Travelling for work is not the same as travelling for leisure. This is because traveling for work is necessary. On the other hand, travelling abroad for whatever reason can be an expensive affair. This is because the travel incurs huge costs considering that you have to pay for the flight, accommodation, food and car rentals among many other costs. Even if it’s the employer that will be catering for your travelling expenses, it’s still important you find ways of cutting back on expenditure as there are other bills to be paid. Here is a list of tips that can help you reduce expenses when travelling for work.
Stick to Company’s Travel Policy
It’s obvious that your employer has a travel policy in place. You may not be familiar with it if you have never travelled for work before. In most cases, the policy usually states the budget that should never be exceeded by every employee that’s travelling for business meetings and conferences. What this means is that, once your travel expenses exceed the specified amount, you will have to pay for services and items with your own money. On the other hand, you can get reimbursement if you spent your money on things that are supposed to be catered for by the employer.
Travel during Off Peak Season
The problem of travelling during international holidays is that hotels and airlines tend to hike their charges. In fact, the charges can shoot up to more than double the normal rates. This happens because there is high demand for their services. You can avoid these abnormal charges by scheduling your travel just after the peak season has ended. The advantage here is that you will enjoy travelling for much less money and in tranquility. This is because most folks will already have gone back home from vacation.
Look for Affordable Flights and Accommodation
Most people that travel for work prefer to fly in business class and stay in expensive hotels simply because they will not spend their own money. But as someone that cares about the future of your employer’s company you obviously want to cut back on such expenses. After all, you don’t want to create an impression that you are out to squander your employer’s money. For a start, you should look for cheap flights even if they are not recognized by your employer. Remember the purpose of a flight is to move you from your current location to where your expertise is needed. Period. In addition to that, you should consider staying budget friendly accommodation such as Corporate Housing El Paso because they have a package that’s specifically tailored for corporate customers.
Utilize Reward Programs
You probably have one of those credit cards that reward users with points that can redeemed when paying for items and services. If you are a regular traveler, you should use the credit card when paying for flights and accommodation so that you can get a good discount. You can also use the credit card when you visit hotels and restaurants. But if you have already exhausted the reward points, you can easily get a discount by just asking. In fact, you will be shocked to realize that most businesses are more than willing to offer discount to business travelers as a way of encouraging them to come back in future.