105 Business Trip Vocabulary Words and Phrases
If you’re an English learner who will be taking international business trips, having the right vocabulary is crucial. Learn the words and phrases in this guide to make you feel more confident speaking English, no matter where your work takes you.
These business trip vocabulary terms can help you with getting to your destination, participating in business meetings and dining with your coworkers or clients, and more.
Contents
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Useful Business Trip Vocabulary
These vocabulary words and phrases will likely come in handy on your next business trip.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Reservation | Booking a hotel room, flight or restaurant in advance. |
| Meeting | A planned discussion with colleagues or clients. |
| Presentation | A talk or show to explain something to others. |
| Negotiation | Discussing and making deals or agreements. |
| Networking | Meeting people to exchange information or build relationships. |
| Conference | A large meeting for people in the same industry. |
| Agenda | A list of topics or activities planned for a meeting. |
| Business card | A small card with your contact details for professional purposes. |
| Expense | To expense something means to record and claim its cost as a business expense. Your company will pay you back or cover the cost of the expensed item or service. |
| Expense report | A document listing all the money spent during a business trip. |
| Currency exchange | Changing one type of money into another. |
| Receipt | A piece of paper showing you paid for something. |
| Transportation | The way you get from one place to another, like taxis or trains. |
| Reschedule | To change the date or time of a meeting or flight. |
| Clientele | The customers or clients of a business. |
| Interpreter | Someone who helps translate languages during meetings. |
Traveling by Air
Here are some useful terms for traveling by plane for your business trip:
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Check-in counter | This is the first place you go in the airport. It's where passengers place their checked bags and collect their boarding passes. |
| Boarding pass | The airline ticket that allows you to get on the plane. It has your aisle and seat number and the flight information. |
| Checked baggage | The bags and suitcases you give to the airline to place in the cargo section of the airplane before you board. |
| Carry-ons | The bags you can carry on the plane with you. |
| Baggage allowance | The maximum number of bags and weight of each bag that you're allowed. |
| Excess baggage fee | An amount of money you might have to pay if your bags are overweight. |
| Luggage
Baggage | The suitcases and bags a traveler takes on their trip (used only in singular form). |
| Seat preference | During check-in, you may be able to indicate your seat preference: aisle, middle or window seat. |
| Aisle seats | The seats located along the aisle (the walkway down the center of the airplane). |
| Window seats | The seats located alongside the windows of the plane. |
| Middle seats | The seats located between the aisle and window seats. |
| Extra legroom | Extra space in front of your seat for your legs. These are usually located near the emergency exits of the airplane. |
| Airport terminal | The building where you catch your flight. |
| Boarding gate | The gate where passengers go to board the airplane. |
| Departure area
Waiting area | The place where passengers can wait before it's time to board. |
| Connecting flight | Taking a connecting flight involves stopping in another city and usually changing planes on the way to your destination. |
| Layover
Stopover | This is the time you have to wait between your connecting flights. |
| Customs | The place where your luggage is checked when you enter a new country to make sure you're not bringing anything illegal. |
| Immigration | The process of entering a new country legally. When you arrive, you'll have to pass through immigration before picking up your checked luggage. |
| Timezone | The world is divided into different timezones, or geographic regions that share the same time, which is different than the time in other timezones. |
| Jetlag | The feeling of being tired after traveling from one time zone to another. |
| Culture shock | This is a feeling you may experience when you travel to a place very different from your home, in terms of its culture or the way things are done. |
Getting Around in a New City
When you arrive at your destination, you’ll have to find your way from the airport to the hotel or business venue (meeting place).
You’ll also have to figure out the most convenient mode of transportation: taxis, train, subway, bus, Uber, etc. Speak to locals or to your coworkers who live there and ask them for recommendations.
Here are some example questions you can use to help you get around a new city:
| Purpose | Example Questions |
|---|---|
| Asking how to get to your destination: | How do I get from the Sheridan Hotel to the main office?
What's the best way to get to the office from the Sheridan Hotel on East Street? |
| Asking the distance to your destination: | How far is it from the Sheridan Hotel to the Life Center?
How long will it take to get to the Life Center from here? |
| Requesting to go to a certain place: | I'd like to go to the Plaza Tower on Lowry Road.
I need to go to the Kodak Building. Could you please take me to Maynard Court? |
At the Hotel
It’s likely your company has made a hotel reservation (booking) for you ahead of your business trip.
Here are some example phrases that might be useful when talking to the receptionist at the hotel:
In Business Meetings
Of course, the most important part of your trip is the time when you’ll be discussing business and accomplishing your professional goals.
In order to be successful, you’ll need to know some key vocabulary for business meetings.
At Business Meals
Lunches and dinners play an important part in making business deals, building business relationships and celebrating partnerships.
Whether you’re attending or hosting a business meal, it’s important to know how to handle the basics of dining with your business partners.
If you pack this vocabulary guide, you won’t be caught speechless when you travel for work.
Good luck with your future business trips!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And One More Thing...
If you like learning English through movies and online media, you should also check out FluentU. FluentU lets you learn English from popular talk shows, catchy music videos and funny commercials, as you can see here:
If you want to watch it, the FluentU app has probably got it.
The FluentU app and website makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition, and useful examples.
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For example, when you tap on the word "searching," you see this:
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FluentU helps you learn fast with useful questions and multiple examples. Learn more.
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