my road to travel…the road “more” traveled

In any travel situation, the further in advance you can plan your trip, the better you will do on all of your accommodations.  But in the world of business, it often occurs that you have to get to a destination immediately, and the ability to move swiftly is critical to the success of the business goal.  The good news is that you can do some preparations well in advance for short notice business trips so you are not caught completely without a plan. You don’t want to have to waste time trying to figure out how to book a flight and where to stay if a business trip comes up suddenly.   Short notice business trips seem to be endemic of certain industries and job descriptions. If you know you will go through this drill often, you can make some arrangements far in advance so you have a checklist of just what to do.

 First of all, in a short notice travel situation, economy takes a second priority.  Your employer knows that if you have to book full fare on an airline to get to your destination at a specific time, the higher expense is unavoidable.  Make sure that your company travel policy has some clauses to put aside travel budget limits in such a scenario.

Business Travel Tips

The part of the trip where you will have the least “wiggle room” will be airline accommodations.  Of course, you can use the big internet search tools like Travelocity, Orbitz or myroadtotravel.  In general, those are good places to start to find what airlines do have flights at your specified times.  But once you pick an airline, working through the airline’s web site directly will show you the most options they can offer and sometimes provide you with better fares, even on short notice.   Be sure you watch the travel details closely so you don’t find yourself enduring long layovers that are going to jeopardize the tight timetable of the business meetings you need to attend.  If necessary, spend the money on nonstop flights to assure that the business goal of the trip is top priority.

Do your homework about hotel accommodations well in advance.  If there are likely destinations that you could be called upon to go to quickly, you can do your research on the closest hotels to the business site so you cut down on commutes once you are there.  By having your target hotels bookmarked and the phone numbers on file, you can quickly call and set up your accommodations in a matter of minutes.  But if you find that your best choices for hotels are booked up on the days you will be at your site, call them anyway.  A good hotel will call around to other hotels in the area and get you a room as close to your destination as possible.  They can save you hours of frustration searching for a replacement room.

Rental cars are usually not as much of a problem.  It’s a good idea to call ahead and get a reservation, but short of a major convention or sporting event in town, there are so many rental car agencies that you should be able to find a car to rent even if you don’t start your search until you are on the ground at your destination city. 

You can make other preparations for the possibility of a short notice business trip like having your toiletries and personal affects you always travel with packed and ready to walk out the door.  By having your travel clothes ready to go, you can virtually walk home and walk out the door in a matter of minutes. Business trips on short notice are sometimes unavoidable. Using the above tips will assist you in making your accommodations quickly and efficiently, and take the stress out of business trips on the fly. 

The classic anxiety story about travel, involves being on the road for a while only to suddenly remember that you forgot to turn off the oven.  While that is a domestic story, there is just as much, or more anxiety that can go into getting on the road for a business trip.  The details that must be taken care of to put a business trip on the road can be overwhelming.

It is easy to develop anxiety when going on a business trip. There can be the worry that you have forgotten something, or that there is an important detail that was left undone before you left.  This stress anxiety can be destructive to your business goals for the trip.  So you need some basic concepts that you can go back to just before the business trips gets underway,  so you have some ammunition to combat travel anxiety en route.  Continue reading for some of these basic concepts.

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As with any area of specialization, there are business travelers who always seem to know what they are doing and those who constantly seem to be in a state of crisis.  The business traveler who has been at it a while, figures out some insider information that not many travelers know.  These little travel secrets make the world of difference when traveling.  And you can bet they are not going to share this information with just anyone, because this is the kind of information that can change the nature of your business travel forever.

 Your laptop is a crucial piece of equipment as you travel.  In an airport emergency situation, your wireless laptop can be used to change reservations so you can avoid those long lines to get on the next flight out.  You can reserve a rental car or snag one of the few remaining hotel rooms in town, right from the airport.  Then the savvy business traveler can casually stroll to his or her designation as others around them panic, because they knew how to leverage technology to bail themselves out of a crisis situation.

But one aspect of using your laptop to rescue yourself when the airport is in shut down is the limited power of laptops.  To see your battery go dead just when you needed it the most is like watching your ship sink as the sharks circle the lifeboat.  What not many people know is that there are open electrical outlets in airports that are there for cleaning crews if you know where they are.  Usually these outlets are just under the windows that overlook the landing strips so if you can secure a seat near these outlets, you can charge up your laptop and keep your lifeline to the world alive.

Business travelers also know how to take full advantage of resources that are made available to business travelers exclusively.  Find hotels that cater to the traveling businessperson.  These hotels will not have amenities for families nor are they trying to bring in busses of teenagers on the way to camp.  So you can find a hotel with much fewer young people making noise and being a nuisance when you are trying to focus on business.

In addition to using businesses that cater to the business traveler, take advantage of frequent flyer and priority clubs that many airlines and hotels offer.  If you are going to travel a lot, you can rack up some credits on those clubs, which can result in upgrades to first class, better accommodations or free services when you stay at your selected hotels.  They win because they capture your travel dollar.  You win because you get pampered for a while.

You can gain a lot of convenience and reduce your hassles by using a less popular airport to come into town.  By utilizing an airport in a smaller town near by and renting a car, you get out of the congestion of traffic and can drive to your destination without that exposure to the masses all pushing and shoving to get through the major hubs.

Extra copies of travel documents can speed things up a lot, especially if you are leaving the country.  Often when you are going through customs, you must surrender your passport so the customs agent can make a copy.  So you make a copy before you get there and give it to them.  With a quick scan, they can confirm that it is a legitimate copy and have you on your way much quicker.

Don’t overlook how public transportation can bail you out of dealing with a lot of traffic in large city situations.  In Washington or New York, the subways work exceptionally well.  If you can get out of the airport area via mass transit, you can find a rental car location in town and conduct your business with less wait, and without the traffic jams you would face at the airport.  Plus airport rental car sites are more expensive than those in town.

These little tips can go a long way toward making your trip less of a hassle, less expensive and more successful.  By knowing how to get around the big crowds and use the resources made available to you, your trip will be more efficient, more relaxed and more successful.

Ever since homeland security  has become tighter, moving through airport security has become more difficult.  As a seasoned business traveler, this part of your business trip requires some savvy preparation, and your knowledge of the system can help you sail through security as quickly as possible.  But the ability to navigate airport security quickly is not something that comes easy, or without some significant planning and training.

The biggest problem of getting through security is not you, it’s the other people who did not come prepared for this process.  If you get stuck behind someone who is completely stumped by what is expected of them, it can take forever to get through the system.  So the first priority is to hit airport security when the crowds are low.  The easiest way to accomplish this is to take the first flight of the day for that airline.  This will be the time when you see the fewest people in the airport.

Usually it is only business travelers who are at the airport at six a.m., so they will be the ones that already know how to handle security and the lines will move much more quickly.  Like them, you have already learned the most recent rules about what will pass through security and what will get you stopped.  You will need your driver’s license and boarding pass several times as you move through the process.  So have that out early on, and be ready to show it often.  Don’t put that information away until you are on the other side of security and ready to go to the gate.  That one-step alone moves you quickly through the different checkpoints of airport security.

Make sure you follow the 3-1-1 Rule when packing your carry-on

Usually airport security uses a queue system to handle the crowds.  That means it is one long line moving up to the gates, and then that line splits into several where various teams work the travelers through the scanning stations.  As you are standing in line to go through the gates, keep an eye on the different stations.  Some stations will stop more people, or their equipment is too sensitive so it is moving slower.  You may notice that a new team has arrived and is preparing to open a new station.  With a bit of maneuvering in line, you can hit that new station as it opens and move through fast before the lines accumulate there.

This is also a place to do a bit of profiling.  While it is not ok for police to profile, you can look over the people ahead of you and profile those who will either be detained for scanning or will be a problem when they are ready to put their stuff on the belts.  Certain ethnic groups might get scanned more often.  It’s sad but true.  We all want racial equality but if you can avoid being behind that person, you might get through security faster.  Also, avoid “amateur travelers” who have lots of kids, the elderly, people in wheelchairs or anyone who looks like they are confused by this process.  You can be a hero and help someone out if you have plenty of time.  But as the lines split up, you can simply avoid being behind people who will slow up the process and go to the fast lines to get through more efficiently.

You can cut down on how much you get scanned before you get to the airport.  Wear slip-on shoes that you can get off quickly and back on quickly.  Boots and tie shoes just slow you down.  Keep the amount of “stuff” you are carrying through security to a minimum.  Put your wallet, keys and other pocket material in your briefcase or purse before you even get in line.  In that way, you are down to shoes and that item to move through security.

These tricks of the trade can make the beginning of your business trip much less of a problem, and get you to the gate more quickly.  The security personnel will appreciate that you know what you are doing, which in turn will reduce your stress, and move you along to your business goals with much less anxiety and a greater focus on your objectives.

Remember to book your trip at myroadtotravel.com. Also, have a look at our business traveller category for more airport security tips, along with the TSA Website.

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You can tell an experienced business traveler from one who is new to the experience.  It is easy for someone new to business travel to participate in excesses on the road.   As a business traveler, you are trusted by your company to conduct yourself in a businesslike fashion during your time out representing the firm.  But it is easy to let the idea of an expense account and free time in a far away town get the best of you.

These kinds of excesses are the types of behavior that you will see an experienced business traveler avoid.  If you are setting out on a lengthy business trip, perhaps lasting many weeks and traversing many cities, the road itself can take a toll on your health and well being.  The disruption to your normal life patterns, the hard work and the stress of making connections and moving from town to town can introduce levels of fatigue that can take a toll and even lead to illness on the road.  And there is no more unpleasant experience than to be ill while traveling for business.

It is for this reason that observing some strict rules of good living on the road will pay off over the life of the trip, and make the rigors of travel much less serious.  Much of the discipline of business travel involves simply introducing a daily routine to your life that includes some healthy activities so you can keep your physical, mental and emotional state in good shape.  Some simple but effective rules to live by for a healthy business travel experience include the following.

     * Sleep routines.  A good night sleep is something we take for granted.  And to get into a rested state takes more than just a bed and an alarm clock.  You have routines at home that you use to cycle down toward rest.  Adapt those routines to life on the road, and allow yourself that hour before bed to get ready to rest, as well as ample time to sleep.  Both are necessary for good health.

     * Regular exercise.  Most hotels have an exercise room or pool you can use to get some motion into your muscles.  Sitting in airplanes or conference rooms can cramp your muscles and keep you from maintaining good flexibility.  Even if it is nothing more than taking a walk after dinner, or doing some simple exercises in the hotel, give your body some movement to stretch those muscles and get some fresh oxygen into your blood.

     * Time not working.  For the sake of your mental health, take some time just for you.  If you are in a town that has some fun things to see, get away from the “business” side of “business travel” and go to the zoo or a museum or see an attraction to give your mind a break from the stress of business.  Take a few hours at night to relax in the hotel and read a book or watch your favorite TV show.  You need that mental down time to recuperate and process all that is going on during your trip.

     * Good foods.  Don’t cave into the temptation to eat fast food everyday.  Look for restaurants that will serve you well-rounded meals.  Make sure you eat fruits, dairy, vegetables, breads and good healthy proteins each day.

     * Don’t drink.  Alcohol, while fun, is a huge drain on your body’s resources.  The time drinking and recovering makes demands on your body that take away from your stamina, and ability to stay healthy each day.  So avoid alcohol other than perhaps a glass of wine at night.  You will survive the trip so much better if you are careful about your alcohol consumption.

Some of these ideas seem almost ridiculously simple.  But if you have done any business travel at all, you know that sometimes the simple requirement of a healthy diet and some time to yourself to exercise and rest can be elusive in a busy work schedule.  But if you make it a priority to live well on the road, as you do at home, you will come home ready to deal with home issues without having that long time to recover from the trip.

Remember for all your travel plans visit us at myroadtotravel.com. For more information on business travel click here.