2020 U.S.-Booked Air Volume: $7 million
2020 Global T&E: $50 million
Primary Air Suppliers: BA, Southwest, United
Primary Hotel Suppliers: Hilton, IHG, Marriott
Primary Global Online Booking Tool: Egencia
Primary U.S. Payment Supplier: Citi
Card Program: Individual Bill/Central Pay
Primary Global Expense Supplier: Concur
Travel Risk Management Supplier: Internal & ISOS
Consolidated Global TMC: Egencia
When the World Health Organization declared the pandemic in March 2020, BP responded like many companies by suspending business travel and meetings, apart from key frontline operations and security. With the travel shutdown in place, the London-based energy giant spent just $7 million on U.S.-booked air volume in 2020, compared to $39 million in 2019. Fifty-six percent of that volume was domestic.
Given the general travel shutdown, BP made no specific changes to travel policy—only that travelers were to follow security protocols to the letter.
BP in late 2019 had embarked on a major travel management company partner change to Egencia. That work continued in 2020, with more than 20 countries shifting to the new platform in the first two quarters of the year. The company now operates a single global travel policy on a single platform. As travel recovers in 2021, BP projects it will end the year with $20 million in U.S.-booked air volume, though the company has invested significantly in virtual meetings platforms and will continue to use them in the mix of its overall business travel strategy.