The corporate travel policy template for people who hate rules Yes, you can set boundaries without sounding like a schoolteacher Source: Pexels {Alt text: Scrabble squares positioned on a windowsill that read ‘RULES’.} Travelling for work should feel straightforward: book the train, grab a hotel, keep the receipts. In reality, it can be a lot more chaotic. One person sneaks in a first-class upgrade, another books a hotel miles from the meeting and someone else comes back with a crumpled wad of receipts for “miscellaneous expenses” (whatever that means). Cue eye-rolls from finance and sighs from managers. That’s why corporate travel policies exist. Not to police who’s drinking a £3 coffee at the station, but to set clear boundaries that save money, keep people safe and make travel less of a headache for everyone. And with travel volumes climbing again – Deloitte predicts US companies’ spend will exceed pre-pandemic levels by 2024 – there’s more pressure than ever to keep that spend visible and under control. A live, well-designed policy goes beyond being tedious admin; it’s how businesses avoid sliding back into the old chaos of unmanaged travel. Coming up: What a travel policy is, what it should include, the mistakes to avoid and a free corporate travel policy template to use as a starting point. Table of contents What is a corporate travel policy? 3 What your corporate travel policy should include 4 Common mistakes in corporate travel policies 7 How to write your own corporate travel policy 8 Customisable corporate travel policy template 10 Simple policies = smoother travel 12 What is a corporate travel policy? Say “policy” and most people picture pages of small print; something HR emails out once a year that nobody reads. But a corporate travel policy, when it’s done properly, is less about rules and more about trust. It’s a framework that leads to fewer frantic calls from the airport, fewer rejected claims later and a lot less back-and-forth between travellers and finance. Why companies with strong policies outperform Businesses that treat travel policies as a tick-box exercise miss the point. A good policy allows finance teams to forecast with accuracy instead of guessing, HR teams to demonstrate they’re serious about duty of care and employees to get on with the job without dithering over whether that hotel is “too nice” or if the taxi counts as a business expense. It also signals culture. If your policy quietly suggests that employees should take the last train home after a 14-hour day to save on a hotel, people notice. If it instead builds in rest and safety, people notice that too – and the latter builds loyalty faster than any offsite retreat. The hidden costs of going without Picture three employees headed to the same client meeting. One books the Premier Inn next to the office. Another grabs the only boutique hotel with rooms left the night before. The third stays with a friend on the other side of town and submits a taxi bill bigger than both hotel stays combined. Back at HQ, finance is staring at three different expense reports and wondering how to explain the variance in this month’s board pack. That kind of inconsistency is expensive, not just in pounds and euros, but in time and trust. Without clear guidelines, employees make their best guess. And “best” often means “fastest,” which is rarely the cheapest or safest option. What your corporate travel policy should include Source: Pexels {Alt text: Businessmen Enjoying Beachfront View at Sunset.} No two businesses travel in exactly the same way, but the best policies tend to share the same DNA. They cover the essentials without being heavy-handed, they answer the obvious questions before they’re asked, and they strike a balance between control and common sense. Below, we’ve broken down the core building blocks of a corporate travel policy, with some practical notes on why each matters. Looking for comfortable accommodation and simple expense management tailored specifically for the mobile workforce? Discover how Roomex can streamline your travel needs, offering hassle-free booking and expense solutions designed to keep your team focused on the job. Try Roomex today and experience the difference in efficiency and convenience for your mobile workforce. Request a Demo The basics every policy needs Scope & purpose This is your opening statement: who the policy applies to and why it exists. Keep it short, plain-spoken, and aligned to company values. Is this for all employees, contractors or just those travelling more than a certain distance? Are you setting expectations purely for cost control, or also for safety and wellbeing? Framing it clearly prevents the awkward “does this apply to me?” conversations later. Booking process Mystery bookings are the bane of finance teams. Your policy should set out how employees make reservations, which platforms are approved and who has final sign-off. The more you consolidate into one place, the less admin you create for everyone else. There’s a hard cost angle too: analysis by Airlines Reporting Corporation found international flights booked 60 days ahead saved around 10%. A policy that nudges travellers to book earlier is one of the simplest ways to avoid runaway costs. Expense guidelines Here’s where you set the red lines. Spell out what’s in-policy (flights, hotels, taxis, daily meals) and what’s not (room service splurges, minibar raids, or Friday night cocktails with old friends). Don’t drown employees in detail; a handful of clear examples goes further than a spreadsheet of exclusions. The goal is to remove grey areas so no one is left wondering whether that almond croissant counts as breakfast or a “personal snack”. Key travel categories to cover Accommodation Hotels can be a minefield: one employee chooses a roadside motel, another picks the five-star spa. Set standards around safety, distance from the workplace or meeting, and cost caps by city or country. Rather than naming specific hotels, frame your policy around principles: mid-range, business-class properties within X miles of the site, booked through Y platform. That gives clarity..