Example of a corporate travel policy

Many companies have a corporate travel policy (PVE) to manage and control their employees' business travel expenses. Thanks to this policy, they benefit from an average 20% reduction in their travel budget. You haven't yet implemented a policy within your company and would like to reduce your travel expenses? Here's an example of a corporate travel policy you can customize to suit your needs.

What is a travel policy?

A travel policy is a set of guidelines established by a company to govern the business travel of its employees. It defines all the rules and procedures relating to reservations, authorized expenses, modes of transport and preferred accommodation.

Why implement a corporate travel policy?

Setting up a corporate travel policy (PVE) enables you to clearly define who travels within the company, when, by what means and with what budget. This document provides a framework for business travel and helps companies better manage expense accounts. It ensures employee safety by establishing guidelines for authorized destinations and specifying comfort levels.

This policy also promotes transparency and fairness within the company, by establishing equitable criteria for each employee destined to travel on business. Implementing a corporate travel policy means better management of business travel as a whole.

What should be included in a travel policy?

A corporate travel policy should include guidelines on reservations, budget and authorized expenses, modes of transportation, types of accommodation, authorized classes, meals, reimbursements, advances, incidental expenses and internal validation processes. The policy should also include a specific section on international travel, as well as a section on travel insurance and emergency situations.

How do you define a corporate travel policy?

To define your corporate travel policy, it's important to follow a few simple steps. After all, there are many parameters to take into account when organizing business travel. Here are the first key steps that will enable you to set up an effective corporate travel policy tailored to your specific needs.

Define your goals

The aim of a corporate travel policy is generally to reduce costs, ensure the safety of travellers and enhance the comfort of employees on business trips. As far as costs are concerned, this may include reducing travel expenses, seeking preferential fares or limiting incidental expenses. Optimizing employee time is also a major objective. You could, for example, consider implementing a policy favoring direct flights to save employees' time, allowing them to concentrate on other activities. Safety is also a key EVP objective. You can include recommendations on the safest destinations, emergency protocols and clear health and safety sections.

Offering employees flexibility

Everyone loves choice! If the well-being of your employees is crucial to you, then allow them to select their own hotel or airline. You can select a certain level of comfort and set a maximum room rate. But be sure to adapt the budget for different destinations. A business trip to Paris will not cost the same as one to Lille, for example. Adapt your corporate travel policy as much as possible to enable your employees to travel in good conditions. You may also want to consider including a telecommuting-friendly section for business trips, and other benefits designed to improve employee comfort during business travel.

Define a policy consistent with your company's values and your employees' needs

Make sure your travel policy reflects your company's values. For example, if ecology is important to you, you can incorporate elements that favor environmentally-friendly modes of transport or encourage carbon offsetting. For short-haul trips, you might want your employees to travel by train rather than plane, or to carpool. Also, take the time to communicate with employees to gather their opinions and define a policy in line with their needs. Just try to strike a balance between your employees' needs and the cost savings you're aiming for!

Sample corporate travel policy

Once you've defined your objectives, you can start writing the content of your corporate travel policy. Here's an example of a corporate travel policy that you can customize to suit the needs of your company and your employees. And if you want to delegate this part, you can also use a travel agency to create your EVP and organize your business travel!

Section 1: Budget requirements

The first step to saving money on travel expenses is to set budgets for each type of booking, which employees must respect. A maximum amount per train ticket, plane ticket or even per night must not be exceeded. Depending on the destination and duration of the trip, the budget can be higher or lower. It may also differ according to the traveler (the budget may be higher for an executive). This aspect of the travel policy can drastically reduce abuse and encourage employees to choose more economical bookings.

Section 2: Reservation procedures

In the second section of the corporate travel policy, you can include information on how and where to book the trip. Here, you can specify whether the company uses a specific booking tool. You could also state whether you grant your employees the use of loyalty programs.

Section 3: Reimbursement of expenses

The implementation of a corporate travel policy allows you to set a budget to be used per day during business travel. This section enables your employees to know exactly how much they will be reimbursed. As a company, you can choose to set a flat rate (e.g. 30 euros per day) or offer your employees reimbursement of actual expenses (if they spend 20 euros, they will be reimbursed 20 euros). In all cases, this section is used to set a budget limit to be used throughout the stay.

Section 4: Authorized reservation classes

To provide a framework for your business trips and make selection easier, it's a good idea to specify the booking classes authorized (economy, business class) for each type of employee and trip. This means taking stock of the range of comfort you wish to offer your staff. To cut costs, some companies want to give priority to the least expensive bookings, but these are often less comfortable. Since the aim of a travel policy is to ensure that employees are comfortable and productive when on the move, it's best to give them access to quality hotels. As far as transport is concerned, it's also preferable to give them the option of 1st class rail or premium economy air travel beyond a certain length of stay.

Section 5: Means of transport

In this section, we focus on the types of transport to be favoured. Since destinations can vary depending on the type of business trip and the assignments to be carried out, it may be worth adopting different approaches. The train may be preferable for short-distance journeys, while the plane may be preferable for trips abroad. Your employees may also need a vehicle to get around once they're on site, so be sure to include information on the budget for car hire. If ecology is a priority for you, you may want to give priority to sustainable mobility solutions. If so, this should be mentioned in your corporate travel policy.

Section 6: Preferred companies

The travel policy should also include information on preferred airlines and hotel chains. The company has a duty to ensure the safety of employees on business trips, and therefore to enable them to book with airlines and hotels offering sufficient conditions of safety and comfort.

The aim is to select companies and hotel chains renowned for their reliability. For business travel, the company can then negotiate discounts with hotels and airlines based on the number of reservations per year.

Comfort doesn't stop at choosing business class or good hotels. Business travelers also need to optimize their time. Coordinating schedules, hotels conveniently located close to meeting venues, access to lounges for working: these are all elements that need to be considered to ensure efficient and enjoyable business events for all participants.

Section 7: Authorized on-site expenses

Defining allowable expenses on site is essential, as it allows you to ensure efficient management of company resources while ensuring the well-being of travelers on the move. The EVP can suggest a limit for meals, local transport and extra expenses. It can also authorize employees to exceed the set amount in exceptional circumstances.

Section 8: Passenger safety

The safety and well-being of travelers are essential elements of a company's travel policy. Indeed, even when employees are on the move, the company is still responsible for them. This section should therefore include emergency management guidelines. If you are planning to travel to high-risk countries, the policy should also provide information on these specific risks, and include recommendations on safety measures to be taken (areas to be avoided, health precautions, etc.).

Section 9: Internal validation processes

It may happen that bookings do not conform to the budget entered in the EVP. Some business trips, by their very nature, can lead to budget overruns. That's why it's important to set up a booking validation system. To do this, you need to define the employees in charge of the validation circuit, whose job it will be to validate or not the booking request.

Section 10: Compliance and monitoring

This section of the corporate travel policy puts in place monitoring mechanisms to assess the compliance of business travel with internal policies. By establishing continuous monitoring (bookings, expenses and claims), the company can identify and quickly remedy any deviations, thereby reinforcing its efficient management of business travel.

Where can I find a sample corporate travel policy?

To create the content for your own EVP, you may need a sample corporate travel policy. We've created a corporate travel policy template to help you, to use as a starting point and to customize to your company's specific needs!