American Express: Businesses Traveling on the Cheap

Many airline reports claim that their revenue is down due to a lack in business travel, but few have presented empirical evidence to the claim. Now, American Express Business Travel is stepping in to present supporting statistics.

American Express Business Travel, who has been tracking users travel preferences since 1999, found that 56 percent of them choose to travel economy class on international flights in the first quarter of this year. With percentages typically teetering in the low 40s, this represents a 13 percent jump from the fourth quarter of 2008.

On domestic flights, nearly 90 percent of all businesses chose to fly in coach, despite the cost of airline tickets dropping by an average of 9 percent.

Additionally, business travelers spent less on hotel accommodations as the room rate dropped $23, from $203 in December 2008 to $180 in March 2009.