Being an executive assistant means wearing many hats, but few responsibilities are as important or as challenging as managing business travel. When done right, travel planning goes far beyond simply booking a flight and hotel room. It’s about creating smooth, well-organized trips that let your executive focus on what really matters: their work.
Whether you’re new to travel planning or looking to improve your system, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know. From understanding your executive’s preferences to handling last-minute changes, you’ll learn practical tips that make business travel management easier and more effective.
Getting Started: Building Your Travel Planning Foundation
Before you start booking anything, you need to lay the groundwork. Think of this as creating your travel planning toolbox. Once you have the right information and systems in place, every trip becomes easier to manage.
Learn What Your Executive Really Wants
Every traveler has their own preferences, and your executive is no different. The more you know about what they like and need, the better their trips will be.
Start by asking questions and taking detailed notes. Which airline do they prefer? Maybe they’re trying to earn status with one carrier, or they simply trust one airline’s service more than others. What about seating? Some executives need the aisle for easy bathroom access, while others want the window so they can sleep.
Hotels matter just as much. Does your executive prefer a specific chain where they have elite status? Do they need a gym, or a quiet room away from the elevator? What about breakfast? Is there a dietary restriction you should know about?
These details might seem small, but they add up to make a huge difference in comfort and productivity. Keep a running list of preferences that you can reference every time you plan a trip.
Master the Art of Scheduling
Timing can make or break a business trip. Your job is to create schedules that make sense and give your executive the best chance to succeed.
Always think about the full picture. If there’s an important 9 AM meeting, don’t book a flight that lands at 8 AM. Build in buffer time for delays, traffic, and getting settled. For international travel, jet lag is real. Whenever possible, try to schedule arrival at least a day before major meetings so your executive can adjust to the new time zone.
Remember that people aren’t machines. Even during busy trips, build in short breaks between meetings. A 15-minute gap to grab coffee or respond to urgent emails can prevent burnout and help maintain focus throughout the day.
Keep Track of Money and Follow the Rules
Every company has travel policies, and part of your job is making sure trips stay within budget while following all the rules.
First, read your company’s travel policy carefully. Know the approved hotel rates, airline classes, and meal allowances. Understanding these guidelines upfront prevents problems later when expense reports are due.
Use tools to track spending as the trip happens. Whether it’s a spreadsheet or an expense management app, recording costs in real-time is much easier than trying to remember everything later. Save every receipt, even for small purchases like airport snacks or taxi rides.
Finally, be strategic about saving money. Booking flights and hotels early usually gets better rates. Look for corporate discounts. Compare prices across different booking sites. Small savings on each trip add up significantly over time.
Smart Strategies for Booking Travel
Now that you have your foundation ready, it’s time to actually book the trip. This is where planning meets action, and where you can save both time and money with the right approach.
Find the Balance Between Cost and Convenience
Your goal isn’t always to find the absolute cheapest option. It’s to find the best value that meets your executive’s needs while respecting the budget.
Book early when you can. Airline and hotel prices typically increase as the travel date gets closer, so planning ahead often means better rates and more choices. However, make sure to choose options with some flexibility. Spending a little extra for a refundable ticket can be worth it if plans change, which they often do in the business world.
Don’t forget about rewards programs. Airlines, hotels, and rental car companies all offer loyalty programs that can provide free upgrades, shorter lines, and other perks. Make sure your executive is enrolled in relevant programs and that their membership numbers are included in every booking.
Use Technology to Make Life Easier
There are countless apps and tools designed specifically to make travel planning simpler. Learning to use them effectively will save you hours of work.
Travel management apps like TripIt or Concur can organize all your bookings in one place. Instead of juggling emails with flight confirmations, hotel reservations, and meeting details, everything lives in a single app that both you and your executive can access.
Sync everything with digital calendars. When flight times, hotel check-ins, and meeting appointments all appear in one calendar, it’s much easier to spot potential conflicts or timing issues. Plus, if something changes, you only need to update one place.
Prepare for When Plans Change
Even perfect planning can’t prevent every problem. Flights get cancelled. Meetings get rescheduled. Being ready for these situations separates good executive assistants from great ones.
Always read the fine print on cancellation and change policies before you book. Know how much it costs to change a ticket or cancel a hotel room. This information becomes crucial when plans shift unexpectedly.
Have backup options ready. If you’re booking a flight, take note of alternative flights on the same day. If you’re booking a hotel, know what other properties are nearby. Keep a list of direct phone numbers for airlines and hotels. Calling directly is usually faster than going through third-party booking sites when you need to make emergency changes.
Most importantly, communicate clearly and quickly. If plans change, update your executive immediately and let them know what you’re doing to fix the situation.
Creating the Perfect Travel Itinerary
A great itinerary is like a roadmap for the entire trip. It should be detailed enough to be helpful but simple enough to read quickly. This is where you prove your organizational skills.
Put First Things First
Not every meeting or event on a trip has equal importance. Your job is to structure the schedule around what matters most.
Identify the main purpose of the trip. Is it one critical client meeting? A conference with multiple sessions? Understanding the priority helps you make better decisions about everything else. Try to schedule the most important meetings when your executive is naturally at their best. For most people, that’s earlier in the day, before fatigue sets in.
Think carefully about travel time between locations. If there are two meetings across town from each other, make sure there’s enough time to get from one to the other, plus a few minutes extra for unexpected traffic. Include specific addresses and estimated travel times in the itinerary so your executive knows exactly what to expect.
Build in Breaks and Stay Flexible
Back-to-back meetings all day might look productive on paper, but they often lead to exhaustion and decreased effectiveness.
Schedule deliberate downtime. Even 30 minutes between commitments gives your executive time to prepare for the next meeting, return important calls, or simply take a mental break. For longer trips, consider scheduling a lighter day in the middle if possible.
Leave room for the unexpected. If the itinerary is packed to the minute with no flexibility, a single delayed flight or long meeting can throw off the entire trip. Building in buffer time helps absorb these inevitable disruptions without creating stress.
Tools That Make Travel Management Easier
You don’t have to manage business travel alone. There are numerous tools and resources designed specifically to help executive assistants do this job better.
Financial Tracking Tools
Managing expenses is often the least enjoyable part of business travel, but it doesn’t have to be painful. Expense management apps like Expensify, Concur, or even Shoeboxed can scan receipts, categorize expenses, and create reports automatically. This means less manual data entry and fewer math errors.
Set up these tools before the trip starts. Download the app to your executive’s phone and show them how to snap photos of receipts. The few minutes of setup saves hours of work later.
Loyalty Programs and Rewards
Frequent business travelers can earn significant rewards if they’re strategic. Make sure your executive is enrolled in:
- Airline frequent flyer programs
- Hotel loyalty programs
- Rental car rewards programs
- Credit card rewards that offer travel perks
Keep track of all membership numbers and preferences in one secure document that you can easily access when booking. These programs often provide free upgrades, priority service, and other benefits that improve the travel experience without costing extra.
Real-Time Updates and Alerts
Things change fast when traveling. Flight delays, gate changes, and weather problems can all affect plans. Apps like FlightAware or directly through airline apps provide real-time notifications about any changes to flights.
Weather apps help you anticipate problems before they happen. If there’s a major storm forecast for the departure city, you might proactively rebook on an earlier flight to avoid getting stranded.
Emergency Preparedness
Hopefully you’ll never need it, but always have an emergency plan ready. Know who to contact if something goes seriously wrong during a trip. For international travel, keep embassy contact information handy. Save important numbers in your phone: your executive’s emergency contacts, company crisis management team, travel insurance provider, and relevant consulates.
Create a simple emergency protocol document that outlines exactly what to do in various scenarios. This removes the need to think clearly during a stressful situation. You just follow the plan you’ve already created.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Even experienced executive assistants sometimes fall into these traps. Being aware of them helps you avoid problems before they start.
Waiting too long to book: Last-minute bookings almost always cost more and offer fewer choices. Make booking trips a priority rather than something you do when you have spare time.
Ignoring personal preferences: Your executive might not complain about the middle seat or the hotel without a gym, but these oversights affect their comfort and productivity. Always check your preference list before booking.
Forgetting about visas and passports: International travel requires specific documents, and many countries require visa applications weeks or even months in advance. Check these requirements as soon as international travel is on the calendar.
Skipping the final confirmation check: Always review all bookings 24 to 48 hours before departure. Confirm that hotel reservations are actually in the system, that flights haven’t been changed, and that meeting locations are still accurate. This final check catches errors while there’s still time to fix them.
Not having printouts or offline access: Technology is wonderful until your phone dies or you lose internet connection. Always have paper copies or offline access to key information like flight confirmations, hotel addresses, and meeting schedules.
Your Action Plan
Managing business travel doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Start by implementing one or two strategies from this guide, then gradually add more as they become habit.
For your next business trip, try this:
- Create or update your executive’s preference list
- Build extra buffer time into the schedule
- Download one travel management app to test
Small improvements in your process lead to better trips over time. As you become more comfortable with these strategies, you’ll find that travel planning becomes less stressful and more efficient.
What business trip are you planning next? Which of these tips will you try first? The key is to start somewhere and keep improving with each trip you manage.
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