Program Snapshot: how you run travel today

• Tell me briefly how your team currently manages employee travel from request to reimbursement
• How many business trips does your organization arrange per month on average Options: Under 50, 50 to 200, 200 to 1,000, Over 1,000
• Who currently approves travel and owns policy enforcement Options: Finance, Travel manager, HR, Procurement, Direct manager, No defined owner
• Which systems support booking, expense, approvals, and traveler tracking today, select all that apply Options: Corporate booking tool, Consumer travel sites, Third party travel manager, Expense system, Manual spreadsheets, Traveler safety platform
• What percent of bookings do you estimate are made outside your managed channels Options: 0-10%, 11-30%, 31-50%, 51-75%, Over 75%
• Describe the last incident where you could not locate or assist a traveling employee and why it was difficult

Where your current process fails during a disruption

• If a major airline cancellation or a regional emergency happened tomorrow, how confident are you that you could identify and contact every affected employee within four hours Options: Very confident, Somewhat confident, Not confident, No capability today
• Which parts of the end to end flow typically break first during a disruption, booking, expense, or duty of care Options: Booking visibility, Traveler contact info, Expense recovery, Supplier rebook, No single point fails
• How much time and headcount does your team spend each month on post disruption travel recovery and manual expense reconciliation Options: Under 10 hours, 10 to 40 hours, 40 to 120 hours, Over 120 hours
• When was the last time an out of policy booking caused a material overrun in a project or travel budget, and what happened
• What single compliance failure or traveler safety gap would make you halt a rollout to additional teams

Cost leakage you may be underestimating

• How much of your annual travel budget do you believe leaks to non negotiated rates or out of policy bookings Options: Under 5%, 5 to 10%, 11 to 20%, Over 20%
• Which traveler segments, by role, region, or trip frequency, create the largest variance from policy Options: Sales frequent travelers, Executives, Field engineers, Regional offices, Short term contractors, All segments similar
• Give an example of a recent trip where cost exceeded your negotiated rate and explain why it happened
• What are your target annual savings from a managed travel program expressed as a percent of total travel spend Options: Under 3%, 3 to 7%, 8 to 12%, Over 12%
• If a pilot delivered the projected savings for a single division, what internal approval or metric would be required to expand to additional teams

Roles, decision paths, and who signs off

• Who would block or delay a decision to adopt a managed travel platform and what would their core concern be
• Walk me through the approval path from a trip request to final expense reimbursement for a typical business trip
• How many full time equivalents support travel policy, booking exceptions, and expense reconciliation today Options: 0 (no dedicated FTE), 1 to 3, 4 to 9, 10 or more
• List the KPIs finance and HR expect to see monthly to consider the program successful Options: Policy compliance rate, Realized savings, Average ticket price, Expense report turnaround, Traveler reach
• Assuming the CFO required a three month payback, what level of monthly savings from the pilot would be needed to get rapid sign off

Where adoption will stall and who will resist

• Point to the traveler groups most likely to ignore a booking mandate and tell me why
• How do you currently incentivize or discourage out of policy booking, and which approaches have worked Options: Policy only, Economic incentives, Manager enforcement, Training and communications, No formal approach
• Have any pilots or policy changes failed previously because employees reverted to consumer sites Options: Yes, No, Not sure
• Would you require pilot adoption above 60 percent among frequent travelers to proceed to rollout Options: Yes, No, Depends on savings achieved
• What incentives or guardrails would make your frequent travelers adopt managed booking rather than consumer sites Options: Preferential rates, Simpler UX, Mobile support, Manager enforcement, Expense controls

Alternatives you are weighing and the incumbent

• List the alternatives you are actively considering, including internal builds, incumbent suppliers, or the do nothing option Options: Keep incumbent, Build internally, New external partner, Hybrid approach, Delay decision
• Identify the current incumbent among those options and what would need to change for you to replace them
• What would have to be true about your current approach for you to stay with it instead of changing
• Has anyone inside your organization proposed building an internal solution instead of partnering with an outside vendor Options: Yes, actively building, Proposed but not started, No internal proposal
• Would a firm internal commitment to deliver a minimum viable solution within six months stop you from running an external pilot Options: Yes, No, Depends on scope and cost

Operational readiness, integrations, and gating constraints

• Should key systems be unable to provide API access during implementation, what fallback plan can you use
• Name the internal owners who will coordinate integrations, data extraction, and testing
• Estimate the weekly hours your technical team can commit to integrations and testing for the pilot Options: Under 10 hours, 10 to 40 hours, 41 to 80 hours, Over 80 hours
• Are travel and expense records stored in systems that support exports or APIs, and who has ownership of that data Options: Yes, APIs available and owned, Exports available but manual, Data fragmented across teams, No accessible data
• Is there any contract, regulation, or required legal review that could delay a go live beyond four months Options: Yes, No, Unsure

Success criteria, timeline, and decisive next steps

• Given a pilot that meets both financial and safety targets, what internal steps will you take within 30 days to accelerate to production
• Identify the single metric you will use to decide whether to expand beyond the pilot Options: Policy compliance rate, Net savings realized, Adoption among frequent travelers, Time to locate travelers in an incident
• State your target values for policy compliance, realized savings as a percent, and traveler coverage you expect at pilot end
• How soon can procurement and legal review and sign a pilot statement of work once mutual terms are agreed Options: Within 2 weeks, 2 to 4 weeks, 4 to 8 weeks, Longer than 8 weeks
• Should the pilot hit savings but fall short on adoption, which action would you prioritize, extend the pilot, intensify training, or pause rollout Options: Extend the pilot, Intensify training and communications, Pause rollout and reassess, Other
• By what calendar date do you expect to make a go no go decision after the pilot starts Options: Within 30 days, Within 60 days, Within 90 days, No fixed date

• Solution Walkthrough: Managed Booking, Policy, Expense, and Traveler Location

• Confirm the current state and its cost
• You confirm that the demonstrated end-to-end flow eliminates the specific manual rework and visibility gaps identified in Discovery.
• Run the sample savings forecast using the provided 90-day anonymized booking and expense dataset and deliver the analysis before the follow-up session.
• You validate the preliminary savings and operational improvement estimates for the shown scenarios.
• Run your Scenario 1 end-to-end
• Prepare a pilot configuration summary showing required modules, integrations, traveler populations, and acceptance criteria for review.
• You agree to a pilot scope, success criteria, and the next evidence required to complete a procurement decision.
• Run your Scenario 2 (edge case) and show duty-of-care flow
• Provide a 90-day anonymized extract of bookings, negotiated rates, and expense line items to enable the savings forecast.
• Quantify expected operational and financial impact
• Confirm the pilot participants, their approximate traveler counts, and the internal decision committee to engage in the follow-up review.
• Validate the future state and next steps

• Solution Experience — Solution Walkthrough
• Solution Experience Deck
• Solution Brief

• meeting
• slides
• document

• Configure policy-compliant booking engine
• Negotiate preferred supplier rates
• Integrate global air, hotel, and ground inventory
• Deploy mobile booking and expense application
• Enable real-time expense capture and reconciliation
• Implement automated policy enforcement and approvals
• Migrate historical booking and expense data
• Integrate platform with ERP and expense systems
• Set up corporate billing, invoicing, and virtual cards
• Deploy traveler duty-of-care location and alerting
• Operate 24/7 traveler support and disruption assistance
• Configure spend reporting and executive dashboards

Configure policy-compliant booking engine

• Do you have a current travel policy document we should import to drive booking rules? Options: Yes, No
• Which corporate approval workflows (for example pre-trip approval, spend-threshold approval) must the booking engine call out to? Options: Pre-trip approval, Spend-threshold approval, Manager approval only, Other
• How many booking channels from your organization should be enabled at launch (web, mobile, agency phone)? Options: 1, 2, 3
• Who in your organization will own rule changes and override approvals for booking engine configuration?
• What approval SLA for out-of-policy booking requests do you require (for example 4 hours, 24 hours)? Options: 4 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, Custom
• Which two traveler booking scenarios from your business (for example last-minute air for sales, multi-city itineraries for executives) should we include in configuration tests?

Negotiate preferred supplier rates

• Which supplier categories (airlines, hotel chains, ground operators) are highest priority for contracted rates? Options: Airlines, Hotels, Ground transportation, All of the above
• What target outcome do you expect from supplier negotiations — percentage room-rate discount or dollar/year cost reduction? Options: % room-rate discount, Dollar savings target, Both, No target set
• How many existing supplier agreements should be renegotiated versus replaced at program launch? Options: None, 1-5, 6-20, More than 20
• Who in your procurement team will lead negotiation coordination and provide supplier SLAs?
• Which preferred property chains or corporate rate codes must we include in negotiations for preferred inventory?
• Indicate required contract term lengths and termination notice periods you prefer for negotiated rates. Options: 6 months, 12 months, 24 months, Custom

Integrate global air, hotel, and ground inventory

• Which global distribution systems or direct inventory endpoints (for example GDS, airline direct API, hotel chain API) must we connect to? Options: GDS, Airline direct APIs, Hotel chain APIs, Other
• Indicate whether you require Pseudo City Code level access or corporate account rate access for air inventory. Options: PCC level access, Corporate rate access, Both, Not required
• Which IATA country codes or market regions do you require inventory coverage in at launch?
• What service level for inventory latency and price refresh (for example sub-second, 5 seconds) do you require for search responses? Options: Sub-second, 1-5 seconds, Up to 10 seconds, Custom
• Who manages your current GDS or API credentials and can provide technical contact details for integration testing?
• Describe the fallback behavior you expect when inventory is temporarily unavailable during the booking flow.

Deploy mobile booking and expense application

• Which mobile platforms and minimum OS versions must the app support (for example iOS 14+, Android 11+)? Options: iOS only, Android only, Both iOS and Android
• What single sign-on method do you use for employees (SAML, OpenID Connect, Active Directory) for app authentication? Options: SAML, OpenID Connect, Active Directory, Other
• Estimate active travelers per month who will use the mobile app at launch to help size infrastructure. Options: Less than 500, 500-2,000, 2,000-10,000, More than 10,000
• Indicate whether you require offline ticket storage and boarding pass access in the mobile app. Options: Yes, No
• Specify the mobile receipt capture and OCR accuracy expectations you require for expense submission. Options: Standard OCR, High accuracy OCR, Human review required
• Who in your organization will manage mobile app distribution and enterprise app enrollment?

Enable real-time expense capture and reconciliation

• Which expense capture sources must be enabled at go-live (card feeds, emailed receipts, merchant OCR, integrated POs)? Options: Card feeds, Emailed receipts, Merchant OCR, Integrated POs
• What expense categories and chart of account segments from your ledger must map to captured expenses (for example department, cost center)?
• Estimate average monthly expense transactions to help size reconciliation processing. Options: Less than 1,000, 1,000-5,000, 5,000-25,000, More than 25,000
• Provide details of your current receipt parsing or OCR provider and expected file formats for exports if available.
• Who approves expense policy exceptions today and what is the typical approval turnaround?
• Indicate reconciliation frequency you require between booking records and expense lines (real-time, nightly batch, weekly). Options: Real-time, Nightly, Weekly, Custom

Implement automated policy enforcement and approvals

• What specific rules from your travel policy document should be enforced automatically (for example max fare, preferred hotel list, advance purchase)?
• Which booking attributes (fare class, refundable status, travel class) should trigger automated approvals or blocks?
• How will you handle exceptions for executive travelers or mission-critical trips in terms of temporary policy overrides? Options: Pre-approved exceptions, Case-by-case approval, No exceptions
• Identify approval thresholds by traveler level or job grade that must be encoded into the approvals engine.
• Are there country-specific regulatory constraints (for example per-diem rules or VAT reclaim variations) that affect automated enforcement? Options: Yes, No
• Who is authorized in your organization to create policy overrides and where is that authorization documented?

Migrate historical booking and expense data

• Estimate the total historical booking and expense records and the date range you expect to migrate.
• Which systems currently store archived PNRs and expense reports (for example legacy TMC exports, corporate expense tool exports)?
• Provide a sample export file or schema from your legacy booking and expense system for mapping validation.
• What data retention, anonymization, or compliance rules (for example GDPR, local privacy rules) apply to historical traveler records? Options: GDPR, Other privacy rules, No special rules
• What acceptance criteria will confirm migration completeness and data accuracy (for example 99% PNR match rate, expense line reconciliation)?
• Which staff or system owners will provide credentials and sandbox access for legacy systems during the migration?

Integrate platform with ERP and expense systems

• Which ERP system and version will receive invoices and expense feeds from the platform?
• What chart of accounts segments must be included in mappings (for example department, cost center, location)?
• Provide a sample API specification or SFTP feed format currently used by your ERP for inbound invoices.
• Specify frequency and batch size requirements for expense exports to your ERP (for example real-time, hourly, daily). Options: Real-time, Hourly, Daily, Custom
• What acceptance criteria will validate ERP integration success in terms of reconciliation completeness and posting latency?
• Who in your IT or finance team will be the primary contact for integration testing and final sign-off?

Set up corporate billing, invoicing, and virtual cards

• Which billing model do you require at launch (central corporate invoice, billed to cost center, virtual card passthrough)? Options: Central invoice, Cost center billed, Virtual card passthrough
• What invoicing cadence and payment terms must be supported by corporate billing (for example Net 30, Net 45)? Options: Net 15, Net 30, Net 45, Custom
• Confirm whether virtual card issuance should be on a per-transaction basis, per vendor, or pooled cards for reconciliation. Options: Per-transaction, Per-vendor, Pooled
• What virtual card spend controls and velocity limits do you require (for example per-day, per-merchant limits)?
• Who in your accounts payable team will reconcile supplier invoices to corporate billing and virtual card ledgers?
• Which currencies and tax jurisdictions must invoices and virtual cards support at program launch?

Deploy traveler duty-of-care location and alerting

• Which traveler populations (for example sales, field engineers, executives) require location tracking and emergency alerting?
• What traveler contact methods are on file that we can use for alerts (for example personal mobile, corporate mobile, emergency contact)?
• How do you currently obtain traveler location data for duty-of-care (for example check-in app, corporate card data, itinerary feeds)? Options: Check-in app, Corporate card data, Itinerary feeds, None
• Are there specific countries or regions where legal consent or data residency rules restrict location tracking for your travelers? Options: Yes, No
• Specify the alerting SLA you require for safety events (for example time to notify duty-of-care team and escalation tiers). Options: Immediate (minutes), Within 1 hour, Within 4 hours, Custom
• Identify the roles in your organization that should receive duty-of-care alerts and manage escalations.

• Master Services Agreement (MSA)
• Subscription Order Form
• Statement of Work (SOW)
• Service Level Agreement (SLA)
• Pilot Scope Agreement
• Pricing Assumptions Appendix
• Data Processing Agreement (DPA)
• Mutual Readiness Commitment
• Acceptance Criteria & Go‑Live Agreement
• Change Order Agreement
• Exit & Transition Agreement

• Go-live Health Check (Week 1-4)
• First Outcome Measurement (Week 4-10)
• Acceptance Gate Review (Around Day 90)
• Quarterly Program Success Review

• Deliver the quarterly metrics pack including raw data and variance explanations to the buyer before the next review.
• Deliver the validated outcome dashboard and raw data extracts for stakeholder review prior to the acceptance meeting.
• Implement the agreed corrective actions and provide progress updates against each remediation item weekly.
• Reconcile any data discrepancies identified and publish a data-quality note explaining adjustments to metric calculations.
• Restate acceptance criteria and numeric targets
• Produce a documented pass or fail for each acceptance criterion recorded in Program Scope.
• For any failed or conditional criteria, establish a remediation plan with dates and verification steps.
• Capture the buyer's named signatory acceptance when applicable and publish the acceptance record.
• Publish the acceptance decision record including evidence and any conditional remediation commitments.
• Open remediation tasks for failed criteria with target completion dates and verification steps.
• Schedule the quarterly success review series and circulate the reporting template to be used going forward.
• Trend review of core metrics
• Confirm the trend direction for policy compliance rate and expense exceptions rate and whether they remain within tolerance of Program Scope targets.
• Reduce aged open issues and agree a plan to close the top persistent blockers.
• Agree a prioritized list of enhancements with expected impact and timelines for the next quarter.
• Close or reprioritize open issues older than 30 days and publish an updated issue burn-down report.
• Publish the prioritized enhancement backlog with expected impact on named metrics and proposed delivery quarters.
• Re-confirm success criteria and owners
• Deployment and integrations validated as complete or have named remediation steps with dates.
• Early adoption signals reviewed and any adoption gaps mapped to corrective actions.
• Legacy incumbent wind-down confirmed in progress or completed, with archival or retention approach documented.
• Publish a deployment validation report with outstanding defects and deadlines.
• Archive or confirm retention-read-only status of legacy system and document data migration completion or archive location.
• Open tickets for each critical blocker with target resolution dates and post-resolution verification steps.
• Distribute initial user adoption summary and plan for targeted training or communications where gaps exist.
• Present first data against Program Scope targets
• Confirm direction of policy compliance rate and realized savings versus baseline and whether current trajectory meets Program Scope targets.
• Document root causes for any shortfalls and agree corrective actions with deadlines to reach the acceptance gate.
• Establish reliable reporting cadence and data ownership for the acceptance gate review.
• Persistent issues and ticket burn-down
• Adoption and duty-of-care signal review
• Deployment and integration validation
• Present outcome data per acceptance criterion
• Enhancement requests and prioritization
• Early adoption signals and usage patterns
• Document pass or fail per criterion and formal acceptance decision
• Root-cause diagnosis for any gaps
• Supplier performance and savings realization review
• Incumbent wind-down status
• Agree remediation plan for any failed or conditional items
• Agree corrective actions and timeline to acceptance gate
• Confirm next steps and transition to ongoing success cadence
• Agree next quarter actions and checkpoints
• Blockers and open issues triage
• Confirm reporting cadence and data ownership
• Agree immediate remediation actions