Business Travel Cost Increases Moderate for U.S. Cities

Companies sending travelers to more than 20 of the 100 U.S.
cities tracked every quarter in Business Travel News’ Corporate Travel Index
may notice higher daily costs.

Biggest Cost Increases

The quarter-over-quarter costs were 18.4 percent higher in
White Plains, NY; 14 percent more in Bakersfield, Calif.; 13.7 percent more in
Rochester, Minn.; and 10.8 percent more in Akron, Ohio, according to BTN’s
latest figures for July 1 to Sep. 30, 2024. Other cities where costs increased
more than the average included Santa Barbara, Calif.; Newark, N.J.; Peoria,
Ill.; Portland, Ore.; Seattle, Wash; Buffalo and Syracuse, N.Y.; and Milwaukee,
Wisc.

Those increases were far more moderate than the increases
tracked by the Index in Q2, where double-digit hikes ranged from 10.4 percent
to 41.4 percent for 19 cities while daily costs decreased in 23 cities.

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Highs & Lows Q3 2024

The five most expensive cities on the latest Corporate
Travel Index for Q3 2024: New York City at $589.20, Boston at $565.94, Santa
Barbara at $513.31, Seattle at $482.14, and San Francisco at $475.65. New York
City costs last quarter were over $600.

The five least expensive cities are Biloxi, Miss., at
$264.35; Oklahoma City at $275.43, Tulsa at $277.48, Jackson, Miss., at
$282.62, and Wichita, Kansas, at $291.55.

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What’s the BTN Corporate Travel Index?

BTN’s Corporate Travel Index is your definitive resource to
calculate business travel costs in 200 cities across the globe. Use the free Corporate
Travel Index Calculator to identify your top business travel cities and
daily costs.

Some companies use the data to benchmark traveler expenses
in specific cities or provide information to travelers or arrangers as a
guideline, or even a cap to contain travel costs. The calculator allows users
to select cities in the U.S. as well as 100 non-U.S. cities; select up to five
hotel tiers; select up to three car rental classes; and select breakfast, lunch
or dinner costs to create custom benchmarks for your travel policies or
culture. Quarterly pricing and risk scores for each city and travel component
are listed for Q3 2024, along with Q2 and Q1 and back to Q4 2018.