Show your travellers how costly an online "deal" can be, with this explanation of why it pays to book through your corporate agency.

Print and post this handy guide to help convince business travellers to stick to your corporate travel policy. Or copy and paste an electronic version to use in your newsletters or intranet.

Look before you book

As a cost-conscious business traveller, you may wonder why not just book the discounted offers you see on the web for airfares, hotels, rental cars and other travel bargains.

Here are five good reasons not to go it alone, and to count on your corporate travel management programs instead for your next trip.

1. Get better travel advice. If you book online or through retail agents, service fees can be higher and you won't get the business-related advice of a specialized corporate travel consultant. Corporate travel management resources can save you time and money by doing the legwork to find best available routes and rates for your travel plans.

2. Minimize personal risk. Safety always trumps savings when you travel on your company's behalf. If you book on your own, you may not get important travel advisories about working in certain destinations. And, if anything goes wrong, there's no quick record of your whereabouts to provide emergency assistance or get you home. Your corporate travel management resources offer an important safety net for your protection.

3. Earn corporate discounts. When you buy through corporate travel programs, it adds to the organization's bargaining power to negotiate discounts with hotels, airlines, car rental firm and others. So your one-off deal can cost you - and everyone - more in the long run.

4. Get valuable extras. A web rate might look like a deal, but its terms may be costly if you change plans or cancel. Corporate travel fares and rates usually come with better terms, and may even include upgrades, amenities or use of business resources you don't have to pay extra for.

5. Maintain the right image. That incredible deal you found on a first-class ticket or penthouse suite may not look so wonderful in light of internal cutbacks or public perception. When you use company booking tools, you ensure your travel choices comply with corporate travel policy and that costs are defendable to management, clients and peers.

If a deal seems too good to pass up, talk to your travel arranger for a second opinion or to see if the same rate can be obtained internally.