Eighty-one percent of Millennial business travelers say that “business travel has a positive impact on their job satisfaction.” That is, 81% of them are happier in their work lives because of business travel. How often do you hear that about business travel? Meeting new people, making the most of out-of-office time to experience new places, and taking advantage of business travel perks are some of the main reasons to “travel like a Millennial.” Ahmed Bhuiyan, Director of Business Development at Utrip, agrees, telling us that “Millennials like to travel for work because it breaks [up] the monotony of a 9-to-5 job.”
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Yet, as a business traveler, do you really want to be more like a Millennial? After all, they have their weaknesses, too. For example, Millennials are often criticized for being lazy and entitled. In a 2013 EY online U.S. survey of more than 1,200 cross-company professionals (PDF), Millennials scored the highest out of three generations (i.e., Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials) in three out of four negative traits including “difficult to work with,” “lacking relevant experience,” and “entitled.” In this same study, Millennials also had lower scores “for being perceived as a ‘team player’, ‘hardworking’, and ‘a productive part of my organization’” compared to both Boomers and Gen Xers.
But the EY study also highlighted the strengths of Millennials. They are often viewed “as the ‘best’ at being ‘tech savvy’ and ‘social media opportunists who leverage social media beyond marketing’.” Other strong points of Millennials in the survey were adaptability, entrepreneurship, collaboration, and they’re brand ambassadors.
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Do all of these strong points for Millennials sound perfect for the sometimes-hectic, often-uncertain world of business travel? Probably. If you are a Gen Xer or Baby Boomer, we’re not suggesting you completely ditch your own generation—but the business travel industry is rapidly changing to accommodate the growing number of Millennials in the work force, so instead of trying to fight an uphill battle, why not consider some ways to “go with the flow” of the industry?
While many business travelers these days are Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers are still in the mix. And when surveyed, 40% of Gen Xers and 26% of Boomers say they want to travel more. So, for a moment, let’s ignore some of the common critiques about Millennials and consider what it might mean to do as the Millennials do when it comes to travel.
Who are Millennials?
Millennials are driving the future of business travel and have evolved into a new type of business traveler. With so many travel startups/apps available today, the accessibility of communication technology, and companies’ continued focus on building client relationships via face-to-face interaction, business travel is greater today than ever before. Maxim Shomov, a Digital Marketing Executive at Fair Point GmbH, adds that “in a world of geopolitical uncertainties such as the one that is today, trust is a major issue which many professionals face. What better way to deal with this problem than meeting face-to-face rather via an online conference. Millennials acknowledge these factors and give their best to address these issues.”
And many Millennials still want to travel more often.
So who are Millennials? Great question. If Millennials had a LinkedIn profile, it would say they are:
- Proficient with and adopt technology on a large scale but still value face-to-face meetings as a priority
- Adaptable
- Focused on work-life balance
- Quick to change for a better deal or more value (high importance placed on value of services and brand loyalty)
- More emotionally connected to brands (viewed as extensions of their own values)
- More open to giving feedback (i.e., review sites and social media)
- Frequent users of the sharing economy (accommodation and transit)
- More interested in international travel and new cultural experiences
- More preferential toward social travel amenities (free unlimited WiFi, social space, shared workspaces)
- The most diverse generation in US history
These are some of the preferences and values driving Millennials, and as they make up more of the workforce, the travel industry will change to accommodate them. Bhuiyan says, “I am in e-commerce…so the office tends to be younger…The average age when I was at Booking.com was 28 years old. And Booking.com is a major company; when I was there, there were 10,000 employees, so if the average age is 28 then it says something about e-commerce technology companies.” In other words, the Millennials are coming full force.
Getting Your Millennial On and Getting the Most Out of Business Travel
Given that Millennials are happier in their work lives due to their business travel, it’s worth taking a look at what makes their travel practices different from other generations. If you want to try and do as Millennials do, here are five ways to roll with the changes and make them work for you.
1) View Travel as an Experience (Not a Means to an End)
Yes, technology helps blur the line between business and leisure, but it isn’t technology alone. Technology has caused a shift in mindset among Millennials. Here is the key: shift your travel currency from things to experiences. That is the core of what Millennials believe. As a Millennial myself, I can say that whenever I travel—business or leisure—I try to make the most of my trip. Whether that’s spending an extra 2 days in Chicago after client meetings or making a short trip to San Francisco while in Los Angeles for business; it doesn’t matter per se. It’s about making the most of the trip and experience itself.
Shifting your travel currency to experiences can be as simple as redirecting typical business trip costs. For example, instead of staying at a brand hotel in New York City, a Millennial might opt to spend less for an Airbnb room or hostel and use that money saved for a cooking class or a tour of the city. The accommodations don’t matter to him/her as much as seeing and experiencing as much of New York City as possible. As Bhuiyan notes, “they [Millennials] also have lower expectations for flight[s] and lodging—they are happy with an economy seat on a 12-hour flight.”
Millennials are also masters of time management. With calendars synced via the cloud and the ability to make plans via email or even in some instances social media (more on that later), there are no excuses for not making the most of your time away. Valuing experiences over things is one step in the Millennial direction.
The cons? Cramming a lot of activities into your already-busy business trip would probably result in a pretty hectic work schedule. The pros? Making the most of your next business trip by taking advantage of your down time, which will energize you to be even more productive during your busy time. Call it bleisure. Call it whatever you want. It’s about making the most of your valuable time by filling it with meaningful experiences—not just getting from Point A to Point B.
Sound busy? Definitely. Sound productive and fulfilling? Absolutely. It was Albert Einstein himself who claimed, “I love to travel but hate to arrive.” Let’s all be Einsteins take the time to more fully experience our business trips.
2) Embrace your Social Media and Messaging Apps (…Within Reason)
Gen Xers and Baby Boomers: when was the last time you heard Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and didn’t cringe a bit? Never? Well, skip to the next section then. Cringed at least once? Stick around then. Whether we like it or not, social media has taken off in the last 10 years and has become an integral part of Millennials’ lives. Checking our News Feeds first thing in the morning now replaces the morning newspaper or news. With social media, it’s much easier to customize what you want to see every day. You can curate your own news at your fingertips, following and liking your favorite restaurants, venues, organizations, individuals, and so on. You can hear the latest news and get updates even while on the other side of the world. This level of engagement is unprecedented and allows any of us to connect and communicate with major companies and even celebrities. Shomov agrees that “a generation which adopted technology as part of their life…[and] have also grown up with social media…understands it better than the other generation[s].”
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While your chances of chatting via social media with Brad Pitt or Jessica Alba are pretty slim, your chances of chatting with KLM and Hyatt might actually be better than you think. While you won’t want a date with either, you can definitely ask them questions about your upcoming trip via Facebook Messenger. Sound better than being put on hold for 45 minutes? Millennials think so too. According to a Pew Research Center survey in early 2016, messaging apps are very popular with younger smartphone owners, with 42% of smartphone owners ages 18 to 29 using these apps. Compare that to 29% of owners ages 30-49 and 19% of owners ages 50+. In conjunction with the rapid advancement in A.I. and chatbots, social media and messaging apps can be very useful for your upcoming business trip. Why not give it a try for KLM and Hyatt?
Millennials have embraced social media and messaging apps and use them regularly to engage with their friends, family, and even businesses. Admittedly, this is largely because of Millennials’ need for instant gratification. However, companies have learned that social media and messaging are becoming the preferred means of communication among Millennials, and their adoption of it will only increase as more Millennials enter the workforce. Companies are providing discounts, updates, and customer service in new and more accessible ways. What’s not to love about that?
Social media can also be used to tap into your own networks. Stuck in Chicago for a day and need to know the best spots to hit up? Crowdsource your friends, family, and coworkers on Facebook or via a group message for tips and recommendations. Find your boss’ favorite café for a flat white and your buddy’s go-to spot for the best deep dish pizza in town. How is this different from asking your buddies over the phone? By interacting via social media, you’re increasing your exposure to your networks while also giving yourself the opportunity to directly interact with the businesses themselves. The key values of social media are its abilities to keep others up-to-date as much as possible and connect businesses to customers.
3) Seek Out Great Service and Give Honest Feedback (AKA “Earned” Brand Loyalty)
Millennials are highly demanding—much more so than any generation so far. As a Millennial myself, I can (proudly?) agree wholeheartedly. In a 2013 TIME article, Joel Stein claims that “Millennials’ perceived entitlement isn’t a result of overprotection but an adaptation to a world of abundance.” At work, Millennials look for challenges, an ability to make an impact, personal growth and development opportunities, work/life balance, and great salary/benefits. Some would say that Millennials want to have their cake and eat it too. However, they have some very valuable skills in the professional world to balance out their demands: flexibility and adaptability to constant change.
How does this all translate to travel? Quite simply: seek out the best travel programs and services for yourself and don’t be afraid to move on to something better.
If you’re a frequent business traveler, some of the best ways to take advantage of your constant schedule on the go are to apply for a frequent traveler card, airline rewards program, and hotel rewards program. These cards and programs typically allow members to acquire points whenever they travel or make purchases abroad. These points can then be redeemed for rewards or other special offers. Different credit cards, airlines, and hotels have a surplus of options for travelers so seek out the best ones to suit your needs. In time, you’ll get that upgrade to first class that you’ve been dreaming of all along.
Okay, maybe you’re already enrolled in several rewards programs. And you’re thinking, “but I don’t feel any more like a Millennial. I’ve been doing this already.” Never fear—here’s where you can really get your Millennial on: don’t be afraid to jump ship if a better deal or value is elsewhere. Millennials make companies earn their loyalty.
With technology and especially social media at our fingertips, our ability to interact and get near-immediate customer service is much quicker than in the past. You can leave a review on Yelp or TripAdvisor, and many companies have social media pages and profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. As mentioned, Facebook has even allowed businesses like KLM and Hyatt to use its Messenger to interact with customers.
Millennials have embraced this unprecedented accessibility to companies. If they ever have issues with a flight, hotel, or meal, they tend to comment via social media and expect companies to respond. Customer complaints and honest feedback via this newfound accessibility and visibility put the pressure on companies. Because Millennials expect quick and effective responses, companies know the value of timeliness. And if Millennials don’t get a quick and satisfactory response? Well, they’re not afraid to move on then. They expect great service for their loyalty and if they don’t get it? On to the next one. They’re not concerned with sunk costs when there are plenty of other options out there vying for their customer loyalty. So do as the Millennials do and make companies earn your loyalty!
4) Be Willing to Work Remotely (i.e., Work/Life Balance)
One of the main reasons that Millennials can travel for work is the ability to work without a traditional office. This is not an argument against traditional offices at all; offices are still irreplaceable for building community and camaraderie among colleagues. However, technology has allowed colleagues to be more mobile and flexible. These days, it’s less about strict work schedules and more about “as long as you get your work done by the deadline,” and many companies have started to move in this direction.
With plenty of web services (e.g., Google Drive, DropBox) and messaging/conference services (e.g., Slack, Skype, GoToMeeting) to deliver work products and communicate with your team, it’s easier to stay productive while out of the office now more than ever. Additionally, many companies have hotel offices for employees to come and go during the week at various cities around the world. All you need is your laptop and a power cord (and that might already be provided for you).
In addition, many major cities around the world have co-working spaces (e.g., WeWork, Work Better, and Jay Suites in New York City) that have desks, offices, and conference rooms all available for rent by the hour, day, or for longer terms.
Gen Xers and Baby Boomers may be asking themselves, “Why go along with this?” Adopting this mindset—to be location independent—can be very helpful to your professional life. Location independence allows for greater flexibility. Flexibility leads to more travel opportunities and ultimately a better work/life balance. That translates into more time for bleisure.
Working remotely, you have the freedom to set your own location and schedule as long as you stay disciplined with your work and deadlines. Setting your own schedule is key to being able to plan ahead and maximize your bleisure time. Millennials have embraced this flexibility and will continue to do so even more as many of them start families. For example, having the freedom to work remotely will allow parents more time for their kids in between writing financial reports.
5) Step Outside of your Comfort Zone
Probably the most defining characteristic of Millennials is their willingness to step out of their comfort zones and into new experiences. This might be hard to adopt by some. However, all it requires is a shift in mindset. As mentioned in reason #1, Millennials are focused less on things and more on experiences.
This doesn’t mean that you need to hop on the next plane to Siem Reap and backpack around Southeast Asia for 6 months. What this does mean is to put yourself in positions to meet new people and have new experiences.
With both technology and travel, it’s easier to connect with others more than ever before. During your travels, you’ll undoubtedly run into others also in transit and right there you have common ground. Engage with others, find out more about them and what they do, and network. This means not waiting for designated work events such as business meetings or conferences. These are still great opportunities to meet others and network, but by no means the only ones.
Millennials are used to and love sharing what’s going on in their lives. While that’s probably due to being in constant contact via social media and instant messaging, the fact is that Millennials love to connect. And oftentimes, the best connections are made when least expected.
How do you set yourself up for new experiences? To start, embrace the sharing economy. On your next trip, maybe book an Airbnb room or apartment. Chat with your host over breakfast and coffee rather than eating room service alone in your hotel room. With the recent release of Corporate Airbnb, the sharing economy is becoming more compatible with business travel than ever before. Also, Millennials have looked more and more to hostels for their accommodation needs. Some hostels are better than others, but in general they are preferred because of their communal atmospheres. Need to get some work done? Sit in the common space with other like-minded workers and chat.
Next ride to/from the airport? Don’t take a taxi: get an Uber or Lyft. Better yet, do a shared ride with Uber or Lyft. The pros? You get a cheaper fare plus the chance to chat with other business travelers or locals. The cons? A sad taxi driver.
Also mentioned in method #4, coworking spaces have become more and more popular for Millennials because they are both social and flexible. But there are no rules saying others aren’t allowed! Next time you’re in a city for travel and need to get some work done, stop by a co-working space and meet other like-minded individuals. You might just expand your network in the process.
Walk Like an Egyptian Millennial
Every generation has its strengths and weaknesses as a result of the environment in which its members grew up. According to an EY survey in 2013 (PDF), Gen Xers are the most effective managers, best revenue-generators, and are great at problem-solving, while Baby Boomers are the most productive parts of organizations, hardworking, and essential for others’ development. On the other hand, while Millennials have some strengths, they have their weaknesses, too: Lazy. Entitled. The more we can learn from the weaknesses and integrate the strengths of other generations into our own lives, the stronger individuals and employees we’ll be.
The travel industry is changing every day, implementing new technologies and practices to accommodate Millennials as they grow to soon make up a majority of the workforce. Millennials are traveling for work more than ever before and many of them couldn’t be happier about it. Wondering where all their happiness is coming from? Take into account the above five reasons on your next trip and feel like a Millennial in no time.