Engine, a business travel platform, released a new State of Business Travel Report in partnership with Morning Brew, that uncovered “the biggest pain points of business travel for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs).”
According to the report, the average cost of a business trip jumped 35% between 2024 and 2026, rising from $834 to $1,128, driven largely by rising gas prices and inflation.
The report also noted that employees are losing time and money on the back end:
- The average employee spends 7.8 hours per month on travel-related admin tasks – 94 hours, or 12 full working days, per year. That compares with the 11 vacation days the average private-sector worker receives after one year on the job.
- 26% of business travelers paid for a business expense while traveling that wasn’t fully reimbursed
- Of those, a quarter report that $250–$999 of their own money never gets reimbursed in a typical year.
The survey was distributed to 439 business travelers and business travel admins in June, primarily to US-based Morning Brew readers who specifically work in business travel or frequently travel for business.
