Tips for scheduling and planning a small business trip.
Stay updated on the topic of small business trips (tips & advice) in this section of StartUpaSmallBiz.com .
In the course of running your new company there will likely come a time when you need to travel for business. Common reasons for small business travel include conferences, business meetings, training sessions and trade shows. As a young business just starting out, you’re probably going to want to keep your costs down when traveling, so here are a few tips for planning a small business trip on a budget.
Tips for Booking a Flight on a Budget
By many accounts, the cheapest day to fly is on a Wednesday. You may find that the savings is significant enough to make it worthwhile to fly into town a day earlier than you planned for your small business meeting or conference. In fact, flexibility with your dates is probably the number one key to getting a really great deal on a flight. Set your search for airports within a radius outside of your #1 airport of choice, open it up for various dates throughout the month and consider selecting a flight that has a stopover. You can get some work done on your laptop while waiting for the connecting plane.
Tips for Reserving a Hotel on a Budget
When you’re trying to reserve a hotel room on a budget, you have to weigh stars versus cost. Before you start searching, decide what are the minimum number of stars you’re willing to accept for the hotel. Also, decide how far you’re willing to stay outside of the city where you’ll need to conduct business or attend your conference.
Tips for Getting a Good Deal on a Rental Car
When traveling for business, keep in mind what you’re there for – business. You don’t need an expensive and flashy high end car unless you’re an entertainer or need to make a major impression with a client. Stay within the economy to mid-sized range when renting a car for small business travel. Also, check your car insurance, road side assistance plan and business credit card to see if you have discount codes to reduce your costs during the rental.
As time goes on you’ll start to get the hang of booking your small business travel on a budget. Talk to your business credit card company to see if they offer booking services as well, because you might be able to get a better deal and use your membership points or miles balance.
When searching for flights for a small business trip, your obvious goal is to get the best deal possible at a time that’s convenient to your schedule. Here are 3 tips for how to use flight search tools optimally to schedule small business travel.
Use the Catch-All Site
Many of the popular online flight search sites get their information from the same source. Check out this site to search your dates to see what your best option to save time searching the various sites. If you’re still not convinced that this one site really offers the same prices as what’s out there on other flight search sites, you could be right, so do a few comparison searches using the same details across other websites to be sure.
Review Flights for the Entire Month
If you have some flexibility in your dates, look at an entire calendar of dates to decide what will be your best option. The tool mentioned in the last section gives you the option to look at a “calendar of lowest fares” and select your desired length of stay. Spend some time checking out the various trips and fares throughout the month, which will vary depending on certain days of the week and holidays.
Get a Package Deal
If you plan to fly anywhere and stay for more than a day, chances are you’re going to need a hotel room, right? You can often get a better deal on your flight and hotel by finding a package deal that bundles both into one. You can also find packages that include your rental car as well. Break down the cost of a flight and hotel individually first, then compare it to the package to see what’s your best bet.
When you’re traveling for business, keeping your costs reasonable is a top priority. Use these tips to ensure that you’re getting the best deal possible for your small business trip.