Business Travel Booking: A Guide For Beginners

Business travel booking can be complicated & time-consuming if you haven’t done it before. Here’s a guide for beginners to get you on the right track:

First Things First

The first thing you need to do is make sure you have some idea of the number of people you’ll need accommodation for, and your requirements. Separate your requirements into what is necessary and what is just something you want. This will make it easier to occasionally cut something out if prices are unexpectedly high one week. If you need parking for any HGVs, then try to get their measurements & weight. It may be needed. If this is an international trip, then you’ll need passport details. 

The easiest way to handle your business travel booking is actually to have someone else make the bookings. This saves you lots of time & hassle, as well as keeping all the info & invoices in one place. You can get set up to do this by booking a free virtual appointment with us HERE. We’ll help you set your budget, and any requirements you’ll have for every booking, set up your login details for our online booking platform, as well as adding your travellers details. We’ll save your team’s details so you won’t have to waste time re-submitting them for every booking.

Your Travel Policy

You should write up a travel policy, including your budget & requirements, and send a copy to anyone who will be making booking requests. It’s essential everyone is on the same page so that they don’t waste time or money on out of budget requests or by increasing the budget. If your travel policy includes any rules all travellers are to follow, they should also be sent a copy.

Making A Business Travel Booking Request

You might be asking yourself; ‘how do I make a booking?’ The easiest way is by using our online booking platform - RORI, and logging in with the details you set up in your virtual appointment. Just click on the yellow ‘Request A Booking’ button, on the right hand side of the homepage, or go to the bookings page. Here you can fill in all the details and submit it.  

We’ll get back to you ASAP to let you know we’ve started working on it, then to send you some options. Unless the booking is urgent, we should respond in working hours 9am-5:30pm on weekdays. You can either tell us to keep looking or approve one of the options, then we’ll get it booked. Quick & easy!

How Far In Advance Should You Book Business Travel?

As a rule, the earlier the better. Booking ahead gives you a wider choice of accommodation and transport, better prices, and time to sort any specific requirements such as parking for large vehicles. That said, real projects rarely run to plan, and last-minute bookings are a fact of life in construction. If a job moves or a team gets called out at short notice, don’t panic — it just helps to have your travellers’ details and requirements already on file so a booking can be turned around quickly.

Common Business Travel Booking Mistakes To Avoid

• Re-submitting traveller details every time. Keep passport numbers, vehicle details and preferences on record so you only gather them once.
• An unrealistic travel policy. A budget that’s years out of date or requirements no one really needs will slow every booking down.
• Booking too close to site in a city centre. A property ten minutes further out is often cheaper, quieter and more likely to have parking.
• Scattered invoices. Bookings spread across personal cards and multiple sites make expenses and duty-of-care records a nightmare — consolidate them.

Business Travel Booking FAQs

What is business travel booking?

Business travel booking is the process of arranging and paying for the travel and accommodation your staff need for work — from a single contractor’s overnight stay to a whole team on a multi-week project — along with keeping track of the requirements, approvals and invoices.

Is it cheaper to book business travel yourself or through a travel management company?

A travel management company usually works out cheaper overall. They have exclusive supplier rates, buying power and the experience to find deals you won’t, and they save the hours your own team would spend searching and chasing invoices.

Want us to handle the whole process for you? Learn more about our business travel management service, or get in touch to get started.