GETTING THE


MESSAGE W


hen stepping into the great bazaar of statistics, one can normally pick out a suitable figure to fit the theory one


is shopping for. This year’s crop of data culled from payments through various corporate providers is no exception. Would sir or madam care for stats to make the case that airfares for UK travellers are rising or falling? If the former, the only issuer to state actual average fares is Airplus International, and it shows a big jump from £448 in 2013 (the same as 2012) to £469 in 2014. Airplus UK managing director Caro-


line Haywood attributes the increase to long-haul flying, which accounts for 13 per cent of the tickets bought by her cus- tomers. “Big companies that slammed on the brakes began to take those brakes off in 2014, especially on long-haul,” she says. “Transactions started to climb in the second half of last year and have continued in the first half of this year.” When business travellers fly long-


haul, it is not usually at the back of the aircraft. For UK customers of Airplus, only 44 per cent of intercontinental tickets purchased in 2014 were in economy. Another 14 per cent were in premium economy, while 38 per cent were in business class and 4 per cent in first.


20 BBT CORPORATE CARDS SUPPLEMENT 2015


However, if sir or madam would like data to tell the opposite story, look no further than American Express, which says the average fare it handled in the UK fell 3.4 per cent, while at the same time average hotel rates climbed 2.6 per cent. There is more consensus on average


airfares bought internationally. Airplus says the average fare across all its markets fell for the second year in a row in 2014, down from e542 to e539. Amex agrees. The average fare across


Air Hotel Car hire Other (eg meals, taxis etc)


Average airfares Fares bought in the UK


Fares bought globally Source: tickets paid for through Airplus In association with


43% 22% 3%


32% Source: Paytech study of Mastercard large market corporate card spend in 2014


2010 £414 e525


2011 £431 e528


Typical spend on a corporate card Percentage of spend


Corporate cards collect invaluable data, but analysing it reveals a complex landscape


the whole of Europe on its corporate cards dropped 2.6 per cent, while the average hotel rate climbed 1.7 per cent. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has


not disclosed any figures, but head of EMEA commercial cards Melissa Gar- gagliano says: “Companies, particularly in Europe, are increasingly choosing low-cost airlines, bringing down average transaction costs.”


Her assertion is supported by Citi, which reveals the number of


Percentage of transactions 7% 8% 3%


82%


2012 £448 e553


2013 £448 e542


2014 £469 e539


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