.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
One of the most overlooked mistakes in event travel planning has nothing to do with hotels, destinations, or budgets.
It’s the day you launch your event.
At AllFly, we strongly recommend launching your attendee booking portal on a Monday or Tuesday — not a Thursday or Friday. Here’s why.
When an event launches, most attendees rush in to book airfare within the first 72 hours. That initial booking window is critical because airfare pricing moves quickly, and many bookings require manager approval before tickets can actually be issued.
The challenge is that most travel platforms — including Quest, Concur, and Navan — can typically only hold flights that are pending approval for about 24 hours before the fare expires.
Internally at AllFly, roughly:
- 80% of approvals get approved
- 10% get rejected
- 10% time out or get canceled because no one took action in time
That last 10% creates a surprisingly painful attendee experience.
Here’s the scenario we see all the time:
An event launches Friday afternoon. Attendees jump in and book flights. Several reservations go into an approval queue over the weekend. Monday morning arrives, and suddenly someone important — maybe the VP of Sales or a keynote speaker — discovers their flight was automatically canceled because the approval timed out.
Now they have to:
- Rebook at a higher fare
- Potentially lose preferred flight times
- Pay more for upgrades or premium seats
- Spend extra time dealing with travel changes
The company ends up paying more money, and the attendee walks away frustrated before the trip even starts.
Launching Monday or Tuesday gives your approvers time to actually review requests while fares are still active. It reduces expired bookings, lowers airfare volatility, and creates a much smoother experience for travelers.
It’s a small operational decision that can have a very real impact on traveler satisfaction and event costs.
Sometimes the best travel strategy is simply launching on the right day.
Table of Contents
.png)
.png)
.png)
-min.png)
.png)
-min.png)
.png)
-min.png)
.png)
-min.png)
.png)
.jpg)
