Embarking on business travel can be both exciting and challenging. To help you navigate your trips with ease and professionalism, here are some essential rules and practical tips:
Here are some general tips for booking flights:
In order to book a flight, you will need to obtain your boss' approval.
Once you've booked a flight, it's important to keep track of it so everyone who needs to know can find the relevant details.
- Be Flexible with Dates: Check different travel dates for better prices.
- Use Fare Comparison Websites: Compare prices across platforms.
Booking directly with the airline is often the optimal choice, providing convenience and flexibility, especially when it comes to making changes to your itinerary. However, before finalizing your decision on which flight to take, it's advisable to visit various comparison websites to evaluate the available options and determine the most suitable flight for your needs.
Here are sites that are recommended to check with:
After comparing the prices, we recommend going back to the airlines and booking through them directly.
Recommended carriers
For domestic flights:
- Qantas
- Virgin Australia
For international flights:
- Flight to Europe: Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad
- Flight to US: Qantas, American Airlines
- Flight to Southeast Asia: Qantas, Singapore Airlines
- Flight to China: Cathy Pacific, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines
- Book in Advance: Secure deals by booking flights early.
- Clear Your Browser Cookies: Prevent potential price increases by browsing in incognito mode or clearing cookies.
Notes:
- It is not recommended to purchase domestic flights from overseas suppliers or WebJet.com, because the business cannot claim GST on their invoices.
- Make sure that before comparing the prices the quotes include all the taxes/surcharges/fees.
- Booking sites often charge some hidden fee during the checkout, check the fee breakdown carefully.
- Remember to check the currency, $ could be US dollars then you are paying 50% more than you think.
- Some travel companies, such as FlightCentre, are able to arrange your travel plans for you, but they often charge higher fees and have less flexibility if you change your mind.
Most people don’t pay much attention to their boarding pass beyond their gate and seat number, but if you know what to look for, there’s a lot of information stored on a boarding pass!
As well as sending details of bookings to the traveler's Outlook calendar, you should also use tripit.com to consolidate the details of bookings for flights, hotels, car rentals, etc.
TripIt can make a single, easy-to-read online itinerary that can be viewed by anyone you choose to share the link with, making it easy to keep co-travelers, spouses, co-workers, and others in the loop.
Adam Cogan loves TripIt and uses it every time he travels. He says:
"TripIt tells you when there’s a delay, a gate change, your baggage info, or any other problems that might happen ...
Plus, I share the flight with a bunch of people including those who are picking me up … so they get notified too"
If you decide to get insurance for your trip, the type of insurance you choose will depend on your needs.
For example, if you're travelling within your home country you might decide to only get insurance for a hire car – but this can be a trap: hire car insurance is expensive, and you might find that it is cheaper to buy travel insurance to cover the whole trip, which includes car hire insurance, than it is to purchase insurance just for the car.
Save your finance manager the trouble of chasing you for the purchasing records by forwarding them a copy of the flight (or accommodation) invoice as soon as you receive it.
When booking a flight for a business trip, it is common for accountants to claim that as an expense. In that case, they will need the invoice for the trip.
In most cases, the tax invoices of the flights that booked by company were sent to the person.
The traditional way of retrieving the invoice is for the person who took the flight to send the invoice directly. However, sometimes the person who needs to send through the invoice is too busy and unable to action this task for a long time, or they may even forget to do it entirely.
❌ Figure: Bad example - Bad example - Ask the individual for the tax invoice of a flight
Luckily, most airlines offers a convenient portal for managing bookings where you can retrieve this information for all company flights, e.g. Qantas Business Rewards or Virgin Australia Business Flyer
Qantas offers a robust loyalty program, take advantage of it.
- All flights booked by the company can be managed through the Qantas Business Rewards website
- There is a monthly report which can be downloaded
If an invoice is missing, you can access the document by:
- Going to Qantas Business Reward | Trips | Manage trips
- Search and open the bookings
- Select "Request tax invoice"
- Put the email address where you wish the tax invoice to be received. The tax invoice should be resent in a few seconds.
✅ Figure: Good example - Good example - Retrieve the invoice from Qantas Business Reward in 30 seconds
Note: You can also access this page as a guest via Qantas Manage booking (without Qantas Business), but a booking reference is required.
Simply retrieve the missed invoices from that portal without asking the passengers!
Note: Only bookings with the company name and ABN can be managed through Qantas Business Rewards.
In addition to being useful for providing travel insurance, some credit cards come with additional travel benefits.
Some airlines offer rewards schemes to win over businesses. For example, Qantas has a frequent flyer program for businesses.
This program lets businesses accrue points and credits. It’s simple: set up a business membership with Qantas, and then remember to enter the ABN alongside the traveller’s frequent flyer number when booking a flight.
The traveller’s Qantas Frequent Flyer membership will still accumulate the same amount of Qantas Points and Status Credits as they would normally. The only catch is if the traveller does not have a Qantas Frequent Flyer account, the business will not be able to claim points for the travel either.
Not all travellers will have a frequent flyer membership, but for those that do, the Qantas Business Rewards Program is well worth taking advantage of.
It's always worth doing some research to see what each airline offers and take advantages of the additonal points. Other airlines we know who do this include, Virgin, British Airways, Air New Zealand, etc.
Qantas has introduced a flight upgrade initiative called "Bid Now" that allows members of their frequent flyer program to place a "bid" to get their Economy class bookings upgraded to Business class.
To make a bid, follow these simple steps:
Use a price comparison website to choose the hotel you'd like to book, but don't book directly through that site right away. Always call the hotel first to see if they can give you a better price. This article explains how this can save you hundreds.
In our fast-paced work environment, it’s important for staff to get to client sites and meetings efficiently. However, managing the associated travel expenses can often be time-consuming and frustrating.
When staff need to travel, they must follow company standards and keep physical or digital records, including approvals and tax invoices. Completing this paperwork can easily take 10 minutes or more—and even longer if invoices are misplaced. Is there an easier way?
Offering Uber for Business allows employees to travel easily and efficiently. This program removes the admin hassle and provides a convenient solution for business-related trips.
Given the relatively unrestricted nature of this travel policy, it’s essential to regularly monitor trip costs and usage patterns to ensure the program remains efficient and free from misuse. This can be done at the beginning of each month when the business is receiving the Uber for Business monthly report.
Staying connected when traveling internationally is super important, especially for business trips. While grabbing a roaming package from your mobile provider is a popular choice, it can sometimes lead to a shockingly high bill when you get back home.
The question arises: How can one stay connected without the risk of huge bills?
In speaker lounges and team calls alike, people often appreciate a professional-looking video setup. But it doesn't take a fancy camera or expensive gear to achieve that.
Use your phone as your webcam. With modern devices, it’s easy to connect your phone to your laptop and benefit from better video quality, including portrait mode and studio lighting effects - no complicated configuration needed.