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Business travel can be fun and exciting, but there are many things you can do to make the experience better for a successful business trip. Whether you’re going for international business travel or domestic business travel, there are lots of things you can do to optimize business travel, including business travel safety. Here are some of the key business travel tips to keep in mind for your next trip.
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How to Use These Tips for Business Travel
These tips will likely be most beneficial for a first-time business traveler, but even seasoned business travel professionals will find them valuable as reminders. These great tips can be incorporated into your business travel plans before you leave for your destination, as well as for when you get there.
Best Travel Tips for Your Next Business Trip
We’ve put together some essential business travel tips to help make business trips easier and help you gain more from each trip in this article, with additional travel safety tips for women available as well. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so feel free to share more business travel tips in the comments, as it will help others!
1. Look for coworking spaces on your next business trip
While staying in your hotel room might be tempting the whole trip, why not break the monotony a little? A coworking space is a great way to meet people on your corporate travels, and it makes it easier to work. You can take a business meeting there or rent a desk to get some work done and stay connected without being cooped up in a hotel room all day. As an alternative, you can also go to a local coffee shop to work out of as well if a coworking space doesn’t work.
2. Collect air miles
If you’re flying out for trips, you should sign up for air miles with any airline used for corporate travel and/or your preferred airline. Miles add up when you travel with the same airline, and you can use the perks like a cheaper flight, rewards, and advantages to your benefit for personal and professional travel moving forward.
3. Join a hotel rewards program
Asides from an air miles program, if you’re a frequent business traveler, you should also be part of a hotel rewards program. Like air miles, hotel rewards programs will give you a lot of perks and benefits as you accumulate points for hotel rooms booked through business travel. That can prove to be useful both personally and professionally, so make sure all your points get logged.
4. Seek out airport lounge access
Long layovers, flight delays, a long flight, or a combination of it all can often mean that you’re stuck in airports for a long time and generally feel pretty exhausted. Airport lounges are definitely something to consider since they offer a lot of benefits, including airport snacks, food, showers, a place to rest away from the crowds, and more. You can get access to airport lounges in a few different ways: If you’ve booked first-class or business class, most airlines usually have their airline lounges. You can also gain access through airline miles, a travel credit card, and more, so make sure to research beforehand.
5. Maintain healthy habits
Even when traveling for work frequently, it’s crucial to take care of yourself and establish some kind of work-life balance. Jet lag and adjusting to local time are often issues during international business travel. However, it’s easy to let habits slip during the trip, even with domestic travel. Opt for healthy snacks where possible and use the hotel gym where you can to maintain cardiovascular health and take a break from work. You could also plan ahead and pack a bathing suit so you can use the hotel pool if the gym seems less appealing, but the goal is to make sure your physical health stays a priority even when traveling across a different time zone.
6. Look for rental car deals
If you need to drive a lot during your business travels, you should always keep an eye out for rental car deals. Many hotels and nonstop flights with certain airlines have package deals with rental cars that can save money and make it more efficient. You could also have it set up so that you’re able to pick up the rental car from the airport and drive straight to your hotel, rather than having to search for a taxi for added ease.
7. Pack Light
The best packing tips for business travelers tend to start with the same one: Pack light. Packing light makes it easy to move through airports and means less time spent trying to stuff everything into your suitcase last minute. If you want the essentials packed easily like travel toiletries, travel kit, casual clothes, and business clothes but don’t have space, there are options. For example, you can invest in items like packing cubes to help you stay organized while packing more. If you’re packing a suit, you can also get a suit bag for your suit jacket to avoid wrinkles.
8. Find your perfect carry on
Carry-on bags are essential travel bags that provide a lot of benefits for travelers. They’re usually pretty room, and having carry-on luggage means that you can take your bag with you on the plane. In addition, it speeds up travel quite a bit since you’re not waiting at baggage claim. A carry-on is usually on the smaller side for a business traveler and should fit in the plane’s overhead storage. Different airlines have dimensions requirements, so make sure to check the airline’s policy before purchasing – especially if traveling abroad.
9. Consider purchasing travel insurance
Travel insurance can be useful for business travel since it provides protection for different scenarios. Depending on where you’re traveling to and other factors, it might be worth researching insurance options for your business travel needs for emergencies.
10. Check-in for your flight online
Checking in and getting your boarding pass tends to be one of the more time-consuming parts of travel, but luckily, airlines have come up with ways to make it easier. For example, you can now check-in online for flights and add your boarding pass to your phone. That way, you can go straight to the gate when you’re at the airport and board, rather than having to wait in line to check-in and receive a physical pass.
11. Invest in noise-canceling headphones
Good headphones are important for business travelers and can be incredibly useful for both long and short business trips. A nice, high-quality pair of headphones that cancel noise can make noisy flights more relaxing, watch movies and TV while traveling, and even help you catch some shut-eye. Depending on your preferences, you can get over-ear headphones or noise-canceling earbuds.
12. Do your expense reports frequently
Expense reporting is not always the most fun task, but it is crucial. One of the most popular business travel tips tends to be around keeping an eye on expenses while you travel. Instead of trying to store all your receipts and backtrack filling out reports, try to do it on the go. You can take photos of receipts and log expenses in chunks throughout the trip to make the process easier.
13. Purchase a strong laptop bag
For your next business trip, it’s definitely worth investing in a bag for your laptop. It’s useful both for traveling internationally and on domestic trips and protects your work laptop from any nasty falls or damage. Some great bag options are available for laptops, including a sleek compact laptop bag or a messenger-style bag.
14. Optimize the airport process
If you’re planning on flying a lot, finding ways to cut time can make traveling so much easier. For example, checking in online is one method, but frequent travelers also have other ways to go through the airport process faster. Business travelers can sign up for Global Entry and TSA pre-check programs that provide immense benefits to frequent travelers. These programs are designed by the government to help you move through security lines faster and cut out time spent waiting in queues. You can sign up for these programs online, and they are essentially ways to expedite the security process at airports.
15. Frequent business travelers can still explore
A common misconception is that you don’t get to explore during business travel, but usually there are ways to get out and see at least some parts of the city. Look up some local visitor guides and travel blogs beforehand to understand what’s near your hotel, and what’s feasible for you to see. For example, you could try a popular local restaurant during your lunch break, or have an early dinner and catch a few shows during the week after work. If you have to undertake international travel or domestic travel for a corporate event, try and see if you can extend your stay for a few days before or after the event and take some time off to check out the city and sites.
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