7 Tips For Business Travelers
Business travel: love it or hate it. While many people see it as a perk, especially when they get to combine business and leisure, frequent business travelers often find it inconvenient, even uncomfortable.
Traveling for business can be challenging, yes. However, experienced travelers know that they can have a much better experience when they follow certain rules that are guaranteed to work. On this list you’ll find a complete list of business travel tips and tricks that will help you navigate your next trip like a pro!
1. Check your company’s business travel policy
Before you start planning your trip, make sure to check your company’s rules, procedures, and do’s & don’ts when it comes to corporate travel. Here you’ll find more information about corporate travel, which include things such as where to book your trip, who needs to approve it, what expenses you can claim a refund for, and how the refund process works.
2. Keep your essentials packed and ready to go in your suitcase
Keep your essential items, such as toiletries and medicines, always at hand and ready to pack. If you travel often, it’s a great idea to keep these items in a case which you only use for your trips.
3. Keep your essentials handy when on the road
Boarding passes, IDs, important documents, your phone, agenda, credit card, wallet… Pack them together where you can always easily find them when you need them. There’s nothing worse than not finding your ID when you get to the gate, and delaying the boarding while you unpack everything in a burst of panic!
4. Bring your (travel size) toiletries
You want to look your best at that important business meeting, but we all know those hair products from the hotel probably won’t cut it. Even if your hotel offers many quality toiletries, there’s nothing like your own products, which are the best match for your needs—so bring them along!
5. Do your research on foreign business etiquette
You’ve prepared your speech and you have all your stats ready, what else? Depending on where you’re traveling, business etiquette can be very different from your own country. Make sure to check the basic rules beforehand, so you’ll be able to stretch that client’s hand—or not—with confidence!
6. Download helpful apps
From your company’s travel and expense management software to your hotel and rental car providers, in today’s world apps can give you access to an easier way of doing things. Other helpful apps for business travel are Uber, taxi apps, and apps for booking coworking and meeting rooms.
7. Leave reviews
Did you enjoy your stay at the serviced apartment? Was your customer care agent nice to you? Be kind and leave a good review! You might be back at the same serviced apartment next time, and it will give them something nice to remember you for.
We hope you found these travel hacks helpful! Now it’s time to put them into practice on your next business trip: wherever you’re traveling, we wish you a comfortable and successful business trip.
Planning an Affordable Family Vacation
Photo courtesy
If you travel with kids, then you may have found cheap family vacations more difficult to arrange in recent years. The price hikes for trips during school breaks are well documented, but there’s also the steady upward trajectory of the costs of food, accommodation and entry to attractions, all of which add up when you are traveling as a family.
1.Timing is Everything
Last-minute deals don’t tend to exist during the school holidays, and those that do are usually to less desirable places. If your kids are in school then you’ll know their term dates far in advance; use this information to book months or even years ahead, when prices are still relatively low due to the lack of demand. If your kids aren’t in school yet or you educate them at home, make the most of traveling outside the peak periods, when costs are low and crowds fewer.
A happy African family/ photo courtesy
2. Use your parenting networks
An African American family/photo courtesy
Baby groups may have kept you sane through the newborn haze, but that collective wisdom extends beyond moral support and diaper-changing techniques. Quiz fellow parents about trips they’ve taken, how much they cost and what they would do differently to save money next time. Likewise in the online world there are plenty of forums and family travel bloggers ready and willing to give you their budget tips on destinations they have visited.
3. Turn the journey into an adventure
An American family on a road trip/photo courtesy
Save money on a night’s accommodation and create memories you will all treasure by traveling to your destination (or between two points on your itinerary) in a different way. Taking an overnight bus or train is a huge event for kids and a story they will retell again and again when back home. Alternatively, a family road trip using your own vehicle avoids the cost of hefty air fares and rental cars.
4. Embrace the great outdoors
An African family enjoying nature/ photo courtesy
Kids tend to love spending time in the fresh air, which is great news for penny-pinching parents. Plan day trips that involve nature walks rather than expensive attractions; find the local playground so your little ones can meet other children and take a picnic to avoid restaurant prices. Another great way to save money while exploring the great outdoors is to camp. It allows kids to be truly immersed in nature while also getting involved with some basic chores (e.g. post-BBQ clean-up) so it’s a win-win really, and worth trying at least once, even if you think you won’t like it.
5. Family discounts are your friend
While you can’t necessarily take advantage of big group discounts, there are many little ways families can use the power of numbers. You may be able to get a discount pass for local transport, find family coupons online for the attractions you want to see and take advantage of marketing campaigns such as kids-go-free weeks for theatres or big exhibitions that don’t charge entry for children.
6. Stick to the essentials
African family at the airport/photo courtesy
Anyone trying to save money knows it’s those little extras that really add up and the same applies when you are traveling with kids. Take refillable water bottles, buy ice creams by the pack in a local supermarket and read up on the sites you are visiting before you go to avoid paying extra for audio guides, activity packs or special exhibitions. Having an “eyes only” policy for gift shops can also help keep extra spending at bay.