Essential Elements of a Modern Corporate Travel Policy

Why Every Organisation Needs a Modern Corporate Travel Policy

Business travel has evolved significantly in recent years. Organizations are expected to balance cost control with other elements such as traveller wellbeing, sustainability, compliance and increasingly complex business requirements. At the same time, travel plays a vital role in bringing employees and clients together, which makes it an essential part of successful meetings and events. 

A well-designed corporate travel policy is no longer just a list of booking rules and expense limits. It needs to provide a clear framework that will help organizations manage business travel consistently while also supporting wider business objectives and creating a better experience for travellers.

What Is a Corporate Travel Policy?

How to write a travel policy is the playbook for company travel. It helps travel teams control business travel costs and processes. It’s a set of guidelines that need to be respected by employees when they plan trips on the company’s behalf.

Why Modern Travel Policies Matter So Much

An effective travel policy does far more than just explain how employees should book their business trips. It provides the foundation for a safe and well-managed travel program that supports both organizational objectives and traveller needs.

As organizations look to place even greater emphasis on traveller wellbeing and sustainability, while also being mindful of cost control, travel policies have become increasingly strategic. They help to standardise travel processes and improve visibility of travel spend, while also making sure that employees receive consistent support wherever they travel.

For organizations that regularly bring employees and clients together, travel policies will also play a really important role when it comes to supporting a strategic meeting management program. By providing clear booking guidelines and improving travel coordination, they contribute to smoother event delivery and a better overall experience for all attendees.

Think of your travel policy as a living document that supports:

• Aligning business travel with company goals
• Supporting successful meetings and events
• Strengthening duty of care responsibilities
• Improving traveller experience and policy compliance
• Keeping travel costs under control
• Supporting sustainability objectives

How Travel Policies Support Meetings and Events

A corporate travel policy does much more than just support individual business trips. It also provides the framework that helps organisations to manage any travel that is associated with meetings, client events and incentive programmes much more effectively.

Clear booking procedures and approved suppliers paired with a consistent approval processes help event organisers coordinate attendee travel while maintaining visibility of costs and traveller locations. This not only makes improvements to operational efficiency but will also strengthen duty of care by making sure that travellers receive appropriate support before, during and after their journey.

When travel policies are clearly aligned with wider meetings management strategies, organizations are able to create much more consistent attendee experiences, while reducing any administrative complexity across both travel and events programmes.

Which stakeholders should get involved in developing the travel policy?

Travel programs often collaborate with a variety of departments or stakeholders, including finance/accounting, procurement, human resources, security/risk management, C-level, legal/compliance and technology/IT. At minimum, provide your collaborators with opportunities to review and provide feedback on the policy.

The process

1. Set goals

Define what you want to achieve with your travel program. Are you going for cost savings, transparency, traveler satisfaction, wellbeing, sustainability or a combination?

2. Cover everything

Describe the entire booking process from A to Z. Organize it by relevant priorities as agreed with all travel program stakeholders. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach for writing a travel policy, but consider this non-exhaustive list as you outline yours:

• Introduction/objective – Explain the goals and sets expectations for all employees traveling for business
• Approval/pre-approvals – Specify which travel requests require pre- or special approvals
• Booking/reservations – Provide agent contact information (phone numbers and chat functionality), online booking tool links and instructions, and the step-by-step process for arranging air, ground and hotel accommodations
• Bleisure policy – Detail how and when travelers can add personal travel days to a business trip and make clear who will be responsible for covering this expense
• Definitions and terms – Explain or clarify all relevant keywords, terms and phrases within the documents
• Travel and expense reporting (T&E) – Outline the rules and deadlines for reporting expenses, including links to expense tools, timing for expense reports and approver/approval information. Set per diems and minimum receipt amounts. Where applicable, a separate travel expense policy may be linked to the travel policy
• Gifts – Include rules for accepting gifts from or offering them to business partners, suppliers or vendors
• Guest travel exceptions
• People risk management – Define and explain duty of care protocols, safety guidelines, emergency protocols, emergency contacts, etc.
• Spending/T&E/expense guidelines – Clarify what is covered and what is not, e.g., reimbursable vs. non-reimbursable costs; this may be included as a separate document or policy that links to the travel policy
• Transportation guidelines – This should cover expense parameters (encourage lowest cost options) and rules for rail trips, rental cars, personal vehicles, ridesharing, public transportation, insurance requirements, and accidents.

3. Write for your audience

Remember that travelers are busy consumers. Make sure the travel policy document is thorough, but keep it as short as possible. Use clear and easy to understand language. Don’t neglect the appearance of the document itself. It should be well designed with examples or illustrations of relevant documents and booking tools. Make sure it’s available digitally and can be downloaded onto any device.

4. Educate, inform, communicate

Make sure everyone at your company (especially travelers) has access to the travel policy and knows who to contact with questions. Store the policy on the intranet or other central communication channel. Integrate traveler-friendly mobile apps, like BCD’s award-winning TripSource® platform, which simplifies business travel and keeps travelers organized, informed and within company guidelines. It puts users in control with instant access to trip details, booking options, check-in reminders, real-time flight notifications, risk alerts, itinerary sharing and more.

5. Measure your success

What does a successful travel program look like for you? Define the parameters you’ll measure. If saving is your goal, you should measure total travel spend. Other things you can measure are compliance or traveler satisfaction.

6. Plan regular reviews

With your travel program stakeholders, decide on a comfortable cadence (quarterly, annually or other) for reviewing, auditing and revising the travel policy. As part of this plan, decide how interim policy changes will be communicated to your organization.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Creating a Travel Policy

Even the most well-designed travel policies can become difficult to follow if they are overly restrictive or fail to reflect the way in which employees actually travel. Some of the more common challenges include relying on outdated booking processes, not clearly communicating policy updates and overlooking the needs of employees who are travelling to meetings and events.

The most effective travel policies strike a good balance between governance and flexibility. They provide clear guidance while at the same time supporting positive traveller experiences. It is also important that they are reviewed regularly to make sure that they continue meeting the organization’s changing business needs.

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