How to make travel arrangements for your boss is a question with an order of operations, and the order is the difference between a trip that runs itself and a week of messages. Ask the five questions first, cost and approve the trip (even if the approver is the boss), book in the right sequence with the lead time, build the plan from the bookings with the buffer and the time zones counted, and hand over a plan and a checklist the boss can read on the phone at the gate. This page is that order, with the free worksheets on this site doing the arithmetic, and it is written for the assistant or office manager who does this without a travel department.
Ask the five questions before booking anything
Dates and the earliest arrival and latest departure that work; the meetings and their addresses; preferences that matter (airline, seat, hotel chain, the car versus the taxi); who else is going; and what the boss will not tolerate (a connection, a red-eye, a hotel across town). Write the answers on the request form with the fare, the nights, the rate, the ground and the allowance; the form gives you the figure, and the boss approves it in a message you keep. Arrangements made without the five questions are remade.
Book in sequence, with the lead time
Flight first, because it fixes the dates and the airports; then the hotel near the meetings, not near the airport; then the ground transport for each transfer, with the late-flight rental desk checked for its hours. Book at least seven days out so the Department of Transportation's 24-hour rule lets you cancel without penalty if a detail was wrong, and file each reference against the trip as you make it. Perdiemo Pro keeps them where you and the boss can both see them.
Build the plan from the bookings
The business trip plan worksheet takes the legs, the nights, the meetings, the transfers, the buffer before each departure, the hours per leg and the time zones crossed, and returns the entries, the hours in transit, the buffer reserved and the days to adjust. If the first meeting lands inside the adjustment days, move it. The plan the boss carries is this one, with every reference, every address and every contact on it, and the office's number at the top.
Hand over the checklist, and be reachable
The business trip checklist counts the confirmations to file, the meeting preparation (agenda, materials, address, contact for each) and the day-before items; the packing checklist counts the bag. Give the boss the plan and the checklists, keep the register current while they are away, and when the flight is cancelled at nine at night you have the reference, the airline's commitments from its customer service dashboard, and the next flight already looked up. That is how to make travel arrangements for your boss so that the boss never has to make them.
Questions people ask about how to make travel arrangements for your boss
What should I ask before booking my boss's travel?
Dates and windows, meetings and addresses, preferences, who else is going, and what they will not tolerate. Put the answers and the figures on the request form.
In what order should I book?
Flight, then hotel near the meetings, then ground transport per transfer, at least seven days out, filing each reference against the trip.
What do I hand over?
The plan built from the bookings with every reference and contact, the trip checklist and the packing checklist, all from the free worksheets, plus the office's number for the night the flight is cancelled.