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Here at the CBoardingGroup.com we primarily focus on the topic of traveling for work. Now, in this Top 10 List of the Best Traveling for Work Tips, we have consolidated and curated the most popular traveling for work tips, according to our readers.

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Most of our readers are road warriors and business travelers. You know, the folks hitting it every week – sometimes multiple trips in a week – who know how to quickly get through airport security or find the best rental car. These are the grinders.

Business Travelers – Photo by bruce mars on Pexels.com

Over the past few months we’ve been assembling and creating various work travel tips. For example our most popular post thus far is the 147 Business Travel Tips â€“ the ultimate list of road warrior tips & tricks. This post is literally the largest single collection of work travel tips published to date. We’ve also published the 11 Tips to Crush your First Business Trip – a guide to help rookie work travelers get headed in the right direction.

In light of these (and many more similar posts) we’ve boiled all of these great business trip tips down to a greatest hits list! Without any further ado, here is a list of the 10 best traveling for work tips, according to the road warriors themselves!

All Time Top 10 Traveling for Work Tips

These work travel tips are arranged in order with the most important ones ranked first. Here’s a quick summary before we dive into each of them a little deeper.

Never Check a Bag!
Pick a travel provider and stick with ’em!
Always be getting your points
Invest in top shelf luggage
Backpacks not briefcases
Pack Light
TSA Precheck = #GameChanger
Eat local (skip the chains)
Workout before dinner
Be realistic and never lose your $#!&

Traveling for Work Tips #1: Never Check a Bag!

If work travel were a fight club the first rule of work travel would be NEVER CHECK A BAG! Consistently ranked the #1 Travel Tip (or hack) of all time, work travelers unanimously agree that checking a bag is just plain dumb.

Travelling for Work Tip #1 – Never check a bag

While most of them acknowledge there are times when it might make sense (e.g. lengthy trips, when traveling with conference equipment, tools or golf clubs) the time lost by checking a bag outweighs any benefits. Moreover, checking a bag introduces unneeded risks (e.g. bag tampering or lost bags).

Savvy work travelers never check their bag and you shouldn’t either.

Traveling for Work Tips #2: Pick a travel provider and stick with ’em!

Traveling for work is hard enough as is. But, by sticking with as few travel providers as possible, the smarter travelers among us are able to accrue status quicker.

With status we now start to qualify for upgrades, freebies, bonus points and more. And often these benefits go a long ways towards making our business trips a little more palatable.

Whenever possible, minimize the number of travel providers (by class) you use. For example, pick your preferred Airline, Hotel and Rental car company then try to use them as often as possible. It’s ok to have a 2nd provider too for those unusual trips.

Moreover, consider applying for that providers credit card offer to maximize the value of your earnings. For example, the Hilton American Express offers xxx points right now.

INSERT CARD ART

Protip: Many travel providers offer something known as status matching. With status matching you essentially get another provider (one you don’t normally use) to match your status on your preferred provider. It’s their way of trying to encourage traveler movement for those business travelers who’ve got “sunk status” with another provider and don’t want to switch.

Traveling for Work Tips #3: Always be getting your points

This tip goes hand in hand with the previous tip. The legendary road warriors among us know how to throw fuel on their fire with status, rewards, points and miles.

two person holding credit card closeup photo

Always Be Getting Your Points – Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

This often involves:

Getting a good credit card designed for max rewards (could be miles, points, cash back – whatever your pref is)
Using those credit cards as often as possible (then paying them) during their travels
Keeping an eye on the travel provider’s rewards programs for special programs that you might have to sign up

Often times the use of a travel provider sponsored credit card might allow you earn status quicker. Of course, this depends on the program.

The point here is: always be getting your points!

PS…then actually use them. Take some time off and take your family to Hawaii or something.

Traveling for Work Tips #4: Invest in top shelf luggage

One of the best business travel tips our readers have shared with us is the value of good luggage. It might be tempting to buy the $40.00 carry on at Wal-Mart. Don’t.

Instead, save your money for something designed for business travelers. Something that can take the wear and tear of regular and recurring work travel.

There’s a few companies out there that make good products, but here at the CBoardingGroup we are all about the TravelPro products.

In particular, we are rolling with the TravelPro Crew 11 21″ – a lesson in design, functionality and durability. You can read our review here.

Traveling for Work Tips #5: Backpacks not briefcases

Smart business travelers skip the suitcases of yesteryear and invest in a good backpack. We probably have the millenials to thank for this trend, but the days of traditional briefcases (that you have to carry by hand) or even rolling briefcases are gone.

It’s now more than acceptable to show up to a corporate meeting in a suit with a backpack slung over your shoulder. You even see quite a bit less of the messenger bags that were popular for a bit.

And frankly this is all about practical functionality. A backpack is far more portable / carry-able than a briefcase. It can usually fit more stuff than a briefcase (which means less likely to check a bag!) and it’s easier on the body with proper weight distribution across the strong shoulder muscles vs. you tilting one side to the other as you switch your briefcase back and forth or trying to pull a briefcase behind you.

The CBoardingGroup has long been a fan of the Ogio backpack family and in particular the Ogio Metro. You can read our product review, below:

Traveling for Work Tips #6: Pack Light

One of the most important traveling for work tips (and fan favorite here at the CBoardingGroup) is the principle of traveling light.

Inexperienced business travelers always start out by bringing too much stuff. Way more than they need. They quickly realize it’s impractical to bring all that extra gear. And then start to go light.

The smartest travelers among us have honed this skill to a science. You find even an extra pencil more than they might need in their travel gear.

#TravelLight

Traveling for Work Tips #7: TSA Precheck = #GameChanger

One of the more popular work travel tips is also one of the best values a business traveler can find! For a mere $85.00 (which covers 5 years) travelers can get pre-screened for air travel. Once approved participants get access to their own private airport security line.

This line is almost always many times faster than the regular security lines. Perhaps because TSA Precheck travelers don’t have to take their shoes/coats off or remove electronics from their bags.

The pre-screening process involves filling out an electronic form, consenting to a background check and then an in-person interview where you get fingerprinted. This is a minor inconvenience to the value this program offers.

Side note: I don’t who set up the pricing model for this program, but they are clearly leaving money on the table. I would gladly pay $85.00 PER YEAR for TSA Precheck.

Traveling for Work Tips #8: Eat local (skip the chains)

It’s tempting when traveling for work to just eat someplace easy and safe. Chain restaurants are often just that. Be it fast food or casual dining (think Chili’s) we know what we are getting into and so it’s tempting to go that route.

Traveling for Work Tips: Always Eat Local Photo by rawpixel.com

But savvy travelers know that your better eating experiences often come from someplace local. This is why the smartest travelers always skip the chains and eat local.

Additionally, eating local supports local enterprise (always a good thing). Take your kids to Chili’s but take yourself to a local eatery!

Traveling for Work Tips #9: Workout before dinner

When on a business trip it can tough to find time (let alone have the energy) to workout. One trick that business travelers can use to increase your workout success rates is to workout before dinner.

We’ve heard from savvy business travelers who tell us that it’s hard to find time in the morning to work out (time zone, exhaustion, schedule, etc) and in the evening it’s off to a customer meal or dinner with the team.

Traveling for Work Tips: Workout before dinner – Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

One of the best traveling for work tips we’ve heard is to simply work out before dinner. Your chances of working out AFTER dinner (and after you’ve had a few glasses of wine and a creme brule are basically zero).

You might be interested in 9 Healthy Travel Snacks â€“ eat smarter on the road

So, workout before dinner instead. Even if it’s just for a few minutes – make time to do it. In addition to feeling refreshed an alert for your customer dinner you will also likely find yourself eating less (always a good thing!).

You might be interested in The 7 Habits of the Healthy Business Traveler: How to Stay Healthy While Traveling for Business

Traveling for Work Tips #10: Be realistic and never lose your $#!&

Our final traveling for work tip is both practical and common sense. If you are a business traveler with any sort of real travel experience you know darn well that you gotta take the good with the bad.

Sometimes you get the upgrade. Sometimes you don’t. Sometimes the security line is empty. Other times is backed up for 45 minutes. Your flights occasionally get delayed. Your seat is broken, etc.

You get it.

But the smartest travelers know to not their lose their $#!* when things go wrong. They stay even keeled. They are realistic. They know it’s a long game and more often than not it will work out IN their favor than AGAINST.

So…relax. Have a cream soda. Ignore the baby screaming, plop on your fancy Bose noise canceling headphones and enjoy that 3rd season of Better Call Saul.

Final thoughts on Traveling for Work Tips

Our goal here at the CBoardingGroup.com is simple: we want you travel for work better. We hope this all time top 10 list of the best traveling for work tips helps you accomplish just that!

And we’d love to hear from you. Please join the conversation by dropping us a comment below. Do you agree with this list of work travel tips? What did we miss? What shouldn’t have been on the list? We want to connect with you!

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By the way, if you are interested in more travel tips and travel advice, you might be like these great articles:

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