When it comes to organizing corporate travel for your boss, executives or other employees, booking a plane ticket and calling it a day won’t cut it. You need to be on top of every single detail that’s related to the entire trip – or at least you do if you still want your job when the travelers get back home.
We here at Swift Passport and Visa Services rounded up some top tips from OfficeDynamics and TheEffectriveAdmin to help you with organizing corporate travel like the rock star that you are. You can basically break down the info you need into three main categories: the transportation, the destination and the itinerary.
The Transportation
Here you need to schedule every aspect of getting from point A to point B, whether it’s in the air or on the ground.
- Research and book a flight, noting the best times for travel to and from the destination, layovers, seating type and location, frequent flier reward or other perks, and all other flight details. Hipmunk has a great search tools that allows you to sort by time arrived, price, etc.
- Schedule car rental or ground transportation needs, such a car to and from the airport or an on-call taxi service travelers can use at their destination city.
The Destination
- Get a weather forecast for the expected span of stay at the destination city. Pass along any necessary info to the travelers.
- Book a hotel based on proximity to business traveler’s meetings, conferences and other events.
- Ensure the traveler is up-to-date with any required passport or visa requirements; you can quickly spot-check visa requirements and get expedited visa services for various countries at Swift.
- Research any events or other activities that could impede travel at the destination, applicable currency exchange rates, and any cultural customs of which the traveler should be aware.
The Itinerary
- Amass a record of all important addresses, phone numbers and contact names needed throughout the entire trip. Give a copy to the traveler; keep another for the office. Also keep copies of important documents, such as the passport and visa.
- Go through the travel itinerary as if you were the one expected to follow the schedule. Make sure there is enough time between activities and the overall schedule makes sense. Make sure addresses and transportation needs are noted and confirmed.
If you want to go for bonus points, provide a map of the destination with all important items marked, such as the hotel, the business meeting locations, the best restaurants in town. These tips will give you a great start for organizing corporate travel, and you can always contact Swift with additional questions or for passport and visa help.
