5 Travel Hacks That Will Save You Money If You Travel Frequently for Work

According to 2023 data from Tourism Economics, business travelers plan to take approximately 2.6 trips per month for work. The study also showed that 45% of business travelers extend their trips so they can explore new places on their own time.

If this is you and travel frequently for work, there are many things you can do to travel hack, save money and enjoy your work travel more. It just takes some planning ahead of time and flexibility to reap the most rewards.

Here are a few strategies to help you minimize expenses, make your business trips more cost-effective, and hopefully help you see more of the cities you visit for work. These tips are especially helpful if your work provides you a flat rate per diem amount to spend while you travel, because you can keep whatever money you don’t spend each day and save it for future travel.

Make sure to sign up for as many loyalty and points programs as possible under your own account, especially if your work reimburses you for business travel or lets you book travel on your own.

This includes airline rewards programs, hotel loyalty programs and even car rental company programs. 

You can even research travel credit cards that come with large sign-up bonuses after you meet a specific spending requirement.

Booking work travel on your travel cards can help you meet the spending requirement faster. Then, you can save your accumulated points to save money on personal travel in the future.

Most airlines charge for checked bags these days. If your work doesn’t reimburse you for checked baggage fees, learn how to pack everything you need into a carry-on size piece of luggage. 

The bonus is that you don’t have to worry about losing your bag before arriving at your business travel destination. There’s nothing worse than having an important meeting the next day but not having the clothes you need to wear.

While it might be tempting to pay for ride-sharing services, usually traveling by bus, subway and even taxi can be more cost-effective. This works best if you’re traveling for work in big cities, but it can also work in many smaller cities too.

One of the best places to find cost savings is by researching the cost of traveling from the airport to your hotel. Ride-share services tend to charge high fees for airport transfers, but many airports connect to readily available public transportation services.

Additionally, you can research hotels and choose one that offers a free shuttle.

If you’re traveling alone and don’t mind staying in a lower-rated hotel, book that instead of more expensive options that might be closer to your scheduled work activities.

After all, a hotel is simply a place to sleep at night, and if you’re traveling for work, your day will likely be full of required meetings or dinners anyway.

Buying snacks in the airport is incredibly expensive. By planning ahead and making sure that you bring your own granola bars and sweet treats, you can save a good bit of money.

This is especially true if you have specific dietary restrictions, such as eating only a certain type of granola bar or needing to find quality vegetarian or vegan options.

Another hack is to bring an empty water bottle with you on your trip. We all know you can’t bring liquids through airport security, but you can bring a bottle.

The airport is full of free water filling stations, usually by restrooms. This will save you from spending three dollars for a water bottle while waiting for your flight.

Traveling for work can actually be an opportunity to earn points and money for future travel.

If you get a per diem rate from work, where you get a specific amount for travel regardless of what you spend, this is an opportunity to cut costs where you can and save the difference.

By planning ahead, implementing a couple of cost-saving options and being flexible with how you travel and where you stay, you can save a lot of money when you travel for work.

The best part is that if you enroll in travel rewards programs or apply for travel credit cards with sign-up bonuses, you can hack your work travel to earn rewards for future trips you want to take on your own time.