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TripActions vs Upside.com
March 12, 2025 | Author: Adam Levine
12★
TripActions takes the pain out of corporate travel management with a complete solution that helps businesses control costs and keep employees happy
4★
Intuitively designed for travelers and managers alike, Upside offers easy booking all in one place, 24/7 expert human support, and cash back on company travel. No hidden fees, contracts, or special software.
The trouble with business travel is that it’s often about as enjoyable as a surprise visit to the dentist—without anesthesia. Enter Navan (formerly TripActions) and Upside Business Travel, two plucky platforms that claim to make corporate travel seamless, efficient, and—if you can believe it—mildly pleasant. Both offer all the necessary gadgets: booking systems that actually work, expense tracking that doesn’t involve summoning dark forces and 24/7 customer support staffed by either helpful humans or extremely well-trained sentient algorithms. They’ve even gone so far as to create mobile apps, meaning one can now miss flights and overspend with the greatest of convenience.
Navan, birthed in 2015 in sunny Palo Alto, fancies itself the all-in-one Swiss Army knife of corporate travel. It entices cost-conscious employees with a rewards program that, one assumes, prevents them from booking five-star suites in Monaco. It also integrates so seamlessly with accounting systems that even the most exasperated CFO might crack a smile. Approval workflows ensure that no executive's ego is bruised by an underling gallivanting across the world unchecked and there’s even a free plan for small companies—presumably for those who still consider "business travel" a day trip to the nearest Waffle House.
Meanwhile, Upside Business Travel, founded in 2017 in Washington, D.C., is the scrappy underdog specializing in small to mid-sized businesses and travelers who enjoy the concept of prepaying for everything upfront—perhaps in a futile attempt to outwit their own future expense claims. Its customer service is legendary, rumored to be more responsive than a caffeinated golden retriever and its phone app is so intuitive that even your technologically illiterate uncle could use it without summoning tech support. Upside’s focus on flexible travel solutions means that, for once, corporate travel might not feel like an elaborate, slow-motion car crash. Or at least, one where you get to pick the soundtrack.
See also: Top 10 Business Travel services
Navan, birthed in 2015 in sunny Palo Alto, fancies itself the all-in-one Swiss Army knife of corporate travel. It entices cost-conscious employees with a rewards program that, one assumes, prevents them from booking five-star suites in Monaco. It also integrates so seamlessly with accounting systems that even the most exasperated CFO might crack a smile. Approval workflows ensure that no executive's ego is bruised by an underling gallivanting across the world unchecked and there’s even a free plan for small companies—presumably for those who still consider "business travel" a day trip to the nearest Waffle House.
Meanwhile, Upside Business Travel, founded in 2017 in Washington, D.C., is the scrappy underdog specializing in small to mid-sized businesses and travelers who enjoy the concept of prepaying for everything upfront—perhaps in a futile attempt to outwit their own future expense claims. Its customer service is legendary, rumored to be more responsive than a caffeinated golden retriever and its phone app is so intuitive that even your technologically illiterate uncle could use it without summoning tech support. Upside’s focus on flexible travel solutions means that, for once, corporate travel might not feel like an elaborate, slow-motion car crash. Or at least, one where you get to pick the soundtrack.
See also: Top 10 Business Travel services
