When you travel for work, you’ll inevitably face certain challenges – some that are easier to anticipate, like jet lag, and others that are unexpected, like flight delays and cancellations. The best way to navigate these obstacles is to be prepared, with research and a contingency plan for when things go wrong.
To ensure your company’s business travel goes smoothly, here are seven of the most common business travel problems and how to solve them.
1. Unclear travel policy and communications
When a company’s business travel policy omits important details or leaves room for interpretation, business travelers can find it challenging to keep track of expenses and stay within budget during their trips. They also may not receive reimbursement if the expenses aren’t covered by the travel policy, and may end up confused and frustrated with the process. So what can you do when things go wrong?
Solution:
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Corporate travel management platform – Utilizing travel and expense management software makes the process much more efficient for employees. By tracking expenses, allowing easy submission of receipts, and automatically flagging out-of-policy expenses, you can avoid common problems.
- Fine-tune your business travel policy – When it comes to business travel policies, leave no stone unturned. Make sure it’s clear, consistent, and contains all the information business travelers could possibly need.
2. Travel policy compliance
Making sure every business traveler complies with the company’s travel policy can be tricky when you factor in each individual employee’s preferences. Some may prefer to stay in a hotel while some prefer a cozy apartment. Some may require certain facilities or prefer different travel times or means. Here are some ways to ensure business travel policy compliance.
Solution:
- Be flexible – Offer employees options to make sure your travel policy works for everyone. Try to offer a range of accommodations and transportation options within budget.
- Clear travel policy – The less clarity there is in terms of your business travel guidelines, the harder it is for employees to follow them. Use a travel and expense policy template and checklist to make sure you don’t leave anything out.
3. Delayed or canceled flights and reservations
One of the biggest challenges with business travel is dealing with travel disruptions. No matter how efficient a company’s business travel admin systems are, flight delays and cancellations can foil even the most fool-proof plan. And unfortunately, they’re fairly common. These disruptions can have a huge impact on business travel plans in terms of hassle and cost, whether they result in missed meetings or connecting flights.
Solution:
- Corporate travel management software – Modern travel management solutions like Booking.com for Business are invaluable when dealing with disruptions, allowing for efficient and easy re-booking when things go wrong. This also means business travelers won’t have to spend hours on the phone resolving the issue, and can simply amend bookings in app with 24/7 support available.
- Well-planned itineraries – Make sure the business traveler’s itinerary is well planned and offers all the necessary details, from flight and terminal numbers to hotel reservations.
- Early flights – When booking flights, it’s best to opt for early morning options because flight delays have a domino effect throughout the day. The earlier the better, since the first daily flights are less likely to be canceled.
- Anticipate disruptions – Factoring travel disruptions into itineraries is fundamental to ensure no meetings or important events are missed. Leave a window of time on either side of flights, trains, or taxis so traffic or bad weather can’t disrupt your trip.
4. Costs and budget planning
One of the most common problems with business travel is being restricted by financial resources. Making sure business travel is both cost-efficient and satisfactory for employees is one of the hardest parts of the job for business travel managers. Searching transportation and accommodation options that are within budget can be laborious and ineffective.
Solution:
- Establishing a clear budget – Providing clarity around budget is key to business travel cost control.
- Corporate travel and expense software – Modern business travel software helps automate the process, allowing users to book everything on one platform and within budget. These systems also often provide access to the best rates and deals – for example, with Booking.com for Business, you can get up to 20% off in special business rates and access loyalty points.
- Plan in advance – Flights are often more affordable when booked in advance, not to mention hotels and other accommodations.
- Cost optimization – While saving money on business travel is obviously desirable, it’s just as important to balance that with employee needs so they feel prepared and able to perform in pitches and meetings.
5. Safety and security of travelers
Ensuring employees’ safety and security on business travel trips can be a major challenge. This is particularly true for female business travelers, who can face more safety-related issues when traveling for work. Travel managers have to analyze risks, alert employees to safety concerns, set expectations, and keep track of security during business trips.
Solution:
- Use a travelers’ safety checklist – Creating a safety checklist for travelers helps to make sure you don’t miss out on any safety steps.
- Comprehensive travel policy – Setting clear guidelines makes business travelers aware in advance of any safety concerns and makes sure they’re prepared.
- Travel management software – Using travel management systems allows for automation of trip safety reporting, keeping track of employees when they’re on the move, and alerts in emergency situations.
- Training options – Offering online safety training options for employees is a great way to make sure everyone complies with the travel policy safety rules.
6. Curbing carbon emissions
In an age where curbing carbon emissions is an urgent priority, business travel presents an immediate problem. To justify business travel trips that could have been conducted remotely online, companies must do their best to lessen the negative impact these trips have on the environment. With environmental impact increasingly a factor in a company’s brand image, cranking up business travel sustainability efforts will not only help the planet, but likely attract more talent.
Solution:
- Software solutions – Carbon-neutral business travel programs are available too. These provide accurate data on business travel carbon emissions and real-time tracking of business travel carbon emissions so employees can factor this data in during the booking process.
- Adopt more sustainable corporate travel policies – By encouraging business travel only in instances of necessity and avoiding it when meetings can be conducted remotely, companies can easily cut down their carbon footprint. With a little forward planning, employees can also be encouraged to travel using more environment-friendly means, such as by train, when possible.
7. Having data and an overview of travelers and bookings
Having access to business travel data is invaluable for business travel admins, to improve the efficiency of the process, ensure business trips stay within budget, and more. Collecting and analyzing travel data helps companies make informed decisions that optimize strategic and sustainable travel policies.
Solution:
- Corporate travel management tool – Travel management solutions integrate data and insights, making it smoother and easier to arrange business trips within budget. They can also collate data into digestible reports that improve the efficiency of business travel in terms of traveler satisfaction, carbon emissions, safety, and more.
