Maximizing your travel dollars: the cost of travel may be up, but business fliers can find ways to save - Includes nine Web sites for airlines and hotels discounts and services - Consumer News

Black Enterprise, Sept, 1997 by Ann Brown

The cost of travel may be up, but business fliers can find ways to save

RETURNING FROM A BUSINESS TRIP, GARY BOLDEN found himself delayed at Little Rock National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas. His flight back to Los Angeles for another meeting had been cancelled. "There was a later flight, but it would have arrived at 10 p.m. instead of 4 p.m., making me late for an appointment," says golden, president of the Los Angeles-based Bolden One Records and principal in Dynasty Inc., a family-run construction firm in Little Rock. As he usually does when a flight is delayed or cancelled, Bolden called his company's travel agent, Jesse Fulton, a manager at Lawyer's Travel in Washington, D.C., to handle the problem. "He immediately booked me on a flight with another carrier, something I was told couldn't be done by the reservationist at the airport."

Like other business travelers, Bolden runs into these kinds of last-minute flight changes. But because he's a frequent flier with a knowledgeable agent, he was able to rebook his flight without the hassle or the extra cost of penalties.

Now that traveling is becoming more costly, that kind of privilege is essential as businesses try to hold down the bottom line. Airfares for business travelers jumped from an average round-trip cost of $442 in May 1992 to $820 in January 1997, according to American Express Travel. Just last year J. alone, fares rose 25%, and this past March most carriers upped fares an average of 4% as a result of the reinstatement of the ticket tax.

Fortunately for business travelers like golden, the ways of saving and earning free trips have also increased. Finding these deals can be tedious for travelers, but having frequent travel club memberships and taking advantage of membership tie-ins to other travel-related services can cost you and your company less.

LET THE POINTS ADD UP

One of the best ways for individual travelers to make dollars stretch, says Nancy Dunnan, editor of Travel Smart newsletter, is to use frequent flier tie-ins. These days, you can earn miles not only by flying, but by dining out, making long distance phone calls, renting cars, booking cruises, even buying flowers. And a few airlines are giving mileage for mortgage payments, the principal on a home purchase and deposits in mutual funds. With these tie-ins, says Dunnan, the travel companies want to gain loyal customers by offering discounts and possible free trips, rentals and/or stays. Savvy travelers are taking advantage of these deals. Americans are earning about as many miles from credit card use and other purchases from partnered companies with airlines as from actual air miles, says Randy Petersen of InsideFlyer.

"Nowadays, it takes a great deal of miles to earn a free ticket domestically (25,000-60,000 miles, depending on the class), and even more for an international ticket (50,000-100,000 miles)," notes Barbara Johnson, owner of KH Grand Travel Agency in Los Angeles.

That's why golden, who travels an average of twice a month, explores all avenues of savings and tries to stick to one carrier, although he's a member in more than one frequent-flier program. "That way, I can earn more miles faster," he says. Dunnan agrees this is the best way to get free tickets, and says that it doesn't really pay to spread your miles around. "Stay with one carrier, but join other programs just in case you may need to fly on another airline."

Bolden also relies on his airline affinity credit card to acquire miles. "Every time I charge something, I earn another point," says golden, who upgrades whenever possible. "While my ticket may cost $300 round-trip and another $200 to upgrade, I'll do so to earn double miles or miles and a half." But not everyone can do this. "The ability to upgrade depends on the status of the frequent flier," says Fulton. "Gary is ar a Premium status, so he can upgrade tickets from coach to first class for say, $100 each way, and earn bonus miles. But if you've purchased a $1,700 round-trip from Los Angeles to New York and you're not a frequent flier or on a lower level, you might not even be able to upgrade," he explains. Bolden earned about 10 free trips last year with this method. According to InsideFlyer, travelers took 13,000 free trips last year.

TIPS FOR YOUR COMPANY

It's important to put together a solid travel policy for your company. Keep in mind specific guidelines for booking preferred hotels and airlines, selecting rental cars, handling meals and entertainment and payment methods. Consider how much your employees travel and what class of service you can afford. American Express offers The Travel Policy Handbook and software called Travel Policy Expert, which develop policies for small businesses. It's free to American Express corporate customers.

When you have a clear idea about your guidelines, the next step is choosing a good travel manager/agent. It will be key to carrying out and managing your company's travel policy, says Jeffrey B. Lang, author of The American Express Guide to Corporate Travel Management. "Travel and entertainment is one of the fastest-growing expense categories for U.S. businesses today," writes Lang. "Although it is the third largest controllable expense, holding down travel expense is for many companies an afterthought."