For those people that travel, this probably will not come as a surprise. For those that approve and review expense reports, this will be one of those, “yes, I know that” articles. But for those that fall outside those two assemblies, it may come as a mild surprise that, according to both Concur and Certify expense tools, the #1 expensed item in business travel is…… Uber.
Coming in a distant second by both expense companies’ findings is Starbucks. Following that, a mix and myriad of airlines, hotels and car rental companies. Lyft, Uber’s primary competition, grabbed the sixth most expensed vendor by Certify customers, and was the eight most expensed item by Concur users.
These ratings are based on the number of times these vendors are expensed. Spend per vendor solidly backs the airlines, hotels and car rental companies, in that order. Delta and American Airlines jostled for the top airline expensed, and Hampton Inn and Marriott were the top hotels. National Car Rental and Enterprise Rent-A-Car claimed the top spot in car rentals, accounting for almost half of all car rentals expensed through Concur and Certify.
The following article by Adam Perrotta cites Certify’s third quarter results:
Uber Was Expensed the Most Often in Q3, While Lyft Cracked the Top 10
By Adam Perotta for Business Travel News
Uber was expensed by businesses in North America more often than any other brand during the third quarter, according to Certify's latest SpendSmart report. The ridehailing service comprised 11 percent of the more than 10 million T&E transactions Certify processed for the third quarter. Also among the most frequently expensed brands was Uber competitor Lyft, which cracked the top 10 for the first time, ranking sixth with 3 percent of transactions.
Lyft's share of all corporate ridehailing trips expensed inched up from 19 percent to 20 percent last quarter. However, Uber continued to dominate, accounting for 73 percent of all ridehailing trips. The company's share of overall expense transactions has nearly doubled over the past two years, according to Certify. Taxis remained at around 7 percent of rides hailed for the third straight quarter.
National Car Rental accounted for 26 percent of all car rental transactions, at an average cost of $191.82. Enterprise Rent-A-Car followed with 16 percent and an average of $222.19, while Hertz took 14 percent of receipts at an average of $215.24. The order of the top three has remained consistent for nine quarters, Certify said.
Hampton Inn receipts appeared the most often among hotel brands during the third quarter, at 9 percent of all hotel receipts and an average of $258.80 per stay. Marriott followed close behind with 8 percent at an average of $291.69. Courtyard by Marriott ranked third at 7 percent and charged an average of $199.49 per stay.
