By Daniel Dakessian, Senior Product Marketing Manager

Embarking on a business trip should be a simple and painless process, not a turbulent endeavour. With over 683,000 hotels and accommodation options¹, Amex GBT Egencia (Egencia™) emerges as the ultimate compass for your corporate travel journey. So, why the persistent nudge from your company to book your stay with Egencia rather than going elsewhere? Let’s explore the unbeatable advantages of booking hotels through Egencia – from exclusive rates to personalised recommendations to automatic savings. Discover why your business travel experience is about to get a whole lot smarter. Check out the below to unravel the nine exclusive benefits and business travel hacks that make Egencia the go-to tool for savvy business travellers.

1. Navigate discounts with Egencia Preferred Rates 

Say goodbye to the endless quest for the cheapest deal – Egencia's Preferred Rates and mobile-only hotel deals bring exclusive perks to your doorstep. Featuring business-friendly rates from 45,000 hotels², Egencia Preferred Rates are a corporate traveller’s secret weapon. With 24-hour or less cancellation policies, business-friendly amenities such as included Wi-Fi, and other discounts, Egencia aims that every booking is a blend of efficiency, flexibility, and rewards.

2. Egencia Smart Mix –data meets intuition:

Dive into the genius of Egencia Smart Mix, a dynamic machine learning model that tailors hotel search results and hotel room rates based on your preferences, your colleagues’ preferences, and past stays. Armed with two years of travel data, nine million bookings, and 170 factors³, Smart Mix eliminates the hassle of endless scrolling. Over 60% of hotel bookings find their match in the top position⁴, saving you from the endless scroll. And here is a travel tip, the more you engage with Smart Mix the better it gets with time meaning your next business trip is that much more enjoyable and hassle free.

3. Filters that fit your work trip:

Egencia empowers you with a versatile array of hotel filters – from rates with breakfast included, to eco-friendly properties, so pinpointing the ideal stay is a breeze. Whether it's location, price, or specific hotel names, these filters swiftly unveil in-policy rates and crucial amenities, to help your stay align seamlessly with your corporate policy guidelines.

4. Loyalty points and beyond: 

Your loyalty deserves recognition. When you book qualifying rates on Egencia, you not only secure a comfortable stay but also earn valuable hotel loyalty points with your favourite loyalty programme or rewards programme, adding a dash of personal benefit to your business trips.

5. Hassle-free itinerary management:

Egencia's intuitive interface allows you to effortlessly view and modify your itinerary via desktop and the app. Need to contact the property for queries or special requests? The 'Message Hotel' feature puts you in direct communication with the hotel.

6. 24/7 support from Egencia Travel Consultants:

Egencia's Travel Consultants are on standby 24/7 to address your queries at check-in or should any disruptions occur. With the added ease, reach out anytime to our AI-powered chatbot on Egencia Chat (desktop, app, or Slack) and, when you need a human touch, an Egencia Travel Consultant will join in on the chat to help you get what you need.

7. Price drop protection – Egencia’s Savings Finder for Hotel

Egencia Savings Finder for Hotel diligently monitors your reservation, from the moment you book, capturing any price drops. If we spot a price drop of $10 or more, we’ll automatically optimise the booking for savings. The average savings for an optimised hotel booking is $32 USD⁵. You get the same room with the amenities that you originally booked but now, at a lower price. You will then receive an email with the updated booking information and savings captured.

8. Travel confidently knowing your company has your back 

With the unpredictable nature of business travel, responding quickly to an unfolding incident is key. All Egencia bookings are visible to your company, enabling swift assistance during enforceable moments. Travel managers can see all active trips and travellers globally with the Egencia Traveller Tracker allowing them to respond with lightning speed to an unfolding incident and even send direct messages to travellers with “read” confirmation receipts.

9. Centralised reporting for strategic insights:

All bookings made on Egencia are tracked with booking data made available in near real time within our data reporting tools: Egencia Analytics Studio, data hub and reporting API. Travel managers, Finance and Accounting, Human Resources, and other teams can have access to all travel booking data to quickly get a pulse on the hotel bookings made or instantly download the data for further offline analysis. Overview, adoption, and compliance are the three main areas to focus on to get the most out of your hotel business travel.

• Overview: With dedicated hotel dashboards and summary overviews that give you the full picture of business travel by air, hotel, train, car and more, Analytics Studio reporting tool provides you with all the information you would need to keep an eye on your hotel travel. You can see everything from what is spent, what percentage of bookings are happening within Egencia and which travellers are booking out of the set policies.
• Adoption: Getting your travellers to book their hotels on Egencia has many benefits. To start, this gives you an accurate idea of your adoption rate. Aiming for a higher percentage lets your travellers benefit from Egencia’s hotel marketplace and choice, and a lower number gives you a better idea of where to focus your energy to drive up the adoption. The more hotels are booked on Egencia means you have a better idea of where your travellers are in case of an emergency. And if your company negotiates attractive hotel room deals, make sure your adoption is high to stay compliant with the vendor.
• Compliance: Once you know the overall picture of your hotel travel programme you’ll have a better understanding of your adoption rates. Next up is compliance. You want to identify travellers who are booking outside the set policies and understand how big of an issue this is for your company. We have a dedicated dashboard to specifically focus on your active travel bookings with multiple nights that are missing a hotel stay. If your travellers are flying outside their home region, but not attaching a hotel booking to their trip, consider looking deeper. You can get a detailed list with travellers, city, country, and dates so you can investigate why these travellers are not booking a hotel room. While they could be staying with family, friends, or need to book a specific small-scale hotel offline, you want to have the data to confirm these situations. Reoccurring situations in areas with negotiated hotel suppliers or in popular cities with multiple hotel options can have an impact on duty of care obligations and reduce your ability to clearly view hotel bookings.

Booking hotels on Egencia is not just a choice; it's a strategic move towards a smarter, hassle-free, and value-driven corporate travel experience. From exclusive rates to intuitive shopping to robust dashboards and visibility across your travel programme, Egencia is your compass in the ever-changing landscape of business travel. Next time you hit the road, let Egencia redefine your journey – where comfort, savings, and seamless experiences converge.

^{1 Amex GBT Egencia (Egencia™) internal reporting, January 2023} 

^{2 Amex GBT Egencia (Egencia™) internal reporting, January 2023} 

^{3 Amex GBT Egencia (Egencia™) internal reporting, June 2023}  

^{4 Amex GBT Egencia (Egencia™) internal reporting, January 2023} 

^{5 Amex GBT (Egencia™) internal reporting, 01/04/22 – 31/12/22}