Avoid These 5 Expensive Team Travel Mistakes 🚫✈️ — Laika’s Handy Guide

By Myra Marchenko

Planning team travel? Offsites, bonding trips, strategy sessions in scenic Airbnbs? Love it. But also — yikes, it can get pricey fast if you're not careful. And we’ve seen it: the unnecessary upgrades, the awkward vibe because someone’s gluten-free and nobody asked, the team-building activity no one wanted but cost a fortune.

So here’s our quick and honest guide to five common team travel traps — and how to dodge them like a pro.

1. Forgetting your team is made of actual humans 🙃

Money-saving perk: Less waste, more joy

Everyone has different vibes. One person wants yoga at sunrise, another just wants Wi-Fi and coffee. If you don’t ask, you’ll end up booking stuff no one really uses or enjoys.

✅ Do this instead:

  • Run a quick pre-trip survey (meals, energy levels, beds vs. bunks – it all matters)

  • Offer options — introverts might skip karaoke and that’s fine

  • Make it accessible for everyone so you don’t have to scramble to fix things last-minute

2. Buying the beige package 🥱

Money-saving perk: Only pay for what actually works

Yes, the “team-building experience” with generic trust falls and awkward icebreakers is available — but should you? Probably not. Off-the-shelf doesn’t usually match your goals, your people, or your company culture.

✅ Do this instead:

  • Build activities around what your team actually needs

  • Make it fun and useful (surprising, but possible)

  • Keep it real — the best connections come from shared experiences, not forced ones

3. Underestimating the logistics monster 🧃

Money-saving perk: No chaos = no surprise costs

Travel plans look cute on a spreadsheet until someone misses a flight or the hotel booked the wrong dates. Logistics are the sneaky budget-burners.

✅ Do this instead:

  • Book early (better deals, fewer panic attacks)

  • Double check everything — twice

  • Have someone (a real human) onsite or on-call to sort the chaos if it arises

4. Not thinking about safety until it’s too late 🧯

Money-saving perk: Avoid medical/legal nightmares

Team trips are fun… until someone twists an ankle on a hike or gets their laptop swiped in transit. It’s all jokes until it costs you big.

✅ Do this instead:

  • Have emergency plans and contacts ready

  • Get travel insurance (yes, even if it feels boring)

  • Think ahead — what could go wrong, and how do we avoid it?

5. Skipping the follow-up 🙈

Money-saving perk: Max out your ROI

So you had the trip. Everyone had a good time. Great! But if you don’t learn from it or apply anything, you’re missing half the value — and you’ll probably end up spending more on the next one trying to "fix" what didn’t work.

✅ Do this instead:

  • Set clear goals beforehand — what are you trying to get out of this?

  • Ask for feedback after (and actually read it)

  • Use what you learn to make the next one even better

Team travel is worth it. But only if you do it right. A little planning = a lot of saved money, better vibes, and actual team bonding. If you want help designing something that's fun, impactful, and budget-friendly (without the cringe), Laika’s got you.

Let’s make team travel smarter, smoother, and less expensive — because your people deserve better than soggy buffets and forced fun.

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