How Tripadvisor scaled a dynamic global benefits program without requesting net-new budget

With more than 1 billion reviews and counting, Tripadvisor has earned travelers’ trust to uncover the best places to stay, things to do, and experiences to book. Behind the scenes, a global team spanning more than 20 countries keeps the platform running. Supporting such a diverse workforce meant rethinking how benefits were designed and funded.

Patti Petrella, Tripadvisor’s Senior Director of Global Benefits, has spent more than 20 years building and evolving employee programs. Known for her practical yet creative approach, Patti led Tripadvisor’s shift from scattered reimbursements to a flexible Lifestyle Spending Account model that unlocked choice for employees and surfaced budget in unexpected places.

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The before: fragmented budgets and manual reimbursements

In 2021, Tripadvisor’s benefits landscape was functional but fractured. Employees had a wellness allowance tracked in spreadsheets, a separate travel stipend tied to written reviews, and office equipment budgets buried in departmental line items.

"We had legacy wellness benefits and legacy travel benefits, and this was all being administered in-house," Patti recalls. "As we were growing, maybe our medical carrier provided our allowance for well-being, but then employees were asking, 'Why just gym? Can I go to the yoga studio? Can I have a Peloton?' That got a little tricky."

“Internally, we had patched things together. We administered what we thought was a pretty impressive wellness reimbursement plan and a little bit of a separate wellness travel stipend and let’s just say it wasn’t a really well-oiled machine,” Patti explained. 

Managing this patchwork created headaches everywhere: manual reimbursements across 15 countries, payroll teams tied up reviewing receipts, and local HR answering questions outside their scope. The rules were all managed manually.

Outside the U.S., Tripadvisor was self-managing wellness allowances with employees submitting receipts for manual review across multiple payrolls and providers. The travel benefit required employees to write reviews to get reimbursed. 

“Finally, it was like, we couldn’t do it anymore,” Patti says.

To reimagine the programs and become a well-oiled machine, Patti looked to Lifestyle Spending Accounts as a solution.

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Building buy-in and finding the funding

In pursuing a new LSA program, Patti knew two things: the program needed broad stakeholder support, and it had to be funded without asking Finance for more money.

The first step was building internal champions. Recruiting jumped on board, seeing the LSA as a talent magnet. Payroll and HR saw relief from hours of manual work.

“We were really surprised at the number of hours our payroll was spending. Adding up those hours helped make our case," Patti says.

Next came the funding. Instead of requesting a new budget, Patti went hunting for existing spend. She tapped into wellness dollars from the company’s medical carrier and redirected office equipment and real estate budgets into the LSA. 

As Patti explained, "We went to other functional areas in our company, and I'm like, 'Hmm, is Office X doing anything with office equipment?' So they had a budget that they needed when people were like, 'I need a standing desk at home' or 'I need an ergonomic chair at work.' So I'm like, 'Give me your budget, I'll take that budget, we'll put it right into our LSA.' We left no stakeholder unturned. I'm responsible for the benefits budget, but it was in so many places."

Her advice to peers: “You should be doing your homework and talking to various functions. We were able to get some of the real estate budget into this lifestyle budget.”

By reframing the program as an optimization of existing resources, not an added expense, Patti secured Finance, Legal, and executive buy-in.

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Designing and scaling LSAs with Forma

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When Tripadvisor launched its LSA with Forma, the goal was to create one comprehensive program that could serve a diverse, global workforce. The team designed the LSA to be as inclusive as possible. “It includes everything with the exception of home renovations,” says Patti. 

The program is designed with flexibility in mind, allowing employees to use their LSA funds for family needs as well as their own. While the purchase must be made by the employee, the benefit can be used for a family member, like covering a gym membership in someone else’s name.

From the start, Tripadvisor embedded strategy into both the funding model and rollout. Part-time employees were also included to ensure equity across the workforce. “Whether this is the CEO or our customer service, you’re getting the same benefits. That’s just my philosophy,” Patti says. “Some of our part-timers were moms who returned back to work part-time. I’m not going to penalize them like I wouldn’t for insurance.”

The LSA was designed to be global but adaptable to local needs. Using Forma’s platform integrations in nearly every country, the team created separate wallets where local laws, tax treatment, or cultural needs called for them. For example, Australia receives higher funding amounts to account for medical reimbursements and Canada’s eligibility includes a transit pass.

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Program evolution

Tripadvisor’s journey with Forma didn’t stop at the initial launch. 

“I started hearing rumblings [that] people wanted some kind of reward for being at the company for so long,” Patti explains.  “It goes back to meeting people where they are. People just want to spend their reward on what matters to them. So last year we introduced an anniversary reward through the LSA, and it’s been a big hit.”

Over the next year, Patti added new accounts through Forma’s platform:

• Anniversary Rewards: A wallet recognizing 10, 15, and 20 years of service, letting employees travel as an on-brand way to celebrate, covering personal travel expenses such as lodging, transportation, and tours.
  
  
• UK Travel Insurance Wallet: A legacy benefit reimagined as a Forma wallet for easier access and compliance.
  
  
• Health Savings Account: Consolidated into Forma to give employees one HR system for LSAs and HSAs alike.
  
  

For Patti, each addition reinforced the scalability of the approach: “We’re taking this opportunity to look at every vendor we have and say, ‘Can it be consolidated into Forma? Can it be made easier for employees? Can it be made easier for us?’”

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Impacts and wins across the business

‍Employees: Utilization jumped from 70% in year one to 90% (well above the 2025 industry benchmark of 84%), with a 98% customer satisfaction score. "You can see the energy around the spend," Patti observes. 

HR and benefits administration: The manual burden disappeared entirely. "We don't hear from employees about lifestyle, but we see the utilization, so we know they're using it," Patti says. 

Finance: Instead of seeing costs go up, Tripadvisor achieved better budget predictability and optimization. "It was a win-win,” Patti explains. “There wasn't any pushback because we came from a starting point of having some budget with those programs."

Recruiting: A competitive differentiator. "When a candidate hears that we offer an LSA, they're fascinated," Patti reports. "We've trained our recruiters to be able to speak to it and how many categories we have."

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"It's been a complete success," she reflects. "We had all of our ducks in a row about why and how this would provide ROI. And it has proved out."

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The bottom line

Tripadvisor’s journey shows how creative budgeting, stakeholder alignment, and employee choice can transform a benefits program without inflating costs.

As Patti puts it,“I can’t emphasize enough—we’ve been so pleased with our relationship with Forma and how they’ve filled all those boxes for us. It’s really part of our Total Rewards package in the end, because it’s cash you can spend in so many different ways. We’ve received so many accolades for our lifestyle benefit because it suits everybody.”

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Want more?

HR.com hosted Patti Petrella, Sr. Director of Global Benefits at Tripadvisor, and Ellie Guyol, Senior Success Manager at Forma, who sat down to discuss how Lifestyle Spending Accounts (LSA) maximize employee choice and alleviate many of the headaches HR administrators face today. From scaling a flexible benefits program for a global workforce to solving point solution fatigue, this blog provides key takeaways from the discussion. Watch the full talk here.