The flights are smooth, the hotels are comfortable – and yet, business travel still leaves people burnt out. Why? Because the real stress isn’t in the journey itself. It’s in the tangled mess that surrounds it – from unclear travel policies and delayed reimbursements to manual data entry and endless post-trip admin. 

Workers are fronting an average of £321 million a month through expenses – from client lunches to accommodation, and travel – before seeing a penny back. These aren’t just minor annoyances; they’re constant, low-grade stressors that quietly wear people down. 

Wellness perks like gym discounts and meditation apps have their place, but they can’t make up for structural friction in the travel process. It’s this friction that undermines traveller wellbeing — the back-and-forth with finance, the duplicated data entry, the fatigue of having to fix problems that shouldn’t exist in the first place. Two in five of UK workers are facing stress due to delayed expense reimbursements, and nearly a third have reported personal cashflow issues. These aren’t isolated frustrations – they’re signals of a process in need of an overhaul. 

No matter how well your wellness initiatives are packaged, they won’t offset the strain caused by outdated expense systems.

When systems are clunky or inconsistent, frustration becomes the norm. It’s becoming increasingly common for frequent travellers to reconsider roles that require regular trips, not because of the travel itself, but because the surrounding process feels like unnecessary stress. No one wants to feel like they’re personally financing their employer’s business, or that chasing expenses is just part of the job.

What’s often overlooked in conversations about travel wellbeing is that simplicity itself is a benefit. A smoother, clearer, more streamlined process doesn’t just reduce friction – it reduces real stress. That’s why  major hotel groups like Hilton are already adopting seamless payment solutions, transforming the traveller experience and eliminating unnecessary headaches.  

Redesigning payment and expense systems — beginning with practical tools like virtual cards — is a powerful way to ease the burden on both travellers and finance teams. When a traveller doesn’t need to carry the cost of a hotel stay or manage the complexity of multiple receipts, it simplifies the experience and signals respect for their time and mental bandwidth. 

Encouragingly, adoption is growing. Virtual cards and seamless payments are becoming the new standard — not just because they’re more efficient, but because they redefine the travel experience itself. It’s time to fix the process. Let’s remove the friction and make business travel work better for everyone.

Jason Lalor is CEO of Conferma. Before joining Conferma, he served as Chief Executive of Square’s European business, headquartered in Dublin, as well as serving as Executive Director on several of Square’s international Boards.  Before joining Square, Jason spent over six years with Mastercard in various roles, including General Manager of Ireland and Vice President of European Digital and Fintech Partnerships. He has previously held senior roles at Barclaycard, American Express and Dell.