FAQ: The top features to look for in corporate travel management software
When businesses start comparing corporate travel management software, it’s easy to focus on surface-level features like booking speed or a slick interface. In reality, the most important features are those that support control, visibility and support over time particularly as travel volumes grow or become more complex.
The best platforms tend to share a common set of capabilities, even if they package them differently, these include:
Comprehensive booking content
At a minimum, corporate travel software should allow users to book flights, hotels and rail in one place. For UK-based organisations, UK rail and Eurostar integration is particularly important, as rail often replaces short-haul flights.
Platforms such as Amadeus Cytric, SAP Concur Travel, Navan and Amex GBT Egencia all provide multi-channel booking, but the depth of content and clarity of presentation varies. Organisations with frequent international travel often favour platforms with strong GDS and NDC airline content, alongside negotiated hotel rates.
Policy enforcement at the point of booking
One of the biggest differentiators between consumer booking tools and corporate travel platforms is policy control. Good software guides travellers towards compliant choices rather than relying on after-the-fact policing.
Features to look for include:
Clear in-policy and out-of-policy indicators
Configurable rules by role, route or spend level
Justification prompts for out-of-policy bookings
Platforms like Cytric are commonly chosen by organisations with more complex policy requirements because these rules can be configured in detail without making the booking process overly rigid.
Approval workflows that match reality
Approval is another area where poor design quickly frustrates users. The best systems allow approvals to be triggered only when necessary, rather than forcing every booking through the same process.
Look for:
Spend-or policy-based approvals
Multi-level approval options
Mobile and Microsoft Teams approvals
These features are standard in enterprise platforms such as Cytric and Concur, and are particularly important in larger organisations where delays can quickly disrupt travel plans.
Reporting and data visibility
Reliable reporting is often the feature that matters most to finance and procurement teams. Strong platforms provide dashboards covering:
Total travel spend
Policy compliance
Supplier usage
Savings and missed savings
CO₂ emissions
Amadeus Cytric, Navan and Amex GBT Egencia all offer interactive dashboards, but the usefulness of those dashboards depends heavily on how they’re configured.
This is where a Travel Management Company such as Meon Travel Management adds value, by aligning reporting structures with how the business actually manages budgets, cost centres and approvals.
Integration with expense and finance systems
Travel software rarely operates in isolation. Integration with expense management and accounting systems reduces manual work and improves data accuracy.
Most leading platforms support this via pre-built connectors or open APIs. Cytric, for example, is frequently integrated with expense and ERP systems as part of a wider finance workflow, ensuring booking data feeds cleanly into downstream reporting.
Support and Duty of Care visibility
Finally, even the best software cannot resolve disruption on its own. Platforms should support duty of care through traveller tracking, alerts and visibility, but these features are most effective when paired with 24/7 human support.
For organisations using Cytric via Meon, this combination allows both the traveller and the support team to see the same information, regardless of whether the booking was made online or offline.
