Five tips for booking corporate airline group travel
Are you responsible for booking corporate airline group travel? Read five tips to make it smoother and save money.
Organising a corporate group travel requires strategic planning and attention to detail, especially when booking flights. The goal is to facilitate comfortable and efficient travel to support the group’s professional activities.
If you are responsible for booking flights for an upcoming corporate trip, refer to this article as your guide. From understanding who you’re booking the flight for to using loyalty schemes, these tips for booking corporate airline group travel can help you make informed decisions when booking flights and organising corporate group travel.
1) Understand who you’re booking for
Understanding who you’re booking the flight for is paramount, as it enables you to tailor the booking to align with the clientele’s preferences, resulting in a memorable and satisfying journey.
Since you are organising a group booking for a corporate trip, contact the airlines directly and provide them with the flight details, including the travel date and destination. Include the number of travellers and other crucial information. Wait for the airline to respond with a quotation and see if it suits the budget.
Understanding your clients and considering factors like budgets, travel preferences, and interests enables you to curate a tailored travel experience. For business executives and CEOs, this means securing business class tickets with perks like lounge access, ensuring a convenient and comfortable journey.
This personalised approach allows you to meet their expectations while enhancing overall satisfaction and solidifying positive client relationships.
It’s also vital to consider the trip’s purpose. If clients have a same-day meeting or conference, prioritise flights with a track record of punctuality to avoid the risk of getting late. Otherwise, consider booking a flight a day prior, allowing for potential delays. Ensure you put them in a hotel close to the venue for convenience. This strategic planning allows for a seamless travel experience, minimising uncertainties and enhancing the overall journey.
2) Don’t leave it too late to book flights
You must book flights as early as possible for corporate airline group travel. Doing so ensures availability, securing optimal schedules and seating arrangements. In addition, early bookings often offer better rates, optimising the travel budget.
Another benefit of booking flights as early as you can is it gives you enough time to plan and address potential logistic challenges, ensuring a smooth and organised travel experience for the entire group.
With travel back in full swing, airlines are extremely busy nowadays, and flight schedules can change. If your clients must be at the destination at a specific time or day, you can still make necessary arrangements in case of flight changes.
Early booking also increases the likelihood of securing traveller preferences. Business travellers, in particular, often seek comfort, including seats with extra legroom, window or aisle preferences, and specific meal choices.
Early reservations provide sufficient time to coordinate and communicate these preferences with the airline, ensuring a more tailored and enjoyable travel experience. This proactive approach allows for better organisation and meets the unique needs of individual travellers, contributing to their overall satisfaction during the journey.
3) Set a budget
Budgeting is another significant factor to consider when booking flights for corporate group travel. By understanding who you’re booking the flight for and the purpose of the trip, you can estimate how much to budget for the flight. Several other factors will come into play, such as the group size, trip duration, destination, and unallocated expenses.
To improve budget accuracy, allocate costs per person according to the travellers’ hierarchy levels, establishing a detailed expense structure. When budgeting, explore cost-saving avenues, such as corporate rates and discounts. Doing so helps to ensure a thorough understanding of the trip’s financial requirements, allowing for effective budget planning and management.
It’s also worth noting that the cost of flights will depend on the travel season. If the trip falls during peak periods, when flights are in high demand, expect to pay more. Book the flight earlier to benefit from lower fares, especially for popular routes.
The travel class can also affect the overall budget for flights. Depending on the traveller’s preferences, they can fly in economy, premium economy, business, or first class. More importantly, factor in extra costs such as baggage fees, seat selection charges, and other add-ons.
4) Use a travel app to help
Take advantage of technologies when booking flights for corporate travel. Nowadays, you’ll find numerous travel apps that can help make organising flights easier. Such travel apps can be a game-changer for travel planners. From snagging the best deals on flights to organising itineraries, travel apps can make travel planning hassle-free. It’s like having a personal travel wizard on your device.
With the help of travel apps, you can receive real-time updates on flight status, simplifying the travel planning process. Aside from securing the best deals, these apps can also function as on-the-go travel guides. It offers instant access to maps, local tips, and language translation, allowing for a more seamless travel experience.
Some apps have features like offline access to keep you connected even off the grid. It’s like having a digital travel assistant, streamlining the entire journey and allowing you to focus on the more crucial aspects of the trip.
5) Use loyalty schemes
Optimising loyalty schemes is one of the best ways to economise on flights for corporate group travel. Engaging with these programs requires consistent bookings with a specific airline, earning points for each mile travelled. Once the points accumulate, you can redeem them for various benefits, ranging from discounted fares to complimentary upgrades.
Signing up for a loyalty flying scheme offers numerous benefits, especially for frequent travellers. And if you’re organising a trip for corporate group travel, you can enjoy substantial rewards, such as discounted flights, access to exclusive lounges, and seat upgrades.
Being a member of loyalty schemes also enhances your chances of receiving spontaneous upgrades during check-in. And since most frequent flyer schemes are free to join, there’s no reason not to register, even if your travel frequency may seem occasional. The mutual benefits make loyalty schemes a valuable and accessible way to enhance the overall corporate travel experience.
