This smart road warrior used points to get $150/night rate at this big pink hotel in Honolulu (Photo: Bret Robertson / Flickr)
I got my start in the travel industry teaching novice business travelers how to “learn the ropes” of the road through a training program. That’s why my company is called Travel Skills Group, Inc., a name that eventually morphed into the TravelSkills.com blog you are now reading.
I would contract with HR departments at big corporations or consulting companies to present a 2-4 hour seminar called “The Art of Traveling Smart.” In the presentation, I would supply tips and advice about business travel to new recruits in corporate management training programs. Advice covered the gamut, from determining the best seat on the plane, to finding the safest hotel room, joining the right loyalty programs or dealing with travel burnout. Instead of learning it “the hard way” attendees learned about business travel in a classroom setting.
That’s why I was pleased when National Car Rental asked to team up with TravelSkills to talk about its popular Emerald Club and the current ONE, TWO, FREE promotion — get one free day for every two qualifying rentals between now and January 31, 2015. National also offered to give one TravelSkills reader a $200 American Express gift card and Emerald Club Executive status for one year. (See below for details)
National hooked me up with one of its best customers, D. Cook, a 14-year veteran of the roads and the skies, for an interview about her life on the road and the advice she has for novice business travelers.
Cook is a Minnesota native who grew up in the Twin Cities. She’s a coordinator for a large company in the home construction business, responsible for its presence at major construction industry trade shows around the country.
She travels at least once or twice per month to cities like Las Vegas, San Francisco, Orlando and Denver. “Wherever there’s a trade show, that’s where I go,” she said. Her preferred airline is Delta where she holds gold SkyMiles status.
Focusing your loyalty and gaining elite status with an airline was the first tip she had for novice travelers: “The best thing about status is that you don’t have to stand in long lines, your baggage usually gets expedited, and it’s easier to upgrade.” She has a pretty good batting average for upgrades on Delta, too—on a recent multi-stop trip, she snagged big seats up front on four out of the five segments.
When it comes to car rental, Cook offers the same advice about focusing on elite status. As a long-time customer of National, she’s attained Executive status. To her, the best part about having that status is access to a wider variety of cars that she can choose off the National lot. Her car of choice is a smaller SUV or crossover because she feels safer when she’s able to ride up high and see what’s around her.
She also advises novice travelers to be on the lookout for promotions from preferred vendors. For example, she takes advantage of National’s ONE, TWO, FREE promotion each year. “Luckily, I get to keep the free days accrued on my business trips for personal use. Last time I used them to help cut the cost of a trip to Denver to visit my best friend,” she said.
She also used the free days to cut the cost of car rental during a recent first-time, dream trip to Hawaii. She cashed in her Delta miles for first class tickets to Honolulu, where she met her mother and rented a car to explore Oahu and stayed at the famous Turtle Bay Resort in the island’s northern end. She also enjoyed some R&R at the posh five-star Royal Hawaiian on Waikiki. She was able to reduce the cost of accommodation (from around $450 per night to about $150) by using her Starwood points.
This durable Briggs & Riley Transcend bag sells for about $375
Redeeming miles for award trips to Hawaii is notoriously difficult, but Cook was able to do it by timing her trip in November, a relatively slow period for travel to the islands.
Finally, Cook recommends that those getting ready to embark on a career requiring frequent travel invest in good luggage. “You have to be willing to spend $300 or $400 on a good, durable suitcase that will not fail you in the middle of an important trip,” she advises. She recommends Briggs & Riley bags because of her good experience with its no-nonsense warranty. “I’ve had to get my bag repaired three or four times, and they’ve always done it quickly and never charged me a cent.” She’s also a fan of TravelPro bags, which she noticed are favored by the ultimate frequent travelers, flight attendants. Cook also recommends using colorful TSA locks on bags to help make them stand out among the sea to black bags.
CONTEST: As part of this partnership, National is giving a $200 American Express gift card and an Emerald Club Executive Status for a year to one lucky TravelSkills.com reader*. To enter, leave a comment below with the advice you’d give a novice traveler, and then share a link to this post on social media using the hash tag #ONETWOFREE. The winner will be randomly selected on December 15, 2014. Good luck!
And don’t forget to register for the ONE, TWO FREE promotion! You’ll get one free day for every two qualifying rentals with National between now and January 31, 2015.
*Only US residents 18 and over are eligible to win this giveaway. One entry per person.
–Chris McGinnis
Disclosure: Thank you for reading TravelSkills! We will periodically send out messages like this one from commercial partners about topics relevant to frequent travel. Our sponsors’ support, and yours, help us keep TravelSkills a free publication.
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It’s really lovely to read so many of the road warriors’ advising to BE NICE! Your attitude makes all the difference when travelling … be nice and you’ll reap the benefits. Nice guys don’t finish last, jerks do.
Congratulations, Michelle! You are the winner of our contest! National will be giving you a $200 Amex Gift card and a year of Executive status! I will reach out to you via email. Thanks everyone else for your helpful tips and for support the TravelSkills blog!
Always bring snacks with protein like peanut butter. Saves a ton of money when you don’t have to buy them at the airport.
Leave home as early as possible to get to the airport – I’ve known SF to SFO (about 15 miles) to take 2 hours down 101.
Download maps offline on to your smart phone in advance, so you can still navigate if you don’t have a connection. You can do that with Nokia Maps or with Google Maps.
Pack 2 things – a carryon only and a pleasant, patient attitude. Both will make your travels smoother.
Exit row seats are the new “first class”. If you are physically able, choose aisle, exit row seats. The leg room is often better than real First Class or the so-called “economy comfort” seats.
If you have a flight that has been delayed or cancelled don’t get in line at the ticket counter/check-in desk…get on the phone to customer service. You will generally have quicker service with less frustration. Also always remember to treat people as you would wish to be treated…it will get you a lot further in your travels
Thanks, everyone! These are great tips! Keep em coming. Maybe I’ll write another book like this one! –chris http://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-Business-Travelers-Pocket-Guide-ebook/dp/B000FA5LT0
Set your expectations low, be nice to everyone. Remember you can always wait for a flight, but a flight won’t wait for you. Get there early, reduce the stress.
Patience, things happen out of the control of you and others. And bring a smart device.
Be nice to gate agents & flight attendants; they never hear good news. Let the person in the middle seat have both arm rests. Don’t pull on the seat-back of the person in front of you when getting up. If you wish to recline your seat (even a bit), ask the person behind you and be sure there is not a drink or laptop that you will endanger. It’s what we learned in first grade: play nice with others.
BEST advice of all Jenny! This is SO true! Just three words. And if you have to only do one ( face it, some languages are tough!), make it thank you!
We can’t always fill that bottle unless you are ok drinking tap water. On some of my flights we are down to 4 bottles or so for the next 2 hours. When passengers hand us those bottles that are the size of the big bottle itself, I usually give them 1 or 2 glasses or ask them if they want the tap water, because I can’t give them 1/4 of my supply. On my flights ( 14 hours) this happens ALOT.
They board about 20 bottles of water in coach for 185 passengers for a 14 hours fight. We can’t fill up liter bottles all the time.
People balk at the tap water too. That’s the same water that the tea and coffee are made out of, it’s definitely potable.
Speaking as as air crew, the ONLY reason we have Travelpro is that is the company issued brand for almost all airlines. Why? Because they are inexpensive. I don’t recommend Travel Pro personally. The handles, wheels and zippers give out frequently and we have to use loaners until we get a new bag ( every 3 years). Guess what brand the loaners are? You guessed it. So naturally the loaners usually have broken parts as well. In 25 years of flying I have had Travelpro luggage for 22 of them and have had the handles break probably 8 times. My recent bag’s handle has broken twice in the past year! I paid myself to get it fixed the last time, not wanting to go through the ordeal of the loaner process – 85$ ! A new one would have cost about the same on our company website.
I wish Santa would bring me a Briggs and Riley! My dream bag!
Agree, agree, agree! I’ve gone to Asia for tbree weeks and used and regulation carry-on. Use laundry services but travel light
Points decrease in value over time, use them! Also, be very mindful if you book connection tickets with different airlines – have a backup plan if a flight gets delayed/cancelled because the connecting airline won’t care why you missed your flight.
If you’re just beginning a job that involves frequent air travel and you do not currently have status, check with your airline(s) of choice for some sort of elite trial or challenge that will reward your early loyalty by conveying status quicker than normal. There may be a fee, but you’ll likely find it a worthwhile expense.
A novice traveler is almost guaranteed to take at least twice what they need in their luggage. Lay everything out the night before then leave half of it at home. You’ll be so glad you did when you’ve got 10 minutes to run to a gate at the extreme other end of the terminal.
I agree that using carry-on only is the best tip. It’s saved me many times, in 3 scenarios: (1)when I would have missed a connection transferring from international to US domestic (I have global entry, so without having checked luggage I’m out of customs minutes after arrival, but even without that you’ll get out much faster if you don’t have to wait for luggage); (2)when my flight was cancelled at the gate and I was able to immediately get on a flight to an airport near my original destination (such as LAX instead of Orange County, or Oakland vs SFO); (3)when I boarded a flight at my home airport but the departure kept getting delayed, until it was clear that I wouldn’t be able to get to my destination in time for my meeting. I made a last minute decision to get off the plane then participate in my meeting online instead of in person. Now for a very minor tip – do bring your own water bottle as someone suggested but rather than jamming it into the yucky seat pocket unprotected, stick it into the barf bag (assuming it’s clean!) and that will protect it from all those germs left over from things like dirty diapers that have been in that seat pocket. One more tip – if you don’t get a seat you like when you first book your ticket, check back frequently. I’ve seen great seats open up for a short window, especially right around when the frequent fliers get their upgrades.
never never check a bag at all costs pack very sensible or send your luggage ahead(luggage forward) if u must for a long haul if u are traveling with lots of segments or to EU or asia this is a must rule…if any leg has a problem u have a better chance to get re-booked etc with NO LUGGAGE to deal with…
Travel light – carry on only if possible.
I would suggest to BURN those airline miles and points – don’t hang onto them for retirement. They just become less valuable.
Keep your eye on the monitor for your flight departure time. Also listen to announcements at the airport. I have had a flight depart 15 minutes early. The only way I knew this was I heard it over the intercom. If I wasn’t listening and got on the plane I often wonder if they would have left without me. Also pay attention to departure time when your flight is delayed. I have had flights showing delay then suddenly there is no delay and the flight is departing on time. Either that or the delay can be partially erased and the departure time is moved up. Happy travels!
Chill. Things may not be perfect, but a positive attitude will help a lot. Be ready for minor things to go wrong, and have a contingency plan for potential major things to go wrong.
And, when possible, plan your flights in a way that you could volunteer to get bumped and rack up vouchers!
Get to the airport at least 2 hours early otherwise you might miss your flight.
Two tips for longhaul flights: (1) Bring your own refillable water bottle aboard, have the flight attendants fill it, and stay hydrated, and (2) if in economy, choose aisle seats in order to be able to easily get up and stretch periodically, at least once every 90 minutes to 2 hours. Doing both makes you feel better upon landing.
Travel has lots of unexpected surprises, both good and bad. While we can’t control everything, we do control our response to it, so don’t let your attitude towards the unexpected ruin yours (or someone else’s) day
If you haven’t gotten TSA Pre-Check status (worth it!– my first tip!) then wear shoes that are easy to get on and off going through security!!!!!!!!!
Just go with the flow.
Keep checking back for rate specials close to your departure
On long plane flights: If you’re right-handed, sit on an aisle seat with the aisle to your right. (If you are left-handed, do the reverse.) Having that extra space to swing the elbow of your dominant hand does a lot to compensate for the tight seats.
Know how to say “hello,” “please” and “thank you” in the local language.
Anything that is important needs to be in your carry on, and if it isn’t important why are you taking it with you?
Thanks, Walter! — chris
Always allow yourself enough time to get through security screening.