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Alleviate the Headaches of Workforce Travel

Feb 28, 2024

Strategies to avoid the pain of booking acommodations for crews

If you’re the person tasked with dispatching crews to projects across the country for your company, you’ve probably experienced the challenges that can arise with workforce travel.

The average day for a Travel Manager does not allow much room for error, so finding ways to alleviate the aches, pains, and headaches that come with workforce travel is a priority.

When you’re talking about the pains of workforce travel, you’re likely talking about one of two main points of origin – time or money. As there’s only so much time in the day and money in the budget, it’s important to break down each aspect to see where best to apply treatment.

Finding the Right Property

Long before your crew sets foot on the plane or checks into their hotel, you’ve got to get them there.

Just as you might seek out the best opinions in the medical field, scouring reviews to find the best hotel with the necessary amenities can consume precious hours better spent elsewhere.

Questions to consider:

Is this hotel close enough to the work site?
Will my crew find suitable parking?
Is there after-hours meal service available?
Can this property accommodate shared rooms?

How LodgeLink Helps:

By providing time-saving solutions, LodgeLink gives busy Travel Managers a healthy dose of efficiency. LodgeLink's powerful search filters and map layers allow you to find accommodations for crews of any size effortlessly, ensuring you locate the perfect lodgings for your project.

With access to our extensive network spanning Canada and the United States, you can get your crew where they need to be. Whether you're searching for large vehicle parking or 24-hour meal service, LodgeLink understands your time constraints and can help the headaches that come with workforce travel.

Managing All the Paperwork

One invoice for one crew member at one room in one property can quickly add up to a mountain of paperwork when dealing with crews of 50 or more staying in multiple rooms at several properties for weeks at a time.

And when each invoice needs to be entered into the system to be properly tracked, the time required to stay on top of things can be nerve-wracking.

Questions to consider:

How much time am I spending dealing with invoices?
Is this an efficient process?
How many manual processes could I streamline?
Could my time be better used elsewhere?
Does this process allow more room for error?

Dealing with Changes

Change is often met with a great deal of apprehension, and that certainly extends to the world of workforce travel.

Dealing with the countless mishaps and complications that can arise can consume valuable time, often at inconvenient hours of the day. And when crews encounter emergencies, the stress and urgency surrounding those changes increases exponentially.

Questions to Consider:

What is my current protocol for travel changes?
How much time is this consuming?
How many points of contact do I have?
Is this the most effective way to manage change?

How LodgeLink Helps:

LodgeLink is here to help you cope with change.

Our customer experience team is happy to provide 24/7 service, giving you peace of mind and time back in your day. Issues with a crew checking in? Crew running late from the jobsite? No more after-hours calls in the middle of the night, we’ve got it covered.

And with our Duty of Care Program, you can locate, track, and communicate with your crew during a potential safety risk or in the event of an emergency.

A person on the phone with images showing LodgeLink's reduced room rates.

Managing Your Budget

When overseeing accommodations or travel for your crew, it’s not hard to find yourself spending more than you intended.

Factoring in flights, transportation and rooms for teams of 50 or more crews, any small expenditure is quickly magnified. Many lodging discount programs have a limited number of in-network hotels, or leave you paying fenced rates, resulting in lower discounts or unexpected fees. If you lack the time to negotiate separate discounted agreements with each individual hotel, chances are experiencing more financial pain than necessary.

Questions to Consider:

Am I getting the best rate?
How many properties are available to me?
Am I paying any additional fees?
How much time am I spending negotiating?

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Overseeing Your Reporting

With thousands of invoices coming in for many companies, it’s easy to understand how some may feel a bit overwhelmed.

Failure to properly track spending leads to an unclear budget. An inaccurate estimate or misreported invoice can be a financial blight on an otherwise successful project. Without proper management of travel expenses, your team can face additional or unanticipated costs, leaving them ill-prepared to reconcile the accounts.

Questions to Consider:

How many invoices am I dealing with?
How am I entering my data?
What is the impact of any errors?
How much room for error is there?

Eliminating Excess Expenditures

No one likes paying for something they didn’t use.

In the world of workforce travel, there are countless instances where the opportunity to save a dollar or two – or many more – may slip through the cracks. Whether it’s duplicate bookings that go unnoticed, unexpected cancellation fees or an extra charge for a crew that doesn’t show up or shares a room, losses that go undiagnosed can quickly add up.

Questions to Consider:

How much am I paying in extra fees?
Am I aware of all my expenditures?
What is my current level of oversight?
Do I know all the booking policies?

How LodgeLink Helps:

LodgeLink understands workforce travel. We understand time is money and every dollar counts. Our technology was created with crew travel in mind. Our team is familiar with the processes you’re going to encounter, and our reporting is designed to provide maximum insight and transparency. With customizable reports, consolidated invoicing and streamlined processes, we boost your organizational efficiency, maintain spending controls and inform your future workforce travel strategy.