I\u2019m on a business trip right now. As I\u2019ve prepared for this trip, and as I\u2019ve got under way, I\u2019ve been thinking about how to make the most of it, especially financially.<\/p>\n
If you are traveling for business, there are ways to maximize the situation so that the financial impact is relatively small; you might even come out ahead.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s nothing like traveling for free. On this trip, the client is paying the expenses. I\u2019ve traveled for clients in the past, but they have always reimbursed me. This time, though, I don\u2019t have to pay out of pocket. The client bought my plane ticket, and reserved my hotel. I love that I don\u2019t have to wait to be reimbursed for this trip.<\/p>\n
Depending on the situation, you might be able to get someone else to pay. If you travel for a company, chances are that all the arrangements will be made, and you don\u2019t have to worry about it. If you are being reimbursed, though, you need to make sure that you save all of your receipts.<\/p>\n
Finally, consider a per diem. Many companies provide a per diem for food and other incidentals. In some cases, you might actually get to keep what you don\u2019t spend. If this is the case, carefully planning can help you actually make money on the trip. And, of course, you should also be paid for your work time.<\/p>\n
If you have the chance, rack up the points that you can. While you might not be able to benefit from airline tickets charged to the company credit card, you still might be able to get frequent flyer points. If you belong to a program that will credit you for trips taken when you enter your confirmation number, you can at least get a few extra points. That\u2019s what I\u2019m doing on this trip. The client gets the credit card reward points, but since my name isn\u2019t connected to their frequent flyer account, I get the frequent flyer miles.<\/p>\n