For the past few years, general-interest travel Web sites have ballyhooed their value to small businesses, but until recently, they offered more hype than utility. For instance, most online flight specials required an overnight stay on a Saturday, and tickets were usually nonrefundable. But, says Stewart, these sites are growing ever more sophisticated and functional. They act, in effect, as your outsourced corporate-travel department, reachable by phone or on the Web. Besides cost savings, they give you increased control over your expenditures by letting you track spending by every traveler in your company, post travel policies, and generate a monthly expense report.
Costs vary from site to site.
But you'll be charged for booking over the phone. Others are more aggressive. AmEx isn't quite there yet for the small-business market.'' Still, American Express serves 1,000 clients at its RezPort site, making it the largest and most established of the bunch. Both have added special features that appeal to small companies, such as Travelocity's new alternative-airport search feature, which lets you shop for the lowest fares within your region. That's on top of the awards your individual employees collect in their individual frequent-flier accounts.