How to travel as Startup CEO

Business travel can be both exhausting and exciting, but at the end of the day, it will be a rewarding experience. Whether you’re going to a conference, catching up with a client, or visiting a different branch of your company, you’re expected to face some challenges along the journey. On top of work duty, you’ll need to deal with flights, transportation, hotels, and schedules.

But traveling for work can also be gratifying, you’ll get a unique opportunity to network, meet new people, learn a few new things, explore different places, and even get on a business flight in an executive jet. Business travel improves, boosts, and broadens your career.

The key here is to focus on making the trip smooth, and an even more pleasant experience. That’s why in today’s article we have gathered the best business travel hacks that will save you a lot of hassle, stress, and time.

Hack 1: Pack smart and light with carry-on bags only

Packing is probably one of the most important and annoying parts of business traveling, a good rule of thumb is following a packing guide and checklist, think about how many days you are going to be out, the meeting, and how you usually dress for those.

Next, start packing the tops, then the bottoms and the underwear. You can follow the 5 4 3 2 1 rule, pack only five T-shirts, four bottoms, three accessories (hats, sunglasses, belts), two pairs of footwear, and one piece of clothing for swimming. Don’t forget about the underwear and socks!

The goal here is to pack smart and light using only carry-on bags, if possible. That way you can be sure to bring only the essential items, and also, by using carry-on bags you’ll be saving money on luggage fees and save time by skipping the claim lines and baggage check-in. Another good way to save time and hassle is by booking executive jet travel.

Hack 2: Check your company’s travel policy and use a corporate credit card

The first thing you need to do is check and learn about the company’s travel policy. This document outlines most of the things you need to know, from rules to the procedures for traveling for work under a company name. That way you can exactly know what expenses are covered (like hotels, meals, and flights), how much money can you spend on these, and how to report the expenses to the company (like saving invoices and receipts).

You’ll learn how to get your money back or reimburses. Learning about your company travel policy will help you underclaim or overspend on your trip, and you’ll avoid any misunderstanding with accounting departments or managers.

Another option if available is to use a corporate credit card for all the purchases that are business travel-related. Since it’s a card issued by your employer, all expenses and purchases will be directly charged to the company.

Hack 3: Keep your essentials handy and secure

Whether it’s traveling for work or for pleasure, it’s a MUST to keep all your essential items by your side at all times. By essential items I mean anything you can’t afford to forget or lose, like boarding passes, driver’s licenses, IDs, your phone and charger, wallet, and other important documents.

In order to avoid getting delayed in security checks, hotel checks, or meeting issues, you need to keep all these important things close to you, handy, and secure. Make sure to use a backpack or personal bag that you can carry at all times.