As WVU continues to streamline travel and expense management, Procurement, Contracting and Payment Services will launch a second tool to make travel booking simpler and faster. MyTravel, our version of the commercial product World Travel, should be available fall 2017.
Employees will be able to make travel reservations online or by phone with personal assistance. This new tool will synchronize airfare, hotel booking and car rentals in a single system. It also will use a “ghost card” associated with a central funding source, so employees will no longer have to carry large expenses on their PCards or personal credit cards when booking travel.
People traveling on business currently use 20 different booking methods, preventing the University from effectively leveraging its buying power. This unmanaged approach also prevents WVU officials from knowing where its employees and students are and providing assistance to them during emergencies in the U.S. or abroad. All University employees will be using MyTravel except Athletics, which will use Anthony Travel.
Here are some other advantages of MyTravel:
Preferred contract rates and rules will be embedded into the system.
The risk of human data-entry error and abuse are both reduced.
WVU Travel could reduce spending by as much as $2.2 million per year just through improved efficiency.