Amex Study Finds Traveler Spending Unrestrained

Even though corporate travelers know their companies are monitoring their spending closely, they're still more likely to spend freely when they know the company is picking up the tab, according to an American Express survey released Wednesday.

The survey questioned 840 employees in the United States and Europe who use either personal or corporate credit cards for travel spend and procurement. Almost two-thirds of American employees said their expense reports are under much or somewhat more scrutiny than one year ago, and 48 percent of the European respondents reported the same. However, 80 percent of the U.S. employees and 73 percent of the European employees said it was still either very or fairly common for employees to spend more freely on expenses when they know the company is paying.

The findings suggest there is room for more effective travel management to separate what's needed to support the business mission from excess. The onus often is on the business traveler to find that balance between comfort and extravagance, said Gunther Bright, senior vice president and general manager of the global client group from American Express Global Corporate Services.

"It's really just finding the equilibrium between what, in some cases, is considered entitlement," Bright said. "You want to have the experience not to be a painful one, but you have to be stewards of the corporate funds."

Solutions can often be found in reporting tools available through the cards, Bright said. Such tools can automate approval or rejection of expense vouchers, set spending limits on certain types of products and services and provide more details for spending oversight.

Proportionally, twice as many U.S. employees—28 percent of respondents—exclusively were using corporate cards than were European employees, with only 13 percent of those surveyed. Europeans were much more likely to use only personal cards for business expenses. More than two-thirds of the European employees had that practice, compared with 36 percent of Americans.