Use miles to spice up your business travel

Many business travelers take advantage of the fact that business meetings are often held in places where you can also enjoy some rest and relaxation.

Maybe you added an extra day to your trip to catch a baseball game, or grabbed some time to catch up with old friends before your trip began. The Orlando convention makes it commonplace to spend a few days visiting theme parks.

I’ve done all of this. But I also like to go further afield for these adventures if I can. Just like last week, I spent the night in Marrakech on my way to a conference in Europe.

Make the most of your work travel

If you’ve followed some of the tips we’ve shared in our TPG Business Briefing, you’ve probably accumulated quite a few points and miles that you can use on your vacation. While you may feel guilty for taking time away from work or feel like you should be saving those points and miles for a larger family vacation, you can easily schedule a short trip without seriously affecting your wallet or mileage balance.

When I book a business trip overseas, I usually first conduct an extensive search to find out the cheapest way to get where I need to be in time for the meeting. In many cases, it’s cheaper to fly to a large conference a few days in advance (or leave a few days after the conference is over). Once I have a date range that works for my schedule, I can start searching for flights that would be a good side trip.

Of course, some places are better than others for these short, cheap trips. While flying to exciting destinations can be expensive in the United States, it can be much cheaper in Europe and Asia. The major airline alliances offer excellent award redemption options in these regions, and each alliance also has a large number of low-cost carriers.

Thanks to the Schengen Agreement, traveling around most of Europe is very easy. The Schengen Area consists of 29 countries and allows fairly free movement of people within its jurisdiction. This makes it easy to travel between countries like Portugal, Spain, Italy and France for a few days.

Marrakech 17 hours

On my recent trip to Europe, I could only squeeze an extra day of travel into my schedule. Leaving a day early for a conference actually lowered my flight costs, but also reduced the number of options that left me with enough time on the ground to explore a new city.

Porto is a lovely city in Portugal that I have already explored. Other destinations on my radar (such as Bilbao and Valencia in Spain) just didn’t have as many flight options as I would have liked in the time window. However, Marrakech – which, like other Moroccan cities, is increasingly popular with American tourists – lines up almost perfectly.

I arrived in Lisbon in the late morning, went through immigration and security, and headed to the gate for my easyJet flight to Marrakech. EasyJet doesn’t participate in any airline alliances that I can use to spend miles, but I do have some Capital One miles that I need to redeem, which is perfect for my outbound flights. I chose to take Star Alliance member TAP Air Portugal back to Lisbon.

While I did have to wait in a long line to clear customs and finally enter Morocco, I didn’t need to apply for a visa in advance. If you are considering a side trip before the main purpose of your business trip, you should definitely consider entry requirements. You don’t want to ignore requirements that could leave you stranded abroad on a tight schedule.

I arrived in Marrakech at 4pm and arrived at my hotel shortly after 5pm. There are plenty of hotels in Marrakech where you can redeem points, and there are even some lovely riads around the medina, the heart of Marrakech and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I could walk around Jemaa el-Fnaa Square, have dinner outside, and stroll through the souk (maze-like market). In the morning, a rooftop breakfast before heading to the airport is the perfect way to end less than 24 hours in a new city.

Options outside Europe

Asia is another region with many attractive destinations only a few hours away by plane, and with plenty of cheap flights. Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo are all great starting points, with plenty of flights to Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines. Also worth noting is Japan’s excellent high-speed train network.

America has absolutely no appeal for a quick, affordable jaunt to a second city. There are some geographic areas that are more suitable for shorter trips, but you’ll likely want to be in one of the few hubs where competition for popular routes is high.

If you find yourself in the Southwest or Southeast, consider Mexico or the Caribbean. The same strategy applies if you’re near one of Canada’s major gateways, such as Toronto and Vancouver. Depending on the time of year, you may be more likely to find cheap flights to Mexico or the Caribbean than to Canada.

bottom line

Your work schedule may make it seem like you never have enough time to explore new destinations. However, adding a short adventure to your business trip can help you explore new places without spending a lot of time or money – especially if you use rewards to pay for the trip.