For the Travel Manager’s Toolbox: Tips for Frequent Business Travelers

As a travel manager, you can help business travelers grow your business on the road by sharing some simple, yet valuable travel tips.

We get it— your business depends on the productivity and success of your travelers. That’s why the best business travel tips reduce traveler friction; help your road warriors stay connected, healthy and informed; and protect them from the unexpected. To help you and your business travelers achieve these goals, we’ve assembled a list of the best tips for frequent business travelers to add to your travel manager toolbox. Armed with these great tips on better organization, self-care and safety, your travelers will be more comfortable and happy while they take your company to new heights.

Indispensable tips for frequent business travelers

Simple travel tips for better organization

Getting organized enables your travelers to maximize the benefits of business travel while eliminating everyday frustrations, like forgetting toothpaste. Here are some simple business travel tips that can help them streamline and get organized.

Pack light, and carry on

By packing only what they can carry on, your travelers can skip the airport check-in lines, go straight to screening and save valuable time on the journey back while others are waiting around the luggage carousel. It may seem difficult at first, but packing light pays for itself in the long run. At the very least, you’ll never have to worry about lost luggage.

Keep trip information in the palm of your hand

This is especially valuable for frequent business travelers—after a while flight numbers and airlines can become like alphabet soup. Encourage them to stay organized with a mobile app like MyFoxWorld. They’ll be able to reference all their itinerary information at a glance, even when on the run to catch that next flight.

Record room numbers, parking spots and street addresses

To road warriors, every city can start to look the same. When your travelers stay in a different hotel every week, it’s easy to forget a room number, where they parked or even the street where their hotel is located. The MyFoxWorld app has a journal feature that allows travelers to securely record their room and hotel info all in the same area as their itinerary. Taking a photo with their phone is one solid option for finding their way back to the right room after a busy and exhausting day of meetings and networking. For travelers parking at the airport, photographing the parking lot section sign can also be helpful.

Always have essentials packed

Seasoned business travelers know it’s worthwhile to have a set of essentials packed and ready to go at a moment’s notice. They’ll save tons of time the night before trips and have peace of mind knowing they won’t be scrambling to find a drugstore for travel-sized toothpaste or shaving cream when they get to their destination.

Speed through security and reduce transit time

For frequent business travelers, speeding through security and reducing transit time are musts.

To reduce total travel time, in-the-know travel managers help travelers shorten the travel day by choosing non-stop flights.

The savviest travelers know that the shortest line in security is not always the fastest. It’s worthwhile to look at not only how long the lines are, but who’s in the line. Families with small children, obvious newbie travelers who may have a hidden bottle of water in their carry-ons, and people struggling to manage their luggage can all slow down a line significantly.

Also, consider trusted traveler programs such as CLEAR or TSA Pre-Check for speeding through security domestically, and Global Entry status for international travelers, an offering via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, for expediting customs.

Business travel tips for safety

Safety is essential for your company’s business travelers. These tips will get you started on helping travelers stay safe while on the road.

Partner with a reputable travel management company

A travel management company (TMC) is your right hand when it comes to protecting your company’s travelers. By using the tools provided by a TMC like Fox World Travel, travel managers can implement best practices for traveler safety. At the very least, by utilizing a corporate booking tool, you’ll know employees’ travel plans if they face delays or run into an emergency. A TMC will also provide the tools for you to proactively notify travelers of delays, cancellations, gate changes and applicable airline waivers.

Always back up documents electronically and safely

Losing travel documents can be a nightmare. Encourage your company’s business travelers to back everything up electronically and/or on a flash drive, including their passport, confirmations, credit card scans, boarding passes and your company travel policy (for quick reference). It’s also good to keep copies in separate pieces of luggage or at home for a quick phone call reference.

Experts say as far as business travel tips go, you may also want to use secure or encrypted cloud storage services. Pro tip: experts also suggest breaking up sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, in a way that makes sense to you but would be difficult for someone else to decode.

Insider travel tips for self-care

Being on the road can take a toll on the body. That’s why self-care is important for your travelers. Here are some ideas you can share on ways they can take care of themselves while they’re away from home.

Carry an energy bar

Travel can make it impossible to eat healthily, and most of us don’t operate well on low blood sugar. Encourage travelers to take care of themselves on the road by packing an energy bar or another sustaining snack. In the event of travel delays, early or late arrivals at airports and hotels, or other unforeseen circumstances, they’ll be able to stay ahead of their hunger.

Drink water

Dehydration can come with a series of troublesome health issues including headaches and fatigue. It can even affect brain function. Don’t let lack of hydration slow your staff down. Encourage them to carry water for the flight because let’s be honest, the serving of water you get on a flight isn’t sufficient to keep that hard-working mind sailing smoothly.

No, you can’t bring water through security, but travelers shouldn’t let that slow down their hydration. Those in the know bring an empty water bottle and refill it on the other side. Pro tip: bring a collapsible water bottle, and your travelers will save on packing space, too.                                     

Get some rest

Encourage travelers to practice good sleep habits and get sufficient rest while on the road. Alcohol and caffeine can mess with sleep cycles, so travelers may want to bypass them in favor of water (see the previous tip). Encourage them to exercise while away from home, just as they would while staying local, which will encourage restful sleep. And if possible, schedule some time for them to power down after a long travel day before they hit that breakneck work pace again.

Business travel tips to help your staff make the most of travel

Share these tips for frequent business travelers with your company’s road warriors, and you’ll make their job a little bit easier and friction-free. In the end, it’s about helping them stay happy and healthy while making the most of the business opportunities on the road.