Bleisure Travel Policy: A Complete Framework and Guidelines

The rise of "bleisure" travel—the practice of blending business trips with personal vacation time—is one of the most significant trends in modern corporate travel. It's a highly sought-after perk that can boost employee morale, improve work-life balance, and serve as a powerful tool for attracting and retaining top talent. Companies that embrace bleisure are seen as flexible, modern, and employee-centric.

However, this popular trend also introduces new complexities. Without a clear policy framework, blended trips can create confusion around expense reimbursement, company liability, and Duty of Care obligations. A formal, well-defined bleisure travel policy is crucial for managing these trips effectively and providing clarity for both employees and the company.

This guide provides a comprehensive framework and set of guidelines to help you create a bleisure travel policy that is fair, transparent, and easy to manage.

The Core Principle: A Clear Division

The foundational principle of any bleisure policy is to draw a clear and unambiguous line between the "business" portion of the trip and the "leisure" portion. Every rule in the policy should flow from this distinction.

A Template for Your Bleisure Travel Policy Framework

Your bleisure policy can be a section within your main corporate travel policy or a standalone document. It should cover the following key areas in detail.

Section 1: Definition and Approval Process

1. Definition of a Bleisure Trip:

   • A bleisure trip is a standard, pre-approved business trip that an employee requests to extend with personal vacation days, either before or after the designated work days.

2. Request and Approval Workflow:

   • All requests for bleisure travel must be submitted as part of the standard pre-trip approval process through the company's official travel management platform.
   • The request must clearly specify the designated "business dates" and "personal dates."
   • The employee's manager must approve the entire itinerary, including the personal days, before the trip is booked. This ensures full transparency.

Section 2: Expense Management Guidelines

This is the most critical section for financial control. The goal is to ensure the company only pays for expenses directly related to the business portion of the trip.

1. Airfare and Transportation Costs:

   • The "Cost Comparison" Rule: The company's financial responsibility for airfare is limited to the cost of a standard, business-only round trip.
   • Implementation: At the time of booking, the travel platform must generate a "cost comparison" that shows the fare for the employee's requested bleisure itinerary side-by-side with the fare for a standard business trip (i.e., flying out and back on the work days).
   • Employee Responsibility: If the bleisure itinerary is more expensive, the employee is responsible for paying the fare difference. If it's cheaper (e.g., avoiding a Friday return flight), the company benefits from the savings. This difference should be clearly documented and paid by the employee at the time of booking.

2. Accommodation (Hotels):

   • Company Responsibility: The company will pay for the hotel room and applicable taxes only for the nights required for business activities.
   • Employee Responsibility: The employee is responsible for the full cost of their accommodation during all personal days of the trip. If staying at the same hotel, the booking should be split accordingly.

3. Meals and Incidentals (Per Diems):

   • Company Responsibility: The company's standard per diem or meal reimbursement policy applies only on designated business days.
   • Employee Responsibility: All meals, activities, entertainment, and incidental expenses incurred during the personal vacation days are the employee's personal responsibility and are not reimbursable.

4. Ground Transportation:

   • Company Responsibility: The company will cover the cost of ground transportation for business purposes only (e.g., travel from the airport to the hotel and to and from client meetings on work days).
   • Employee Responsibility: All ground transportation used for personal sightseeing or activities during the leisure portion of the trip is a personal expense.

Section 3: Duty of Care, Insurance, and Liability

This section is critical for managing risk and legal obligations.

1. Duty of Care Obligation:

   • The company's Duty of Care obligation (i.e., the responsibility to ensure the employee's safety and well-being) applies only during the defined business portion of the trip.
   • The travel risk management program, including traveler tracking and automated risk alerts, is active only during the business dates.

2. Insurance:

   • The company's corporate travel medical and liability insurance covers the employee only during the business portion of the trip.
   • The policy must state that the employee is strongly recommended to purchase their own personal travel insurance to cover the leisure portion of their trip, including for medical emergencies, trip cancellations, or lost baggage.

3. Liability:

   • The policy should include a clear statement that the company is not liable for any incidents, accidents, injuries, or losses that occur during the approved personal/leisure days of the trip. The employee is considered to be on personal time and travels at their own risk during this period.

Section 4: Companions

1. Bringing Family or Friends:
   • The policy can state that employees are permitted to have family or friends join them for the leisure portion of the trip.
   • However, it must be explicit that the company will not cover any costs associated with a companion. This includes their airfare, meals, activities, and any incremental cost for a larger hotel room.

Implementing Your Bleisure Policy Successfully

• Use the Right Technology: A modern travel management platform is essential for managing bleisure travel effectively. A platform like Routespring can automate the airfare cost comparison, handle the split billing for hotels, and clearly delineate business vs. personal days on the itinerary, which is critical for both expense and risk management.
• Communicate Clearly: Once the policy is finalized, communicate it clearly to all employees. Frame it as a positive benefit and a commitment to work-life balance, while also being clear about the rules and responsibilities.

A well-defined bleisure policy is a win-win. It allows you to offer a highly valued perk that improves employee morale and retention, while ensuring financial clarity and mitigating corporate risk. It's a key component of any modern, employee-centric travel program.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Is a bleisure policy difficult to manage? It can be, if you're using manual processes. Trying to calculate flight cost comparisons and split hotel bills on spreadsheets is a nightmare. However, a modern travel management platform automates all of this, making the policy easy to administer.

2. Does allowing bleisure travel increase a company's costs? When managed with a proper policy, it generally does not. The company's cost is benchmarked to a business-only trip. In some cases, it can even save money if the employee's flexible return date results in a cheaper flight. The main ROI comes from "soft" benefits like improved employee morale and retention.

3. What if a work meeting is canceled and the business portion of the trip no longer happens? Your policy should address this. Typically, if the business portion is canceled by the company, the company would be responsible for any change fees or costs associated with the employee's decision to either cancel their personal trip or continue with it at their own expense.

4. How do we handle expense reports for bleisure trips? An integrated travel and expense platform simplifies this. The pre-booked travel costs are paid centrally. For on-trip expenses, the employee would use the mobile app to submit only those expenses incurred on their designated work days.

5. Why is the Duty of Care distinction so important? It's critical for managing legal liability. A company has a legal obligation to protect its employees while they are working. By clearly stating that this obligation does not extend to personal vacation days, the company protects itself from liability for incidents that occur while the employee is not "on the clock."