The complete travel checklist for executive assistants

With the travel industry evolving fast, new opportunities to make changes to your business travel checklist emerge. For an executive assistant (EA), the constant changes mean complicated booking travel processes.

Budget cuts, rising travel costs, and last-minute itinerary adjustments add to the complexity of business travel. This makes it challenging for EAs to coordinate cost-effective and flexible travel arrangements for executives.

For those overwhelmed by all the moving parts of organizing travel in the current global climate, an executive assistant travel checklist may be a good place to start.

What to include in a travel checklist for executive assistants

A travel checklist can help an EA ensure everything is organized for upcoming business trips for employees. It may also prevent the stress and hassle that come with booking travel for executives.

1. Start by gathering intel for the upcoming trip

Before booking anything, it’s important to gather info from the staff member you’re responsible for.

Whether the executive you’re organizing travel for is a frequent flier or not, travel looks different today than it did yesterday and will continue to change. Airlines issue new regulations, countries change their travel policies and laws, and emerging technologies reshape the booking experience.

To stay on top of changes and ensure a smooth travel experience, start by getting as much detail about the trip as possible, including key information like:

Destination

Planned meetings

Stakeholders

The executive’s travel preferences

Time zones

Currencies

Travel legislation and restrictions

Airline policies

Consider the objectives that the executive has for the trip alongside the budget available. It doesn’t hurt to triple-check that personal details are correct. It’ll be tricky to change them when your exec is at the boarding gate!

Gather details like:

Full name (as it appears on passport or driving license)

Home address

Cell phone number, email address, and other contact information

For overseas travel, make sure your executive has a valid passport and any necessary visas needed to get into the country itself. This may include proof of vaccinations.

2. Put together a travel itinerary

Creating a travel itinerary is an essential step in streamlining all travel arrangements for C-level executives. It reduces stress for both the assistant and the traveler.

Executives have tightly-packed schedules which can easily get derailed—even by minor miscommunications. Creating a travel itinerary can prevent last-minute chaos and avoid the dreaded flustered phone calls from an executive stuck at an airport or missing a crucial meeting.

When working on the itinerary, ensure you:

Balance business and personal time: among networking dinners, in-person meetings, and industry events, be sure to weave in some downtime for your executive. Recharging and relaxing are just as important as work.

Pre-book high-demand restaurants and activities: organize bookings for restaurants and activities ahead of time. Be sure to have a hold of reservation numbers, follow up on bookings made, and clarify check-in times for hotel stays.

Check out our business travel itinerary template and simplify planning for your upcoming business trips.

For more templates check out our business travel templates.

3. Prepare for unexpected changes

The reality is that you should expect a lot of change and last-minute amendments to your travel plans that are simply out of your control.

Whether it’s international travel you’re booking, or simply want to organize a car rental, prepare with ample time to make room for changes. Being flexible is essential and is something you should relay to your executive.

Consider using travel management software to help with any complex business trips, especially when it comes to travel insurance. TravelPerk helps you combat the gruesome paperwork and hidden costs associated with travel insurance with FlexiPerk.

How to cancel a trip and get a refund with FlexiPerk

FlexiPerk offers you the most flexible business travel ever. You a pay a small fee on top of your booking and if your plans change, you can cancel up to two hours before and get 80% of your trip refunded. No questions asked.

FlexiPerk offers you flexible business travel. You pay a small fee on top of your booking and, if your plans change, you can cancel your reservations up to two hours before. You get 80% of your trip refunded without any further inquiry.

FlexiPerk helped EU Business School save €66,000 from canceled trips in 2023. If you want similar savings, book a demo to see how FlexiPerk works.

4. Brief your executive or staff member before the trip

With so much transition and change in business travel, it’s necessary to brief your executive or staff member before their trip.

Go over the itinerary once more and ensure it contains all the relevant information for the trip. Present this to your exec, discuss any final adjustments, and brief them on logistics and standard procedures, including:

How they will get to their destination

What your company’s duty of care policy is

What their options are in case of an emergency

. This briefing is where you will be able to hand over all the necessary documents, including hard copies, in the event that WiFi might be down, or the executive cannot use their phone.

TravelPerk's complete duty of care solution, TravelCare, helps executive assistants stay up to date on ever-changing safety procedures. This simplifies and makes business travel management safer.

With TravelCare, you never need to worry about missing an alert or your exec getting to the boarding gate or a hotel, only to be turned away for not having the right paperwork. It helps you manage, brief, and track your traveling employees while away.

Putting your travelers safety first. Learn how today.

5. Turn on travel notifications and alerts

While all the planning and managing unfolds, keep an eye on travel alerts and local news to identify potential disruptions, changes in regulations, or unexpected events that could affect the trip’s itinerary.

Monitor local weather forecasts for the cities included in the itinerary, as severe weather often causes flight delays, reroutes, or even cancellations.

Doing all this preparation before one of your execs takes off to a different city or country is paramount to keep travel-related complications to a minimum.

Here’s a complete overview of everything else you need to remember when planning incident-free corporate travel.

Travel checklist for executive assistants

As it may have been a while since your executive last traveled for business, here’s a checklist of things to keep in mind—and to hand—during their upcoming corporate travel trip:

Travel & logistics

Travel itinerary

Travel documents: VISAs, passports, ID, vaccine certificates, and travel insurance,

Confirmation numbers

Carry-on requests

Google Maps or some form of mobile map service

Loyalty or reward membership numbers

Car rental and parking information

Accommodation and venue bookings

Protocol for any last-minute changes

Finances

Company credit cards

Spending money in various forms (bank cards, prepaid cards, and cash/local currency)

Expense information and spreadsheets

Meetings and events

Bios on attendees

Location for meetings/events

Notes on dress code and business etiquette (for international travel)

Business cards and other relevant stationary

Hot spots and recommendations for sightseeing and extra travel time

Stay on top of your travel checklist with TravelPerk

A travel checklist like this one, makes organizing travel for your executives easier and t more efficient.

To further streamline travel planning processes, you can give TravelPerk a try.

TravelPerk can help you overcome a lot of the unknowns in travel. With the help of a 24/7 support team for business travel assistance operating at a target 15-second response time, a user-friendly app for your traveler’s phones, and a powerful booking tool, you can rest assured that your executive is as prepared as can be for their travels. Give TravelPerk a try, and see for yourself.

Travel checklist for executive assistants

What to include in a travel checklist for executive assistants

1. Start by gathering intel for the upcoming trip

2. Put together a travel itinerary

3. Prepare for unexpected changes

How to cancel a trip and get a refund with FlexiPerk

4. Brief your executive or staff member before the trip

Putting your travelers safety first. Learn how today.

5. Turn on travel notifications and alerts

Travel checklist for executive assistants

Travel & logistics

Finances

Meetings and events

Stay on top of your travel checklist with TravelPerk

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