business travel booking procedures

Browser not supported

This probably isn't the experience you were expecting. Internet Explorer isn't supported on Uber.com. Try switching to a different browser to view our site.

← Back to learning hub

The ultimate guide to corporate travel management

Published: April 9, 2024

The days of businesses operating and growing within a small city radius are long gone. In today’s fast-paced and tech-savvy business world, companies have easy access to global talent and clientele.

As such, transporting stakeholders long distances is standard practice. Recent forecasts project that there will be more than 470 million domestic business trips taken in the US alone in 2024.

While corporate travel is a necessary part of operating a modern business, it can also be logistically difficult and costly to manage—especially as your business scales. This article will help cover what you need to know to improve your corporate travel management operations.

What is corporate travel management?

Corporate travel management is the process of coordinating, analyzing, and managing a company's business travel needs.

Effective corporate travel management is crucial for keeping business trips organized and efficient, ensuring that travel arrangements align with the company’s policies, helping to enhance the safety and comfort of travelers, and adhering to budgets.

What does a corporate travel manager do?

Craft and implement comprehensive corporate travel policies.

Corporate travel managers develop detailed travel policies that align with the company's unique goals and needs.

For example, a travel manager would establish policies for:

Booking procedures. Define processes for booking rides, flights, and hotels.

Travel class guidelines. Set standards for business or economy class based on distance, duration, or employee level.

Accommodation standards. Specify the type, budget, and class of accommodations allowed (for instance, hotels or home rentals).

Expense reporting and reimbursement. Set limits on daily allowances for meals and incidentals, and establish procedures for tracking and submitting travel expenses.

Technology use. Implement travel management software or apps to simplify travel arrangements, data analysis, and reporting.

Orchestrate seamless experiences

Corporate travel managers oversee the coordination and execution of business travel plans for employees. They either directly arrange all aspects of travel themselves, manage an internal team of travel coordinators, or work with third-party travel agents.

Today it’s also essential to adopt corporate travel apps , as they assist managers with streamlining travel plans across their organization. A corporate travel app helps with the following:

Automated expense tracking. Eliminates the need to save hard copies of receipts by automatically adding to the system the trips and meals to be expensed.

Centralized control from a dashboard. Provides complete visibility into travel policies, procedures, expenses, budgets, and plans.

Real-time reporting and tracking. Offers a comprehensive look into customized travel programs with real-time updates for travel, meals, incidentals, and more.

Simplified travel management. Includes flexible and customizable limits for booking rides, buying food, and processing payments (such as charging to a personal card for reimbursement or to a business card).

Control the budget for optimal financial outcomes

Travel managers navigate the line between providing comfortable travel experiences for employees and sticking to the business’s travel budget.

To do this, managers research cost-saving opportunities, identify the most cost-effective times to travel, and negotiate discounts with travel vendors.

A travel manager might, for instance, identify and book off-peak flights for a team attending an international conference. They could also track rideshare prices to find optimal travel times and book hotel rooms with corporate discounts.

Analyze data to inform future travel policies

Corporate travel managers are also responsible for monitoring travel data. Keeping a close eye on travel analytics helps with:

Tracking expenses. Examining corporate travel expenses reveals spending patterns and shows where the company can reduce costs.

Identifying travel patterns. Historical travel data helps managers find patterns and trends, which helps with forecasting future travel needs and preferences.

Benchmarking against industry standards. Travel managers compare their company’s travel spending and policies against industry benchmarks to better understand performance.

Analyzing supplier performance. Evaluating data about suppliers can uncover their reliability, service quality, and value.

Managers capture this data with feedback surveys from employees, travel industry reports, travel management software, and third-party travel platforms.

Prioritize duty of care for employee well-being

Corporate travel managers work closely with HR managers to develop duty-of-care protocols for their employees.

Duty of care in corporate travel includes:

Ensuring the health of employees. Maintaining the well-being and health of traveling employees and making sure they have access to necessary healthcare and support.

Providing for basic needs. Arranging for essential amenities like quality food and beverages, and comfortable accommodations.

Protecting employees. Keeping travelers away from situations where they may experience harassment, stress, or discrimination.

Collaborate with industry partners

Corporate travel managers’ duties don’t start and stop with coordinating and managing business travel. They’re also responsible for building relationships with top industry partners and vendors.

This includes establishing discount and comfort agreements with airlines, negotiating deals with hotel chains, and selecting the best rideshare apps.

They also work closely with internal teams and senior management to ensure that travel strategies and contracts align with overall business goals.

For travel policy setters or managers

Oversee your travel program with the flexible rules and streamlined reporting you need, with Uber for Business.

Challenges within corporate travel management

Successfully managing corporate travel requires so much more than simply booking plane tickets and hotel rooms for employees. Below are some of the top challenges corporate travel managers face.

Cost-benefit analysis

In corporate travel management, this involves quantifying all costs associated with travel and weighing them against the benefits, such as networking opportunities, employee development, client relationships, and successful sales.

Imagine a scenario where a company is considering sending an employee to an international conference that costs $3,000 in total. The corporate manager would need to research the potential benefits (such as networking, business development, and employee growth) of spending that $3,000 and determine if it’s worth it.

Cost-benefit analysis can also be nuanced. Consider this data point, for example: 48% of business travelers say their last work trip was too long. If an employee can accomplish what they need to in 2 days of travel and a manager books a trip for 4 days, it results in 2 extra days of employee time and corporate travel budget.

Cost-benefit analysis, in this instance, would involve analyzing past data, including post-travel feedback surveys, to understand how long employees need to travel to accomplish goals while optimizing the travel budget.

Traveler satisfaction

Research shows that 60% of employees say business travel positively affects their satisfaction with their job. And Slack’s 2023 “State of Work” report found that most employees say feeling happy and engaged at work is a key motivator. What’s more, when employees are happy and productive, businesses thrive, according to The Economist .

The tricky part for travel managers is accommodating employees’ diverse travel needs and preferences within a corporate (not a luxury vacay) budget.

To keep employees happy and productive, travel managers must understand what satisfies employees while they travel and then develop a plan to deliver a positive experience while working within a corporate budget.

Adapting to changing business needs

Shifts in business priorities, such as targeting new international markets or altering strategic partnerships, directly affect travel requirements.

A shift toward more in-person client meetings, for example, can increase travel frequency. Corporate travel managers must adapt policies and budgets to align with evolving business needs.

And efficient corporate travel management requires monitoring shifting political, economic, and health climates worldwide and being ready to respond and adapt. Travel needs can change in an instant, and corporate travel managers must remain adaptable to adjust travel strategies as necessary.

Environmental sustainability

A 2023 Deloitte study reported that climate concerns will likely limit corporate travel growth in the coming years. Deloitte found that “4 in 10 European companies and a third of US companies say they need to reduce travel per employee by more than 20% to meet their 2030 sustainability targets.”

This statistic highlights the growing pressure on corporate travel managers to devise travel strategies that meet the needs of a growing business while being efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible.

4 tips for managing business travel

Now that we’ve discussed some of the job responsibilities and top challenges of corporate travel managers, let’s cover the best tips for managing business travel.

1. Establish clear communication channels

When employees don’t know your travel policies and procedures, it’s impossible for them to comply.

In other words, they might not know how much they can spend at a corporate dinner, whether they should take a taxi or use a rideshare app, or what safety and security policies they need to follow when traveling for business.

Consider establishing a clear communication channel where every employee can access critical travel information. This could be a dedicated travel portal or intranet page, regular email updates, or travel management software that provides real-time communication.

2. Conduct regular training sessions

Another way to fine-tune communication and increase awareness about travel policies is by conducting regular training sessions.

Create a live or digital training course that covers the following:

• Travel policies: Review company-specific travel guidelines and booking procedures.
• Safety measures: Explain all protocols and emergency procedures for travel. Draw special attention to areas people may be visiting that are undergoing political or civil unrest.
• Changes in procedures: Provide updates on any new or altered travel-related processes. This is especially important during health crises.
• Duty-of-care responsibilities: Educate on and provide clear definitions of the company’s commitment to traveler safety and well-being.
• Per diem amounts: Outline the daily allowances for expenses while traveling. Include a definition of what is and isn’t allowed. For example, is alcohol part of a per diem or excluded from corporate expenses?
• Expense reporting: Give instructions on how to accurately report and submit travel expenses.

3. Adopt travel technology

When you’re managing travel for multiple employees across different offices, it’s challenging to educate everyone, track expenses, and ensure compliance with travel policies. To organize and streamline everything, you may consider a travel management system (TMS).

A TMS is a comprehensive travel platform that helps companies book, track, and report travel activities. It typically also provides real-time data and analytics, helping you monitor travel spending and optimize your travel strategies.

4. Evaluate and update travel procedures and policies

Any changes in technology, the world economy, political climates, global health status, and industry have a profound effect on business travel.

As such, it’s essential to establish a process for continually evaluating and updating travel procedures and policies.

This could include:

• Reviewing policies to make sure they’re relevant, cost-efficient, effective, and safe
• Surveying your employees to see how happy they are with your travel policies
• Evaluating your TMS data to identify where you can optimize travel, innovate, and improve processes

Move your business forward with Uber for Business

In today’s fast-paced business world, getting corporate travel right is more important than ever. Adapting to changes quickly and embracing new technologies are key to staying ahead in managing business trips effectively.

You may also consider leveraging Uber for Business , a game changer in managing your company’s travel needs. It simplifies the entire process of corporate travel management with features like automated expense tracking and centralized control, making it easier to stick to policies and budgets.

With Uber for Business, you’re not simply organizing travel. You’re also saving time and money while giving your team a smoother, more efficient travel experience. Learn how to get started .

The platform

Get the best of Uber, for business—including improved cost controls and compliance.

Expense integrations

Save time with automatic expense reconciliation

Sustainability

Get clear climate metrics such as total low-emission trips and average CO₂ per mile.

We make your health and safety top priorities.

Employee benefits

All the advantages of Uber your employees already love, for business.

The dashboard

It all starts here - manage travel and meal programs with easy to set cost controls and more.

Business profiles

Help your employees connect with your company’s Uber for Business account.

Delegate booking

Enable executive assistants to arrange work transportation for executives with a delegate profile.

Request rides and deliveries on behalf of customers.

Purchase Uber gift cards in bulk for simplified giving.

Uber Health

Reimagine the way patients access care.

Offer business-class perks with an Uber One company membership.

Cover the cost of rides and meals, and pay only when used.

By use case

Holiday gifting

Celebrate the holidays with vouchers and gift cards

Business travel

Oversee your travel program with the flexibility and reporting you need.

Employee commute

Set up a stress-free commute program for your employees.

Event transport

Get attendees to and from your next event.

Employee shuttles

Offer group transportation for daily commutes, cross-campus dashes, and more.

Courtesy rides

Request rides for customers and guests with ease, even if they don't have the Uber app.

Meal programs

One platform gives you the control to provide meals in multiple ways.

Recruit, retain, and reward your employees with Uber perks they want.

Corporate gifting

Exec management

Request rides and meals for leaders.

By industry

Elevate customer service with on-demand rides.

Improve health outcomes and the patient experience by enabling better access to care.

Hospitality

Delight your guests with rides and meals.

Financial services

Keep your employees moving and your clients happy.

Offer rides and meals to employees and constituents.

Customer support

Customer service

Get in touch with us or quickly find answers to top concerns.

Help Center

For admins and coordinators to browse tips and topics.

Product updates

Check out recent updates we’ve made across our platform.

Learning hub

Explore product education, case studies, and industry insights.

Customer stories

See how innovative companies work with us.

Get the latest news from Uber for Business.

• Contact sales

How to Build A Travel Policy Template [FREE TEMPLATE]

Do you shudder at the thought of building a business travel policy from scratch? Does the mere mention of "policy" have you running for the hills? If so, you’re not alone.  

Building a comprehensive travel policy for your company can be a daunting task – especially if you’re starting from the ground up. 

From setting clear goals to prioritizing traveler safety, we’ll cover everything you need to know to create a travel policy that works for you. So take a deep breath, grab a cup of coffee, and let's dive in.  

DOWNLOAD TRAVEL POLICY TEMPLATE

First things first – what are the goals of your travel policy? 

Writing a travel policy is kind of like playing a game of darts. You need to know what you’re aiming for in order to hit the bullseye.  

So, before you start building or revamping your travel policy , take a moment to determine your top two or three goals for doing so. Do you want to reduce business travel costs so your organization can splurge on fancy new desktops for the whole office? Or maybe you’re tired of sorting through piles of receipts and want to improve expense tracking.  

Whatever your end game is, adding those goals to the top of your corporate travel policy template will help ensure that your policy is set up to meet your targets.  

What to include in your travel policy 

Now that you know what you want from your policy, let’s talk about what one should look like. 

A well-planned travel policy answers all questions about company travel, including everything you want employees to know AND be accountable for. Without this framework (and great travel management software to support it), business travel can quickly spiral into a free-for-all mess. 

A starter travel policy could include basic instructions on: 

• Booking information 
• Domestic flights 
• International travel 
• Car rental/transport 
• Accommodation 
• Internal communication 
• Traveler safety and wellbeing 

Capture your instructions for each of these expense categories in a document (like a business travel policy template) that can be shared and developed with a travel management company . It’s also a good idea to share this document internally and potentially with one or two regular travelers in your organization to sense check. 

1. Booking information 

When it comes to creating a travel policy, it's important to outline the entire booking process – and yes, we mean the entire process. Your policy should cover everything from approved technology for booking and steps for change requests, to the importance of tracking and recording all travel bookings. And don’t forget the details!  

Make sure your employees keep their information up to date, and know what information needs to be included with their profiles, such as their job number or department. This help with budgeting and cost control, but it also makes it simple to manage changes or cancellations. 

2. Transportation 

Transportation expenses can include air travel, train or bus tickets, car rentals, and taxi or ride-sharing services. A comprehensive travel and expense policy should be clear about which types of transportation are allowed and what limits are in place.  

For example, team members may be allowed to rent a car for up to a certain cost per-day or only use a ride-sharing service for a business trip under a certain distance. Are your employees flying economy class or business class?  

The policy should clearly state which class of flight bookings are applicable for expense reimbursement. 

3. Accommodation 

Do you have a policy on which hotels your employees are allowed to stay in and what the maximum per-night rate is? And if your employees don't book through an agent, are you driving them to your OBT and defining capping amounts for hotel bookings? Be clear so you're not overpaying for hotel rooms or other accommodations.  

You can also define what extra costs your organization isn't willing to pay for. For example, does your budget include parking fees? What about room service and entertainment expenses? Define these business travel expenses now so you don’t have to dispute them later. 

4. Traveler safety and wellbeing 

As a travel manager, your duty of care is to prioritize the safety and well-being of your travelers. Putting people at the heart of your travel policy means taking strategies to ensure their safety and comfort. This includes using a traveler tracking function (find one in our corporate travel platform , Melon!), providing emergency protocols and resources, and ensuring that liability and insurance considerations are covered.  

But duty-of-care doesn’t just stop at general safety concerns. Building inclusive policies is essential to making all employees feel comfortable and welcome while traveling. When filling out your company travel policy template, make extra considerations for people who are more at risk for discrimination, such as people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and travelers with accessibility needs.  

Remember: your goal should be to create a policy that naturally accommodates your employees' needs rather than one that requires them to need personal accommodations. 

Read more about traveller safety & wellbeing:

• How to build a proactive travel risk management policy
• The 5 pillars of travel risk management software

5. Internal communication 

So, you've written your travel policy? Congrats! Now, how are you going to get your employees to care about it?  

It's important to consider how you'll get the word out about your policy before it's finalized. Think about training sessions or a communication channel to keep everyone is aware of the policy and its contents.  

You'll also make sure you communicate the policy to the business leaders in finance or human resources. Once your policy is in place, set up a timeline for review and revision (we recommend you check back at least annually). And when updates are made, be sure to communicate those changes clearly to your employees.  

Build a foundation and review your policy as your company grows to make sure your program runs efficiently and keeps on budget long term. 

Ready to level up your business travel?

Download this template of travel questions to guide the first draft of your policy. Then connect with one of our travel specialists directly, to help you roll the policy out to your business.

• Search Search Please fill out this field.
• Corporate Finance

Corporate Business Travel: Everything You Need to Know

Katie Miller is a consumer financial services expert. She worked for almost two decades as an executive, leading multi-billion dollar mortgage, credit card, and savings portfolios with operations worldwide and a unique focus on the consumer. Her mortgage expertise was honed post-2008 crisis as she implemented the significant changes resulting from Dodd-Frank required regulations.

Corporate business travel involves the movement of individuals representing their organizations for work-related reasons. Whether it’s attending client meetings, industry conferences, or sealing business deals, this practice covers a range of activities essential for professional growth.

In the interconnected global business environment, where face-to-face connections matter, corporate business travel plays a central role in sustaining and expanding enterprises across borders. Businesses face challenges in optimizing this crucial element of their operations. Strategic considerations must be taken into account to use this element of business to its greatest potential.

Key Takeaways

• Corporate business travel can unlock new opportunities for business growth, offering the possibility of reaching new markets, connecting with a wider pool of prospects, or developing brand presence and reputation.
• Traveling for business has many benefits for individuals as well, providing them the chance to meet fellow employees, grow their career by participating in different opportunities, and network within the industry, not to mention experience new destinations.
• Business traveler safety and security are top priorities during corporate travel.
• To ensure that travel goes smoothly and stays within budget, companies should implement corporate travel policies and best practices for employees traveling on behalf of the company.

Importance of Corporate Business Travel

There are many business-related reasons to travel. It can encourage team building, promote learning, offer different perspectives, provide connection to a wider network, open up new markets, and drive sales. And whether or not the trip is for a specific purpose (such as a conference or a retreat), the benefits for employees and companies alike can extend beyond the stated intent of the trip, building confidence, cultural competency, relationships, and company reputation.

Many employees consider the opportunity to travel for work a desirable job perk, as it can offer the chance to venture somewhere that they may not ordinarily go, or to have a trip paid for by their company. And although expenses are associated with travel from a corporate perspective, they may be well worth the return on investment in terms of potential leads or sales—plus, many travel expenses are tax- deductible .

Types of Corporate Business Travel

Corporate travel can take many forms, including the chance for employees and executives to attend events, such as meetings, conferences, industry networking sessions, and fairs. Or a trip may take advantage of educational opportunities such as training sessions, seminars, and workshops. Retreats and guided trips can make for valuable team-building time in new contexts that unlock different perspectives and strengthen working relationships.

Businesses may send their employees to a different location to network, sell, teach, learn from, or generally connect with external contacts or internal employees in regional offices, or to act on behalf of the company in some way.

Additionally, from a client perspective, business travel may occur as a form of due diligence , ensuring that your vendors or suppliers are legitimate, legal, and compliant organizations—for example, traveling for regular audits to confirm that what you think is happening at your supplier organizations is actually happening.

Creating a Corporate Travel Policy

From a company perspective, travel can be a challenge to administer and manage . Costs can easily balloon out of control; travel logistics can be time-intensive to arrange; employees traveling on behalf of the company must be granted a great deal of trust; and like any form of travel, business travel can open up risks to safety, security, and health.

No matter the size of the business or the frequency or complexity of travel, a corporate travel policy can be a helpful tool for any company to set expectations for its employees, communicate guidelines and processes, keep expenses within budget, and streamline booking and logistics.

In creating a corporate travel policy, companies might consider the following for both domestic and international travel, as applicable:

• Purpose(s) of travel
• Which employees are eligible to travel
• Booking and expense approval processes
• Risks and liabilities of travel and how to manage them
• Expectations for employee behavior, including acceptable and secure uses of technology, personal vs. leisure time, communication, and entertainment while traveling
• Eligible expenses for employees while traveling, including per diem rates if applicable
• Determine if employees will be reimbursed for their expenses or given a corporate credit card to use
• Financial tracking, record-keeping, and reimbursement processes
• Acceptable booking practices and costs, including preferred agents or vendors
• Travel insurance

Of course, policies must also be communicated and enforced to ensure compliance and fairness. Including a travel policy as part of a corporate handbook or reviewing it in an onboarding or training module can be a good way to ensure that all employees receive and understand the information. Making it easily accessible for future reference on a shared drive or company portal will encourage employees to refer to it often.

Business travel managers estimate, on average, that spending on domestic and international corporate travel is at 77% and 74%, respectively, of where it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Setting a Corporate Travel Policy

Corporate Business Travel Best Practices

There are many best practices that both employees and companies can keep in mind around corporate business travel to ensure that it is a successful experience. These encompass everything from administration and financing to employee behavior and well-being.

Booking Corporate Travel

Booking travel can be labor-intensive and time-consuming. To improve the booking process, save on costs, and streamline expense reporting, it can be helpful to designate preferred travel agencies, online platforms, vendors, and lodgings for employees and executives to book with. If the size of the company allows, it can also be helpful to hire an employee or team specifically to oversee and administer corporate travel, or designate this duty as part of an employee’s broader job description.

Managing Travel Expenses and Budgeting

There are many financial considerations when it comes to corporate business travel, and expenses and budgets must be carefully managed to keep costs under control. Many travel expenses are tax-deductible and can be written off, representing potentially significant savings for a company. Setting a budget and clear guidelines for employees about what can be an expense and what cannot is a must, as is creating and enforcing policies and procedures around tracking and reporting expenses.

Many corporate credit cards offer travel rewards and cost-saving opportunities for business travel, as do many other vendors and suppliers in the corporate travel industry. Businesses can take advantage of these to reduce inefficiencies and save on costs.

How to Manage Corporate Travel

Ensuring Traveler Safety and Security

As with any trip, business trips are not without safety and security risks, including the potential for political or civil unrest, crime, illness, injury, accidents, emergencies, natural disasters, cybersecurity breaches, or theft.

To protect their employees against unexpected and undesirable circumstances, at a minimum, businesses will want to have a travel insurance plan in place. It’s also helpful for businesses and employees to undertake some form of travel risk assessment to aid them in navigating potential risks, and outline safety and emergency preparedness guidelines within a corporate travel policy.

Employees should also know how to call if something goes sideways, such as hotel booking issues. A travel agent? A supervisor? If there’s a hurricane, you don’t have a car, and your flight is canceled, can you book another last-minute flight to get around the weather to get home? These details should be planned ahead for.

Maximizing Productivity During Business Trips

The overlap of business and leisure, sometimes referred to as “bleisure,” is one of the main draws of corporate business travel. However, there can also be pitfalls associated with this gray area. It can be difficult to stay productive while working remotely, whether due to the many distractions of a new environment (positive and negative), or because the trip entails an increased workload or time spent away from day-to-day job duties.

Employees looking to manage their time efficiently while away should get clarity on the intended purpose and expected outcome of their trip, and their employer’s and teammates’ expectations for their workload and communication frequency. They can also plan ahead to make the most of their travel time and downtime, and anticipate time zone differences to ensure smooth communication and adjustment to jet lag.

It’s important for employees to maintain work-life balance while traveling on behalf of work. Researching food, entertainment, and fitness options and preparing accordingly can pay off in terms of mental and physical wellness, especially for frequent travelers.

Tips for Business Travel Etiquette

Traveling anywhere, whether domestically or internationally, comes with responsibilities and expectations regarding employee behavior. Perception is one of the most important factors to remember when traveling as a representative of your company. You represent your company out in the public, so you need to ensure you’re displaying any key values that your company represents when interacting with vendors, clients, and peers.

This applies to cultural sensitivity as well. Travelers should do research in advance of their trip to ensure that they can be mindful of local customs and professional etiquette and behave with awareness and respect. Even the basics, such as learning appropriate forms of greeting or how to handle money and payment, and committing a few common words or phrases to memory can go a long way toward demonstrating good intentions and building a new relationship across cultures.

Sustainable and Responsible Business Travel

Recognizing that corporate travel can have a negative impact on the environment, many businesses and individuals are reexamining their travel practices and policies to see where they can make improvements. One example is reducing emissions by booking different means of transportation when possible. In general, seeking out vendors or companies that promote sustainable travel practices and responsible tourism, and that support local communities and ecosystems, can be a good first step to reduce environmental impact.

Technology and Tools for Corporate Business Travel

Software and technology tools can be immensely useful across all aspects of corporate business travel. Travel management and booking platforms; apps for tracking expenses, navigation, or converting currency; and translation and communication tools are all things that employees and businesses alike can take advantage of before, during, and after traveling.

When it comes to technology, it’s important to account for cybersecurity risks and only bring what is necessary to reduce the potential impact of damage, loss, or theft.

Managing Business Travel Expenses

What Is an Example of Corporate Business Travel?

There are many work-related reasons to travel, but many businesses will have their employees travel for conferences, events, sales and networking, seminars, meetings, team building, retreats, and to open up new business growth potential.

How Does Corporate Business Travel Work?

Corporate travel is simply travel for business-related purposes, so the nature of the trip will depend on its length and purpose. Companies whose employees travel frequently on behalf of the business should consider creating a corporate travel policy with information and guidelines for their employees.

Who Handles Corporate Business Travel?

Some businesses employ internal teams or individuals to manage corporate travel and business trips. At other times, employees are responsible for making their own arrangements within guidelines laid out by the company. There are also corporate travel agencies that businesses can leverage to streamline and optimize their bookings and costs.

The Bottom Line

Corporate business travel can be an invaluable path to both business growth and individual career development, building strong relationships and teams. No matter what form it takes, it’s prudent for companies to collect, implement, and communicate best practices for business travel to their employees in a company handbook or corporate travel policy. This should incorporate areas such as expense and booking management, safety and security, productivity, sustainability, technology, and employee behavior and etiquette.

Michela Buttignol / Investopedia

Internal Revenue Service. “ Understanding Business Travel Deductions .”

Global Business Travel Association. “ GBTA Business Travel Industry Outlook Poll .”

Harvard Business Review. “ How to Work and Travel at the Same Time .”

• Terms of Service
• Editorial Policy
• Privacy Policy
• Your Privacy Choices

Business Travel Policies: Everything you need to know!

Over the last few years, new corporate travel trends have made travelling for business the ‘new normal’ for many organisations. The impact of this change is that business travel bookings have almost doubled since 2019 .

As the number of employees travelling for work increases, so too does the need for organisations to have a clear and comprehensive business travel policy for their employees (and the business) to follow. Whether you’re looking to improve your company’s existing business travel policy or starting out from scratch – you’ve come to the right place.

This guide to business travel policies has everything you need to know about the benefits, the procedures and best practices to make your policy documentation as effective as it can be. But first – what exactly is a business travel policy and do you really need one?

WHAT IS A BUSINESS TRAVEL POLICY?

A company business travel policy is formal documentation that sets rules and provides guidelines for employee business trips. These policies ensure that your staff follow company protocol while travelling for work by giving them the information they need in order to comply.

Business travel policies include guidelines on all the before and after of work travel too – like booking travel arrangements and logging travel expenses – not just what takes place during the business trip.

WHY SHOULD A COMPANY HAVE A TRAVEL POLICY?

Creating a travel policy for your business isn’t technically a legal requirement, but there are legal obligations involved in corporate travel that a policy would help cover.

For example, as an employer, you have legal obligations when it comes to your duty of care in ensuring the safety of your staff. You also need to ensure you’re following procedure when it comes to tax implications, expense reimbursements and visa requirements. A corporate travel policy will demonstrate that your company’s procedures comply with these things.

And while your company might not legally ‘need’ a corporate business policy, there are a whole load of great benefits that make having a policy good for business.

7 BENEFITS TO CREATING A BUSINESS TRAVEL POLICY

There are a few key ways your business will benefit from having a corporate travel policy for employees.

A business travel policy will do the following:

Provide clarity and transparency

A good company travel policy provides clarity regarding the expectations and responsibilities of both your company and employees during business travel. With everything there in black and white, this removes any grey areas and guesswork for everyone involved.

Keep staff safe

As an employer, you have a legal obligation to fulfil your duty of care by addressing safety protocols and managing any potential risks involved in business travel. You can add safety measures for business travel to your policy, like health precautions, emergency plans and the need for travel insurance.

Adding these precautions keeps staff safe and shows you care about your employees’ safety. At the same time, it also protects the company from liability should any employee fail to comply with the company policy, putting themselves at risk.

Control travel costs

One of the biggest benefits of having a corporate travel policy is how they help you control and manage expenses related to business travel.

Within your policy, you set rules for booking travel and accommodation, covering travel expenses and how employees will be reimbursed. You can use your travel policy to set boundaries about what mobility options are permitted and any preferred vendors that will help keep costs down. This helps control travel costs, encourages efficiency and ensures employees follow budget limits set by the company.

Reduce admin

A clear and considered travel policy should make work trips easier for employees by streamlining the process of making travel arrangements and other travel-related administrative tasks.

With clear guidelines to follow, this removes a lot of the guesswork, making the whole process much more efficient. Travel policies also reduce workload for travel managers and HR staff, who can direct employees to the company policy whenever they have questions about work travel.

Manage your global reputation

A travel policy will help your businesses manage how employees behave when travelling for work by setting a standard for how they should be representing the company. It also demonstrates your commitment to employee welfare and responsible business practices, which is great for your company’s reputation.

Improve company culture

Any documentation that promotes transparency around business travel will be good for company culture. It promotes fairness by applying the same rules and procedures to all employees.

And in the case of any role-specific flexibility (for example, do senior members of staff have a bigger travel budget?), clarifying these in your policy will help staff understand why they might be travelling differently to some of their colleagues.

Attract new employees

While the documentation itself won’t be available to the public, it’s likely that there will be elements of your travel policy that will be great to shout about in your recruitment marketing when you’re looking to hire new talent.

For example, does your policy incorporate bleisure travel practices into work trips? Do you use gamification systems to reward staff for following travel protocol? These kinds of perks are excellent for your company’s employer branding.

TRAVEL POLICY BEST PRACTICES

Here are some key best practices when writing a company travel policy and procedures:

• Use clear, engaging and concise language - If you want your employees to engage and comply with your travel policy documentation, you need to make it easy to read and to follow. Leave nothing to interpretation!

Make sure everything’s covered - There are a few key areas that every business travel policy must cover in order to do its job. You’ll find these listed in the next section on what’s included in a business travel policy.

Update your travel policy regularly - Travel policy documentation should never be static - it should be flexible and constantly open to change as your company grows. It’s important to regularly update your business travel policy based on employee feedback, your own travel data and any changes to market conditions or the company budget.

Make your policy employee-centric - A travel policy that speaks only about company rules, regulations, procedures and repercussions of non-compliance is not going to engage staff. You need your travel policy to put employees first, focusing on how and why the procedures benefit them – which in turn benefit the company too.

Incorporate sustainability measures - Most companies have sustainability targets to meet when embarking on work travel. It’s a good idea to lay out expectations around tracking and reducing carbon footprint on business trips in your documentation.

HOW TO WRITE A BUSINESS TRAVEL POLICY

There are a whole load of sample business travel policy templates available that you can use. These are great if you’re a small company pulling together your first ever business travel policy. These templates give you the basic layout and language, so all you need to do is adapt the content to suit your company procedures.

WHAT’S INCLUDED IN A BUSINESS TRAVEL POLICY?

If you’re writing your company policy from scratch without a business travel policy template, these are the essential components to consider including:

• Your booking process and approval procedure - What tool(s) should employees use to book their travel and accommodation? Do employees book travel themselves or submit booking requests to a manager?
• Guidelines on expenses - Details on what can and can’t be expensed (particularly important if you encourage bleisure travel), use of corporate credit cards, how expenses should be submitted and deadlines for claiming expenses.
• Travel and accommodation specifications - Including hotel budgets, preferred mobility options , and acceptable travel classes.
• Guidelines on safe travel - Including emergency procedures, health insurance coverage, and precautions for travel to high-risk areas.

Legal Requirements – Information on compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including visa and tax requirements.

Sustainability measures - Does your company have sustainability targets to meet? Your policy should outline your sustainable business travel policy and provide guidelines on how to track carbon footprint for travel managers to follow .

MAKE BUSINESS TRAVEL POLICIES SIMPLE WITH FREENOW

If your business travel is complex, consider using a business travel platform like FREENOW to centralise all travel arrangements and journeys for your employees.

FREENOW's Business Travel Service helps you manage your company's travel needs easily, by using technology to streamline your corporate travel management.

The service provides you with ready-made solutions for most of your travel policy’s key elements, including:

• Expensing and receipts
• Booking procedures
• Sustainability and carbon footprint
• Flexibility and employee input
• Cost control

What is a corporate Travel Management Company (TMC) and what is Business Travel Software (BTS)?

GBTA WHITE PAPER: BUSINESS TRAVEL GROUND TRANSPORT IN EUROPE

Managing Business Travel Expenses: The Complete Guide

Harling House,

Great Suffolk Street,

London SE1 0BS

Best Ways To Enhance Corporate Travel Booking Process

Home » B2B » Best Ways To Enhance Corporate Travel Booking Process

Business travel management involves myriad tasks, including travel booking, policy compliance, expense management, and duty of care. The business traveler is at the center of all business travel processes, as they must meet business travel goals without encountering travel bottlenecks. It highlights the importance of the corporate travel booking process. Travel managers must ensure the convenience and safety of employees during business trips, enabling them to meet the goals of business trips.

Automation can help streamline travel booking while maintaining track of itineraries by monitoring the entire business travel process from a centralized dashboard. The innovative booking tools help organizations get rid of booking through consumer sites that restrict the choice of options, impacting cost savings. Ways to improve the corporate travel booking process

Ways to improve the corporate travel booking process

The most practical way to address travel uncertainties and improve business travel procedures is to design a custom travel policy that serves as an easily accessible reference while booking business travel. Employees must ensure seamless compliance with the policy to avoid delays in expense reimbursement because of policy deviations. Leveraging a SaaS-based travel management platform can improve the corporate travel booking process by ensuring access to the vast travel inventory.

Key considerations while booking business travel

The following considerations are crucial while booking flights :

1. Prices and traveler experience

Balancing the airfare and the traveler’s experience is essential while booking flights. Using a travel management platform ensures access to regional LCCs and SOTO airlines to facilitate comparison and booking.

2. Traveler comfort

Business travelers must be fresh and active on arrival as they have a hectic meeting schedule ahead. Choosing direct flights eliminates long stopovers and the need for frequent security checks. Travel managers should consider the preference of employees when choosing airlines.

3. Reward and frequent flyer programs

Determine the returns on the miles as these can make you eligible for reward and loyalty programs. The returns will help calculate ROI for budgetary considerations. Exploring the availability of reward points is necessary while choosing airlines.

4. Comparison of benefits

Checking various travel booking sites to evaluate the most beneficial option offering deals, price discounts, and loyalty points are essential during the corporate travel booking process.

Best ways to manage the booking process

1. Shortlist hotels offering the best deals

Create a list of preferred hotels by employees who travel frequently. You may check different sites for a better comparison of tariffs. Booking hotels in advance may enable you to get better discounts and assurance of room availability.

2. Negotiate for better amenities

Business travelers require access to Wi-Fi, meeting rooms, a gym, a swimming pool, airport transfers, concierge services, and other amenities. Negotiate for the amenities if these are not part of a standard room package.

3. Choose best hotel location

Compare hotels by location to facilitate the convenience of local transport during business trips. Proximity to the city center or workplace is crucial while booking accommodations for business travelers. Travel managers should also consider the distance between the hotel and other facilities like the airport, supermarket, and center for business amenities.

4. Design a standard travel booking reference chart

Travel managers can simplify and expedite business travel booking procedures by creating a ready reference of employee details in a travel booking format. The chart should provide employee names, phone numbers, addresses, emergency contact numbers, personal ID numbers, and passport numbers.

These details are crucial for completing business travel booking procedures. Booking sheets facilitate the handling of several travel requests besides tracking expenses and approvals. Leveraging Google Forms will help export the data to the sheet without hassles.

5. Automate corporate travel booking

Using established tools to automate the corporate travel booking process will reduce the stress of finding the right hotels, flights, and trains to cover the destination of the business trip. Some consumer sites provide corporate versions to book corporate business travels.

Employees can also book meeting rooms through these platforms. Linking the platform with the organization reduces the hassles of manually passing on the invoices as the booking platform shares invoice copies with finance teams after the business trip.

6. Allow self-booking

Providing a self-booking facility will eliminate several steps of the business travel booking procedures, reducing the stress on travel managers and finance teams. They should strictly follow travel policy guidelines while booking flights and hotels to ensure cost savings.

Establishing a user-friendly and transparent travel policy is essential to reduce the burden on resources. Autonomy of booking travel helps elevate employee experience without impacting the company’s travel budget.

Automation is the most beneficial approach to streamlining the corporate travel booking process and other aspects of business travel. SaaS-based business travel management platforms like Paxes allow a self-booing facility for employees. Employees and travel managers can access the vast inventory of travel suppliers to book their travel without concerns of travel policy deviations. Employees can access the platform through dedicated travel booking app as well.

Corporate Travel Booking Process FAQs

How can an organization benefit from a travel management platform.

A suitable travel management platform streamlines the corporate travel booking process through automation. Employees can book travel without policy deviations to save costs. It also automates approval workflows to speed up travel requests and expense management.

How does a corporate booking platform work?

The corporate booking tool allows the configuration of travel policies and the loading of preferred travel suppliers. Employees can choose the right option and book travel without policy deviation.

Can a corporate booking tool ensure the duty of care?

The corporate booking tool leverages an employee tracking facility to help travel managers ensure the employee is traveling in a safe environment. It also allows access to itineraries for effective tracking and duty of care.

How does a travel management platform boost travel policy compliance?

Employees can only access those travel options within the policy, as the tool integrates with the travel policy.

What are the three steps to improving the corporate travel booking process?

The three steps to improving business travel booking procedures are creating standard booking sheets, digitizing itineraries, and using corporate booking apps to automate booking.

How do I choose the right corporate travel agency for my company?

To choose the right corporate travel agency, consider factors such as their experience, services offered, cost-effectiveness, technology solutions, and references from other businesses.

What are the common challenges in corporate travel booking?

Common challenges include cost control, policy compliance, booking efficiency, data management, traveler safety, and managing unexpected disruptions.

What is a travel policy, and why is it crucial for corporate travel?

What is the role of data analytics in corporate travel management.

Data analytics helps in analyzing travel expenses, identifying savings opportunities, tracking policy compliance, and making data-driven decisions to optimize corporate travel.

What resources or tools are available to help companies optimize their corporate travel booking process?

Companies can use corporate travel management software, online booking tools, and the expertise of travel management companies to optimize their travel booking process.

How can companies ensure the safety and security of their employees during business trips?

To ensure safety, companies can implement duty of care programs, provide traveler tracking, offer emergency support, and educate employees about safe travel practices.

What should I consider when selecting accommodations and transportation options for corporate travelers?

Consider factors like cost, location, quality, safety, policy compliance, and the specific needs of your employees when selecting accommodations and transportation for corporate travelers.

Pratyush is a traveling enthusiast who always looks for innovations in business travel management. He has 5 years of experience writing content on corporate travel management and working closely with expert business travel facilitators.

Related Posts

How To Plan Extended Corporate Hotel Booking In Qatar?

Qatar is a country in the middle east that is renowned for its stunning skyscrapers, vibrant culture, and thriving business landscape. It has long been a hub for corporate travelers. As the country continues to Read more…

Guide To Small Business Travel Management In Oman

Effective small business travel management in Oman is pivotal for enterprises seeking growth in the dynamic Middle Eastern market. Oman, with its captivating blend of ancient heritage and contemporary progress, beckons as an enticing destination Read more…

Best Corporate Travel Agencies In GCC In 2023

When it comes to travel, especially in the dynamic and vibrant Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, having a trusted travel agency by your side can make all the difference. These agencies are not just travel Read more…

Let's get started!

Thanks for submitting your details.

We'll get back to you shortly.

7 Step Guide to Writing a Business Travel Policy

Download the PDF eBook version

It’s common to assume that you might not need a business travel policy. Maybe your company is only just starting out, still in its early growth stage, or just doesn’t do much business travel.

That line of thinking couldn’t be more wrong, though.

A company travel policy isn’t something exclusive only to large businesses. Even small startups whose employees only travel twice a year can really benefit from having a solid corporate travel policy.

Corporate travel policies reduce time-wasting, repetitive, and redundant questions. It’s a place to turn to for convenient answers and guidance to ensure everything is on the up and up with the company.

Having a business travel policy in place helps foster fairness and transparency. It also provides employees with greater freedom and autonomy while maintaining corporate authority and management.

Most importantly, it also serves as a way to ensure the safety of your travellers, especially in today’s post-COVID world.

Now that we’ve established the need for a travel policy, how do you go about building one that employees would follow?

Creating, maintaining, and enforcing a company travel policy doesn’t mean micromanaging every last detail of your employee’s business trip. Instead, it means providing them with the tools and information they need to feel safe, comfortable, and supported by the company.

Moreover, many travel policies today centre around flexibility and providing employees with greater freedom to arrange their business travel.

Our guide will give you everything to do exactly that — we’ll discuss various travel management styles, provide tips for creating modern travel policies, and offer techniques to help increase compliance.

The Downside of Travel Policies

Anything connected to the word “policy” is often instantly deemed complicated and overwhelming. Company travel policies are no different. Travel arrangements and requirements can already be time-consuming and challenging to take in without adding company rules into the mix.

When we know what employees don’t like about their current business travel policy or what keeps them from fully using them, we can create policies that specifically avoid those issues.

4 Common Problems with Travel Policies

• The policies are too technical or difficult to understand.
• Almost no one bothers to read the policies due to their length.
• No one remembers the content of the policies.
• Companies don’t automatically enforce travel policies.

These issues contribute to a low policy compliance rate. A 2018 survey by Skift and Turkish Airlines showed that only 60% of business travellers follow their company’s travel policy, particularly when booking their accommodations.

Understanding the common problems with travel policies can help guide us in creating one that employees would want to use and appreciate.

Failure to heed these common problems can easily make all the effort we put into creating a great corporate travel policy to waste.

Don't have time to finish this guide now? Download the PDF eBook version

Why Build a Corporate Travel Policy?

The difficulty in creating and ensuring compliance with business travel policies might turn you away from putting any policy in place. You wouldn’t be the only one to think this way, either.

Sixty percent of companies in the U.S. don’t have a corporate travel policy in place.

However, in doing so, you can miss out on several important benefits — not just for employees but for your company.

Travel Policy Benefits for Travellers

• Clear rules and regulations
• Less hassle when making travel arrangements
• Fairness amongst the team
• Ensure safety and wellness
• Better flexibility and autonomy

Travel Policy Benefits for the Company

• Lessen travel cost spikes.
• Improve management over company travel expenses.
• Streamlined reimbursement protocol.
• Increased fairness helps foster better employee sentiment.
• Positive company culture.

Creating a business travel policy provides you and your company with clear guidelines. This, in turn, helps ensure fairness and equality for everyone.

A Step by Step Guide to Writing a Business Travel Policy

Now that we’ve had a better perspective on travel policy dos, don’ts, and the benefits, it’s time to focus on writing one.

Here is a quick look at our seven-step, fool-proof process for writing a modern business travel policy:

1. Review existing or previous travel policies

Similar to how we took a look at the dos, don’ts, and benefits, it is also important to review old or existing policies.

2. Outline policy goals and identify stakeholders

In any project or undertaking, it is best to start with clear goals and priorities. Regardless of whether you choose to focus on reducing confusion or limiting travel expenses, you and your team should be clear on what the policy’s focus should be.

During this stage, it's important to involve all of the right people. This will help ensure the fairness and appropriateness of your travel policy.

3. Ensure it’s easy for everyone to use the policy

As early as now, think of a way to make using your travel policy convenient for everyone who may need it — whether they are rank and file employees, supervisors, or executives.

This will help ensure that everyone is aware of the new policy, where they may access it, and how to use it.

4. Decide on the travel management style or strictness

Before you can create the travel policy’s rough draft, it is important to choose your travel management style. Along with this, you also need to determine your level of strictness.

These two factors will help ensure that all parts of your policy are in line with each other. They will help when making decisions regarding individual rules, tools, and more.

5. List down what to include in the travel policy

After working through your travel management style and strictness, start brainstorming what you want to include in the document. You can use an old travel policy or a successful one from a competitor as a reference for what to and not to include.

6. Create the first draft

Finalise the list of things your travel policy needs to have, then start writing the first draft. There are templates available online that may help make finishing this stage easier and faster.

7. Implement the travel policy

Expect your first draft to go through several revisions. However, once the final version has been approved by the management, make sure to share it with the whole company.

Immediate, company-wide implementation and briefing on how any travel management tool you use is necessary to encourage adoption and full compliance.

A Detailed Dive into the Writing Process

The outline we provided is only a brief look into what you should expect to do for each step. In the following sections, we will dive deeper into what each step would entail.

Review Your Current Travel Practices

What travel policy do you currently have in place? If you don’t have one, what are your employees’ travel practices? Answering these questions will help you get a better idea of what works, what employees prefer to do, and what to avoid.

It is best to do this with your company's major stakeholders, including the HR department, finance, and upper management. Having a few frequent business travellers join in the meeting would also prove helpful. If not, then asking your employees to answer a survey regarding your travel rules or practices may be a suitable alternative.

Set Your Policy Goals and Identify Stakeholders

A smart travel policy requires clear priorities and goals. These will give your writing purpose and steer you in the right direction. Additionally, it’s important to define the accepted business travel purposes so that all employees understand why it’s necessary and when they may be expected to go.

It’s also important to identify and notify your stakeholders. Ask yourself, who are the people whose input is necessary for the project? Who are the people whom your travel policy would affect?

Here is a list of people who should be involved in the creation of any travel policy:

• Human resource department
• The finance department (specifically the CFO and controller)
• CEO and COO
• Travel manager
• Office manager
• Frequent business travellers

These people are the most important ones to include in the discussions. They can either help write the document or be involved in its approval. After holding a kick-off meeting to establish priorities and goals, you can simply reach out to the stakeholders individually to minimise any disruptions in their regular duties.

A 3-Step Guide to Setting Future-Proof Priorities

Referring to your old travel policy (or your competitors’ if you don’t have one) will help you determine your priorities.

Step 1: List down what works in your teference travel program. This can be as simple as “travel expenses are exceptionally high in X city” or “employees still book flights or accommodations out of policy.”

Step 2: Set clear core goals. We recommend having two to three core goals for updating or creating a corporate travel policy. An example of a core goal could be “to meet the needs of a growing company or team.” Under each core goal, you can list down secondary or specific priorities.

Here are several basic travel policy priorities that most businesses share:

• Limit unnecessary travel expenses
• Improve transparency and visibility
• Boost employees’ travel autonomy
• Increase overall efficiency and satisfaction of business trips
• Reduce employee confusion
• Streamline manual work for the HR and administrative departments
• Improve traveler safety and duty of care
• Boost travel policy compliance
• Improve convenience in making travel arrangements

Step 3: Discuss upcoming changes in the business. Doing so will help you future-proof your travel policy, at least to a certain extent. Important changes to take note of include office consolidations, expanding to new locations or offices, hiring more people, and any potential long-distance business partners.

Ensure Every Employee Can Use the Travel Policy

There are two ways you can create your company travel policy. These are:

• Classic or traditional method: Providing employees with a hard copy or a PDF document of the policy handbook, a link to an intranet page, or publishing it on the company’s internal wiki page.
• Automated or in-app method: Customising a travel management platform according to your policies and providing access to the employees. This allows the company to automate business travel booking arrangements in real-time.

We also recommend combining these two methods. Having an easily accessible app automates the process but having a classic corporate policy document gives employees something to refer to in case they have questions.

Aside from publishing it internally through a company wiki page or intranet page, it’s also common to provide employees with a link to a shared file folder or PDF via cloud data services, like Google Drive for example.

Additionally, it is a good idea to provide new employees with either a hardcopy or digital file during the onboarding process.

All About Travel Management Platforms

One way to make sure that everyone in the company can use the travel policy you create is by using a travel management platform.

A travel management platform or system, also called corporate travel management software, helps improve travel coordination and booking processes. It is one of the most convenient ways to manage travel arrangements internally.

Instead of spending more time manually planning trips across different websites or platforms, you and your employees can simply use one system to manage everything. This includes finding the most affordable flights, the best accommodation locations, and even arranging reimbursements for canceled or missed flights.

We highly recommend choosing a travel management tool like Locomote (shameless plug) that allows you to incorporate and or create your travel policy in its system. This helps ensure automatic policy compliance.

Decide on the Travel Management Style and Strictness

It’s crucial to determine your travel management style and level of strictness before listing down what you want and need to include in the document.

Travel management style refers to how you want to structure your corporate travel arrangements. This essentially means deciding on whether to have a hands-on or hands-off approach.

Will an administrator or manager handle all the bookings? Or will you give employees the freedom and autonomy to choose their travel arrangements? Will the employees be allowed to extend official business trips to mix it with personal or leisurely travel?

As for the level of strictness, this mainly refers to the restrictions set on your chosen booking tool or travel management software.

For example, will the system still allow employees to make bookings outside of your set policies? Will they need a manager’s approval to do so? Will you require approval for all travel arrangements they make, even those that follow the company’s policies?

In deciding the style and strictness level, it’s crucial to seek the opinions of your stakeholders. The company executives, HR department, and Finance teams have the most say in this case.

Figure Out What to Include in the Travel Policy

So, what exactly goes into a corporate travel policy? It’s simple: anything and everything employees might want or need to know about traveling — both domestically and internationally.

Remember, the goal in building a business travel policy is to provide employees with a helpful reference in case they have questions. Here is an overview of some basic rules and modern guidelines:

Booking and Approval Process

• Who makes the airline and hotel bookings?
• What are the requirements for travel approval?
• What tools or platforms should employees use?

Travel Safety

• What type of travel insurance do employees get?
• Who is your duty of care vendors?
• What are your emergency procedures?
• Who is your employees’ point of contact in the company in case of travel emergencies?

Accommodation Expenses

• What is the maximum allowable spend per night?
• Are there different budgets for different cities?
• How can employees get corporate hotel rates when booking by themselves?
• Are employees allowed to book alternative accommodation, such as AirBnB?
• What types of alternative accommodation are allowed?
• Are there circumstances where alternative accommodation is not reimbursable?

Airline Travel Expenses

• What is the maximum allowable spend per domestic flight?
• What is the maximum allowable spend per international flight?
• Can employees book flights without approval?
• What is the required minimum amount of time to book in advance?

Ground Travel Expenses

• What are employees’ options for ground transportation?
• What are the company’s preferred modes of ground transportation?
• Is there a maximum cost per train ticket?
• What are the rules for renting vehicles?
• What are the rules for using personal vehicles?
• Are employees entitled to fuel and accommodation reimbursements for multi-day drives?

Food and Daily Allowance

• Will daily allowance be provided?
• What will it include and not include?
• What are the daily allowance limits?

Entertaining Clients

• What counts as client entertainment?
• What is the maximum cost per entertainment ticket?
• How much can employees spend without needing approval?
• What is the maximum spend per meal for clients?

Reimbursement Processes

• Until when can employees file for reimbursements?
• What purchases or expenses count as non-reimbursable?
• Who approves reimbursement claims?
• How should the reimbursement claims be submitted?
• How do employees submit expense reports?

Leisure Trip Extensions

• Does the company allow “bleisure” or business leisure travels?
• What counts as business leisure trip extensions?
• Will the company shoulder accommodation extensions?
• Will employees continue to receive an allowance during leisure trip extensions?

Create Your First Business Travel Policy Draft

The key to creating a business travel policy that employees would find helpful and gladly follow is to always put the employees’ needs first.

Moreover, make sure you take into account the current size of the company and its expected growth in the following years. Although the company may be limited to business trips to neighboring cities or states, for now, a fast-paced growth may require international travel in the following year or two.

As such, it’s important to try to include policies for everything the employees may experience in the future. Future-proofing your business travel policy allows you to keep it for a longer time and avoid rewriting it each year.

Get feedback from different people after finishing the first draft. If there are points that need to be revised, do so before submitting the first draft for management approval.

It’s normal for travel policy drafts to go through several rounds of revisions. Don’t be disheartened by these. Instead, use it as an opportunity to improve the policies and get actionable feedback from the people who would eventually use them.

Implement the Business Travel Policy

Once the travel policy is approved by the company executives and other stakeholders, you can start to share it with all the employees. We recommend having a town hall meeting to introduce the new policies and brief employees on the most important points.

Another way to improve policy implementation and compliance rates is by providing all employees with a copy of the document. You can do this through a company wiki page, an intranet page, a shared folder or file on the company cloud platform, or a printed booklet.

But how can you ensure employees will read the document?

The best tip we can give to boost policy read-through rates is to include the reimbursement information in the travel policy document. Everyone loves free stuff — and reimbursements count!

Including information that employees genuinely care about in your business travel policy increases the chances of them reading through the whole document.

How to Create an Automated Travel Policy in Locomote

After creating or updating your travel policy document, make sure to create an automated version, too. This is what will boost your travel policy’s compliance rate and further improve employee freedom and autonomy.

Locomote is one of the best business travel management platforms in the market. Our award-winning technology allowed us to help large and small companies streamline their travel programs.

Using our system, travel managers and employees can book, manage, track, and report in one convenient platform, globally.

Now that we’ve guided you on how to build a travel policy document, you can use it to set up an automated travel policy using the Locomote.

Benefits of Using Locomote

Locomote offers a wide variety of benefits for both businesses and employees, including the following:

• Clean and modern user interface
• Easy to navigate mobile app
• Transparent pricing
• Offers group booking
• Dedicated 24/7 travel support at no extra charge
• Allows employees to book their trips
• Real-time data reporting
• Per department budget limits
• Integrates with expenses or finance management tools
• Accepts multiple payment methods

In today’s post-pandemic world, business and leisure travel can still be quite tedious. As infection rates go up and down, and cities and states react accordingly, responding as fast as possible are necessary.

That is exactly what Locomote provides.

Using our platform, travel managers can easily make adjustments based on new travel restrictions and pandemic rates.

You can also adjust the settings based on the data our platform collects from all the travel bookings and costs reported.

How To Cut Travel Expenses Using Automated Travel Platforms

Thanks to our clients and their thousands of employees that use Locomote, we were able to gather enough data and find more ways to help businesses like yours cut down on travel costs.

• Booking flights at least a month or farther in advance if possible
• Providing access to low-cost airlines or carriers, such as Jetstar, EasyJet, Spirit Airlines, and more
• Offering flexible booking rates for easy cancellation or changes
• Setting caps for hotel costs and daily allowances
• Providing options for streamlined account reconciliation

All of these are possible through Locomote. Together with our per-trip pricing setup, exclusive rates, and discounts, companies can save up to 34% in total business travel costs.

Improving Your Corporate Travel Experience

Better business travel management equals a smoother overall travel experience. Help your employee travellers feel more empowered by giving them freedom while also optimising your travel policy.

See how we can optimise your travel program and make your company more efficient.

Click here to get a free, in-depth product demonstration and walkthrough.

• Book a Flight
• Manage Reservations
• Explore Destinations
• Flight Schedules
• Track Checked Bags
• International Travel
• Flight Offers
• Low Fare Calendar
• Upgrade My Flight
• Add EarlyBird Check-In
• Check Travel Funds
• Buy Carbon Offsets
• Flying with Southwest
• Book a Hotel
• Redeem Points for Hotels
• More Than Hotels
• Hotel Offers
• Best Rate Guarantee
• Rapid Rewards Partners
• Book a Vacation Package
• Manage My Vacation
• Vacation Package Offers
• Vacation Destinations
• Why Book With Us?
• FLIGHT STATUS
• CHANGE FLIGHT

• Personal Finance
• Today's Paper
• Partner Content
• Web Stories
• Entertainment
• Social Viral

New Zealand visitor visa: Why you must apply for Christmas travel by Oct 15

To avoid missing out on your planned travel dates, immigration new zealand (inz) has set some important deadlines.

Photo: Shutterstock

More From This Section

India home to 26 fintech unicorns with a combined market value of $90 bn

How Indians travel decoded: Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Bhutan new favorites

Aadhaar free update ends on 14 September: Check step-by-step guide

Global leader: UPI surpasses 3,700 transactions per second, up 58% on year

Quant, Nippon's BAFs: Why some MFs are paring equity despite bull run

Australia's parent visa shock: 31-year wait or pay big for faster entry?

UAE visa amnesty: How to replace a lost passport and avoid fines by Oct 31

Medical evacuation insurance a must for your foreign travel: here's why.

Different modes of MF holdings and how are they taxed?

9 NFOs to launch this week: Check details before investing

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Sep 03 2024 | 3:39 PM IST

Explore News

• Suzlon Energy Share Price Adani Enterprises Share Price Adani Power Share Price IRFC Share Price Tata Motors Share Price Tata Steel Share Price Yes Bank Share Price Infosys Share Price SBI Share Price Reliance shares
• Latest News Company News Market News India News Politics News Cricket News Personal Finance Technology News World News Industry News Education News Opinion Shows Economy News Lifestyle News Health News
• Today's Paper About Us T&C Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Disclaimer Investor Communication GST registration number List Compliance Contact Us Advertise with Us Sitemap Subscribe Careers BS Apps
• ICC T20 World Cup 2024 Business Standard at 50 Paralympics 2024 Jammu Kashmir Elections 2024

I spent $6,000 taking my family to Disney for 2 nights. A Costco deal helped us cut costs, but we'd book differently next time.

• I went to Disneyland with my wife, son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter for about $6,000.
• We got a deal on tickets and our two-bedroom Disneyland Hotel suite through Costco Travel.
• The trip was worth every penny, but I'd add an extra day to our itinerary next time.

In December, my son, his wife, and my 2 ½-year-old granddaughter met my wife and me in California so we could all go to Disneyland .

Trips to Disney can get expensive, so we booked using a two-night, two-park deal my son found on the Costco Travel website.

I paid just more than $4,600 for a package that got us two nights in a two-room suite at the Disneyland Hotel, two-day Park Hopper tickets for four adults, and a $180 Disney gift card. Our granddaughter got into the parks for free because she was under 3.

We had a great time, but I plan to book our next Disney trip a bit differently.

Our suite was great, and we loved exploring Disneyland

Our Disneyland Hotel suite was beautiful and filled with special details.

The deep-blue carpeting had a fireworks pattern on it, and the headboards on the beds had little twinkling lights that looked like fireworks.

The hotel was also a short walk away from Disneyland, so we headed there after we checked in and dropped off our bags. Walking through the main gate of the park felt like entering a portal to another world.

Throughout the day, my granddaughter got to meet Disney characters and dance with them. We went on rides as a family and, for some, took turns waiting in line to ride with my granddaughter.

We rode a submarine to the bottom of the ocean in search of Nemo, rowed a canoe on the Rivers of America, journeyed through a Winnie the Pooh ride, and even got to meet Eeyore.

In the evening, we staked out a spot along Main Street and waited for the Christmas parade, which was included with our admission.

Related stories

We spent our second day in the parks at California Adventure exploring a range of rides and attractions and ended it by watching another parade.

We spent a lot of money, but we didn't have enough time

Our $4,600 package didn't include everything. I also paid $160 for parking because we drove to the parks in two separate vehicles ($40 a day per vehicle).

I spent an additional $700 on food, drinks, and souvenirs. We mostly had simple quick-service bites (chicken tenders, pizza, burgers, hot dogs) and snacks (churros), which helped us save some money. But our priciest meal, at Disneyland Hotel's Goofy's Kitchen buffet, cost $450, including tip.

Plus, I gave my son $400 toward his family's airfare to California. In total, I spent about $6,300 to take my family on this Disney vacation.

But my biggest issue is I felt as if we didn't have enough time. With only two nights, we lost almost half of the first day driving to the resort, parking, checking in, and taking our luggage to the room.

For our next trip, I'd do three nights instead of two. That way, on our first day, we can even spend some time swimming in the hotel pools and exploring Downtown Disney, a dining and shopping district nearby.

Then, we can get to the parks bright and early on our second day.

Still, the trip was worth every penny

This was the most expensive Disney trip I've ever taken, but seeing my family have such a great time meant everything to me.

Watching my granddaughter dance with Disney characters while twirling the shimmering skirt of her princess dress was priceless.

Months later, she still talks about Disney — she even told her mom she had a dream about going back.

Watch: While Delta's business is 'extremely robust,' the airline's marketing chief stays focused on the data

• Main content

• English (CA)
• English (UK)
• Deutsch (DE)
• Deutsch (CH)

5 steps to the best travel management process flow

Automate booking processes and save money on your business travel

1. determine priorities for administrators, managers, and travelers.

• The business traveler wants an itinerary that doesn’t cause unnecessary sleep-loss, a comfortable room with WiFi, and maybe an extra day to explore a new city and turn a business trip into personal travel – a.k.a a “bleisure” trip.
• The office manager needs a travel policy that works (check out our travel and expense policy template ), and a travel management solution that does not take too much time away from other tasks. They shouldn’t need to open hundreds of tabs or contact loads of travel consultants or agents just to book flights.
• And finally, the finance manager needs instant access to all travel spend to be able to make budget decisions in real-time and optimize cost savings.

2. Use a booking platform that allows travelers to book for themselves

• No need to bother the office manager or travel manager for a simple booking procedure
• No need to write complicated emails or fill out forms with multiple itinerary options
• They can choose the itinerary they want and how they would like to travel (car rental, booking on different airlines, using a train etc.)
• They can choose the air travel providers and lodging they want, managing their own hotel bookings and flight tickets
• They can track their frequent flyer programs
• They can get all the benefits of an online booking platform tailored for business travel, while you get to make sure that they plan their trips within your company travel policy.

3. Streamline your policies and approvals process

• Pricing guidelines based on the city of destination
• Travel insurance requirements
• Guidelines based on traveler group (such as team, office, or country)
• Required level of control (pre-approve all trips, no trips, or just ones of a certain price/length)
• The person who is approving each traveler/team (the team lead, project lead, or travel manager?)

Travel Management: Book, manage, report and support business travel all in one place

4. help travelers access direct support.

5. Optimize your travel spend instantly, monthly, and quarterly

Optimize your travel management process.

Make business travel simpler. Forever.

• See our platform in action . Trusted by thousands of companies worldwide, TravelPerk makes business travel simpler to manage with more flexibility, full control of spending with easy reporting, and options to offset your carbon footprint.
• Find hundreds of resources on all things business travel, from tips on traveling more sustainably, to advice on setting up a business travel policy, and managing your expenses. Our latest e-books and blog posts have you covered.
• Never miss another update. Stay in touch with us on social for the latest product releases, upcoming events, and articles fresh off the press.

Top 10 business travel challenges (and how to overcome them)

How to make a business travel report + free template for 2024

5 inefficient processes affecting your business and how to fix them

• Business Travel Management
• Offset Carbon Footprint
• Flexible travel
• Corporate Travel Resources
• Corporate Travel Glossary
• For Travel Managers
• For Finance Teams
• For Travelers
• Careers Hiring
• User Reviews
• Integrations
• Trust Center
• Help Center
• Privacy Policy
• Cookies Policy
• Modern Slavery Act | Statement
• Supplier Code of Conduct