Unlimited customized reports, including Travel GPA 13

14 CAT Clients We manage travel for many academic institutions and successful companies including: (Since 2004) (Since 2007) (Since 1992) (Since 1987) (Since 2004) (Since 2001) (Since 1990) (Since 2004) (Since 2004)

15 Agency Advantages We are not a reservation center we build strong relationships with our clients, customizing our service to their specific requirements. We coordinate group travel for athletic teams, student groups, corporate retreats, conferences, etc. We can facilitate air, hotel, ground transportation including buses/vans, and destination functions. Using all of the best cutting edge technology available, Travel Leaders Child Travel/Albany Travel can connect local and global travelers to over 470 airlines, 53,000 hotel properties, 35 car rental companies, and 40 specialty travel service suppliers! We also offer an extensive repertoire of customizable reports and the highly regarded Travel GPA program. We quantify our savings for our clients including voids, downgrades, online booking, improved seat assignments, and more.

16 Travel Leaders Pricing Annual Fee Hotel/Car only reservation Service Charges No charge No charge Price Domestic /International Full Service (agent assisted) $15.72 P-Log Generation per Hotel Reservation $7 Rail $5.25 Group ticketed per air reservation $15.72 Voids Change Fee (exchange) Downgrades No charge No charge No charge Cliqbook online fulfillment only per air reservation $10 Cliqbook online transaction fee for hotel/car only No charge Leisure full service $25 Afterhours service call fee No charge 16

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18 Partnership CUSTOMER SERVICE High touch, high quality, customer service driven attitude EXPERIENCE Highly experienced and diverse personnel, with a low turnover rate of employees TECHNOLOGY Utilization of industry technology, with proprietary development of customized solutions where existing technologies don t exist COST MANAGEMENT Proven cost-savings experience and cost avoidance programs LEADERSHIP Attentive, hands-on management

19 We are very excited to work with all of you and the Rensselaer community. Thank you for your time today. We will be available after the presentation to answer any questions. We assume personal responsibility for achieving ambitious, measurable results in pursuit of our vision. We persevere in the face of challenges, seek resources to ensure the best outcomes, and work toward our goals with a sense of purpose and urgency.

20 Travel Roadmap Travel Roadmap A general outline of the travel roadmap is as follows: Week of April 16 th Communication requesting travel profiles be completed and announcement of Meet the Agent day Week of April 24 th Two sessions to explain roadmap with agents on campus May 1 st April 30 th May 25 th Use of new travel agency (CAT) will begin (not mandatory at this point) Testing of the online system will take place May 25 th June 25 th Preparation of the system for go live Week of July 2 nd The travel system will be turned over to us in a live environment July 2 nd Sept 5 th Sept 5 th Pilot test group will begin to use the new online system for booking and expense reporting. Training for users of the system will begin Online system and use of travel agency will be rolled out to campus and required. 20

21 Creation of a Travel Profile Online Profiles Profiles need to be filled out by traveler arrangers, travelers, and approvers. This is very important! For changes to the profile go to: For problems setting up the profile contract Laura Miller at: laura@childalbanytravel.com 21

22 Creation of a Travel Profile Required Fields RIN Default Fund Default Org Default Account Default Program Code Default Activity Code Traveler's Home Org Traveler's Supervisor Traveler's Home Portfolio You will also be asked what other portfolios you might charge your travel to. Example I am the Dean of the SoE, therefore my home portfolio is School of Engineering. I travel to a lecture and the Provost s office is paying for my travel. The other portfolio in this case would be Provost. I also sometimes charge my travel to a research project and therefore a second other portfolio would be VP for Research. 22

23 Booking a Trip Demo: Booking a Trip using Concur Travel and Creating an Online Expense Report 23

24 Questions (1)What if I have a trip that combines BOTH RPI and NON-RPI business? Call the travel agency to make the reservation. Your business part of the reservation will be charged to the Institute. You will need to provide a credit card for the personal portion of the reservation. If staying at a hotel and there is a personal expense such as a movie, the e-folio will automatically feed the line item detail into your expense report. You would mark the movie charge as a personal expense. 24

25 Questions (2) Can we approve the seat assignment? The agency will have your seat preferences in your profile and will always review the seats with the traveler before processing the booking. So, yes. You also will have the option to select your seat if booking online through Concur. 25

26 Questions (3) I travel by Southwest to save money. However, I pay them $10 to get the "A" number assignment so that I am likely to get a good seat. I assume that the new system will allow me to do this. Yes this will be allowed and addressed in the new travel policy that will be released to campus sometime over the Summer. 26

27 Questions (4) What if I need to make changes during the travel. Do I need to go through the agent? Esp. late at night etc.? There are multiple options to deal with this situation: 1. The recommended option would be to call the travel agency using their 24 hour service if it is after hours. 2. You can also speak with the agent at the ticket counter, however if you choose this option and there are additional charges, you will need to provide out of pocket payment and then be reimbursed. 3. A third option would be to go onto Concur.com and book another flight online, however you need to be cautious of the amount of time between the booking and the actual flight. 27

28 Questions (5) If my flight gets delayed or canceled can I talk directly to the airline to reschedule it or do I have to talk to reservation agency like is the case with making online reservations through Expedia, Orbit, etc.?. You can talk directly to the airline ticket agent. 28

29 Questions (6) What if I am not sure which grant I might charge the travel to because it involves work on a few different grants. This will not prevent you from traveling. This determination only needs to be made when the expense report is being completed and submitted. You will need to determine whether you are traveling on sponsored research at the beginning of the reservation process. 29

30 Questions (7) We have an active seminar series, faculty interviews, etc. Will they be required to use the system? They will have the option to use the system. The requirement of this has yet to be determined. 30

31 Questions (8) I have been using X-airline as a preferred airline. May I continue to use it? Yes, however, the policy will continue to require you to choose the most economical and efficient use of Institute funds. 31

32 Questions (9) What universities use similar system? MIT University of Michigan Penn State Notre Dame Texas A&M University of San Francisco University of Pennsylvania 32

33 Questions (10) Can I continue to use my card if I find a better rate than RPI s travel agency? (11) I know some schools that use a preferred travel agency but faculty can still use their personal cards to make reservations if they choose to do so, why can t we do the same? No, the use of the agency will be required once the system is live. Why do you want to? What is the business justification for using your own credit card? 33

34 Questions (12) Do we get assigned to a personal agent? If I call to follow up on an ongoing reservation do I deal with the same agent? The agency has many corporate agents that all have access to the same information. Therefore, if you deal with Mary for your original booking and need to make a change, you can either call Mary back or just call the toll free number and anyone can assist you, as sometimes Mary may not be available. 34

35 Questions Other Questions? 35