--- title: "Configuring approval workflows for travel - Payhawk Help Center" slug: "configuring-travel-workflows" description: "Set up approval workflows for trip requests in Payhawk: review and approval steps, the 10% price buffer, bookings for others and per diem discrepancy steps." updated: 2026-10-23T13:45:10Z published: 2026-10-23T13:45:10Z canonical: "payhawk.com/configuring-travel-workflows" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://payhawk.com/help/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Configuring approval workflows for travel In the Payhawk Web Portal, you can set up approval workflows that determine how employee trip requests are reviewed and approved. An approval workflow defines the sequence of steps a trip request goes through after submission, including who approves it, under what conditions, and what happens at each stage. Combined with your [travel policy settings](/help/configuring-travel-requests), the workflow ensures that every trip request follows your company's process from submission to approval. ## Understanding the travel workflows When configuring approval workflows for travel, keep in mind how the system handles some specific situations. ### Price changes and availability The system includes a 10% buffer on trip requests to account for price fluctuations during the review and approval process. If a delay causes the price to change, the buffer covers the difference, and the employee can proceed with booking; no new approval required. Approvers receive reminders to help keep the process on track. If the original option becomes unavailable by the time the trip request is approved, the Travel AI Agent asks the employee to select a new flight (same dates and destination), room, or hotel (within 5 km) and books the confirmed choice without requiring a new approval. The same rule applies if a payment fails after approval. When an employee selects a replacement flight, no new approval is needed as long as the new price stays within the approved budget plus the 10% buffer. A higher price requires re-approval. If an employee makes pricing changes to the trip request, such as selecting a more expensive option, re-approval is required. ### Booking on behalf of another employee When a Payhawk Administrator or an employee with the required permissions books on behalf of another employee, the approval flow follows the traveler's configured approval rules, not the booker's. The approval workflow is determined by the traveler's approval configuration, for example, manager approval, Travel Manager review step. The booking is treated exactly as if the traveler had submitted it themselves. All other approval rules, such as budget thresholds, policy limits, and escalation steps, apply to the traveler's request as usual. ## Configuring travel workflows You can configure approval workflows for the trip requests of your employees. Note that these approval workflows are only available for Payhawk users. Each trip type has its own approval workflow. To configure the workflow for a type, go to **Settings** > **Trips**, open the desired trip type, and go to its **Workflow** tab. To configure workflows: 1. Go to **Settings** > **Trips** > **[type]** > **Workflow** tab. 2. Click on **Edit workflow**. Alternatively, click on **Go to workflows** and you'll be redirected to the **Settings** > **Workflows** screen to view and manage all trip request workflows in one place. 3. Create an approval workflow that suits your requirements by [following the steps for defining custom workflows](/help/workflow-conditions-and-custom-workflows) and noting the following specifics that are valid for trip requests: - The **Submit** step is always present. During this step, the Travel AI Agent must gather the needed information to fill out all the request fields, create, and submit a trip request. - The **Review** step is optional. You can set the relevant people at your company as reviewers. These are usually travel managers who can make changes to the flights and hotels. This step will trigger a review request notification in the Agent - in the Payhawk Web Portal, Payhawk Mobile App, and Slack. - The **Approve** step is for you to define. For example, you can set the corresponding Team Manager as an approver. This step will trigger an approval request in their Payhawk Web Portal, Payhawk Mobile App, and Slack. This will allow them to approve the trip request in the Agent - in Slack, the Payhawk Web Portal, and the Payhawk Mobile App. - The **Pay** step is always present. Once there's a successful approval, the Travel AI Agent automatically raises the employee's card limit and books the business trip. - The **Close** step is also always visible by default. It includes predefined rules for automatically closing requests when the auto-close option is activated and also specifies the default roles authorized to manually close requests. - The **Create expense report** step sets the expense report type that collects the trip's expenses. When you create a trip type, Payhawk automatically creates an expense report type with the same name and assigns it to this step. ### Approval conditions for trip requests On the **Approve** step, you can add conditions that determine when a trip request needs approval. You can base these conditions on different criteria. For example: - The amount of the trip request - Set thresholds so that requests above a defined amount route to a specific approver, role, or role extension. - Whether the trip request is **Out of policy** - You can require approval only when the chosen flight, hotel, and/or allowance falls outside the travel policy. ![Approve step conditions for a trip request in the Trips workflow builder](https://cdn.payhawk.com/Adm%3AWorkflows/Trip_request_approval_conditions_20260716_ai.png) For amount-based conditions, you can define single-step and multi-step thresholds in the same way as for [expense requests](/help/workflow-conditions-and-custom-workflows). When a trip uses per diem mode, a submitted per diem expense that is higher than the approved per diem line goes through a dedicated per diem discrepancy approval step, and a Payhawk Accountant reviews the expense before payout. ## Useful resources - [Connecting the Travel AI Agent to Slack](/help/connecting-the-travel-ai-agent-to-slack)