10 % off 2026 stays from 7 nights – Code: SMARTBIRD
Extending a business trip privately
March 27, 2025
You can easily add a few vacation days to a business trip – and the boss even pays for the flights. This is how it works.
Bleisure Travel combines work with vacation
Bleisure travel is a combination of the words business and leisure. And younger people in particular are promoting this trend, blurring the boundaries between work and leisure. This is mainly due to the fact that the world of work has changed dramatically in recent years and the job no longer consists purely of status for which people are prepared to sacrifice themselves.
But what exactly does bleisure travel mean? The definition is still rather vague, as this trend seems to be quite new. In principle, however, it can be said that whenever business trips are combined with leisure time, this can be considered bleisure travel. And since 2009, bleisure travel has even been legal, as the Federal Fiscal Court has ruled.
Bleisure travel – the new travel trend
More and more employers are adopting this view and recognizing the benefits of this mix: increased productivity and more relaxed travel are just two of the advantages. Both parties like that.
A study from 2014 found that 83% of all business travelers also use their time in a new city to see it.
Pure business trips are increasingly taking a back seat.
Whereas top managers used to be more likely to take advantage of the opportunity to combine business with pleasure, it is now more likely to be the thirtysomethings and younger. This age group accounts for a full 36%, whereas 40 and 50-year-olds make up just 18%.
But where does the business part of a business trip end and where exactly does leisure time begin? If you define leisure time as time that is planned independently, then an extensive lunch in a trendy restaurant without business partners or customers is already part of leisure time. But Bleisure Travel goes one step further.
Business trip and vacation days
You can easily add vacation days to a business trip. However, this must be done transparently by informing the employer in good time. Otherwise, according to labor law, his interests will be abused, which is of course not okay and will have negative consequences.
A few years ago, attaching vacation days to a business trip was viewed rather negatively, but today this type of mixing enjoys a positive reputation. As long as it is all done in a comprehensible way, there is nothing to fear. The general mentality when it comes to work has changed and employees and freelancers in particular are benefiting from this. Increasing mobility, digitalization and, last but not least, globalization have driven this development.
The result is a classic win-win situation. The employer has a happier and more efficient employee and the employee is no longer rushing from business trip to business trip without seeing the destination.
Business trip extended privately – this must be observed
Extending a business trip privately is not difficult on paper, but there are a few points that are particularly important for the tax office.
- The business part of the business trip is tax-deductible despite the private extension.
- If the business trip is extended by a few days for private reasons, the joint costs must be divided into a private and a business part. These joint costs include, for example, the flights.
- Hotel and meal costs should be issued separately, then the business costs are 100% deductible. Exceptions: If the private extension does not result in any extra costs, the employer will usually cover these. However, if the stay is extended for business reasons because the return flight two days later is cheaper, the employee also bears the costs for meals.
- If, on the other hand, you attend a customer appointment while on vacation, at most one special trip with a corresponding daily flat rate can be declared as a business expense if the business part does not exceed 10%.
- If unplanned days off occur during a business trip, these days do not count as vacation and can be declared 100% in the travel expense report. Even if the employee uses these days for leisure time.
- If you take an accompanying person such as your partner on a business trip, the employer does not have to pay for the double room or similar. In this case, it is advisable to obtain comparative offers from the hotel in which the alternative costs are listed. The same applies to all other expenses such as meals.
- In the case of a mixed trip – i.e. bleisure travel – all receipts should be collected or documented by the traveler. It is best to use separate credit cards for different costs or pay for private expenses directly in cash. At the end of the trip, all expenses should be clearly allocated.
- If the trip is extended privately by less than 5 days, the travel expense allowance is calculated as if only the business trip had taken place without the private extension.
- If the trip is extended privately by more than 5 days, only the direct additional travel expenses are reimbursed. The focus is then on private pleasure, regardless of how long the business trip was.
