Three Ways to Maximize Loyalty Programs and Points on Work Trips

When booking personal travel, travelers often use loyalty programs numbers to get airline miles and hotel points. If you’re traveling for work, and someone else book your reservation, it can be easy to forget or overlook this step, potentially leaving thousands of points.

These points can be very valuable. According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), global business travel spending reached $697 billion in 2021. This figure is expected to rise as the industry recovers after the COVID-19 pandemic lows.

If you have a work trip planned and your company pays for travel expenses, you should not forget about the possible ways to earn points. These are some tips that will help you make sure you don’t miss out on any additional rewards.

It is easy to include your loyalty program or frequent flyer number when booking your travel. If you are booking your travel through an employer’s portal or someone else, however, you might not be able to add these loyalty programs.

This can be avoided by gathering your hotel and airline reservation confirmations. Then, search for the reservation code that corresponds with your hotel and flight. Log in to your loyalty program for your airline or hotel and add the reservations manually.

Sometimes the online reservation code for your company’s travel portal doesn’t match what the hotel or airline accepts online. You may have to contact the airline or hotel to manually add your reservation.

You should use a credit card that earns bonus points for travel purchases if you buy any additional items, such as Wi Fi, bags, or food, during your flight. If you need to use your credit card for travel purchases, make sure that it is the same card that you used when checking into your hotel.

During your hotel stay, you can charge your hotel expenses to your room. This will earn you points with both your credit card as well as the hotel. Your hotel elite status will determine how many hotel points you can earn.

If you stay at a Hilton hotel and have Diamond status, and pay $500 in hotel bills, you will earn 10,000 Hilton Points. Diamond members earn 20 points for every $1 spent during your stay. You can also earn rewards if you charge the hotel to a card that earns additional points for travel purchases.

Note that points cannot be earned if the hotel rate is not eligible. You may not earn loyalty points if you are on a group trip.

You may also need to pay for accommodation and flights. These expenses can be covered by a credit card with bonus points.

You may not be eligible to earn points if your employer pays for your trip via the corporate credit card or company account. While you might not be eligible to earn these extra points, you can still earn points for your hotel stay and miles for your flight.

There may be many options for hotels and airlines when you book a business trip, especially if it’s a popular destination.

You may be able get more value if you have elite status with a particular airline or hotel. Status can help you earn more hotel points, as well as other perks such free upgrades and late check-outs.

Flyers with airline status might be eligible for free upgrades and additional baggage allowance, as well as higher mileage earning rates.

If you are a United Silver member and book a United flight, you will be able to choose an Economy Plus seat at check in and receive 70 pounds of checked baggage. If you’re lucky, you may score a first class upgrade.

Earn points every time you can if your company pays for a trip. Inflation can make it surprising how much you could earn. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Bolster of Labor Statistics), flight prices have increased more than 26% annually, which means that your annual conference trip might be more costly than last year.

Everyone should be able to reap the benefits of paying more for travel this year, so why not you?