Case Study

How LodgeLink Delivers the Best Crew Travel Management Solutions

Sep 30, 2025

From extended stay hotels and corporate housing to crew travel scheduling and 24/7 booking support, LodgeLink is the all-in-one corporate lodging platform trusted by companies like Citadel Drilling.

Time, effort, and money.

These are the key challenges when moving oilfield crews across North America. For Citadel Drilling, which provides high-performance drilling rigs across North America, the complexity is constant:

Crews working 20 days on, 10 days off year-round
15 to 25 travellers per shift
Multiple work locations across Canada and the U.S.
Workers with different home bases and constantly changing schedules

“It’s definitely a lot of shuffling,” explains Alex Meaver, HR and Travel Coordinator at Citadel Drilling. “I would say definitely get yourself a LodgeLink. They're always there for you… that's my number one tip.”

Moving crews and handling shift changes

Citadel’s modern AC triple rigs are designed to reduce downtime and optimize efficiency. But ensuring the right people are in the right place, at the right time, is no small task.

Every 10 days, up to 35 rig technicians rotate from across Canada to Midland, Texas. If flights are delayed, incoming crews can’t relieve outgoing teams, causing costly downtime. Add to this the travel needs of 10–15 corporate staff each month, and the complexity grows.

Manual booking, scattered invoices, and last-minute emergencies make crew travel management one of the toughest parts of oilfield operations.

That’s why Citadel turned to LodgeLink’s workforce travel platform.

How LodgeLink Helps

This level of complexity is where LodgeLink shines. By consolidating flights, hotels, and crew lodging into one platform, travel managers gain the visibility they need to plan ahead. Instead of scattered spreadsheets and calls to multiple hotels, Citadel can manage all bookings and approvals in one place, reducing the chance of missed details.

“Being able to go into the system and see everything set up right in there has been helpful,” says Meaver. “We can see all of our travelers on the same day. It’s a good tool.”

How LodgeLink Helps

With Duty of Care, those stressful moments are much easier to manage. Meaver can now track and communicate directly with travellers in real time when issues arise, ensuring both safety and efficiency.

“My experience has been all positive. It has allowed us to be proactive with resolving problems before they arise,” says Meaver. “It’s helped so much with flight cancellations, delays, and changes — and the communication is much better.”

Duty of Care sends real-time alerts and even provides gate numbers so crews aren’t left in the dark. Travellers know exactly where to go, and travel managers can act before problems snowball.

A Smarter Way Forward

For Citadel Drilling, workforce travel is more than just moving people — it’s keeping projects on schedule, reducing costs, and ensuring crews are safe and supported. With LodgeLink, they’ve gained:

Centralized booking for crew travel and corporate lodging
Duty of Care protections to manage disruptions proactively
Real-time visibility and reporting to control costs
24/7 support to handle urgent issues anytime

“I would definitely recommend it because you're able to stay on top of everything and figure stuff out beforehand,” says Meaver. “When dealing with such large groups of travellers on set schedules, it’s critical to keep them on track as our business depends on it.”

About Citadel Drilling

Headquartered in Calgary, with operations centres in Nisku, Alberta and Odessa, Texas, Citadel Drilling is service-focused and caters to clients’ needs with a fleet of modern, technically advanced AC triple (TA²CT) rigs designed to optimize efficiencies and reduce expensive downtime and labor costs. They recently incorporated a new company, Opla Energy Ltd., which provides innovative managed pressure drilling (MPD) solutions through cutting edge technology and best in class engineering solutions.

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