Planning a company offsite or group trip

Hotel and airline terms vary. The specific terms quoted on this page are examples from the published sources listed at the end, not industry rules. Read your own contracts, and have them reviewed by whoever signs contracts for your company.

Work backward from the date

A group trip is a set of deadlines that depend on each other: the hotel contract sets the cutoff date, the cutoff date sets when you need names, and names set when flights can be booked. Start from the day everyone needs to be in the room and work backward. The schedule below is a suggestion for 10 to 150 people; move everything earlier for larger groups, international travel or busy dates.

Two decisions shape the rest, so make them first. Who approves the budget, so the plan gets one approval rather than many. And who books travel: one team booking everyone, or each attendee booking through your usual program under the event's rules. Central booking gives you one list of who is arriving when; individual booking is simpler for the organizer but harder to track.

Choose the destination and dates

Start with where people are coming from. List attendees by home city, then compare each shortlisted destination on total door-to-door time, not just distance: the number of direct flights, connections, and the time zones people will cross. A destination that's easy for most of the group but means two connections for one office will shape who arrives tired.

• Entry requirements. Check passport validity and visa or entry rules for every nationality in the group, not just your own, early enough for anyone who needs a visa to get one.
• Season and local events. A citywide convention, a public holiday or peak season can fill hotels and raise rates. Ask hotels what else is on during your dates.
• Arrival and departure days. Plan a realistic arrival window on day one and a finish that lets people reach their flights. Avoid putting the main session on the morning after a long-haul arrival.
• Accessibility. Check the venue, the hotel and local transport against what attendees have told you they need, before you commit.

Hold two or three date options until you have hotel proposals: rates and availability for a block can differ a lot between weeks.

Room blocks, cutoff dates and attrition

A room block is a set of rooms a hotel holds for your group at an agreed rate. In return, the hotel usually asks for commitments, and the two that cause the most surprises are the cutoff date and attrition. Rooms usually get into the block in one of two ways: you send the hotel a rooming list, or attendees book themselves into the block online or by phone.^[1]

The cutoff date

The cutoff date is the end of the period the hotel holds the block and the group rate. After it, the hotel can release unbooked rooms and sell them to others.^[1] As one example, a Sheraton hotel in Amsterdam publishes group terms that set the cutoff at 5:00 p.m. local time, 14 days before the start date; after that, extra reservations are at the hotel's discretion and at its prevailing rates.^[2] Other hotels set different dates, so find yours in the contract and put it in the schedule.

Attrition

An attrition clause protects the hotel if the rooms it held for you aren't booked: you commit to using a set share of the block, and pay for a shortfall below it. Brown University's guidance for its own departments gives a worked example: a block of 20 room nights with 80% attrition (16 room nights), of which only 12 were used, leaves the department paying for the 4 unused room nights.^[1] The same Sheraton terms let a group release 10% of the original block free of charge until 14 days before arrival, and calculate attrition damages as the adjusted minimum room revenue minus what the block actually earned.^[2]

Brown's advice to its departments is a good default for anyone: don't ask a hotel to hold more rooms than you expect to have booked. It also notes that smaller room block contracts (under $20,000) often don't include attrition clauses.^[1] That's one organization's experience, not a rule, but it's worth asking whether a small block needs the clause at all.

Cancellation is a separate clause

Attrition covers a group that comes but uses fewer rooms. Canceling or moving the whole event is usually covered by its own schedule, with charges that rise as the date gets closer. In the Sheraton example they run from 20% of total revenue at 120 or more days out to 100% within 13 days, and the attrition allowance doesn't apply if the group cancels.^[2]

What to ask before you sign

Rooms booked outside the block, through another site or at a different rate, may not count toward it. Ask the hotel how it counts them, tell attendees early how to book, and check the rooms booked in the block every week before the cutoff.

Group fares or individual tickets

Airlines run group desks with their own fares and terms. Delta, for example, offers group pricing to 10 or more people on the same itinerary, with at least one flight segment in common.^[3] A group fare can hold seats before every name is known, and the fare's terms say how long the price holds, which helps when the attendee list is still moving.

The trade-offs are in the terms. Delta's group policy lets you change names free before ticketing, with a fee after. New bookings need a nonrefundable booking fee for each passenger and a deposit with its own deadline, penalties may apply for seats not ticketed, tickets are nonrefundable, though they may be used for future travel, subject to any fare difference and change fee, and taxes and surcharges aren't guaranteed unless the contract says so.^[3] Other airlines' terms differ, so compare the written terms, not just the fare.

• A group fare suits ten or more people flying the same route on the same day, such as one office traveling together.
• Individual tickets suit attendees coming from many cities, people with different dates, and late joiners. Book them through your usual program, so travel policy, approvals and your traveler records still apply.
• Mixed is normal. One large office on a group fare, everyone else on individual tickets.

Ground transport

Build ground transport from the arrival schedule, not the other way around. Once flights are booked, list arrivals by time and terminal, and group people who land close together into shared transfers. Leave a buffer for delays and decide in advance what happens to someone whose flight is late: a later shuttle, a car, or a taxi they expense.

• Book transfers for arrival and departure days, and any moves between the hotel and a separate venue.
• Give drivers a passenger list and a phone number for the organizer, and give attendees the pickup point and a name to look for.
• Check that vehicles suit anyone with mobility needs, and that there is room for luggage and any equipment.
• For evening events away from the hotel, arrange the ride back before the evening starts.

Dietary and accessibility needs

Dietary needs

Ask a structured question rather than an open one, and separate allergies and medical diets (which are safety issues) from preferences. US law identifies nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame.^[6] Asking about each by name gets better answers than "any allergies?". Pass the venue and hotel the needs with the names of the people who have them, where meals are served individually, and ask whoever books flights to add meal requests to each booking where the airline offers them.

Accessibility needs

Ask every attendee the same open question, such as "Is there anything we should arrange so the trip works for you?", and keep the answers private. Then check each part of the trip against them.

• Hotels. In the US, hotels must let guests with disabilities reserve accessible rooms the same way and at the same hours as other guests, describe accessible features in enough detail to judge them, and hold a reserved accessible room for the guest who reserved it.^[4] Ask how accessible rooms work inside your block.
• Flights. US rules generally don't let airlines require advance notice for disability assistance, but airlines may ask for up to 48 hours' notice for certain services, including accommodating a group of ten or more travelers with a disability who reserve and travel together.^[5] Tell the airline early either way.
• Ground transport and the venue. Accessible vehicles, step-free routes, seating, and breaks in the agenda.

Traveler communications

Most questions from attendees come from not knowing where the answer is. Keep one current source, an email thread or a page, and send a small number of messages at the moments people need them:

1. Save the date, as soon as the dates are fixed.
2. The invitation and details request, with a firm deadline for travel details.
3. Booking confirmation, with the itinerary and what happens if they need to change it.
4. The briefing, about two weeks before: transfers, the hotel, the agenda's start and end times, what to bring, dress, and who to call.
5. A reminder the day before, with the arrival plan and the on-call number.
6. Afterward, a thank-you and a short survey.

Collect only what you need, and limit who can see it. Dietary, medical and accessibility answers are sensitive, and passport numbers don't belong in a shared spreadsheet. The traveler profile checklist lists what a booking needs.

Duty of care for a group

An offsite moves many people at once, often to one hotel, which makes it easier to account for everyone, as long as the list is right. The general approach is in our duty of care guide; for a group, a few things matter most:

• One list of who is where. Include people who arrive early, stay on, travel separately or book their own flights, and update it as plans change.
• A named on-site lead and a deputy, who carry the contact sheet and can make decisions at night.
• Know the venue's and hotel's emergency procedures, and where people should meet if a building is evacuated.
• Assess the activities, not just the destination: water, driving, alcohol and late-night travel back to the hotel.
• Guests and contractors. Check how your insurance and assistance providers cover people who aren't employees.

The trip incident contact sheet holds the contacts and steps on one page.

Budget

Build the budget per attendee and per trip, so it moves with the headcount:

• Flights and rail, priced by departure city, plus baggage and seat fees if your policy covers them.
• Hotel, as rooms times nights at the contracted rate, plus taxes and any resort or service charges, and early arrivals or extended stays you'll pay for.
• Ground transport, as transfers and any moves during the event.
• Venue, food and activities, often the largest local costs, usually with their own minimums.
• Fees, for your travel provider, event agency or group desk.
• A contingency for late joiners, changes, no-shows and any attrition or cancellation charge. Size it from your own contracts' terms.

Get the budget approved once, as a whole, before bookings start. To fit the event into the year's travel plan, the travel budget planner builds a budget by department and the budget guide explains the method. The travel manager templates include a request form and an approval matrix.

The offsite budget template lays out every line, budget against actual.

On the day

• Track arrivals against the list as flights land, and follow up anyone delayed or missing.
• Have someone meet transfers, or at least confirm each one has left with the right people.
• Count heads at each move between places.
• Keep one person reachable for travel problems until the last attendee is home, and make sure everyone has that number.
• Write down changes as they happen: who left early, who missed a night, which transfer didn't show. You'll need it for the bills.

After the trip

• Check the hotel bill against the contract. Compare rooms used with your commitment, look for an attrition charge and check how it was calculated, and separate the incidentals attendees should pay themselves.
• Recover what you can. Cancel unused tickets before departure where you can, and record refunds and credits from drop-outs. The airline credits guide covers keeping track of them.
• Report the cost against the approved budget, by department or project if you allocate travel.
• Keep notes on what you'd change: the hotel's terms, the block size you actually needed, transfer timings. They make the next one easier.

Where silentVIP fits

silentVIP's group travel starts at 10 attendees, and the group fee is $45 per attendee, with a $1,500 minimum. Bring us in 8 weeks before the event if you can; we can work to shorter timelines when inventory allows.

We price the whole group, and the estimate goes to your budget holder for one approval. We book and ticket flights and rail, book hotel blocks, build the arrival schedule and book transfers, rebook or cancel for changes and drop-outs and track the refunds, and report final costs by attendee, department and project against the approved budget. You own the attendee list and invitations, approve the budget and travel rules, and keep the venue, catering and agenda: we don't book venues. Attendees from outside the company can come as guest travelers, billed to the event's department and project.

The worked example on our meetings page follows a fictional 40-person offsite from six cities.

The checklist

The checklist has every step of the schedule with a column for the owner and the due date, the hotel contract terms with a column for the hotel's answers, and the details to collect from each attendee. It opens in any spreadsheet; a cell that starts with =, +, - or @ gets a leading apostrophe, so a spreadsheet won't run it as a formula.

What to collect from each attendee

• Name as on the passport or ID used for travel. Tickets must match it. Don't collect passport numbers in a spreadsheet.
• Departure city and preferred airport. To choose between a group fare and individual tickets, and to build the arrival schedule.
• Arrival and departure dates, if different from the group's. For early arrivals and extended stays, which may fall outside the room block.
• Mobile phone that works abroad. To reach them while traveling.
• Emergency contact, or confirmation it's held by HR. For an incident. Keep it with HR's records where you can.
• Dietary needs: allergies, medical diets, religious and other requirements. For the venue, the hotel and meal requests on flights.
• Accessibility needs. Rooms, transport, the venue and the pace of the agenda.
• Room sharing, if your trip shares rooms. For the rooming list.
• Loyalty numbers. So bookings earn the traveler's own points and status.

Questions

Sources

General and third-party statements on this page come from these public sources, each checked on Oct 22, 2026. A hotel's or airline's terms are that company's own and are shown as examples. silentVIP's own terms come from our published terms and our meetings and group travel page.

1. Brown University Procurement, Hotel Room Block Agreements: Guidelines for Brown Departments (Oct 2, 2023). A university's guidance for its own departments. It defines the cutoff date as the period the hotel holds the room block and group rate, and attrition clauses as protecting the hotel if rooms it holds aren't booked. Its example: a block of 20 room nights with 80% attrition (16 room nights), of which 12 were used, leaves the department paying for 4. It advises not asking a hotel to hold more rooms than you expect to have booked, and says smaller room block contracts (under $20K) often don't include attrition clauses. It names two ways to reserve: a rooming list, or guests booking individually. https://procurement.brown.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Hotel-Room-Block-Agreements-Guidelines-for-Brown-Departments-10-02-23.pdf (checked Oct 22, 2026)
2. Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center, Applicable Conditions Group. One hotel's own published group terms, an example rather than a norm. Cutoff: 5:00 p.m. local time 14 days before the start date, after which further reservations are at the hotel's discretion, at prevailing rates. From signing to 14 days before arrival, 10% of the original block can be released free of charge; attrition damages are the adjusted minimum room revenue minus the actual room revenue from the block, and the allowance doesn't apply if the group cancels. Cancellation charges rise from 20% of total revenue (120 or more days out) to 100% (within 13 days). Rooming lists are due at least 14 business days before the event. The document is undated. https://www.marriott.com/content/dam/marriott-digital/si/emea/hws/a/amssi/en_us/document/assets/si-amssi-meetings-terms-22-20702.pdf (checked Oct 22, 2026)
3. Delta Professional (Delta's site for travel agencies), Group Travel. Delta's own group policy. Group pricing for 10 or more people on the same itinerary, with at least one common flight segment. Name changes are free before ticketing and carry a fee after. New group bookings need a nonrefundable per-passenger booking fee and a deposit, with deadlines that depend on how far ahead the booking is made. Penalties may apply for seats not ticketed; tickets are nonrefundable but may be used for future travel; taxes and surcharges aren't guaranteed unless the group contract says so. https://pro.delta.com/content/agency/us/en/policy-library/special-fare-programs/group-travel.html (checked Oct 22, 2026)
4. 28 CFR 36.302(e), Reservations made by places of lodging (eCFR). US ADA regulation: hotels must let people with disabilities reserve accessible rooms during the same hours and in the same manner as other guests, describe accessible features in enough detail for a guest to judge them, and hold a reserved accessible room for the guest who reserved it. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-28/chapter-I/part-36/subpart-C/section-36.302 (checked Oct 22, 2026)
5. 14 CFR 382.27, Advance notice for services to passengers with a disability (eCFR). US Air Carrier Access Act regulation: airlines generally can't require advance notice for the services the rule requires, but may require up to 48 hours' notice (72 for carrier-supplied medical oxygen on international flights), and check-in one hour earlier than the general public, for listed services, including accommodating a group of ten or more qualified individuals with a disability who reserve and travel as a group. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-II/subchapter-D/part-382/subpart-B/section-382.27 (checked Oct 22, 2026)
6. US Food and Drug Administration, Food Allergies. The nine major food allergens identified by US law: milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. Page content current as of March 11, 2026. https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-food-labeling-and-critical-foods/food-allergies (checked Oct 22, 2026)

Last reviewed: Oct 22, 2026. Spotted something out of date? Email support@silentvip.com.

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