Last minute travel is inevitable in today’s business environment. Sometimes, an opportunity to meet with a potential client is presented or your presence is requested in an important meeting. While it’s certainly simpler to plan your travel in advance, making business travel arrangements at the last minute should not prevent you from having a smooth and successful trip experience.
Whether part of your job is to arrange travel for coworkers or bosses or you are arranging travel for yourself, check out these tips for planning logistics for those last-minute business trips:
1 Keep a Carry-On Bag Packed and Ready
If you travel frequently for work, you probably already have a travel bag that you keep stocked for trips. However, unless you are extremely diligent at keeping items refilled and immediately replenish anything you have run out of, you may want to also keep a separate carry-on bag packed and ready just for occasional last minute trips.
If you keep an extra carry-on bag prepacked with the essentials, all you will need to worry about is adding seasonally appropriate clothes for the occasion before you head out the door.
2 Splurge for the Direct(-er) Flight
Even when you have a trip planned ahead for weeks or months, often the most hair-raising and stress inducing part of traveling is switching planes and hoping for sufficient layover time in between flights to account for any delays. Seasoned travelers can navigate many of the major airport hubs with their eyes closed, but when making a last minute flight itinerary for business travel opting for a more direct flight, even if it is going to be a bit more expensive, will relieve stress and reduce chances of travel complications.
3 Work with a Ground Transportation Service
Find a professional ground transportation service that has solutions in the cities you frequent. Partnering with a ground transportation service for all of your business travel needs will streamline the process to and ensure your travel runs smoothly.
Rather than navigating airport shuttle schedules or being beholden to car rental agencies, if you have a regular transportation service that you work with, you can contact them at the last minute and know that they will be available to work with you at the last minute, no matter where you are going.
When choosing a company to provide your ground transportation services, there are a few key things to look for:
- 24-hour Support: Ground Transportation services should come with 24/7 access to a real person. If you can’t reach someone about your transportation service when you need it, no matter what time, your relationship is not going to be particularly helpful to you.
- Global Presence: Having a connection for last minute transportation services is helpful to you only if there will be someone there where and when you need them!
- Flexibility and Adaptability: Traveling at the last minute does not eliminate the need to find a ground transportation service that will be flexible and adaptable to your needs. Whether you require a particular size vehicle or have to make changes to your plans along the way, exceptional service should be your expectation from your ground transportation provider, even when booking at the last minute.