Open Booking: What It Is and Why It Matters for Businesses
Open booking allows employees to book flights, hotels, and other travel services outside of traditional corporate platforms—using consumer websites, apps, or direct supplier bookings—while still enabling organizational oversight.
Here are the nine core principles that guide an effective open booking program:
1. Employee Empowerment
Employees take charge of their travel arrangements, fostering trust, satisfaction, and ownership in their bookings.
2. Choice and Flexibility
By accessing multiple channels, travelers can select options based on loyalty programs, personal preferences, or budget constraints.
3. Transparency & Policy Compliance
Even with autonomy, bookings must align with approved vendors, budgets, and corporate travel policies—providing visibility and control.
4. Expense Tracking & Reimbursement
Employees submit receipts and documentation for reimbursement, ensuring financial accountability and record accuracy.
5. Integration & Consolidation
Centralizing travel and expense data from diverse booking sources gives companies a complete picture of patterns, spend, and opportunities for optimization.
6. Traveler Support & Assistance
Open booking should be complemented by access to travel desks, 24/7 support lines, or emergency services to ensure safety and issue resolution.
7. Duty of Care
Despite independent booking options, organizations retain legal and moral responsibility to monitor itineraries, provide updates, and support travelers in emergencies.
8. Data Analysis & Insights
Aggregating booking data enables better negotiations, policy adjustments, and identification of cost-saving routes or vendors.
9. Continuous Improvement
Employee feedback and travel data should feed ongoing updates to travel policies, tools, and platforms.
Why This Matters
Flexibility + Control: Employees gain autonomy without compromising policy adherence.
- Cost Awareness: Consolidated data enables smarter spending decisions.
- Improved Experience: Direct booking and accessible support improve traveler satisfaction.
- Safety Ensured: Duty of care remains a priority, even in decentralized booking models.
Open Booking in Corporate Travel — FAQs
What is open booking?
Employees independently book travel, outside corporate tools, with organizational policies still applying.
What are the key principles of open booking?
Empowerment, flexibility, transparency, integrated expense tracking, traveler support, duty of care, data-driven insights, and iterative improvement.
