Bleisure Travel

Organising your bleisure travel

Book your meetings near a weekend

There are two ways to go about bleisure travel. Either take annual leave for your leisure days OR you can utilise the weekends. Where possible, organise your business trip on either side of the weekend so you can utilise Saturday and Sunday for leisure. Save your annual leave for later.

Accommodation

When booking your accommodation for extra nights, your Corporate Traveller account manager can factor this into the corporate booking, so you don’t have to switch hotels or move too far for the leisure part. The employee will need to pay for the leisure time.

Travel insurance

This depends on your employer’s business travel insurance plan. In some cases, employees may need to take out a separate travel insurance policy for the leisure portion of their trip.

Domestic Travel Insurance – If you are an Australian travelling domestically you can’t be covered for medical expenses within Australia by any travel insurance policy. So, you won’t need to take out a separate policy for medical unless you’re travelling on a cruise ship. Any loss or damage to work property should still be covered by your work’s insurance policy (providing you’ve taken reasonable care).

International Travel Insurance – If you are an Australian travelling abroad and your business policy doesn’t cover leisure components of a business trip, you may want to either take out a separate insurance policy for the leisure time.

Either way, it’s best to check with your HR department on your travel insurance policy and what it covers. Don’t have a business travel insurance policy? Our team of experts are happy to help, get in touch today!

Accommodation & Food

Whether you receive a travel allowance in your pay or you have a company credit card – your employer won’t pay for any components of your trip that are for private purposes. According to the Australian Tax Office, you can only claim meals, accommodation, and incidentals if you’re staying overnight for work. Make sure you know your expenditure limits and eligibility before you splash out on the lobster for dinner.

Injuries & WorkCover

This one is a tricky area! The general rule is that ‘work’ has to be a major factor contributing to the injury. If you’re on a work trip for a business meeting, but then decide to go hang-gliding in your spare time there’s a good chance that you won’t be covered for associated injuries.

If the ‘leisure’ is part of work, e.g. you’re at an overseas conference and have a team building activity where you ride camels, what happens if you fall off a camel? It would need to be determined whether you were encouraged to take part in the activity by your employer, or obligated. As we said, it’s a tricky area so it might be best to just avoid high-risk activity (sorry camels).

If you’re overseas your travel insurance should cover medical expenses, providing you have the right cover and take reasonable care. If you’re in Australia, you’ll need to rely on Medicare or your private health insurance.

Bringing Extras

Want to bring a partner along to your business trip? You’ll need to pay for additional costs associated with their stay. That will include flights, meals, and (depending on how many people are joining you) you may need to pay more for accommodation. It’s best to check with your HR department or travel policy to check the protocol for partners joining business trips.

Benefits for Employers

A number of business travellers choose to forgo leisure diversion on their business trips. Why? A lot comes down to how it may be perceived by their employer.

But often for the employer, this is a huge advantage. With fewer days off from work for travel to and from a location, the employer will pay less for annual leave. And if the employee can utilise weekends for their leisure travel, then they don’t even need to pay for time off at all. Millennials are most likely to extend a business trip for bleisure and see this as a major work perk.

Bleisure travel helps you to give your employees a holiday at a lower cost to them, and a smaller impact on annual leave for employers.

If you’re a master luggage packer and feel like living life on the edge, try sticking to carry-on only. You won’t have to wait at the baggage claim and will whisk through the airport quicker. One potential downside is that security may pay you some extra attention, particularly if you’re travelling international with carry-on only.

Sydney Harbour (Bridge and Opera House)

It’s difficult to avoid the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House if you’re heading to Sydney CBD anyway. But make sure you take the time to walk around Sydney Harbour, catch a ferry, or check out the Opera House. If you’re feeling adventurous you can sign up for a bridge climb too!

Bondi Beach

If you have some time to jump on a bus or train and head to Bondi Beach, it will be worth the trip. What could be better than hanging out at one of the most iconic beaches in Australia? Make sure you pack your swimmers and some sunscreen!

Luna Park

Up for an adventure? Head to Luna Park for a day of rides, food, entertainment, and fun. Make sure you get a shot at the front of the entrance for your Instagram. You haven’t had fun in Sydney until you’ve visited Luna Park. The kids shouldn’t have all the fun!

Queen Victoria Market

Looking for great food? The Queen Victoria Market is an absolute must-eat. With fresh Australian produce from local areas, there really is no end the deliciousness of this place. Grab some smoked cheddar, olives, cured meats, and a bottle of red to relax in your hotel room for a quiet night in.

Singapore Flyer

See the city sights from the sky with the giant Ferris wheel the Singapore Flyer. It’s built over a three-story terminal building and it the world’s largest observation wheel. See Singapore River, Marina Bay, Empress Place and more from atop Singapore.

Central Park

This is no small park. You’ve probably seen Central Park in many US movies, but have you ever really considered the size of it? It covers 3.5 square miles and stretches across 843 acres of land. It’s almost six times larger than the country of Monaco. It was designed by two architects after they won a design competition in 1858. There are so many sections to visit, so wear your comfortable walking shoes.

Buckingham Palace and Changing of the Guard

Feeling royal? Pop by Buckingham Palace to see where the Queen spends her time. You can book a tour to see the State Rooms which are open to visitors, but they’re only available at set times of the year. You can watch the changing of the guard at 11:00am Monday to Saturday and 10:00am on Sundays. The ceremony usually lasts about 30 minutes. Otherwise, you can wait patiently outside the gates of Buckingham Palace and hope that Lizzy takes a trip that day.

Creating a Company Bleisure Policy

Every company with travelling employees should have a travel policy. Bleisure is one of the latest trends to start being included in that policy. Here are the top 6 things to consider when you’re putting your bleisure travel policy together.

  1. Bleisure or not to bleisure – do you want to encourage or discourage bleisure travel?
  2. Eligibility – who will be able to access bleisure travel? Is it only available to senior staff?
  3. Itinerary for bleisure – do you need to know what your employees are up to and when?
  4. Payment – who will pay for what in the trip? Set clear guidelines for what the employer vs employee will pay for. Consider if or how this will change if a client is paying for the trip.
  5. Cutover points – Outline at what points the business travel ends and the leisure time starts.
  6. Approval process – Do managers need to sign off on bleisure request in the expense approval process?

Bleisure travel is set to rise over the next few years as more companies offer this benefit to employees. If you need help setting up your Travel Policy to include bleisure, talk to our team of experts today

Whether it’s a short adventure trip, or a few days off to visit family, bleisure travel is a great way to maximise your annual leave and save on travel costs for vacations. Next time you’re heading off for business travel have a look at the local sights or nearby cities and see how you can maximise your holidays on the company dime.