expense reports Archives

Lyft surges. Taxis drop. And we love Delta, National and Hampton Inn

April 22, 2016

Ride-hailing apps like Lyft are surging in their share of business travel spending. (Image: Lyft)

Lyft, surging 44%, is giving Uber a run for its money (Image: Lyft)

The latest quarterly report on business travelers’ spending habits from expense tracking giant Certify came with a separate supplement that spells out the boom in business for ride-sharing apps at the expense of traditional ground transportation services.

While Uber continues to dominate the new ride-sharing business, the report sees Lyft moving into a stronger second place in the months ahead.

Certify said its Q1 2016 numbers on business traveler spending show that “use of ride-hailing services among business travelers is at an all-time high and shows no signs of slowing.”

In just two years, Certify said, the new ride-sharing segment’s portion of business travelers’ ground transportation spending has soared from just 8 percent in Q1 of 2014 to 46 percent in the most recent quarter. Over the same two-year period, the share for traditional taxis has fallen from 37 to 14 percent, while rental cars’ share declined from 55 to 40 percent.

In the first quarter of this year, Certify said, Uber captured 43 percent of all ground service rides, but it noted that Lyft is showing signs of a surge. From Q4 of 2015 to Q1 of this year, Certify said, Lyft showed a 44 percent jump in business travel transactions.

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“We anticipate Lyft will become a bigger player in the business travel market in 2016,” Certify said, citing its recent closing of $1 billion in new investment capital, which included $500 million from General Motors.

Eliminating the spending numbers for rental cars and looking only at taxis and ride-hailing, Certify said, Uber commanded a 69 percent share of all transactions in Q1 2016, making it “the dominant provider for business travelers in every U.S. city.”

Check out how much more Delta earns per traveler compared to other carriers (Image: Certify)

Other data from the report, which looked at more than 9 million business travel receipts in the first quarter, found that the three most-expensed restaurants were – in order – Starbucks, McDonald’s and Panera Bread; the most-expensed airlines were Delta, American and Southwest; most-expensed hotel brands were Hampton Inn, Marriott and Homewood Suites; and most-expensed car rental companies were National, Enterprise and Hertz. See the charts below:

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Surprising findings in your expense reports (Infographic)

July 16, 2015

Business travelers spent more on Uber and AirBnB in San Francisco than in any other city. (Image: Jim Glab)

Spending in the so-called “sharing economy” is showing big gains among business travelers, who are increasingly turning to ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft as well as the accommodations-sharing service AirBnB.

That’s according to the latest analysis of business traveler expense reports compiled by the travel and expense management company Certify, covering the second quarter of 2015.

Among its key findings: Business travelers are now spending more on Uber rides than on traditional taxicabs; and spending on accommodations booked through AirBnB, while still relatively small compared to traditional hotels, posted a growth rate of 143 percent just from the first quarter to the second quarter. Uber now accounts for 55 percent of ground transportation spending compared with 43 percent for taxis, the report said, noting that the market share of both taxis and rental cars have declined as ride-sharing services grow.

In sorting data by destination, Certify determined that sharing services are most popular among business travelers to the epicenter of the sharing economy, San Francisco, where Uber accounted for 79 percent of spending on local rides, and spending on AirBnB was highest in the country at an average of $558 per stay. (Story continues below graphic.)

“It’s clear that the sharing economy is here to stay for business people,” said Certify CEO Robert Neveu. “We believe this market shift is based on both convenience and price, since these newer services are typically more cost-effective compared with traditional vendors. Established travel providers will need to adapt quickly or face further market share erosion to the sharing economy.”

Although Uber dominates in ground transportation, the report noted that competitor Lyft is actually cheaper, with an average expensed cost of $22.51 per ride vs. $30.03 for Uber and $34.48 for taxis. Just over a year ago, Uber claimed just 22% of local ground transport– now it’s vaulted to 55%.

Meanwhile, business travelers continue to favor Starbucks and fast food over other types of food and beverage outlets when they’re on the road. Below are some statistics from the Q2 Certify spending report.

Most-Expensed Restaurants: Caffeine, burgers and doughnuts are our fuel, right?
Starbucks: 4.67% of expenses, averaging $10.77 per receipt
McDonald’s: 2.73%, averaging $7.75
Subway: 1.65%, averaging $16.69
Panera Bread: 1.62%, averaging $37.9
Dunkin’ Donuts: 1.32%, averaging $11.57

Most Expensed Airlines: Delta is killing it with business travelers
Delta: 20.07%, averaging $410.64
United: 13.46%, averaging $413.19
American: 11.7%, averaging $364.14
Southwest: 11.15%, averaging $304.84
US Airways: 07.58%, averaging $302.46

Most-Expensed Hotels: Marriott & Hilton brands rule
Marriott: 8.76% of expenses, averaging $243.07
Hampton Inn: 8.15%, averaging $228.52
Courtyard by Marriott: 6.52%, averaging $173.48
Hilton Garden Inn: 4.10%, averaging $190.13
Holiday Inn Express: 4.04%, averaging $239.08

Most Expensed Car-Rental Services: We are loving our Emerald Aisle, right?
National: 23.82%, averaging $180.52
Enterprise: 16.27%, averaging $181.78
Hertz: 14.49%, averaging $215.85
Avis: 13.79%, averaging $179.85
Budget: 03.96%, averaging $196.16

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Frequent travelers love Chick-fil-a

July 24, 2014

Chick-fil-a’s online menu

Poring over millions of travel expense reports always reveals some interesting data gems. For example, business travelers have a new found love for Chick-fil-a. We are also ordering take out food to eat in our hotel rooms more frequently.

That’s what we are hearing this week from Certify, a big expense management software company that analyzes several million expense reports to create its quarterly SpendSmart Report.

The most-expensed vendors from last quarter include Starbucks, Delta, Marriott, National Car Rental, as well as Costco, Shell and Amazon.

Certify says that meals constituted 21% of all travel and entertainment (T&E) receipts it analyzed, followed by airlines (16%), hotels (13%) and car rentals (5%).

Here are some other interesting nuggets from the latest Certify study. See the infographic below, too.

>Business travelers love fast food, especially Chick-fil-A, which was the highest rated. Chipotle and Dunkin Donuts round out the top three highest rated restaurants. (I’m not sure if this is because we love fast food, or it’s ubiquity…maybe a little of both?)

>We also love to eat in our hotel rooms. In New York, a restaurant food delivery company called Seamless is now the #1 most expensed restaurant vendor the city, beating out Starbucks.

>Delta is the most expensed airline followed by United and American, but Southwest and Alaska are the highest rated.

>The cheapest place for dinner on the road is Philadelphia, averaging $37, while the cheapest lodging is in Dallas at an average $205 per night.

>The priciest town for dinner and hotel is, as always, New York at an average $71 for dinner and a whopping $422 per night for hotel, while Houston came in as the next highest city at $315 per night.

Where do YOU eat out most often when you are on the road? Is fast food a staple for you? Leave your comments below the infographic!

–Chris McGinnis

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