Must-have travel management software RFP template in 2025

Travel is one of the biggest controllable expenses for most companies — and one of the hardest to manage. Legacy systems like Concur frustrate employees with clunky booking tools and slow reimbursements, while finance teams spend weeks chasing receipts and retroactively correcting out-of-policy spend. Point solutions like Ramp and Brex may streamline payments, but they lack robust travel policy enforcement or true support for employees on the road.

A modern travel management solution should give finance leaders both tight control of spend and a consumer-grade experience for travelers. It should define what’s “reasonable” to book, enforce those policies automatically, and adapt in real time as flight and hotel prices fluctuate. And it should all live in the same system as expense management, cards, and payroll — so every trip is tracked, reimbursed, and reported without manual reconciliation.

This guide outlines the critical areas to evaluate in a travel management RFP, why each matters, and the key questions to ask vendors. Plus, we’ll give you a downloadable template so you can start evaluating vendors ASAP. 

1. Policy enforcement and cost control

Most travel spend leaks happen because travel policies are enforced after the fact. Employees book out-of-policy flights or hotels, finance flags it weeks later, and the company eats the cost.

Rippling Travel flips this dynamic. You set what’s “reasonable” — from flight classes to hotel rate caps to in-trip purchases. Rippling automatically enforces these rules at booking. Dynamic price caps auto-adjust based on real-time market conditions, so policies stay strict but fair. Out-of-policy requests can auto-route for one-click approval. Finance leaders finally get proactive spend control without micromanaging every booking.

Questions to ask vendors

• How do you define and enforce “reasonable” costs for flights, hotels, and in-trip purchases?

• Do you support dynamic price caps that adjust with market rates?

• Can policies vary by role, department, location, or trip type?

• How are out-of-policy bookings flagged and routed for approval?

• Do you block, flag, or auto-reimburse out-of-policy spend?

• Can you integrate policies with corporate cards and expenses for consistent enforcement?

2. Employee experience and adoption

If the booking tool is clunky, employees will find workarounds and policies won’t matter. A travel solution only works if employees actually use it. That’s why you need a tool that’s intuitive and easy to navigate.

Rippling Travel gives employees a booking experience as easy as Google Flights, complete with loyalty program integration and unbiased inventory from providers like Priceline, Expedia, and Booking.com. Trips can be modified in-app or via 24/7 in-house support (with no hidden upcharges). The mobile-first experience means employees can book, change, or track travel on the go. The result: employees adopt the tool, and finance gets full visibility into every trip.

Questions to ask vendors

• What booking inventory is available (flights, hotels, rental cars)?

• Do you support employee loyalty programs?

• How easy is it to modify bookings in-app?

• Is 24/7 traveler support included — and who provides it?

• What mobile functionality is available for travelers?

• How do you ensure employees adopt the platform instead of booking elsewhere?

3. Integration with expenses and payroll

To have a truly effective travel management ecosystem, finance teams also need smooth reimbursement and real-time accounting. If travel is siloed from expenses and payroll, you’re still chasing receipts and closing the books late.

Rippling Travel is built into Rippling Spend, so every booking flows directly into expense reports and corporate card statements. Approvals, reimbursements, and general ledger sync happen automatically. If an employee pays out of pocket, Rippling reimburses them seamlessly via payroll. Finance teams close the books in hours, not weeks.

Questions to ask vendors

• Do travel bookings sync automatically to expense management and corporate card systems?

• How are out-of-pocket expenses reimbursed (ACH, payroll, other)?

• Can transactions be auto-coded to the GL in real time?

• Do you support split transactions across projects or departments?

• Can travel data be consolidated with non-travel spend for unified reporting?

4. Visibility, duty of care, and traveler safety

Finance leaders need to see where money is going; operations leaders need to know where employees are. Legacy tools provide limited visibility, often after trips are over.

With Rippling Travel, you get real-time visibility into both spend and traveler location. Dashboards show which employees are traveling, where, and at what cost. Alerts flag overspending or disruptions immediately. This helps finance keep budgets in check, and HR/ops meet duty-of-care requirements — ensuring you can support employees in emergencies.

Questions to ask vendors

• Do you provide real-time dashboards of travel spend and compliance?

• Can we track employee travel locations for duty of care?

• How are disruptions or overspending flagged?

• Do you integrate travel data into broader spend and FP&A reporting?

• Can reports be segmented by department, project, or trip type?

How Rippling helps enterprises

Rippling Travel is the only solution that combines tight policy enforcement with a consumer-grade traveler experience, all in the same system as corporate cards, expenses, and payroll. You define what’s reasonable; Rippling enforces it automatically. Employees book with ease, finance gets complete visibility, and reimbursements flow seamlessly into payroll.

With Rippling Travel, enterprises can:

• Enforce dynamic travel policies that adapt to market conditions

• Provide employees with a booking experience they’ll actually use

• Sync travel bookings directly into expenses, cards, and payroll

• Track spend and traveler locations in real time for compliance and safety

Rippling RFP for travel management software example