Booking a business trip can be a hassle. If you’re old school, you have to book a flight, get the receipt and then submit it to your employer for reimbursement. But a new company is making it all less complex.
Starting Tuesday, companies and employees can enroll in the all-in-one travel management platform TripActions to book business trips — and at the same time reward workers who choose their trips wisely.
With TripActions, employees can book a flight, hotel and/or car. People can book their business and personal trips (if allowed by employer) through the platform on a desktop and through the iOS or Android app. The system allows employees who book cost-effective trips through the system to reap rewards or points.
The bay-area based company, co-founded in 2015 by Ariel Cohen and Ilan Twig, raised $14.6 million for its official launch, it announced Tuesday. Seventy customers have already tried out TripActions through its Beta, which launched in May and now it is open to the public.
“By 2020 438 million business trips are expected to occur, and with TripActions technology, companies can expect a modern dashboard that makes one of the most dreaded tasks in the workplace an easy, streamlined experience,” the company said in a statement.
TripActions says companies can save 30 percent on their annual travel expenses.
The platform works like ordinary booking sites, but it’s much cleaner and tailored to the company and its employees.
Through a demo, the company explained how the platform works:
Booking Trips With TripActions
When booking a hotel with TripActions, employees can see an overview of the place, photos and customer reviews. Hotels listed under “Best Order,” are suggestions tailored by TripActions based on hotels most relevant to you and your company, places you have previously stayed in and hotels with best reviews.
TripActions pools flights from consumer sites like, Booking.com. When booking a flight, you can see flight details, and a map to choose where you want to sit. If there is another person in the company taking that same flight, you can see where he or she will sit and have the option to move your seat next to theirs.
TripActions is a closed business platform, which means you can only book business trips using that site. However, if the company you work in allows you to use the site for personal trips, you can then book your next vacation with the site.
The platform allows to pay with a shared company card for business trips or use your personal card.
TripActions app for booking business trips.
TripActions App
TripActions comes with a live itinerary and once you’re off your flight you can directly access Uber and Lyft on the app. Uber will auto populate the info of your hotel when using it in the TripActions app so you don’t have to manually plug-in addresses. You can also cancel, call, get a receipt and chat with an agent through the app, and it shows you how the weather is where your next trip will be.
The app is “all in one,” Jeremy Bromwell from TripActions said, which means you don’t have to leave the app to book anything.
TripActions app for booking business trips.
Points and Rewards
The platform rewards employees for booking cost-effective flights, such as picking a seat in coach rather than first class. The less-costly ticket is obviously good for the company which might not want to spend much on traveling bills. However, by choosing economical choices employees can get rewards like “TripBucks” from big names like Amazon, Starbucks, Foot Locker and Target. Employees can also redeem point and book a first-class seat on the next trip, or other perks.
TripActions platform for booking business trips.
Companies Can Customize Trips
TripActions allows companies to put policies in place, like what can’t be booked or what arrangements have to be approved. This helps when employees don’t have their policy handbooks ready, said Bromwell.
In the administration’s end, employers can see a list of employee activity, like who booked a flight or hotel and who’s saving the company money. Companies can also keep track on how much it is spending in flights, hotels, cars with data graphs, and can see the data broken down by quarter-to-date, year-to-date and overall.
Companies can also setup basic settings like maximum prices, timeframes for trips and highest cabin class. The admin end can also differ policies among corporate levels, such as director, executive or default, as well as placing different settings for specific locations.
TripActions platform for booking business trips.