24/7 travel support: what it means and why it is essential for corporate and specialist travel

24/7 travel support is an essential service of any modern Travel Management Company (TMC).

There will always be travel disruptions. Flights are cancelled overnight, vessels are delayed, crews miss connections, and weather or operational issues can leave travellers stranded in remote locations. Travel happens around the clock, so it is critical that Travel Management Companies offer 24/7 support to ensure that their clients can receive help at all times of day.  

This article will explain what 24/7 travel support is and why it is a necessity for both corporate travel and specialist travel in marine, mining and energy.

What Is 24/7 Travel Support?

24/7 travel support means that travellers can access professional support from their Travel Management Company at any time of the day, during and after typical office hours. This support could be through the phone, email or a form of technology (such as a travel app).

24/7 travel support typically involves being able to contact an experienced travel consultant to help with travel issues, which could include:

• Assistance with flight cancellations, delays and missed connections
• Emergency rebooking of flights, accommodation or ground transport
• Support during weather events, industrial action or operational disruptions
• Help across multiple time zones and remote regions

Good 24/7 support ensures that travellers are never left to manage disruptions alone, regardless of their location, time or the complexity of the problem.

Is 24/7 Travel Support Provided By All Travel Management Companies?

Most Travel Management Companies, such as ATPI, offer 24/7 travel support as a standard part of their service with no extra fees. However, some smaller firms may charge extra for support after standard business hours.

The level of support offered by a Travel Management Company should be outlined clearly in their service level agreement (SLA). This ensures that clear support expectations are set for their clients before any emergencies occur. SLAs will include information such as:

• Confirmation that 24/7 travel support is provided
• How travellers can access support (such as through phone or email)
• Who provides this support (such as using trained travel consultants)
• How quickly issues are responded to (also known as response time commitments)
• Duty of care responsibilities for the end traveller

Why 24/7 Travel Support Is Essential for Corporate Travel

Corporate travel does not just occur within typical office hours. This is especially true for companies whose employees travel internationally or whose senior stakeholders are frequently on the move.

Without 24/7 travel support for corporate travel:

• Business travellers may be forced to rebook alternative travel out of pocket
• Alternative travel may not be booked within company policy
• Disruptions may get worse because of delayed intervention and limited availability of alternative travel options
• Duty of care responsibilities may be harder to maintain during overnight or international travel
• Internal HR or operations teams may be unavailable to provide immediate assistance to the employee

24/7 travel support ensures that corporate travel programmes maintain continuity and control. Issues can be addressed immediately by experienced travel consultants, which helps companies protect their travellers, manage costs and minimise business disruption.

ATPI’s 24/7 support was crucial for a corporate client during the 2024 Heathrow strikes, which disrupted many flights. The team successfully secured alternative accommodation for their travellers while proactively calling clients to update them on the ongoing situation. ATPI’s 24/7 team also responded when CrowdStrike caused global travel disruptions, working through the night to rebook travel for clients while maintaining a 56-second call answer time.

Why 24/7 Travel Support Is Crucial for Energy, Mining, and Marine Travel

While 24/7 support is important for all business travel, it is absolutely essential for specialist sectors where travel is tied directly to operational schedules and safety requirements.

Energy Travel

In the energy sector, operations often involve:

• Travel to remote destinations with limited commercial flight availability
• Adhering to rotational workforce schedules
• Strict compliance and safety requirements

If an employee misses one connection and arrives at a worksite late, this can disrupt entire project timelines and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. 24/7 energy travel support ensures that travel is immediately rebooked and journeys are rerouted when flights, charters or transfers go wrong. As energy travellers often travel outside of office hours, 24/7 support is especially important for the energy sector.

Beyond operational efficiency, this level of support is fundamental to upholding duty of care standards within the energy industry. Employers have a legal and moral responsibility to know where their people are, ensure their safety, and respond rapidly when incidents occur, particularly in high-risk or remote environments.

ATPI’s 24/7 support was crucial for an energy client when one commercial flight was hijacked with an employee on board. ATPI’s out-of-hours service worked quickly to confirm the safety of the passenger and alert the client. The situation was eventually resolved peacefully when the hijacker surrendered to the authorities. ATPI’s 24/7 team then worked with the client to ensure that the employee was returned to the UK safely.

In an era of increasing geopolitical instability, evolving security risks and fluctuating economic conditions, such incidents are becoming more common and less predictable. For energy organisations operating globally, robust 24/7 travel management is no longer a ‘nice to have’—it is a critical component of risk mitigation, workforce protection and business continuity.

Mining Travel

In the mining sector, operations often involve:

• Travel across multiple countries and time zones
• Mining sites in remote locations
• Fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) schedules with frequent travel between on-site and off-site locations every few weeks
• Fixed site access windows with strict timeframes for when workers can enter or exit mining sites which can coincide with charter flights

Good travel management is essential within the mining sector to ensure that miners arrive and depart at their mining sites on time. Round-the-clock support is also crucial to keeping miners safe at every stage of their journey, as they may travel in areas with geopolitical instability and conflict. Similar to the energy sector, mining travel often happens outside of regular office hours. 24/7 support is therefore essential to ensure that travel disruptions are managed immediately, miners are well looked after and mining operations can run smoothly and safely.

Marine Travel

Marine travel involves:

• Crew changes that must align with vessel schedules, including arrival and departure times
• Port restrictions and immigration requirements
• Last-minute itinerary changes due to weather or operational demands

Timing is absolutely crucial within marine operations. Vessels operate within tight windows determined by weather conditions, port slots and crew regulations. Successful crew changes depend on careful alignment between crew and vessel schedules. If incoming Able Seamen (AB) arrive late to a vessel because of a delayed journey, this can compromise marine operations and lead to higher costs in overtime for those on board.

Crew morale is also important to maintain, as many seafarers can work at sea for months without returning to shore. If their journeys to and from vessels are not managed well, they may suffer from severe travel delays, increased fatigue and a higher risk of accidents at work. Poor morale can also lead to a higher turnover of staff. 24/7 travel support ensures that crews can be rerouted, accommodated or repositioned quickly to get to their vessels on time—even when changes occur overnight or during weekends.

Conclusion: 24/7 Travel Support Enables Continuity and Control

24/7 travel support is an important service that many Travel Management Companies offer. This support ensures that travel disruptions are managed at all times of the day and business operations continue with limited disruption. For specialist sectors such as energy, mining and marine travel, 24/7 travel support is an important necessity for managing time-critical journeys to remote destinations.

ATPI offers 24/7 travel support to clients across the corporate, sports, energy, mining and marine sectors. Travellers can contact our dedicated team at any time of day for support, regardless of the complexity of the problem or their location. ATPI’s 24/7 team have been recognised in the industry for their quality of care, winning the Service Excellence award at the ITM Achievement Awards in 2025.

If you need help organising business travel with confidence and peace of mind, then get in touch today.