This story is a part The New Era of Work TravelThe editors of Condé Nast Traveler You can also find out more about the following: WIRED To help you navigate through the advantages and pitfalls associated with a business trip today.
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic changed how people worked and lived. Many health experts, CEOs and publications (including WIRED( predicted that Covid will grind business travel into a halt for all time. If we can use Zoom, Slack, or other online tools to do our work and have meetings, why not also apply this same digital-first mindset on business trips?
Sara Nelson, international president of Association of Flight Attendants-CWA AFL-CIO, a career United Airlines Flight Attendant, was a career United Airlines Flight Attendant. offered a prediction This proved to be a prescient prediction. “The virtual meetings have connected people in a new way,” she said, “but what we have seen in the travel industry is that the more people are connected by technology, the more they want to travel—because people naturally want to be together. And if you think businesses are going to say ‘Oh, we don’t have to pay those expenses, we don’t have to pay for those plane tickets and hotel rooms’—the first time somebody gets a deal because they went personally, it all snaps back again.”
Once vaccines became widely accessible and the threat receded, the company executives started to call workers back into the office in droves. The companies began paying for employees to return to the skies. According to a 2024 report from the World Travel & Tourism Council, global business travel has now surpassed pre-pandemic levels and was estimated to account for $1.5 trillion in spending last year alone.
There is a race among airlines to create the most luxurious airport lounges. Delta One loungeThe new Business Class amenities in the aircraft (which opened at JFK last year) are also worth mentioning.privacy doors; hyper-personalized service). At the same time, experience-craving millennials, eager to flex their spending power, created a boom in “bleisure” travel—extended trips that combine business and leisure. As a result, business travelers are becoming more aware that travel can be both a means of socialization and personal growth.
With the resurgence in business travel comes a wave of technological innovation. Airplane Wi Fi, which was once a joke rather than a reliable service, is now a very good one. You can use it to do work, or even stream TikToks on an extended trip. The airlines and tech companies have also taken advantage of the advances in generative AIIn the future, AI may even book and manage your entire itinerary. It will tailor its decisions based on your personal preferences and keep you informed of any last-minute changes. In the future, AI could even manage and book your entire itinerary. It would tailor its decisions to your preferences and keep you informed of any changes.
Consider this package as a guide on what you can expect from business travel in the future. The teams of WIRED and Condé Nast Traveler have pooled their collective expertise to bring you thoughtful, deeply reported stories on everything from multiday commutes to the tech that keeps planes in the air on the world’s longest flights. We answer all of your questions about business travel, including how to maximize your hotel points and manage your expenses. As fast as the world moves, business travel also does. But a little curated information, from those who are experts, is all it takes to become a master in the skies.
This story was originally published on WIRED.
