Why paying out of pocket is an issue for business travelers
It creates financial pressure
When your employer asks you to pay for business-related expenses with your personal funds, it can also cause unwanted—and sometimes unmanageable—financial pressure.What if you can’t afford to pay out of pocket for these expenses at the time? Especially if you travel for work on a regular basis, airline tickets, hotels, trains,, food, and incidental expenses like tips and taxi cabs all add up. In recent years, inflation and increased living costs have made paying for work trips in advance even more challenging. There may be a variety of reasons why using your personal credit card to pay for work-related travel may not be an option. However, bringing these issues up with your employer can be awkward, and no one should feel forced to discuss their finances with their boss.Why asking employees to pay for traveling for work can backfire on businesses
It’s makes it harder to stick to company travel policies
Say you have been asked to take a last-minute work trip to meet a client. You have a to-do list as long as your arm, and now you need to add booking a whole business trip to your tasks for the day. In your rush to get organized, you forget the company’s preferred hotel chain and book the first accommodation you can find. Now, not only are you waiting to be refunded for this expensive surprise journey, but you are also in trouble with HR. With today’s technology, there are far more efficient ways for businesses to help employees stick to company travel policies and remove this unnecessary headache for everyone!It decreases employee satisfaction
A 2024 TravelPerk survey found that 75% of HR decision-makers said that including business travel opportunities in their job descriptions made the role more attractive to job seekers. But, as well as attracting candidates, work trips can be a great source of inspiration and motivation. 63% of surveyed business travelers reported that traveling for work increased the likelihood of them remaining in their current role. Amongst younger employees, this statistic was even higher, with 76% of Gen Z respondents saying that traveling for work influenced their decision to stay in their current jobs. But as business travelers like you know all too well, all of these benefits can quickly disappear if you have to constantly handle the stress of paying for your travel arrangements out of pocket.There is a better solution for everyone
Utilizing the latest travel tools can revolutionize the experience of traveling for work for both you and your employers. From easy-to-use booking platforms to generating speedy travel spending reports, there are a host of ways using this technology can help.Improved policy compliance
With a comprehensive business travel solution, your managers can integrate travel policies into the booking process. Removing the guesswork for busy travelers like yourself. You can choose the hotels, flights, and other arrangements you prefer with total peace of mind. Knowing you are within company rules and with instant approvals.Say you are booking from limited last-minute options and need to make arrangements outside your company policy. Then a tool like TravelPerk will flag those bookings to managers for attention, so you don’t need to be stressed about generating non-compliant travel spending.