Business related travel during the 21st century would be considered a significantly important method to extend business roots in all possible parts of the world. When individuals or a group of colleagues schedule business related travel, they expect it to be smooth and completely hassle-free. But sometimes, no matter how foolproof we think the planning is, something is always set to go south. Such common travel problems during corporate travel could hamper your plans. Booking business travel is a lot different than booking leisure travel and hence it needs different plans as well. Business travel experience relies on several factors. The factors that can make or break a business travel experience range from how and what information is conveyed to travelers, company travel policy, processes, perks, and of course, technology.
While booking Business or Corporate related travel, we need to think tactically about all the factors like Flight ticket bookings, Local Transport Reservations and most importantly, Hotels for the team or individuals to stay. While making reservations for the above mentioned, a Corporate Travel Management Company looks for options which are the most feasible according to location accessibility and also on the pockets considering the budget fares, whether they offer in-stay allowances or small things like Wi-Fi.
4 Common Corporate Travel Problems and their Solutions
When things go southwards, there may be frustration, anger or panic amongst the employees on the business trip as well as the employers. We need to identify the challenges that business travelers usually face during their journey. Below mentioned are such common corporate travel problem along with remedies or ways to overcome them for continual of the work;
- Flight Delays and Over-bookings
Flight delays are a very common corporate travel problem that can be accepted by leisure travelers but when it comes to Business related travel; it can be highly frustrating and annoying but if it due to the weather conditions or engine and system failure, there is very little one can do or can be blamed. There are many reasons of flight delays or train delays. Employees waste precious time and may miss important meetings.
A simple thing one can do is to schedule their travel and flights with a larger duration of layover so that even if one of them is delayed due to any given possible reason, the employees would not have struggle getting back on track and reaching the desired destination in the given time or missing out on work. One can simply get compensation by opting for airport lounges to complete any immediate work. Also choosing non-stop and early departure flights can help with time savings and dedicating time to the needed fields.
Flight Overbooking is done by airline companies because they want to make sure that each of their flights is filled to maximum capacity and hence they calculatedly assume that a certain number of passengers won’t show up and sell extra tickets to compensate for those assumptions. The problem actually arises when all the travelers show up and there aren’t enough vacant seats. The flight authorities start asking people to voluntarily give up their seats in exchange for a travel voucher but in case if no one volunteers readily, then there’s a possibility that the employees can be denied from boarding. To avoid getting yourself in such a situation all together, check-in and arrive early at the gate, become a frequent flyer, and purchase an allocated seat instead of waiting to be assigned one at the gate.
- Keeping Track of Receipts and Documents
There is a very high chance or probability of misplacing important expense receipts and documents like ID proof, Passports, Company Designation and other work related files which is one of the biggest corporate travel problem. It is a common human trait and no one is to be blamed for it but sometimes these minute mishaps could make you pay a larger commodity and hence a Central Booking Bag is a must have feature which ensures easy and secure storage of all the necessary expense reports, receipts and documents which might be needed at any given point of time.
Keeping track of all the receipts while on a business tour is highly necessary for filing business reports and submitting all error-free documents for reimbursements according to the policy. Receipts can be digitally stored in this Central Booking Bag by just clicking a snapshot of the receipt while the software reads and stores all the necessary information from that document for future use. This simple method will reduce the stress of many employees on business trips.
- Quick reimbursements for expenses
Any employee when asked about the most tiring and time consuming process in business travel would instantly point towards the slow and tedious process of claims and reimbursements of all possible expenses. Filing expense reports can be a headache after an intense work trip. And even after submitting to one’s employer, there can be a long wait for the expenses to be processed with company accounts. The presence of hassle-free automated software based reporting makes it easier for employees to fill in all the essential details to process reimbursements and claims for the expenses incurred during travel. This not only makes it easy for employees to document their expenditure; it also makes it easy for employers to generate reports and ensure employees are reimbursed as quickly as possible on their return.
- Assistance through online and offline support
Communication can solve any kind of corporate travel problem! Hence in case of any mishap or inconvenience caused to the travelers, providing a 24*7 Help Assistance through calls, emails or any other possible medium allows employees on tours to convey their problems and views for the employer to understand them easily and work on providing a feasible and favorable solution at that given situation to solve the problem. Communication on both sides is the key to getting things sorted!
The good news on the other hand is that these problems are avoidable at best and manageable at worst. As someone who travels for a living, parts of many situations are stressful and solving them should be at first hand. In order to make the most of the business travel, employees need to feel relaxed and refreshed at every stage during the trip.
