Admittedly the phrase “away on business” is used rather loosely to encompass the trip someone is taking on company deployment in addition to the more accurate meaning of a businessperson being away on some business they want to conduct. No matter – it makes for some interesting reading either way, taking a peek into the life of a business traveler. Join us as we fly through a week-long business trip taken by one of our most long-standing readers.

The flight

The process of booking a flight for a business trip is naturally different from that of perhaps booking a flight for some holiday to someplace. You’re naturally willing to spend a little bit more to perhaps get the most direct flight you can possibly get and the most comfortable too. That’s why some employees on a business deployment are booked into a business class flight. However, many modern businessmen and women who need to fly around the world to meet clients, consult reps or attend meetings on a weekly basis, often prefer hiring a private jet rental over commercial flights because it saves time, gives them the flexibility to make plans within a few hours’ notice, and provides them a level of individualized attention that cannot be matched by any commercial flight.

But it has been seen that someone who is not a frequent flyer would quite happily fly economy class for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that they don’t want to spend money unnecessarily and the second reason is one which perhaps caters to the first reason as well, which is that airlines such as Saudi Airlines (الخطوط السعودية) fall right into that bracket of being affordable and offering great comfort, even in the case of flying economy class.

So ultimately it’s about getting full value for money as far as the flight goes.

The accommodation

Business travelers don’t go out of their way to save a buck here and there by prolonging their flights to take advantage of things like cheaper fares as a result of long, multiple stopovers. They rather want to get to where they’re going to settle in comfortably and then get on with the business. The same applies to accommodation. The typical business traveler is more likely to book Hotels in Mecca (حجز فنادق مكة) on account of the comfort and some might even go as far as calling it luxury. This is so that they’re all fresh and rested for the business they came to conduct.

That said though, it doesn’t mean that this kind of desired comfort and luxury cannot come at a good price.

Contingency plans

Because of the fact that they’re almost never involved with activities such as “visa runs,” business travelers always leave ample room, time and money for any contingency plans which they might have to effect. For example, negotiations might be taking a bit longer than expected and so you might need to book hotels (حجز فنادق) to stay longer than initially planned, perhaps somewhere you didn’t even plan to stay at in the first place.

Generally speaking the travel route of a business traveler is one which defines the “hospitality” in the phrase “hospitality industry.” Business travelers don’t want to have to worry about even the tiniest aspect of the organizational side of their trip. Rather, they want to focus on the business which they came to conduct, so that’s why they travel in what appears to be relative style, comfort and luxury.