Written on 15^th January 2019

Advice for travel bookers surrounding Brexit

 Peter Snowdon – Global Head of Account Management

 Although a lot of uncertainty surrounds Brexit at the moment   one thing we can be sure of is that whatever the outcome, we are   going to see changes to the way in which UK citizens travel and it   is important that businesses prepare accordingly. Even regular   travellers could easily be caught out if not aware of the new rules,   which if ignored could lead to denied boarding, denied country   entry, and significant costs for re-arranging plans. 

Profile Cleanse

This is a good time to review your travellers profile details, check their passport expiry dates and make a note of any non-UK passport-holders. It’s also a good opportunity to clean up travellers details whom have left the business and collate the details of new starters or those whose details are missing. 

Keep Informed

Keep up-to-date with the latest government advice on passport regulations and passenger travel, see the links at the end of this article. The Account Manager at your TMC can be another good source of information. Subscribing to regular travel bulletins is an easy way of keeping up-to-date.

Review Upcoming Travel 

Take a look at upcoming travel and ensure that travellers are aware of any changes in regulations. 

Prepare Your Travellers

Create a contact card in Outlook with your TMC’s emergency contact details and forward to all travellers to save in their contacts / mobile phones. Remind everyone of your appointed TMC and that the emergency service is there to help if they get stuck. 

Protect Your Travellers

Now is the time to review how you book corporate travel. Do you currently use a travel management company. If so, are they giving you the advice you need and helping you prepare. It is critical to ensure you have a reliable emergency out-of-hours service and procedure in place to assist affected travellers. 

Be Prepared for Change

At the moment nothing is certain, so now is a great time to prepare for the fact that all rules could change in an instant.  

Gov.uk - Passport rules for travel in Europe after Brexit

Gov.uk - Travel to Europe by Air, Rail or Sea after Brexit