5 Tips To Maximize the Benefits of Business Travel
Brian Wallace, Founder & President, NowSourcing
Business travel gives employees opportunities to explore new places and try new things. This is perhaps why over 1.3 million business trips are taken in the U.S every day.
However, while business trips can be fun and exciting, they can also take a toll on employees and employers. But by learning how to maximize business travel perks, corporate travelers can save more and have an improved experience when they travel.
For this reason, in this article, we discussed the top five ways employees could get the most out of their business trips.
Let's take a look.
How to make the most of your business travel benefits
There are different ways to use business travel perks optimally. Here are the most prominent ways:
1) Hire a travel management company
Business travels involve many activities, from booking transportation, feeding, accommodation, follow-up, and more. However, hiring a travel management company can save time performing these repetitive tasks and stress less when planning for trips.
Efficient corporate travel management companies, like TravelPerk, will use their experience and expertise to book the best flights, hotels, and restaurants to ensure an excellent experience while on a trip.
They find the most cost-effective and most effortless experience for you. In addition, they will collaborate with companies and ensure you enjoy the best deals to save more on your business trips.
Travel management companies also offer comprehensive software that tracks your activities and expenses. At the same time, you won't have to account for your trips manually and concentrate fully on the primary purpose of your trip. In addition, they offer a reliable support system to aid you with the help you need when you travel.
Whenever you run into any challenge, you won't have to go through it alone and let it distract you from your main activities, you will only have to reach out to them, and they will help you troubleshoot whatever issues you may have.
Hiring a travel management company is an excellent way to prevent and mitigate travel management risks because your safety is guaranteed by reliable customer support. In addition, you will receive timely assistance to keep you safe no matter the situation. So, if you are looking to maximize your business travel perks, hiring the services of a travel management company is critical.
2) Maximize loyalty programs
Get the most from your business trips by using available loyalty programs at the airlines, hotels, and restaurants you use frequently. Always ask for the loyalty options they have in place, so they don't miss out on them.
For example, many hotels incentivize customer loyalty with late checkouts, free WiFi, discounts, room upgrades, and many more, while airlines offer their loyal customers bonuses and discounted flight rates.
To be regularly updated about promotions, consider subscribing to their mail list and following them on social media. There, you will receive regular updates about changes and upgrades in customer loyalty programs so that you can maximize them fully.
3) Get a travel reward card
Travel reward cards are best to optimize your travel perks. With them, you can get rewards and discounts when you travel. This could include upgrades to first-class seats, discounted flight rates, free meals, upgraded rooms, and more.
They help you get the most of your travel experience by enabling you to enjoy additional perks that let you save big. If you are loyal to a specific airline, then consider getting an airline travel reward credit card.
This is because if your points are connected to an airline, you will get maximum perks based on your loyalty. For example, you can earn points or miles you can exchange for plane tickets and other incentives like discounted plane tickets, free checked bags, ticket upgrades, and others.
In addition, acquiring a hotel credit reward card also comes with rewards based on the points you've accumulated over time. Depending on the hotel, you may get exclusive offers to hotel cardholders, including complimentary meals, room upgrades, and more. By acquiring a travel reward card, you can enjoy the perks you won't experience without one, which will go a long way to help you get more than you pay for on business trips.
4) Upgrade to elite status
If your employer and company policy allow it, upgrading to an elite or business status hotel and airline is an excellent way to maximize your business travel experience. Depending on the airline or hotel, this status often comes with extra perks to give you an improved experience when you travel.
For example, when flying elite class or using an elite hotel status, you may have a seat upgrade, early check-in, complimentary breakfast, room upgrade, and other fantastic offers that make your experience more worthwhile.
5) Utilize the company car service
Many business travels come with executive car services that will drive you to various destinations on your trip. This goes a long way in saving you from planning and arranging for transportation to wherever you go, thereby giving you maximum time to prepare for your meetings and execute your business plans.
Rather than look for ways to figure out the city's public transportation system, you will have an executive service system in place to help you out. Therefore, if you haven't been utilizing your company car services perks, you should look into making the most of it on your next trip. It will save time and effort and make your travel experience more enjoyable.
Best tips for business travel
Although business travel can be challenging, there are certain things you can do to make them a lot easier. Following the tips below will help.
1) Stick to an airline
Sticking to a specific airline will streamline your processes on your trip because you are already used to the way the airline works. Rather than try to navigate the policies and procedures of a new airline whenever you want to travel, you can experience a straightforward process with your regular airline. Additionally, you also put yourself in the position to enjoy numerous loyalty benefits, which may include early check-ins and free meals.
2) Use your hotel network
Many hotels have a loyalty program that can earn you points that could be redeemed as a free lodge, discounts, upgraded rooms, and many others. Also, you will be familiar with how they operate so you can stick to the rules and enjoy maximum benefits.
3) Make the most of your earnings
Another way to make your business trips more enjoyable is to maximize your earnings. For example, when you earn miles and points provided by airlines and hotels with your credit cards, you stand a chance of converting these earnings to bonuses and discounts.
Many prominent airlines provide shopping platforms for their users to earn bonuses when they buy from retailers. So, for every bonus, you earn miles that you can turn into ticket upgrades in the future.
Conclusion
Business travels come with many advantages. However, it's critical to know how to maximize these perks to make the most of your business trips. This article discussed the top five ways to use business travel perks optimally.
They include hiring a travel management company, utilizing loyalty programs, acquiring a travel reward card, operating to an elite or business class status, and maximizing your company car services while on trips.
About the Author: Brian Wallace is the Founder and President of NowSourcing, an industry leading infographic design agency in Louisville, KY and Cincinnati, OH which works with companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500s. Brian runs #LinkedInLocal events, hosts the Next Action Podcast, and has been named a Google Small Business Adviser for 2016-present. Follow Brian Wallace on Linked
