Even in a virtual world, nothing can replace meeting face-to-face. With that as a mantra, two insurance giants based in mid-Michigan continue to bridge the miles between service providers and clients through company-sponsored travel.

For the Accident Fund Insurance Company and Jackson National Life Insurance Company, travel on land or by air is part of life for a sizeable percentage of their workforces. While modern methods of hooking people up can shave some of the costs, many still get behind the wheel or take flight to start, maintain or strengthen business dealings.

For nearly 100 years, the Accident Fund has been the number one provider of workers’ compensation insurance for Michigan business. With headquarters in Lansing, Accident Fund is a wholly owned and independent operating subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Through the help of subsidiaries, Accident Fund sells insurance and services to companies in 46 states and the District of Columbia, making it the 15^th largest writer of workers’ compensation insurance in the United States.

That power in numbers requires power in people. The Accident Fund has 670 employees in a multitude of states. About 570 work out of the Lansing office, with the remaining 100 working out of their homes.

“For those 100, travel is constant,” said Keri Kittmann, the company’s director of accounting. “Our field employees are on the road most of the time. They’re doing lots of insurance agent business for our policyholders and for some of our claimants in some situations.”

In Lansing, the numbers are lower. About 20 to 30 percent travel throughout the year. Most employees leave home base to attend training, meet with vendors, or to visit subsidiaries in Wisconsin or California.

“In any given week, somebody is traveling from our company,” said Kittmann, “and they’ll be on the road for one to three days, sometimes as long as five.”

Travel, for most, is done by car. And with the soaring costs of gasoline, the expenses can be daunting.

“Our highest cost associated with travel was personal car mileage,” said Kittmann. “It was a enormous challenge to be sure we were reimbursing them appropriately and covering all their travel costs.”

That challenge, Kittmann said, prompted the Accident Fund to seek a solution. Two years ago, the company shifted to fleet cars for high-travel employees. Enterprise Fleet Services provides about 100 cars from American-based manufacturers, with Accident Fund paying for the cost of gas, maintenance and insurance.

“We’ve realized some advantages,” said Kittmann “Our costs haven’t decreased as quickly as we thought they would simply because when we entered the program, gas wasn’t where it is now. But, we can guarantee that employees present themselves in a certain vehicle in a certain type of way. We know what kind of car they’re driving.”

For employees traveling the miles by air, Accident Fund arranges air and car rental through the help of a partner. Classic Travel of Okemos books flights, secures rental cars, and makes the going easy by reserving the most convenient options.

“People could go and use Internet options, but you can spend a lot of time researching to find the best price,” said Kittmann, who admitted some employees do book flights themselves. “Sometimes it is best to have a local agent do that research and call you back with the best package.”

Hotel-wise, Accident Fund has worked out arrangements with various chains for corporate rates. Accommodations are then booked by an in-house administrative assistant.

With so many team members en route, and so many working daily with subsidiaries in neighboring states, Accident Fund has looked to reduce some travel through video conferencing.

“Our teleconferencing costs are higher than they were in previous years,” said Kittmann. “It is just part of the business.”

Since its inception in 1961, Jackson National Life Insurance Company has evolved from a single insurance company with a few products to a $82-billion firm with multiple products and channels. An industry leader in variable, fixed and fixed index annuities, JNL also offers life insurance and other institutional products.

Although travel expenses have gone up over time, that hasn’t stopped the insurance giant from putting their workforce on the road or in the air to make or support business transactions.

“We still need to have that face time to be able to sell our products,” said Dennis Blue, director of corporate support services. “Meeting with people in person means a lot more than an e-mail, teleconference or some other form of communication.”

With a parent company headquartered in London, JNL operates around the globe as well as in dozens of locations from the East Coast to West Coast. In Lansing, JNL occupies two complexes, housing 1,400 of the 3,000 associates working nationwide.

Travel-wise, just 10 to 15 percent of mid-Michigan employees take to the air. The intense travel, Blue said, takes place outside of Lansing where corporate “road warriors” travel 100 percent of the time, from JNL locations like Denver; Santa Monica; Tampa; Appleton, Wis.; Chicago or Bismarck, N.D.

“It’s a very small percentage of employees here in Lansing who travel compared to other offices,” said Blue, adding that most are managers or executives who take short trips to connect with counterparts or attend meetings. “Some travel every two weeks, but the norm is once a month.”

Traveling employees make arrangements through two vendors. About 85 percent go through Orbitz, while others choose Lansing-based Passageways Travel.

“It can vary from someone making his or her own arrangements to enlisting the help of an administrative assistant,” said Blue. “Most road warriors do their own since they’re on the road so much.”

Travelers needing overnight or extended accommodations stay with contracted hotels.

“The companies are different from city to city, but they’re all big chains,” said Blue of contracted hotels. “We also have negotiated-rate car rental services that travelers can use.”

Those rates extend to other members of the JNL family when on vacations or other leisure travel.

“We consolidated our providers about six years ago,” said Blue of the beauty of negotiated rates. “It helps to work with just one or two agencies and to bring everything under one roof.”