First, take a look at your biggest travel expenses. These probably include flights, rental cars, and hotels. These three major things are especially expensive if you book them at the last minute. Prices are based on availability, so as the supply dwindles, the cost rises. Long gone are the days of booking last minute flights to save money. Airlines have cut down on the number of flights so much that there are no longer last minute tickets available. Hotels and rental car companies very rarely lower their prices at the last minute.

You can avoid paying an arm and a leg for hotels, flights and rental cars in a number of ways. First, try to book your business trips at the beginning of the year. Many hotels and rental car companies release their promotions for the year starting in January. Get the right person on the phone to help you and they may even let you know when the best time to book will be. Ask specifically about what specials and promotions will be offered.

Spend some time researching different sites that offer package deals. Many times, you can get free hotel nights or rental cars if you book your flights through certain sites. Call your bank and credit card companies to determine what other deals you may qualify for, in the form of purchase rewards. Sometimes you can charge a trip specifically to get the reward and then pay it off.

Next you should concentrate on all of the day-to-day travel expenses that may come up. Gas, food, entertaining, and sight-seeing should all be considered. Keep a travel journal and make note of the money that you spend. This way, you can keep track of not only what you spent, but other needs that arose. Analyze your list and determine where you could have saved money. The next time you travel, you’ll be better prepared.

Some people travel internationally and really pay the price on things that they didn’t expect. For instance, international travelers need all sorts of information while they’re away from their hotels. They need restaurant recommendations, they may need to check on flight times, or they may need turn-by-turn directions to get where they are going on time. Language barriers and lack of information access can force travelers to constantly call home to get information like directory assistance. If you use mobile concierge services that service international locations, you can save a bundle of money and time. They generally cost under $10 per month and you can call them from anywhere in the world, 24/7.

About the Author: Joe Smith is a Marketing Associate of OnCall, a leading online source of mobile concierge services that goes above and beyond traditional directory assistance. Get international personalized assistance with phone direcory information, turn by turn directions, movie times, stock quotes, sports scores, and more at http://www.askoncall.com.

Back in the day, you could walk into the airport and snag some great last-minute deals on flights. Not true anymore. Airlines have cut back on the number of flights that they are offering and overbooking the ones that they do. This means that as the flight fills up, the seats get more and more expensive. The earlier you book your flight the better. In general, prices go up as demand goes up.

Hotels work the same way. It is pretty rare to find a hotel these days that has a fixed room rate. As the hotel fills, the rooms that they have left become more valuable. So, it pays to reserve that room as far in advance as possible.

Renting a car is usually cheaper than using taxi service or a shuttle service. This is especially true if you’re not too picky about what type or size car you are getting. Check with your credit card companies, bank, insurance, and professional affiliations for special discounts or business rates. Additionally, you can do an online search for coupons. Many have a deal where you rent a car for a day and get the second day free. So, you could rent one car for two days, getting the second day for free, and then rent from the other company, cutting your total rental car fees in half. Another option for the city is to choose a hotel near a major public transportation hub so that you can travel cheaply wherever you need to go.

Many business travelers need to eat at restaurants when they’re travelling. If you’re entertaining business associates or clients, you’ll be eating at even pricier establishments and possibly footing the bill for the others as well. Don’t get trapped in a bad, noisy, or overpriced restaurant. Do your research before the trip. Find out where locals like to go and why they like to go there. You can often find menus online, read reviews, and budget for your meal before you even take the trip. Look for online coupons or call the restaurant and ask if they offer abbreviated menus for larger groups. Restaurants do this to simplify ordering and it often comes out cheaper.

Business travelers that travel internationally run up the highest bills. They often need a personal assistant to help them figure out where to eat, where to stay, how to get where they’re going and more. Instead of paying someone to be available 24/7, consider international mobile concierge services. For about $8/month, you can get international phone directory services and directory assistance, turn by turn directions, restaurant and hotel recommendations, weather, stock quotes, flight status, and more. Not only is it cheaper, but it’s awfully convenient when you’re in a time zone that constantly puts you in a position of needing help from your personal assistant at all hours of the night.

Save money travelling on business all year with these simple tips and you will really see a difference.

About the Author: Joe Smith is a Marketing Associate of OnCall, a leading online source of mobile concierge services that goes above and beyond traditional directory assistance. Get international personalized assistance with phone direcory information, turn by turn directions, movie times, stock quotes, sports scores, and more at http://www.askoncall.com.

Transportation costs can be outrageous if you don’t plan ahead. Try to limit your travel by communicating by web video phone or having conference calls with clients and suppliers. You can get a web cam and video conference with a lot of people at once online for just a few dollars, instead of investing hundreds or thousands in video conferencing equipment or travelling every time you need to meet with someone.

Travel arrangements should be made as far in advance as possible to ensure the best prices. Research different airlines, hotels, rental car companies, and restaurants to figure out who gives the best discounts. Sometimes you’ll get a discount simply for making your reservation online or far in advance. Ask about discounts for using certain credit cards or belonging to certain professional organizations and clubs. You can also try to use credit cards that give you travel rewards when you use them. Keep up with frequent traveler information to make future trips cheaper.

Organization can save you a bundle in the long run. So many small business owners get overwhelmed with paperwork once they get going because they don’t have a good organization system. There’s nothing worse than finding out that you don’t have the documentation that you need to get a big tax refund or deduction because you had no idea it was important. Meet with a financial/tax advisor each year to determine what bookkeeping system will work for you and your business. Keep track of every cent to maximize your benefit when tax time rolls around.

Basic bills can be higher than you imagined, especially in the hottest or coldest months of the year. Call your power company and ask about discounts that you may be eligible for. Some offer energy saver discounts for companies that do not use their power for 50% of each day. You may be eligible for tax refunds or credits if you purchase appliances with good energy ratings. You can even have thousands of dollars refunded if you upgrade your business making it more energy efficient. Examples include replacing central heating/cooling units, insulating, residing, putting in energy efficient windows, etc.

If you travel a lot for your business, then you probably have a lot of unplanned expenses while you’re on the road. Meeting clients or suppliers for dinner, using an expensive 411 directory assistance for phone numbers and addresses, ending up at more costly hotels than you planned on, the list of things that can really cut into your budget goes on and on. Plus, figuring out where to go and when, can make a personal assistant a necessity. Try using mobile concierge services instead. For around $8/month, you can have someone available to give you turn by turn directions, hotel and restaurant suggestions, tell you whether or not your flight is delayed, and more. It sure beats hiring a personal assistant or spending way more time and money on the road than you planned, and you can use it internationally and 24/7.

Utilizing these tips will help you to stretch your dollar and stay ahead of the game. Being frugal with your money is always a good business plan. If you are better able to stick to your budget, you and your business will have a much better chance at being successful.

About the Author: Joe Smith is a Marketing Associate of OnCall, a leading online source of mobile concierge services that goes above and beyond traditional directory assistance. Get international personalized assistance with phone direcory information, turn by turn directions, movie times, stock quotes, sports scores, and more at http://www.askoncall.com.

Keeping employees safe while travelling internationally is a high priority for business owners. Many international travelers find the need to employ a personal assistant to keep things running smoothly. Personal assistants make hotel reservations, coordinate flight times, make dinner reservations, check movie times, and even do research to make sure that the hotels, airlines and restaurants are highly recommended. Personal assistants check the weather, make sure that your flights are on time, and even give you directions to the places that you need to go.

Having a personal assistant is quite the luxury and can help to keep you safe and on schedule during an international business trip. The downside is that they cost a lot to employ and they really can’t be available 24/7. Plus they’re limited to information that they can find online, which may not be totally accurate, up to date, or non-biased. This is why many companies turn to personal mobile concierge services for their travel needs.

Mobile concierge services give you access to an international phone directory that is often updated more regularly than traditional directory assistance lines. They can give you actual restaurant and hotel recommendations based on many sources, not just the one source that your personal assistant may have found. You can call any time, 24/7, and get flight information, turn by turn directions, restaurant dining guide information, and even stock quotes and weather information from anywhere in the world.

These services are considerably cheaper than hiring a personal assistant, generally costing less than $10/month. You can get a live person on the phone that can help you make your trips run smoothly at anytime from anywhere.

Business owners love the flexibility and low cost of providing their travelling employees with mobile concierge services. They feel like their employees will be safer using a speaker phone to get information, like directions, flight times, and restaurant suggestions, than they would if they were trying to research on the internet while driving. Mobile concierge services go beyond regular directory assistance by providing international phone directory information, turn by turn directions, and more for a really low monthly fee.

About the Author: Joe Smith is a Marketing Associate of OnCall, a leading online source of mobile concierge services that goes above and beyond traditional directory assistance. Get international personalized assistance with phone direcory information, turn by turn directions, movie times, stock quotes, sports scores, and more at http://www.askoncall.com.