Business Travelers Find Ways to Reduce Trip Costs and Share in the Spoils

Business travelers are increasingly using third-party booking sites and platforms to book business trips, but when offered a piece of the profits from tactical cost-saving techniques, employees are willing to bend their own preferences for extra cash.

Rocketrip, which offers companies a managed travel platform, incentivizes business travelers to cut their travel spend by sharing the cost-savings they generate. The startup, modeled after Google’s internal travel program for employees, has raised a total $6.2 million in funding.

Rocketrip analyzed more than 2,000 business trips booked via its platform between January and September 2014 and found that the following practices by business travelers cut costs:

Choosing the lowest available fair and selecting connecting flights were the most common ways business travelers reduced flight costs; however, the greatest savings per flight came when travelers were willing to use their personal miles or choose a coach over a business class seat.

When it comes to hotels, the most common way to reduce costs was to book the lowest rate, beating the available corporate rate. But, the greatest money saver was deciding to stay with friends. Sixteen percent of employees saved by booking a deal or bundled package through an online booking site like Expedia or Orbitz.

An increasingly popular tendency is to extend a work trip to include leisure time. It also saves corporate travel costs because employees will often include a Saturday night stayover, which reduces the fare.

According to Rocketrip, the average number of extra days added to “bleisure” trips is 2.6 days for domestic locations, and 3.5 days for international destinations.