Any small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) whose business depends in part on travel may be looking to earn more from travel spending. Whether you’re flying to visit clients, renting a car to drive to suppliers or staying at a hotel near your main manufacturer, there are ways to make sure you’re earning more as you go.
Keep reading for some ways to ensure you aren’t missing out on savings or rewards while you’re on the road.
Sign up for a travel credit card
With a business travel credit card, you can collect rewards on eligible purchases, redeem them when you need to and potentially enjoy other perks along the way. That’s why it’s so important to have the right card for your business needs.
Most cards also offer a welcome or sign-up bonus. If you have an expensive overseas trip coming up, it could be an ideal time to make the most of it. Welcome bonuses may look like a substantial award when you make your first purchase or spend a certain amount of money within a specific period of time after becoming a card member (or both!). For some cards, your rewards might come in the form of cash back or statement credits that can help you pay down your credit card bill. Or you might earn points that you can spend on a wide range of products and services, or miles that you can spend on future travel.
Be thoughtful about planning ahead
If you want to earn while you travel, it’s important to consider how you could optimize your spending. Think about where you spend the most on travel—airfare, hotels, gas for car rentals and even electric charging—and see where your greatest opportunities to earn rewards may be.
Beyond your travel logistics, make the most of each business trip. See how many meetings you can take so that you aren’t spending more than you need to on constant travel. If you’re flying from Toronto to Vancouver, for example, see if you can schedule additional client visits or sales pitches on the BC coast to ensure you get the most value from your trip.
Choose preferred travel vendors
In addition to signing up for a business travel credit card, consider joining an airline or hotel loyalty program—you can even join one for rental cars. Loyalty programs often reward travellers with upgrades, free checked bags, lounge access and other perks that could help you save money and make the most of your travel spend.
With the CIBC Aventura® card, you could plan eligible travel through the Rewards Centre and earn points for every dollar you spend.
Create guidelines for employee travel
Earning rewards can be a tempting excuse to overspend, so it’s a good idea to set spending limits so that prevent employees from expensing more than a certain amount on their travel costs. And, instead of reimbursing employees for purchases made on their personal credit cards, consider adding them as authorized users on your company’s business travel credit card account instead. That way, you can track and manage spending more easily, and your employees don’t need to wait to get paid back.
Another benefit of combining everyone’s spending is that all of those rewards get pooled as well. That means you could earn enough to cover a future plane ticket or a good chunk of your statement balance that much more quickly.
Look for business discounts
Especially if you and your colleagues spend a lot of time on the road, it could be worthwhile to inquire about discounted airfare or hotel rates for business travellers. Even saving a few percentage points on travel costs every trip could significantly impact your bottom line.
Evaluate your spending
Taking time to review your travel costs every quarter or annually could help you ensure you’re getting the most out of your spending. Compare the prices of different flights and hotels, how many rewards were earned and what kind of travel rewards you redeemed. You may even decide to use a different airline or hotel group moving forward based on your findings.
This could also be a good opportunity to check whether you have any expiring rewards that you need to use soon.
Earn as much as you can when you travel
Whether you’re earning rewards on your business travel credit card, travelling with preferred vendors or being thoughtful about how you’re redeeming rewards for every part of your trip, there are ways to be more strategic about earning as you go. Do your best not to leave money on the table and get the most out of every business trip.
