In an effort to cut costs, three-quarters of North American businesses have been examining and revising their travel policies. The effects of the global economic downturn has resulted in two-thirds of companies either prohibiting or dissuading employees, who have to travel for work, from choosing first- or business-class options with airlines.

A new survey reveals how the majority of employers are now asking their employees to look for what is termed as the ‘lowest logical fare’, and, when appropriate, purchase cheaper non-refundable tickets. The survey is being published by the National Business Travel Association Foundation and Egencia.

Last year, US companies spent somewhere in the region of $48.7 billion on airline tickets. According to the study, this figure could be cut by around $30 billion if companies started to insist on employees choosing the lowest logical fare. This is defined as the lowest-priced fare which does not require a business traveller to have to stay at a destination for an extra night, take a ludicrously circuitous route to get to that destination, lose productivity or miss out on an appointment.

Egencia is the corporate arm of travel giants Expedia. Its vice president of global marketing, Christophe Peymirat, said even though the research revealed that many companies could save a huge amount on travel expenses by encouraging employees to look for cheaper options, the practice was not that common.

He added that the results would be apparent if people chose to make small changes such as being a little more flexible with their departure times and taking cheaper connecting rather than direct flights.