Corporate Travel Policy Guide 2025: Create Guidelines That People Follow

Non-compliance with corporate travel policy leads to overspending, poor visibility, and low employee satisfaction, and this headache of travel managers and CHROs never bids farewell. 

Study reveals - 

 More than two-thirds of business travellers make bookings outside their company’s travel policy, risking higher costs and operational inefficiencies. 

The core reasons: 

• Employees find company-approved tools hard to use, due to poor UX design. 
• Corporate travel policies are complex, lengthy, and sometimes, not well-structured - travellers don’t understand them completely. 
• Without automation, there is no real-time policy enforcement, and employees book outside company guidelines. 
• Standard policies often overlook regional prices, seniority, and urgency, so employees may have reasons to book outside the rules. 

Clearly, most employees aren’t ignoring policy out of defiance - they are confused, frustrated, and simply unaware what policy expects of them. 

If a policy is unclear, and not well-executed, people won’t follow it. 

Cracking The Code: What is Corporate Travel Policy, and How to Create One People Actually Follow

Corporate travel policy is a comprehensive set of rules or guidelines that an employee is expected to follow when booking, managing and reporting their business travel. The primary objective of these guidelines is to make sure all business trips are cost-effective, compliant, and productive while setting employee satisfaction as the top priority. 

However, a travel policy is only effective when people obey, and it benefits the company. So, how to create one?

Create an Effective Corporate Travel Policy

Purpose & Scope 

Define the purpose of the policy - managing expenses, maintaining compliance, and ensuring the well-being of employees. 

Communicate clearly - these aren’t meant to be restrictions, but guidelines created in favor of employees to make sure everyone gets what they need while staying within budget. 

Quick Approval Process 

Who will be approving the business trips? You can assign a designated person within the department, or involve the finance and HR departments; that's entirely up to how things work best in your organization. 

Clearly specify what information employees need to submit to get the approval, such as travel dates, purpose, location, and more, and how many days in advance the requests should be made. 

Expense Guidelines 

Differentiate between business-related expenses covered by the company and personal expenses that employees must pay for themselves.

Company-Covered Expenses (Reimbursable)

• Flight bookings (class, preferred platforms) 
• Hotel stays (costs should not exceed the allocated budget) 
• Local transportation (business use)
• Meals and beverages (within daily allowance or per diem)
• Parking fees and tolls
• Visa and travel insurance fees
• Conference or event registration fees
• Internet or phone charges 

Personal Expenses (Non-Reimbursable)

• In-room movies or entertainment subscriptions
• Mini-bar or alcohol
• Personal shopping
• Sightseeing or leisure activities
• Expenses for family members 
• Upgrades to flights or hotels (unless pre-approved)
• Fines (e.g., parking or traffic violations)
• Health club, spa, or massage services

Reimbursement Process

It is crucial to keep things clear and transparent - insist on an itemized receipt for every expense, and keep a digital record of every claim, noting who submitted it and who approved it. 

Also, you should perform a regular audit that helps detect errors such as duplicate claims or personal expenses.

Travel Safety and Security Guidelines 

Provide a dedicated emergency contact, whether it's your internal security team or third-party provider - your employees should know who to contact in need.

Policy Adherence 

Set fair and clear rules to report policy violations to HR or a designated manager, so there is a way to address issues if they come up.  

Keeping this section firm but fair helps reinforce the importance of policy compliance. 

Benefits of Business Travel Policy Compliance

WegoPro: Your Travel Policy Compliance Partner

• Easy travel booking and expense submission
• Get instant global connectivity with WegoPro eSIM
• Book airport transfers directly via the platform
• Free support for travel and technical queries
• Integration available with QuickBooks, Xero, and other platforms.