You know when you’re sniffing out some travel discounts and you’re booking via an online platform which offers the cheapest rates on accommodation and other aspects of travel? Yeah? What difference does it make really whether you select “travelling for leisure” or “travelling for business?” I mean it’s not like you’re going to get a different deal on the available rooms, whether or not there are discounts to be had, or is it?

A lot of inadvertent travellers who are deployed on a trip as part of their job don’t really enjoy their trip, which is rather puzzling because as the booking site options suggest, travelling for business as opposed to travelling for leisure puts you in line to get a whole lot more out of your trip. The travel karma scale appears to be a bit out of kilter though because those employees who’d normally kill to have a chance to be sent away on work-related matters never really get to go. It’s always those who aren’t into travelling who are sent away. That said however, whenever you’re sent away on business at the expense of your company, chances are you have a distinctive set of objectives to meet. This is where that difference between “travelling for leisure” and “travelling for business” kicks into gear. Business travellers should make the most out of their work-based deployments simply because they just have many more travel perks available to them, many of which they don’t know about.

Corporate Travel Management Companies Aim to Please

Okay, apart from the fact that you’re essentially getting a free trip, if you’re travelling on business there’s a whole world of hidden travel benefits available to you. Corporate travel management companies such as Reed and Mackay pull out all stops to deliver the best service for their corporate clients, which in this case is your employer. The reason for this is that corporate clients are usually big clients offering repeat business, so they make sure to make the business trip as comfortable as possible, and even enjoyable if there’s a bit of room and time for that.

Seriously, when you’re away on a business deployment, that’s the time to test the limits of what’s available to you. Ask what else you can get with that extra pillow. Find out about any and all courtesies available to you and if you really must, ask directly if there’s anything you’re eligible for without having to pay for it. You might find that there’s a whole lot more to your business deployment, but one thing you should definitely enquire about is the benefits programme you’re eligible for.

Loyalty and rewards programmes such as frequent flier miles and the likes apply just as much to business travellers as they do to leisure travellers. If you’re frequently deployed, this is the perfect opportunity to rack up the loyalty points that could eventually build-up to a free trip or two, this time with all the freedom of not having some work-related matters to take care of before going out and enjoying your getaway.