Planning corporate travel for a growing team: a practical checklist

When a business has two or three people travelling, corporate travel is usually handled informally — someone books, someone approves, everyone gets on with it. As the team grows, that informality becomes expensive and, occasionally, risky. A few simple structures keep trips predictable without burying anyone in process.

Start with a short, written travel policy

A travel policy does not need to be long. One clear page that people actually read is more useful than a detailed document nobody opens. It should answer the questions travellers ask most often:

• Which class of travel is appropriate for which journeys?
• How far in advance should trips be booked where possible?
• What standard of accommodation is expected, and in which areas?
• Which expenses are covered — meals, transfers, baggage, connectivity — and how are they claimed?
• Who should travellers contact if plans change or something goes wrong?

Share the policy with new joiners and review it once a year. The aim is consistency and fairness, not restriction for its own sake.

Agree who approves what

Delayed approvals are one of the most common reasons fares rise before a trip is booked. Decide in advance who can approve travel, and whether routine trips within policy need approval at all. Many organisations use a simple rule: trips within policy are approved by the line manager, while anything outside it — a higher class of travel, a long-haul trip or an unusual destination — goes to a named budget holder.

Write the rule down and make sure there is a cover arrangement when approvers are away. A request that sits unanswered for a week can cost more than the trip itself, and it leaves the traveller unable to plan. Where possible, agree a response window for approvers so that urgent trips are not held up by an unread email.

Passports, visas and entry requirements

Documentation problems are avoidable but costly. Build a habit of checking requirements before anything is booked rather than after:

1. Confirm every traveller’s passport is valid for the full trip, and check the destination’s rules on remaining validity.
2. Check whether a visa or travel authorisation is needed for each traveller’s nationality, including for transit stops.
3. Allow realistic time for visa applications — decisions rest with the relevant embassy or immigration authority, and timelines can vary.
4. Keep secure copies of key documents in case originals are lost while travelling.

Duty of care: know where your people are

Employers have a responsibility to look after staff who travel for work. In practice, that starts with knowing who is travelling, where they are staying and how to reach them. Keep an up-to-date record of itineraries, share an emergency contact route with every traveller, and make sure people know what to do if a flight is cancelled or the situation at their destination changes.

Check that travel insurance is in place and that travellers understand what it covers. For destinations with specific health requirements, give people enough notice to arrange vaccinations or medication.

Booking, budgets and reporting

Centralising bookings — through one team or one travel partner — makes it far easier to see what you are spending and where. Even a simple monthly summary of trips, costs and changes will show patterns: routes you fly often, trips that are regularly booked late, or hotels that consistently cost more than expected. Those patterns are where savings and better experiences for travellers usually come from.

• Set a realistic budget per trip type, not just an annual total.
• Track changes and cancellations as well as the original booking cost.
• Ask travellers for brief feedback after longer trips — it often reveals problems a spreadsheet cannot.

When to bring in a travel partner

If arranging travel is taking up a meaningful part of someone’s week, or trips are becoming more complex — group travel, multiple destinations, visa-heavy itineraries — it may be time to work with a dedicated partner. Look for one that will plan itineraries, coordinate accommodation and logistics, guide your travellers on documentation and stay with you from booking to safe return.

ASL Travels supports corporate and group travel for organisations of every size, from itinerary planning to documentation guidance. To talk through your team’s travel, book a consultation.