As traveling professionals know, it's best to stick with the familiar out on the road. Supporting this, big brands reigned supreme when cloud-based travel and expense management software provider
The quarterly Certify SpendSmart Report finds the most used and top-rated expenses for categories such as food, hotels, airlines, and car rentals. The 2014 Q3 report also marks the seventh consecutive quarter that Certify has researched expense trends.
“Our latest SpendSmart report shows that while entrenched brands have an advantage with business travelers, there’s still room to shake things up in our consumer economy,” said Robert Neveu, CEO of Certify, in a statement. “Restaurants, hotels and transportation companies must be always thinking about what customers want and surprising them.”
Notably, lunch was the most expensed meal, comprising 37% of all meal expenses, compared to 28% for dinner and 34% for breakfast. Delta Airlines and National Car Rental were also the most expensed and top-rated companies in their respective categories - the only ones to do so.
The following reflects some of Certify's Q3 highlights:
Most-Expensed Restaurants:
- Starbucks: 4.57% of expenses, averaging $10.83 per receipt
- McDonalds’s: 2.99%, averaging $7.66
- Subway: 1.80%, averaging $14.99
- Panera Bread: 1.60%, averaging $37.61
- Dunkin’ Donuts: 1.2%, averaging $11.34
Most Expensed Restaurants by Meal:
- Breakfast: Starbucks, 13.59%
- Lunch: McDonalds, 3.28%
- Dinner:McDonalds, 1.54%
Most-Expensed Hotels:
- Hampton Inn: 8.68%, of expenses, averaging $216.93
- Marriott: 8.33% averaging $244.94
- Courtyard by Marriott: 6.10%, averaging $168.12
- Holiday Inn: 4.27%, averaging $174.19
- Holiday Inn Express: 4.07%, averaging $215.67
Most Expensed Airlines:
- Delta: 21.11%, averaging $420.27
- United: 14.29% averaging $446.82
- American: 9.79% averaging $387.63
- US Airways: 9.31%, averaging $313.63
- Alaska: 1.08% averaging $253.07
Most Expensed Car-Rental Services:
- National: 22.03%, averaging $183.59
- Avis: 15.97%, averaging $189.10
- Hertz: 13.95%, averaging $219.25
- Enterprise: 12.35%, averaging $199.46
- Budget: 4.25%, averaging $215.58
Delta was the top-rated airline, while National and Avis topped the list of best car-rental services.
For more results and information on Certify, head to their website
