If you travel for work, you probably already have a solid system in place for planning and coordinating your schedule. But as with everything in life, even the best-laid plans can go awry.
Thankfully, there are things you can do to help make traveling for business that bit easier. Read on to find out four challenges of traveling for work (with solutions).
Company Car Admin and Paperwork
If you do a lot of driving for work, you know already how difficult it is filling out expense and mileage reports. While owning a company car has its benefits, the paperwork required after journeys can be a challenge.
Thankfully, there are ways you can streamline this whole process. Fuel cards, such as those offered by iCompario, make it easy to pay for gas or diesel, track mileage, and help improve business cash flow by turning fuel bills into smaller, more manageable payments.
These are issued by employers and cost a small annual fee to operate, a fee that is mitigated by the savings and benefits the card provides. Speak to your employer about implementing a fuel card system for your business, as it can make traveling for work that bit easier.
Overbooked Flights
While it’s not great for the customer, many airlines deliberately allow flights to be overbooked. This is because they want to ensure that every flight has the maximum number of people allowed on it, and overbooking protects the airline against any last-minute dropouts.
However, when every passenger shows up, this means that not everyone can board. Flight attendants often ask people to give up their place voluntarily, but if no-one is willing to do this, then some late arrivals can be denied boarding. If you’re traveling for work and need to get to a meeting, this can obviously pose problems.
To avoid this situation arising, always check-in and get to the departure gate as early as possible. It’s also worth signing up to become a frequent flyer (in the same vein, joining that airline’s rewards program also helps you bag a seat too), or buying a ticket for a specific seat rather than being assigned one when you arrive.
Lost Passport
Losing your passport is one of the most challenging things that can happen to any traveler. But when you’re on your way to a meeting or conference, losing such a vital traffic document is downright testing.
While there’s not much you can do to find your passport once you’ve lost it, there are steps you can take to get another one issued as soon as possible.
Firstly, file a report with the local police department — this gives you a reference number you can use for processing purposes, plus it prevents someone else from trying to use it illegally.
Next, contact the nearest embassy. If you’re a US citizen, sign up to the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). This lets you enroll your trip with the nearest US embassy or consulate so you can quickly and easily get the ball rolling on your passport reissue.
It’s also worth having all your vital travel documents such as your visa or boarding pass digitally stored on a smart device, such as your phone. This backs up your physical copies and makes it easier to prove who you are when you need to get your passport reissued.
Lost or Delayed Luggage
While it might not be as bad as losing your passport, losing or having delayed luggage presents a whole host of other problems to deal with. It can leave you with nothing but the clothes on your back, which is the last thing you need after a long flight.
If your luggage is lost, immediately submit a claim detailing everything that was inside it. It’s worth writing this list out beforehand and keeping it on your phone so you can submit your claim quicker and with more accuracy.
To prevent this from happening in the first place (or at least reduce your chances of it happening), label or tag your luggage with your contact information and, crucially, your itinerary too. This lets the airline quickly contact you and they’ll know where to send the luggage too.
While you can’t prevent accidents or mistakes from happening, you can prepare for them. Follow the tips above and make sure your next business travel journey goes off without a hitch.
Thank you for this article, truly even best plans can go awry. And sometimes, we forget things. I had once forgotten my luggage. But got it back later. Was lucky.