IATA Survey: Corp. Travelers Heed Policy When Buying
<B> IATA Survey: Corp. Travelers Heed Policy When Buying</B>
By Megan Hjermstad
Corporate travel policy continues to influence the buying decisions of most business travelers, according to the International Air Transport Association's 1999 Corporate Air Travel Survey.
Seventy-two percent of more than 1,000 respondents from 10 countries reported that their company has a policy for air travel. Of travelers regulated by policy, 84 percent have policies regarding the class of travel and 51 percent are restricted to particular airlines. The percentage of companies with an air policy increases as company size increases. Only 27 percent of companies with fewer than 24 employees have a travel policy compared with 88 percent of companies with more than 1,000 personnel.
Far fewer companies--only 47 percent--have policies regarding hotel accommodations. Of companies that have such policies, 61 percent contain guidelines on the price of the room and 43 percent can book only with certain hotels.
As a result of travel policies and ticket pricing, the percentage of business travelers flying economy has increased slightly during the past three years. According to the survey, most business travelers fly economy on both long- and short-haul flights. Half of the sample reported flying economy on long trips, 46 percent said they usually fly business class, while 4 percent said they usually fly first class. Sixty-eight percent of respondents fly economy for short-haul business trips.
A third of the sample reported cost as the major factor in determining what type of ticket to purchase for business trips. Thirty-one percent said their corporate travel policy is the main influence, followed by 12 percent who cited flexibility to change plans as the most pervasive factor.
Schedules have the strongest influence on choice of airlines for long-haul routes, cited by 40 percent of the sample; frequent flyer programs and low fares were cited by 26 percent. For short-haul routes, schedules become even more important, cited by 51 percent, while frequent flyer programs and low fares ranked equally as important on long-haul flights, with a quarter each.
According to the survey, the use of electronic tickets has rapidly increased. Forty-three percent of the sample have used e-tickets. Of those who have used e-tickets, 67 percent said they felt very comfortable with it and would use it whenever available.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents have used the Internet for flight information, compared with 42 percent of respondents in 1997. Internet use is even more common in North America, compared with elsewhere in the world, with 70 percent of North American respondents using the Web for flight information. Seventeen percent used the Internet to make point-to-point reservations, whereas only 5 percent used the Internet for making multiple destination flight reservations.
Again reporting higher usage than elsewhere in the world, 22 percent of North American respondents reported using the Internet for flight reservations, compared with 11 percent in 1997. According to the survey, Internet bookings will continue to grow, as 51 percent of respondents expect in five years to be using the Internet to make their travel arrangements.
A third of respondents said they think the Internet offers cheaper fares. Forty-eight percent of respondents think point-to-point fares offered by travel agencies are as competitive as those on the Internet and only 8 percent think a travel agent offers more competitive fares.
Despite the increase in Internet usage for making travel reservations, respondents still use more traditional booking methods as well. Forty percent of respondents said they prefer to call their travel agent to book flight reservations, while 13 percent prefer to call the airline direct. Twenty-eight percent of respondents call their travel agent to make hotel arrangements and 23 percent would rather call the hotel direct. Thirty-two percent of the sample said they never make their own travel arrangements or hotel reservations.