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Subscription drives your mobility future

Intermodular mobility with Microsoft

How to calculate your Total Cost of Mobility

N1 SEPTEMBER 2018 – QUARTERLY MAGAZINE

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Smart move For 15 years now, the corporate fleet industry has been my professional habitat. For most of that time, the professionalisation of vehicle fleet management was a gradual process, slow and unspectacular.

I have to say: times have changed!

The corporate fleet industry is shaking off its conservative reputation and embracing innovation with a passion. Why? Because it’s making the smart move from fleet to mobility management.

It’s great to see corporate customers realise that there’s more to corporate mobility than company cars – and offer attractive mobility packages to all employees. Even greater: suppliers are matching that demand with flexible mobility solutions. In this complex and fascinating new world, disruption often is the name of the game.

In this new magazine, I’ll explore the newest solutions on the corporate mobility market with you and help you identifying the building blocks of your corporate mobility ecosystem. Yes, the road is long and winding. But it’s the smartest move you’ve ever made.

Strategy & Vision How to calculate your total cost of mobility

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5 Steps to create a carbon neutral programme

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Travel The benefits of contactless payment 6 Picturing frequent flyer programmes in Europe

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Steven Schoefs

Disrupt Advertorial: towards digital parking with APCOA

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Intermodular mobility with Microsoft 10 17

Carpooling was never easier

Drive Subscription models will be driving your future mobility

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The rising appetite for chauffeur services

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COLOPHON This magazine is realised with the expertise of

Contributors : Tim Harrup, Frank Jacobs, Jonathan Manning, Dieter Quartier, Benjamin Uyttebroeck, Fien Van den Steen

Published by Nexus Communication SA, Parc Artisanal 11-13, B-4671 Barchon (Belgium) contact@nexuscommunication.be

Lay out : Cible - www.cible.be and Push-UP Communication (Cover illustration)

This publication is registered and copyrighted trademark, reproduction rights reserved for all countries. Received documents will not be returned. By submitting them, the author implicitly authorises their publication.

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S T R AT E GY

Here’s how to switch to TCM Is the car still the basic unit of your fleet? And TCO the building block of your balance sheet? Then it’s time to change. No, let me rephrase that: high time!

We’ve reached an inflection point. Mobility now is the central concept, and Total Cost of Mobility is what you should be measuring. So, how do you calculate that TCM?

How to procure the best company car at the lowest possible Total Cost of Ownership? Since time immemorial, TCO has been the central concern of corporate fleet managers across Europe, and beyond. Until recently, they could be forgiven for thinking that this is how it would always remain.

INDUSTRY-TRANSFORMING Today’s fleet managers no longer have that excuse. For over a decade, evidence has been mounting of an industry-transforming trifecta.

• F irstly and most importantly, technology has improved: artificial intelligence, telematics and alternative powertrains have moved from prototype to mainstream.

• S econdly, the regulatory grip is tightening.

The fight against pollution and congestion is purposely discouraging transport based on the ‘classic’, single-occupant car, instead promoting a flexible, multimodal mobility mix that includes carsharing, ridesharing, public transport and more.

• F inally and perhaps crucially, society as a whole is ready for the change. Employees want more flexibility, and as citizens also demand more sustainability from the mobility options offered by their employers.

CRITICAL MASS None of these three megatrends is new. The automotive and fleet industries have been experimenting with small-scale pilot projects on sharing, electric cars and other innovations.

But that phase is behind us now. Experts say we’ve reached critical mass. We’re no longer testing, we’re implementing. Why? Because of the tests, we know the technology is sound, and the business models are profitable.

Even if your fleet has no electric vehicles (EVs) yet, and even if you’re not yet encouraging your employees to carpool into work, or to carshare for work, now is the time to prepare the switch from TCO to TCM, for three reasons: • Fleets are tied up in multi-year contracts, which means your choices today need to take into account the situation three to four years down the line.

• Mobility touches a wide range of corporate departments – HR, Finance, Procurement, CSR, Legal, Travel, Fleet – each with their own motivation to move forward.

• Transport typically is the second-most expensive component of corporate budgets (after personnel), making potential savings in this department carry decisive weight.

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EXTERNAL FORCES

ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL

Because of the megatrends powering the switch from TCO to TCM, the change is not optional. The sooner fleets come to grips with it, the smaller the chance that change will be forced upon them, by external forces and/or by other, internal stakeholders.

That blueprint forms the basis of a more detailed approach, which will vary according to each company’s specific circumstance. There is no one-size-fits-all path here, but one observation does hold true for all companies: a TCM approach is much broader, more all-encompassing than a TCO one. Mobility management ideally comprises all employees, not just those entitled to a company car.

Even if the end result – a future-proof, mobility-based fleet policy – may seem a bit far off at first, three steps will ensure that your company is prepared to make the change from TCO to TCM, whenever circumstances prove to be at their most favourable.

• See it as an opportunity to understand your corporate mobility needs – both from an employee and an employer perspective.

• Set up a task force with people from all stakeholding departments, to define which mobility options work best, and – crucially – to help sell the vision across the company.

• Get a good understanding of the mobility options available on the market (both now and in the near future) and link their USPs to the mobility needs within your company.

A company mobility policy should take on board some or all of the following: • Company cars, which will remain a relevant part of corporate mobility.

• Options for sharing mobility within the company, via carpooling, carsharing, bikesharing, etc.

• Public-transport protocols, clarifying the circumstances under which employees can uses buses, trains, taxis, etc.

• Similar protocols for, or if appropriate specific agreements with sharedmobility providers.

• The option of working from home.

If carefully managed, this brave new mobility world is likely to create benefits in terms of employee satisfaction, cost reduction and company reputation.

However, for progress to be sustainable, it has to be measured, reported and continued. Switching to TCM is not just the end of an era, but also the beginning of an exciting, complex and data-rich new one…

“Flexibility requires trust” “Founded in 2011, XXImo is a Dutchbased specialist in mobility cards and associated products and services, offering its customers an all-in-one solution designed for the multimodal future of mobility”, says Patrick Bunnik, CEO. “This trend from ownership to usage is accelerated by the changing demands of millennials, the rise of megacities and the increase in tech capabilities. In the ‘War for Talent’, companies have to offer flexibility and freedom of choice. Another driver: urban regulations to fight congestion, coupled with global targets to reduce CO2”.

“Our platform, in combination with the card and app, gives both companies and their employees control over their spend, and allows them to optimise usage, in line with their strategy.”

“The development from TCO to TCM also influences our merchant and partner strategy, with direct access via the app to services like DriveNow and Uber.”

“Millennials are less loyal towards brands or makes, more so to flexible concepts themselves. But that requires trust: trust that employees will make the best possible decision.

However, if the boundaries are clear, that creates the optimum both employees and employers are looking for.”

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As safe as chip and PIN Contactless payments are as safe as chip and PIN payments, according to Mastercard. The crucial security characteristic of contactless paying is the use of unique one-time-only codes which are sent from the smartphone or card to the reader to identify the transaction. Moreover, little data are actually transferred, contrary to online or phone payments which often transfer CVC-codes, the cardholder’s name and address. If fraud does occur, most credit card companies offer a zero liability policy.

TRAVEL

Tap & Go According to Visa, people worldwide spend up to $800 billion a year on public transport fares.

Most are paid in cash or by a variety of public transit cards. Replacing this array of payment methods by contactless technology can save time and money.

Several public transit companies in the world offer a contactless option, such as the Oyster Card in London. However, most of these cards are company or transport mode specific, making the frequent commuter ending up with a variety of public transit passes.

To solve this problem, several credit card companies started using their technology for contactless payments in cooperation with public transit agencies. Nowadays, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and other card providers make it unnecessary to use a specific card. Passing one’s credit card or smartphone with dedicated application at the transit vehicle fulfils the payment at ease: tap & go!

SAVING TIME & MONEY Consumers can save a lot of time and money with an overall contactless payment method, since they will no longer have to queue to buy tickets,

nor to top them up at every different transit company. Transit companies on the other hand will decrease operating costs in savings of tickets and staff.

Companies can save time and money as well with corporate credit cards, managing, analysing and controlling expenditures of individual cards for the company. As a consequence, companies could provide their employees with contactless credit cards as an overall transport pass rather than providing an array of transit passes or having to deal with various transport tickets afterwards.

The future of contactless commuting is just about to start. Several pilot projects are running globally, to connect more cities and transit companies to a contactless commuting network.

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ADVERTORIAL

Towards digital parking with APCOA The cost and availability of parking is a growing concern for fleets. However, there are clever solutions at hand to avoid frustration, hefty bills and loss of time.

Amazingly, cars spend 85 to 95% of their time being parked, either at home, alongside the road or in a public or private car park. At times of congestion, pollution, rising costs and increasing lack of space, that sounds absurd. On top of that, companies are spending billions in direct or indirect parking costs – from providing infrastructure themselves to downtime caused by looking for a place to park all the way through to parking fee management and fine administration.

Fortunately, we live in creative times and start-ups and established companies are thinking of clever ways to solve this problem. Particularly now autonomous cars that turn the driver into a mere passenger are just around the corner.

One such company that is shaping the future is APCOA, Europe’s leading car park manager.

APCOA FLOW

PRE-BOOKING

In 2018, APCOA took a decisive step towards a fully integrated digital parking experience with a new service, APCOA FLOW, aimed at reshaping mobility and simplifying its customers’ parking journey.

And this is just the start. The API-based APCOA FLOW digital platform is open, fully scalable and has been designed to integrate other functions. Pre-booking and cashless payment for on-street parking are already in development. Together with Volkswagen Financial Services, APCOA will soon make the app available to more than 1.5 million VW leasing customers.

More options and new collaborations are expected to follow.

Using an Android or iOS app combined with RFID technology and a cloud-based platform, APCOA provides a seamless experience from finding a parking spot to starting the way back home: no nervous circling around city centres – the app automatically finds the closest free parking spot. No stretching at a barrier and no queuing – APCOA FLOW requires no tickets and is integrated with cashless payment. Within a second the RFID chip placed behind the windscreen is detected by the car park and the barrier opens automatically.

Launched in Germany in May, APCOA FLOW has already been implemented in more than 200 car parks comprising more than 100,000 parking spots. Later this year, the app will be introduced in Italy, Sweden, Norway and Austria. By 2019, it will be available in all 13 European markets served by APCOA.

APCOA FLOW can open the door to an ever more comprehensive smart city ecosystem. New business models in the fields of e-mobility, car-sharing and urban logistics will be developed that can be integrated into this platform – contributing to more environment-friendly traffic and more pleasant city landscapes, but also giving people time for the things that really matter.

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Unchained mobility People don’t buy CDs or videos anymore. They use what they want, when they want, in exchange for an attractive monthly subscription fee.

The same concept is starting to gain momentum in the car industry, where OEMs and rental companies create tailor-made solutions.

When you ask a fleet manager what he wants from his suppliers, chances are that flexibility is one of the first answers given.

Leasing contracts tie them down for a fixed period and number of kilometres, and modifying these parameters is costly.

Business drivers, too, are keen on openness and adjustability. Rather than driving the same car for four years, many of them would like to change vehicles once in a while – or even monthly. An estate car to perform daily tasks, an SUV to go skiing and a convertible during the spring? Today, that’s already possible. And the number of offers is increasing.

THE CAR MANUFACTURERS Perhaps not surprisingly, most subscription models are offered by premium car manufacturers. They open the door to a universe of cars otherwise out of reach while offering an all-inclusive service package – with contract durations from 1 month up to two years.

With Care by Volvo, you can drive a semi-customisable XC40 for €729 per month as part of a 24-month/30,000 km subscription. After one year, you can swap cars. Mercedes-Benz is currently piloting Mercedes-Me Flexperience in Bochum, Essen and Münster. It is essentially a mobility flat rate that is based on categories and enables 12 vehicle changes within the contract term of 1 year.

In Atlanta, Porsche Passport offers a large variety of vehicles with unlimited changes and mileage, within a contract term of just 1 month. For $3,000 you get to try out the entire line-up, for $2,000 the choice ranges from the 718 series to the basic Cayenne.

THE LESSORS ALD Automotive is one of the first leasing companies to try out a subscription-like business model. In Italy, they launched a flexible product called RicariCar (ricaricare means to recharge): an online, pay-peruse private lease offering. It allows you to close a private lease contract for a certain number of km per month. At the end of each month, the actual distance travelled is calculated and charged accordingly.

Services can also be bundled with the car, with add-ons such as an extra 1,000 km in the summer. Also, Ricaricar is available with no distance allowance, permitting the customer to buy in every month according to what he needs. Prices start at €0.28 per km. All other items are relatively strict: the contract duration is always 36 months and you cannot swap cars.

THE RENT-A-CAR COMPANIES Sixt has figured out a formula that fulfils all your mobility needs, both for local use and for abroad. For business and pleasure. With Sixt unlimited, Sixt offers a

subscription based company car that you can use whenever and wherever you need in currently 9 European countries at a fixed monthly rate. This makes it the alternative on the market for frequent travellers looking for a more flexible company car alternative. Also, Sixt has already been offering this product for over 10 years.

And there is more news from Sixt. With the two brand-new Sixt Flat subscription models, you choose the vehicle and mobility package that suits your needs the best . “Sixt Flat Seasons” gets you 4 vehicles (of different car categories) spread throughout the year. Which enables you to drive an SUV in the winter and a convertible in the summer. Whereas “Sixt Flat Weekend” aims at people who only need a car during the weekend. The customer simply selects a car category and a subscription period of 3, 6 or 12 months and can drive a Sixt rental car on every weekend of the month for a fixed monthly fee. This makes it interesting for young people living in urban areas without the need for a car during the week.

The number of options and suppliers will increase over the next few years. Indeed, the industry will transform tremendously.

If you haven’t done so already: it’s time to rethink your idea of mobility.

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CATEGORY CARE BY VOLVO

MERCEDES ME FLEXPERIENCE

PORSCHE PASSPORT

SIXT UNLIMITED

8 countries in EU

Germany

USA

9 countries in EU

PRODUCT STATUS

Operational

Test phase with Germany's two biggest Mercedes car dealers Lueg (Bochum/Essen) and Beresa (Münster)

Test phase in Atlanta

Operational

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Classical leasing supplement that adds additional services such as insurance or maintenance

Mobility flat rate that is booked based on 4 categories

Premium mobility flat rate with a large variety of available vehicles and unlimited vehicle changes and mileage

Mobility flat rate that is booked based on 6 categories

NUMBER OF VEHICLE CHANGES PER YEAR

1

12

Unlimited

Different car for every rental

VEHICLE SELECTION

Individual vehicles are configurated online by the customer

DELIVERY AND COLLECTION

WHERE

Digital in Flexperience Via Porsche Passport app, selection, collection app, selection of vehicle, and return organized date and place of through app delivery

Via SIXT app or booking hotline

Included

Not included, collection and return at car dealer

Included within service area through concierge

Not included, collection and return at Sixt station

CONTRACT TERM IN MONTHS

24

12

1

3, 6 or 12

MILEAGE

15,000 - 40,000 km per year

36,000 km per year

Unlimited

Unlimited

LIABILITY INSURANCE

Included

Included

Included

Included

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DISRUPTION

Microsoft’s path to intermodular mobility Microsoft is not only a leading technology company, it is also leading the way in the transition from fleet management to intermodular mobility. We spoke with David Omodei, Senior Procurement Engagement Manager Fleet, who explained us all about the new mobility app Microsoft is developing.

Microsoft IT company headquartered in Redmond, Washington

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Do not underestimate the new policy’s impact.

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Focus on the workforce you’re doing it for.

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Mobility doesn’t necessarily require technology.

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Ask yourself whether each trip is necessary and consider alternatives. This needs to fit in with the corporate goals.

In terms of recruitment, Microsoft operates in a very competitive industry in which it is no easy feat to attract and retain top talent. New employees increasingly expect diversity and flexibility for their mobility although there are markets where a personal car remains an important status symbol that cannot compete with any alternative.

The time is right for new mobility applications, believes Mr Omodei. Car manufacturers are starting to design and offer broader services, leasing companies are also entering that field and the same is true for public transport operators in the Netherlands and abroad. Those new services are integrated in the new package Microsoft plans to offer its workforce.

CREDITS Under Microsoft’s new mobility programme, the employees no longer receive a car by default. Instead, the company translates each person’s mobility budget into a number of credits that can still be used for a lease car, but that can also be used towards public transport tickets, e-bikes or other alternative solutions. Microsoft employees can use an app to help them make the right choice.

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Top tips to prepare for intermodular mobility

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The world’s largest software maker by revenue Workforce of 114,000 in 119 countries Fleet of 9,500 benefit cars in 60 countries

“We don’t only want to say what would have been the best choice for a particular trip, the app needs to give the best alternative proactively,” said Mr Omodei.

“The first mile and the last mile are very important when considering public transport. People will often turn to their car to avoid getting wet. If we can tell them it won’t rain during their trip, that can help them make the right choice.”

Credits can’t only be spent, they can also be earned. Employees that take a colleague along in their car get rewarded with extra credits. Other options for workers to gain credits can easily be added to the flexible system.

whether it is always useful to come to the office. Large parts of the workforce can also work from home.

Once the project reaches a level of maturity, the app could be offered to other companies and even government bodies. “We don’t have the ambition to be a mobility provider,” said Mr Omodei, pointing out that Microsoft would only provide the app and the platform it requires but not the actual mobility services.

“In a first stage,” said Mr Omodei, “the app will be launched internally in the Netherlands and in Belgium.” This launch is planned for later this year.

CONTENT “The technology is one thing, but the car policy shouldn’t be underestimated,” said Mr Omodei. It’s no easy feat to fit an intermodular mobility offering in a car policy. “How many credits do we give back for 100km of car sharing?”

Building apps is something the engineers at Microsoft master like no other, but there’s much more to it. The app needs to be fed with train timetables, weather reports, traffic reports and much more.

“There’s a technical side to this, but it also requires manpower and expertise to keep everything up to date,” explained Mr Omodei. “That’s why we are working together with expert partners like leasing companies for this part of the platform.

Our technology will enable them to offer our employees new mobility solutions.”

WORK FROM HOME The new policy also fits in with Microsoft’s corporate social responsibility goals, as intermodular mobility offers employees more environmentally friendly options.

Crucially, Microsoft asks the question

David Omodei • Studied Italian language and literature, economics and Dutch law at university • 20 years’ experience in executive procurement positions • Appointed Senior Procurement Engagement Manager Fleet at Microsoft at the end of 2015 • Based in the Netherlands • Married, 2 sons. With his family, he enjoys mountain climbing, skiing and cooking.

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S T R AT E GY

There’s nothing neutral about ditching CO2 Carbon-neutral: the term sounds a bit aseptic and the target is hard to achieve. So why make a big fuss about it in your fleet programme? Because reducing CO2 is an exciting journey in itself, with benefits for all – the environment of course, but also your drivers and, crucially, both your company’s image and profitability.

Plenty of companies and institutions have gone further still, pledging to turn their entire fleet carbon-neutral at some point in the not too distant future. There is an element of PR to these pledges: they tick CSR boxes and generate headlines – creating goodwill and free publicity for the companies involved.

But these ambitions are also carefully costed, and even if full carbon-neutrality may be hard to envisage at present, enough fleet professionals foresee a more cost-efficient fleet without fossil fuels at some point down the line.

So, how do you get on board the carbonneutral bandwagon? Each company is different, but the bare bones of the transition to carbon neutrality are the same five steps.

04

OFFSET An especially useful part of CSR is the commitment to offset your fleet’s remaining carbon footprint. A wide range of options is available, from reforestation projects to supporting wind energy installation. This is also an incentive to keep improving your result.

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REPORT The logical counterpoint to measuring the starting point is reporting on the outcome. Specific data on where improvements have turned out to be strongest (or weakest) can motivate to do better.

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DAIICHI SANKYO

MEASURE

The example of Daiichi Sankyo Europe demonstrates that a greener fleet and better mobility – and lower TCO – can be achieved by giving employees more, not less choice. In the traditional user-chooser model, which the pharmaceutical company used until recently, employees tend to max out their car budget, meaning that most company cars are oversized and/or overequipped for their purpose.

To start your journey towards carbonneutrality, it would help to know how far you need to go. So, begin by establishing your fleet’s carbon footprint. Consult with all stakeholders involved – Fleet, HR, Finance, Procurement, etc. – to build a 360° view of your mobility.

02 SELECT

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The company’s Agenda 2024, designed to attract high-quality employees, offered access to additional mobility options. Employees downsizing their selected car received the difference as a mobility credit, which they can use for personal travel. Plus they get €1,000 if opting for an EV or a hybrid. Totally relinquishing the company car means an even bigger mobility budget, and personal tax savings.

Even if your fleet includes many vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, there are still ways to significantly reduce its overall CO2 footprint. These include raising driver behaviour awareness and incentivising drivers to use sustainable mobility alternatives.

While the policy wasn’t aimed at achieving carbon-neutrality, offering more choice has taken Daiichi Sankyo a long way toward it already: CO2 emissions have reduced by 32% – due to the combined increase in use of public transport, bicycles and pool cars. And it’s not just younger employees who love

Adapt the cars that are available to your entitled drivers: exclude the worst polluters, make sure to include models that are better at limiting CO2 emissions.

And of course: where possible, include zero-emission vehicles.

IMPROVE

the new policy: older ones, their kids having left home, are keen to ditch their big cars and opt for a smaller one, plus mobility benefits.

VATTENFALL At the start of 2017, Sweden-based energy company Vattenfall pledged to replace its entire car and LCV fleet with electric alternatives. It’s an ambitious undertaking that involves, among other mammoth tasks, the installation of charging points at the company’s offices and plants. Another aspect: rethinking the eligibility of company vehicles.

Not such a big problem for cars: electric alternatives are widely available for all required uses. But fully-electric LCVs which the company prefers to plug-in hybrid ones, which would revert too easily to fossil-fuel mode – are not yet widely enough available.

On the other hand, LCVs typically have fairly standard usage patterns – about 100 to 150 km per day, with a relatively small number of stops. That makes it easy to select many if not most of the required models. LCVs with longerrange rural usage may remain a problem for a while longer.

One positive lesson Vattenfall has learned from offering EV test drives to its employees: those who’ve tried it, love it and are keen to use it. That’s just as well, since Vattenfall has a way to go before it realises its ambition: to ensure that all babies born today are able to live a carbon-neutral life as an adult.

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CAREFULLY COSTED

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DRIVE

The future of mobility is chauffeur- driven Chauffeur-driven? Sounds a bit over-the-top. But we’ve all done it: as kids being driven around; or as designated drivers ourselves. With millennials eager for more multimodal mobility, the corporate offers in the ‘taxi’ segment are multiplying fast.

Parents drive their kids to school or sports clubs, everyone drives their friends to parties and events. And we’ve all used that most flexible of urban mobility options, the taxi.

CHANGING ATTITUDES

EVERYDAY LIVES

Why? In short: changing attitudes, and advances in technology. As public acceptance for mobility alternatives has increased in recent years, so has the standardisation of apps as the locus for mobility offers.

So, while ‘chauffeur-driven’ may sound somewhat elite, exclusive and perhaps all too luxurious, it is, in fact, a mobility option with which we are all very familiar in our everyday lives.

Also for chauffeur services: the travel management world has worked to standardise and digitise this formerly very uncontrolled and unmanaged element of corporate transportation expenses.

Of course, we drive our kids and friends around for free. But chauffeur-driven mobility is such a convenience that it can be elevated beyond the circle of friends and family, and monetised. This is the motivating principle behind ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft.

To illustrate just how successful this disruptive transportation mode is, consider this surprising tidbit from New York City: in 2017, ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft generated 65% more rides than that city’s iconic fleet of yellow taxis.

Chauffeur-driven mobility has reached such levels of maturity that it is now being offered by others than the ‘traditional’ disruptors. In fact, we may be entering the Golden Age of chauffeur-driven mobility.

MOBILITY PLAYERS Sixt is among the leading mobility players that have decided to take disruption in this segment to heart. It has developed a three-pronged offer in chauffeur-driven mobility. Sometimes, innovation includes a clever repositioning of tried and tested traditions (see box).

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Taxi convenience with Sixt quality From cheap group trips, whether professional or private, through airport and hotel transfers to a more classic limousine service, Sixt drives its clients according to their needs. The choice extends to Sixt rides, Sixt mydriver and the Sixt Limousine Service in over 150 cities in 60 countries. Booking is carried out directly online or by using the Sixt mydriver app, which relays info on individual drivers as upon completion of the booking.

Like other mobility operators, Sixt realises that what its customers value, apart from a high standard of its products and wide range of its professional mobility services, is ease of use.

Simplicity can be achieved by integrating the variety of products and services into one platform. A global platform that offers not just a simplicity of choice and booking, but also streamlines the billing process.

GREAT HELP This is of great help to corporate travel and mobility managers, who may – in theory – applaud the growing mobility options available to the employees subject to their policies, and then end up having to deal with the growing complexity of validating, tracking and invoicing those options.

In the new, multimodal mobility paradigm, chauffeur-driven mobility is just one of a

wide range of options. It will be the best way to get from A to B in certain cases only – depending on the convenience, safety, speed and cost parameters of each particular case.

Whether it will be a successful addition to a particular corporate mobility offering, will depend on the ease with which it is integrated into the platform used by that corporation. The best mobility options are not chauffeur-driven, but platform-driven!

Sixt’s chauffeur-driven offers SIXT LIMOUSINE: EXCLUSIVE AND LUXURY CHAUFFEURDRIVEN SERVICE

SIXT MYDRIVER: FOR BUSINESS RIDES ACROSS THE WORLD

One of the oldest limousine services in the world, providing rides for some of the world’s leading hotels and airlines.

Very much an exclusive service, it can be customised to fit client needs, right down to the last detail. It provides the most professional chauffeurs and the highest standard of vehicles.

Business rides in over 60 countries worldwide via a thoroughly-vetted selection of partner companies. Clients can expect the same high level of service, wherever they’re travelling. A mydriver ride is guaranteed secure and at competitive rates. It can be used for both business and personal trips.

SIXT RIDES: TAXI CONVENIENCE, SIXT SECURITY, GLOBAL PRESENCE Bookable in advance right across the globe, Sixt rides provides an alternative to existing taxi services. It’s the lowcost taxi option for spontaneous or pre-booked rides. Clients avoid parking fees at the airport and are taken right to the terminal, for example. It’s also possible to share the costs with other passengers.

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DISRUPTION

Rule with short-distance carsharing During France’s recent publictransport strike, carsharing specialist Klaxit offered rides for free. That was such a success that it set the post-strike price at just €1. Meet the future of shortdistance carsharing!

As a keystone of the new multimodal mobility paradigm, carsharing is projected to grow at 20% per year between now and 2024, when the industry will be worth around $11 (€9.5) billion worldwide.

FRENCH KNACK And it’s the French that have a knack for it. Blablacar, the global market leader for long-distance carsharing, is French. So is Klaxit, which aims to rule the short-distance market. Thanks to commuters, this market has more potential than the longer distances, Klaxit believes. Its ambition is to grow bigger than Blablacar.

Launched in 2014 as WayzUp, the short-distance carsharing specialist already offers over 100,000 commuting trajectories throughout France on its app. The business model is ingenious: its services are offered by companies and institutions, which subsidise the shared trips undertaken by their employees.

The name-change to Klaxit in January 2018 underscored the disruptor’s next big project: to make carsharing to and from work a standard, fully accepted mode of commuting. But also a better one – more Klaxit means less congestion, pollution and stress, and more fun.

CORPORATE SECTOR To achieve its goal, Klaxit is aggressively courting the corporate sector. In February, it raised €3 million in funding. In all, Klaxit offers its services to a portfolio of more than 100 corporate customers.

Klaxit’s main offering is concentrated on Île de France: Paris and its surroundings. Of course, this is where most commuters are concentrated.

Half of those go to and from work by car. The result: 16 million trips (and 250 km of congestion) each day.

GROWING FAST But there’s room for improvement, as 30% say they’re ready to try carsharing.

Especially when trips are free – or nearly so. With the help of Île-deFrance Mobilités, Klaxit is now offering commuters up to two 35-km rides per day at €1 (if you have a Pass Navigo, they’re still free).

The Loi Mobilités, launched by the French government on 20 July, also provides incentives for carsharing and carpooling. So, no wonder Klaxit is growing fast. It will grow even faster from September, when it will be integrated into the RATP mobility app.

Its aim is to be present in 50 French cities by 2020, after which it will tackle foreign markets.

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TRAVEL

Frequent Flyer Programmes spread their wings To gain people’s loyalty in the increasingly competitive aviation world, airlines are teaming up with partners in and out aviation to offer the best frequent flyer programmes. But how do you know what to sign up for?

An overview for frequent flyers in Europe.

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Globally, most of the airlines have grouped together, forming three large alliances. If you don’t stick to one airline, it becomes more profitable to collect miles of a programme offered by the alliance, rather than an individual airline.

STAR ALLIANCE: MILES & MORE Originally created by Lufthansa, Miles & More is now Europe’s leading frequent flyer and awards programme with 300 partners across the globe. “Our cooperation with various partners, both aviation, and nonaviation partners, offers our passengers an exceptional wide arrange of possibilities to earn and redeem miles, even when not flying.”

The programme applies to all airlines of the Lufthansa Group, all airlines of the Star Alliance group, and other airline partners like Luxair and Condor. Additionally, miles can be earned and redeemed by partnering car rental companies, hotel chains and shops, and with the Miles & More credit card.

To get the most advantages, you can collect status miles. Depending on the amount of status miles you can save in one year, travelling gets smoother, with additional access to business lounges, priority class check-in, increased baggage allowance, and flexibility in ticket booking.

Additionally, individual airlines of the group offer their specific loyalty programme, such as Loop of Brussels Airlines. Of course, these only offer rewards if you stick to one and the same airline.

ONEWORLD: ONE SAVING ACCOUNT OR AVIOS The main scheme offered by the alliance around British Airways and Iberia, Oneworld, is Avios. Avios are the miles gained and redeemed on flights of British Airways, Iberia, Air Lingus, Air Italy,

Kulula, and Vueling and on bookings with partnering hotels and car rental companies. Contrary to most other loyalty programmes, which are revenue-based, Avios on Air Italy, Iberia and British Airways are based on travelled distance.

Oneworld has no separate frequent flyer programme, so you have to sign up for the frequent flyer programme of one specific airline. Nevertheless, miles can be collected and redeemed on any other member airline of the group as well. Once you have travelled a minimum amount of flights with one member airline, the passenger can obtain a special status which applies to all partner airlines to ease the booking process and travelling in the airport and on board.

SKYTEAM: FLYING BLUE OR FLYING THE SKY KLM, Air France and most other airlines of SkyTeam offer the frequent flyer program Flying Blue. Miles can be earned and redeemed by flying with one of the partners, booking a hotel, renting a car, or by payments with the airline credit card.

Additionally, miles earned by flying are rewarded in XP (Experience Points). The higher your status, the more advantages on board or in the airport.

If passengers join a particular airline’s frequent flyer programme of SkyTeam, miles can be collected and redeemed on all 20 partnering airlines. All frequent flyer programmes of the individual member airlines offer the possibility to gain the status of SkyTeam Elite or SkyTeam Elite Plus, which give advantages in all the other members as well.

Additionally, in Europe, Aeroflot offers the Aeroflot Bonus programme, Air Europa offers SUMA, and Alitalia offers its MilleMiglia Programme.

EMIRATES SKYWARDS One of the few companies that does not belong to any of the three big alliances is Emirates, which offers Skywards as its loyalty programme. Even tough Emirates isn’t part of any alliance, miles can be earned and spent at various partner airlines around the world, such as the European TAP Portugal. Additionally, although miles cannot be earned on EasyJet flights, they can be used to pay for them.

Miles can also be earned by a broader variety of hotel chains than any of the above mentioned alliances, but they cannot be spent at all of them. Miles can be earned as well at various car rental companies, including Sixt, but they can only be spent at Budget. And finally, miles can be earned by spending money with the Membership Rewards credit card of American Express.

With its Skywards programme, Emirates offers a wide variety of advantages for its frequent flyers, even though it is not a part of an alliance.

Corporate Frequent Flyers “On the corporate level, it is complicated to work with frequent flyer programmes,” says Geert Behets, Global Travel, Fleet & Meetings Director of UCB. “Booking flights with points has to happen well in advance, which is difficult for business trips.” That is why bigger companies prefer to negotiate directly with the airline, even though the corporate frequent flyer programmes of many airlines are an attractive option for smaller companies.

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