Guide to corporate travel planning: Tips, tools, and best practices

Business travel presents major growth opportunities, and many companies are planning to invest more in it over the next few years. According to Mastercard, 52% of travel decision-makers expect to spend over $1 billion on business travel in 2025.

But while budgets are rising, so are expectations. Eighty-eight percent of respondents say optimizing business travel processes requires more cross-functional collaboration than it did pre-pandemic, which ultimately means more work for corporate travel planners.

Companies aren’t bolstering their teams to meet these increased expectations, either. In fact, according to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), only 16% of business travel professionals think their organization will add staff in 2025.

With increasing workloads and little added support, finance managers overseeing corporate travel planning must work as efficiently as possible. We share some best practices, tips, and tools to aid business travel planning.

What is corporate travel planning?

Corporate travel planning is the process of booking, planning, and coordinating business travel efforts to provide the best possible results for the company and its employees.

Unlike leisure travel planners, business travel planners must consider corporate travel guidelines, employer duty of care responsibilities, and group travel plans. This often falls to finance managers, operations teams, or dedicated travel coordinators, making it essential to have a skilled business travel planner guiding the program.

What does a corporate travel planner do?

At the most basic level, a corporate travel planner, also known as a corporate trip planner or business travel manager, manages a business’s travel plans. They essentially operate as a trip planning business within an organization to coordinate logistics, ensure policy compliance, and streamline expenses.

Corporate travel planners are often responsible for:

• Researching destinations and creating travel itineraries
• Briefing and preparing employees for their trips
• Negotiating with vendors for preferred rates
• Conducting travel risk assessments
• Supporting travelers while they’re on the road

Why corporate travel planning matters

A structured corporate travel planning process helps control costs, maintain compliance, and improve the employee travel experience. Here are the key benefits in detail:

• Control cost and budget adherence: A formal policy helps reduce out-of-policy spend, improve visibility into travel expenses, and ensure financial accountability
• Improve employee safety and duty of care: Travel planning supports emergency preparedness and helps meet legal and ethical obligations to protect employees on the road
• Streamline booking and approval processes: Clear workflows and tools make it easier for teams to book, approve, and manage travel with minimal friction
• Enhance traveler productivity and satisfaction: Trips that follow policy and are supported by technology reduce stress and help employees focus on work rather than logistics

6 best practices for business travel planning

Business travel planning doesn’t have to be overwhelming. These best practices help you stay on budget, support employees, and simplify the process.

1. Create a corporate travel policy

A corporate travel policy outlines your company’s policies and procedures around business travel, allowing travel managers to streamline their work and reduce costs throughout the process. This document also explains to business travelers the duties and tasks they’re responsible for, making a travel planner’s job that much easier.

To help prevent out-of-policy spending, a travel policy should list what expense reimbursements are allowed under company policy and which ones aren’t. Providing clear self-booking guidelines and a list of recommended vendors lets employees book their own travel confidently, freeing managers to focus on higher-value tasks.

When drafting your travel policy, consider creating a comprehensive guide that answers common employee questions. Organize it for easy access, and if possible, offer a digitized version travelers can use during trips.

2. Manage your travel budget in real time

Knowing your travel budget helps you plan as effectively as possible within your company’s financial limits and makes it easier for travel planners to make strategic financial decisions and curb out-of-policy spending.

Make sure travelers know how the reimbursement process works so you can properly compensate them for their purchases when they return. Encourage them to look for new ways to maximize the ROI and reduce travel costs for each business trip.

Alternatively, you can use a travel and expense management platform such as Ramp to issue business credit cards with preset spend limits in lieu of an expense reimbursement process, allowing real-time spending control.

3. Book travel as early as possible

Encourage employees to book flights, hotels, and other travel plans as soon as possible. Booking travel early allows them to save the company money, as travel costs often increase in price the closer they get to the date. Plus, they’re competing with other travelers (and sometimes other businesses), so the sooner they book, the more options they have.

Otherwise, travel planners may find themselves putting a group of travelers on several different flights or paying for more expensive hotel rooms when standard rooms sell out.

4. Emphasize the importance of detailed yet flexible itineraries

A clear and easy-to-understand itinerary makes business travel easier for employees. This is especially helpful on trips with complex schedules, multiple meetings on the agenda, or stops in various cities. Each itinerary should include all the details travelers will need for a successful business trip.

Whenever employees organize conferences, offsites, and other business travel opportunities, have them include the following information in their itineraries for a stress-free travel experience:

• Flight and accommodation details
• Weather conditions expected during the trip
• Conference or meeting venue information, if applicable
• Time for meals, breaks, and leisure
• Restaurants, tourist attractions, and locations of interest in the area
• Links to any travel documents or paperwork needed during the trip
• Other helpful information, such as who to contact in case of an emergency

Itineraries should also be flexible enough to account for mishaps, delays, and other unforeseen circumstances. For instance, if employees are booking business travel during the holidays, they should leave even more wiggle room in case of overbooked flights or poor weather conditions.

5. Take out business travel insurance for employees

Even the best-planned itineraries can encounter unexpected issues. Purchasing travel insurance can help you protect employees in case of an emergency, accident, or other unexpected circumstances. A comprehensive travel insurance policy ensures your travelers (and the company) don’t foot the bill.

The cost of travel insurance depends on several factors, including the destination, the number of people you want to cover, trip length, and the number of stops. However, you may be able to secure a discounted rate for large groups or frequent travelers.

Before you purchase a policy, read the fine print to understand what’s covered, how much coverage is provided in those circumstances, and what isn’t covered under the policy terms. Ideally, you want to find a policy that offers 24/7 support for travelers and covers:

• Trip cancellations or interruptions
• Travel delays
• Lost, stolen, or damaged luggage
• Car rentals and collision damage, if applicable
• Medical and dental bills
• Emergency medical evacuation

6. Establish relationships with travel vendors and providers

Building relationships with travel agents, vendors, and service providers in the travel industry can reward your company with discounted rates on things such as flights and hotels. This can free up budget to invest in enhanced comfort and greater perks for your employees.

As with any business relationship, treat potential travel partners with care. Be clear about your needs, expectations, goals, and travel policies. Since relationships are a two-way street, be mindful of each vendor’s needs and expectations as well. If you feel like a partnership may not be a good fit, communicate this clearly and in a timely manner.

If you’re unsure where to start, consider reaching out to the travel and hospitality businesses your company already works with.

Essential technology and tools for corporate travel management

The best travel planners use technology to streamline every part of the process, from booking to expense reconciliation. These business travel tools can help your team stay organized, enforce travel policies, and reduce costs without sacrificing employee satisfaction.

Travel management software

Travel management software handles everything from booking flights and hotels to approving trip requests and tracking expenses. Look for tools that offer features like automated approvals, policy enforcement, and built-in spend controls. Platforms like Ramp streamline oversight while keeping bookings compliant and cost-effective.

Mobile apps for travelers

Mobile apps are essential for business travelers on the go. They can offer perks such as real-time itinerary updates, instant access to travel documents, and the ability to capture receipts on the fly. Popular options such as TripIt, Expensify, and LoungeBuddy allow travelers to manage trip logistics, track expenses, and find last-minute airport perks.

Real-time reporting and analytics

Real-time reporting tools help you identify patterns in spend, flag policy violations, and uncover opportunities to save money. Travel management platforms with customizable dashboards and analytics allow managers to drill down into trip-level data and department trends, making it easier to adjust policies and track ROI on business travel.

How Ramp simplifies travel expense management

Managing corporate travel expenses can feel like herding cats. You're tracking flight bookings across multiple platforms, chasing down hotel receipts, and trying to enforce travel policies while employees are scattered across time zones. By the time expense reports roll in weeks later, you're left reconciling credit card statements against faded receipts and trying to determine whether that client dinner in Chicago was actually business-related.

Ramp's expense management software transforms this chaotic process into a streamlined workflow that starts before your employees even book their trips. The platform's real-time expense tracking captures every transaction as it happens, automatically categorizing travel expenses like flights, hotels, and meals based on merchant data. When an employee books a flight or checks into a hotel, Ramp instantly logs the expense and matches it to the appropriate category—no manual entry required.

The mobile app becomes your employees' travel companion, allowing them to snap photos of receipts on the go. Ramp's OCR technology extracts vendor details, amounts, and dates automatically, attaching digital receipts to the corresponding transactions before they're lost in a laptop bag. For expenses without receipts, like taxi rides or tips, employees can add details directly in the app while the expense is fresh in their memory.

Most importantly, Ramp enforces your travel policies automatically through customizable spend controls. You can set per diem limits for meals, require pre-approval for flights over certain amounts, or restrict hotel bookings to preferred vendors. If an employee tries to book a first-class ticket when your policy specifies economy, Ramp flags it immediately. This proactive approach prevents policy violations before they happen, eliminating the awkward conversations and reimbursement delays that plague traditional expense management.

Take control of travel expenses with Ramp

Beyond expense tracking, Ramp's corporate travel booking software helps you manage costs from the start. Book flights and hotels at competitive rates while automatically rewarding employees who choose cost-effective options.

With Ramp's all-in-one finance operations platform, you'll save an average of 5% annually across all spending. Calculate your potential savings and see how much time and money you could reclaim.