Business Travel Hacks to Know Before Your Next Trip

When done right, business travel can have many benefits. It’s about more than just meeting new prospects, closing sale deals, growing the top line, and strengthening client relationships. You get to enjoy everything that a new place has to offer, avoid burnout, and learn to be more flexible. You must plan your time right and travel strategically. Here are a couple of suggestions to get more out of your business trip. When it comes to corporate travel, it’s necessary to prepare thoroughly. You’ll have a more successful experience, reduce potential risks, and increase the positive impact you make on your trip. 

Research Your Destination

You need to get a better sense of what to expect during your stay. You’re venturing somewhere completely new, so you don’t know what things will be like when you arrive. Put simply, you’re leaping into the unknown. Read travel blogs, check online reviews, and look for other visitor guides. Never go to a place without knowing everything there is to know. Find out how you’re going to get around your destination. Look at the options available and take into account ease of use and the costs associated with each choice. 

The longer your business trip is, the more in advance you should figure out where you’ll be staying. Google your location and type accommodation. The search engine will offer you recommendations to start your search. When looking through accommodation websites, consider the facilities available, style of the room, amenities, not to mention price and vacancy. Narrow down your pool of options to make things less overwhelming. 

Book Your Flight 30 Or 45 Days Before the Trip 

As a rule of thumb, you’ll want to book plane tickets ahead of time. Ideally, you should book your flight 30 or 45 days before the actual trip. Plane tickets don’t get cheaper closer to the departure date. On the contrary, last-minute airfare is expensive because you’re buying a scarce resource. The old saying “The early bird gets the worm” is accurate when it comes to booking business trips. You’ll have more choices in terms of flights and seats. Wouldn’t it be great to choose a seat with more leg space? You certainly don’t want to juggle between the seats during your trip. 

Whenever Possible, Fly with The Same Airline

It’s recommended to concentrate your travel on as few airlines as possible to achieve elite flyer status. You can take advantage of reduced plane tickets, seat upgrades, airport lounge access, and other perks. You’ll love the extra care that comes from a hands-on approach. It’s a good idea to reach out to a flight specialist with experience in the corporate travel industry. They’ll deliver unbiased, tailored advice on different airlines. Most importantly, you’ll be offered attractive fares. Maybe you’ll be introduced to the benefits of flying privately. What used to be a luxury is now a necessary means of travel. 

Consider Buying Travel Insurance

 If your company doesn’t offer coverage for employees travelling for work, it makes perfect sense to get travel insurance. What do you do if an unforeseen problem threatens your travel plans? For example, if you lose your luggage, it can be very expensive to replace the contents. Travel insurance can help pay for clothes, electronic devices, or medication. Sometimes, you need a little bit of help. If you have travel insurance, help is just one phone call away. It doesn’t matter if it’s a medical emergency, a lost passport, or a natural disaster. The travel experts will do everything within their power to take care of you. 

Before you buy, take some time to become familiar with the different types of travel insurance products. Some components of your trip may already be covered. If you book a business trip with your credit card, you may already benefit from trip cancellation and interruption coverage. Medical protection isn’t included in the deal, so you should look for more comprehensive coverage. Examine your financial risks when travelling and see if you can bear the costs yourself. Most importantly, read the fine print to understand what’s covered, what’s excluded, and the limits on the coverage. 

Keep Your Phone and Laptop Charged 

You can’t survive a business trip with just a mobile phone. You’re going to need your laptop. Bring a portable battery. Attention needs to be paid to the fact that Lithium-ion batteries can have a maximum of 100 watt-hours on planes. Even if the vast majority of airlines have charging stations in gate areas, not all plane seats are fitted with USB ports, even if it enhances passenger convenience. If you want to preserve your phone’s battery while travelling, switch to airplane mode. This will disable the cellular service, so your gadget will stop searching for a signal. 

Better yet, enable low-battery mode. The phone will let you know when your battery level is 20% or 10%. It will restrict background data usage and reduce ringing or vibration. It may hinder your experience, but at least your phone won’t die. If you don’t automatically get the battery saver right away, go to battery settings, and turn it on. There are some dangers to using public USB charging, so make efforts to save your phone’s battery. There are different criminals that can abuse USB wall chargers, and it’s much safer to bring your own power bank. 

Print Your Travel Documents 

The world is becoming more digitised, slowly but surely moving away from paper copies. Although it’s not absolutely necessary, printing travel documents can turn out to be a lifesaver. Imagine what could happen if your phone dies. You can’t head to the aircraft if you don’t have your boarding pass. Have a paper version of your travel documents, including your itinerary. Make sure that you won’t ever miss a meeting because of a technical malfunction. It’s comforting to have the documents at hand. A list of travel documents to back up consists of the passport, visa, travel insurance, driver’s licence, airline tickets, lodging reservation confirmations, and vaccination certificates, just to name a few.