9/10 business travellers have no control over cancellations

According to research by travel management platform CWT, the vast majority of business trip cancellations escape business travellers’ control. Travellers mainly abort their trips because their appointments have been rescheduled (42%), the survey found. Meeting cancellations (13%), weather issues (11%), safety concerns (9%), and flight cancellations or delays (9%) are other external causes. Personal issues only account for 14% of cancellations, according to the research which was conducted online with a sample of 400 business travellers working at companies with over 1,000 employees and a travel policy. “Interestingly, our survey found that 88% of trips cancelled were rescheduled for a later time,” said Amit Wurgaft, CWT’s Chief Experience Officer, Digital. “38% of which, are typically rescheduled immediately after the first trip was cancelled.” The research also shows that 68% of travellers don’t cancel all trip segments at the same time, with 45% saying they cancel flights before hotels and 22% start first with accommodation and then cancel the air segments. When it comes to cancellation policies and possible fees, the survey uncovers that 85% of travellers would prefer to know the fees before starting to cancel the trip. Clarity (37%) and findability (20%) of cancellation policies and fees were found to be major concerns. When asked what aspects they would mainly want to improve in the cancellation process, these two factors ranked top, along with reducing the time it takes to confirm everything is cancelled (22%), reducing the steps needed to take to cancel a trip (10%), and having a quick way to cancel from their mobile device (10%). All survey respondents had travelled for business at least once in the previous 12 months and had cancelled a trip in the past few months.