Business Travel Tips

With the U.S. Congress trying to enact an airline “passenger bill of rights” that would regulate airlines’ actions during ground delays, some carriers are announcing a new policy on this matter.

JetBlue, following last winter’s storms that left thousands of passengers stranded, announced its own customer bill of rights.

Also United Airlines has announced changes about its policies on ground delays.
The Denver Post reports United Airlines now aims to limit taxi-out delays on the ground before takeoff to three hours or less and limit taxi-in delays on the ground after landing to 90 minutes or less.

Any North American flights that have taxi-out delays longer than four hours, taxi-in delays longer than 90 minutes or on-ground diversion delays longer than four hours will be deemed by United as “flights of note.” Passengers on such “flights of note” will get a note of apology, a certificate for 20 percent off a United round-trip economy-class ticket and a $10 airport meal voucher.

United said 324 of its flights had taxi-out times longer than three hours in 2006. The airline told employees that fewer than 0.1 percent of flights experience extensive delays, but “just one of these events can result in a negative customer perception.”

With the several problems business travelers experience these days, Videoconferencing appears to become a viable alternative to traditional business travel. Problems such as crowded planes, delays, security lines and airport hassle, as well as the rising costs of business trips, make alternatives to travel more attractive.
The New York Times explains how, Videoconferencing, thanks to new technology, is now delivering on its promise as an alternative to traditional business travel.

The high-definition TV images are sharp. Broadband fiber-optic cable has replaced tired telephone lines. And the equipment comes complete with studios that look handsome and appropriately corporate.
With the arrival of high-tech equipment, virtual meetings look better and better the worse the airport hassle becomes. […] Equipment suppliers, led by Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, Polycom and Tandberg, have created a new word - “telepresence” - to market the technology. Translated, it means “being there.”

- Telepresence is still too expensive

The telepresence technology comes with a large price tag: up to $300,000 to $400,000 a studio. […] The infant telepresence industry may never produce big numbers, in dollars or units shipped, according to Andrew Davis, an analyst at Wainhouse Research, a consultancy in Duxbury, Massachusetts.
“I’d guess it will never be more than 1 percent of total videoconferencing sales,” Davis added. The market is dominated by simpler systems that use far less sophisticated cameras and microphones, often carried over telephone lines.
These cost about $8,000 to $15,000 each, and last year 163,000 of these units were sold, he said. Still, even this market is growing about 20 percent a year, he said.

Claire Schooley, a teleconferencing expert at Forrester Research says “Going the video route may seem expensive, but if you’re talking about high-level executives moving about in a global company - flying first or business class or in a company jet just to see someone in person - travel adds up and the cost of sophisticated video setups can be a wash.“

An increasing number of Hotel chains are arranging facilities to meet the new thech needs of business travelers.
To be productive when they are on the road, business travelers now want high-speed Internet access and always the ability to talk on their cellphones.

To accommodate such needs, increasingly hotels now provide 24-hour business centers, free wireless in public spaces, and laptop and MP3 plug-ins to high-definition TVs.

Forbes lists a few examples of high-tech hotels.

At the Mandarin Oriental in New York, guests are assured of uninterrupted cell service, thanks to technology from an Innerwireless Distributed Antenna System, a system installed in the core of the hotel that allows for uninterrupted and universal cellular coverage.
Hotel Indigo, is a boutique hotel run by the Intercontinental Hotel Group, offering 24-hour business centers with free computer access in its 10 properties, including those in Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas. There’s also free wireless throughout the hotel.
The St. Regis Hotel in New York has equipped its “butlers” with wireless devices such as BlackBerrys. Guests stuck in meetings can now e-mail their butlers, instructing them, perhaps, to change the evening’s dinner reservations or retrieve a fax.

With airplanes packed with more passengers, airline employee morale at a record low, forecasters predicting severe hurricane and thunderstorm seasons, the risk of a tough summer for U.S. air travel is real.

Christian Science Monitor reported analysts are predicting it could even rival the summer of 2000, which was laden with work slowdowns, record flight delays, and passenger frustration.

Labor dissatisfaction could be a key factor in how the summer travel season goes. Pilots, flight attendants, and ground workers are already taking to picket lines — at a Washington rally last Thursday and at recent shareholder meetings. Their mantra: “We’re takin’ it back!” — referring to their pay and benefits. […] Labor troubles aside, even the big airlines’ lobbyist, the ATA, suggests that passengers be prepared for potential complications this summer.

David Castelveter of the ATA, says:

“Absolute patience and flexibility where possible. There are full airplanes, which means when there is disruption, the carriers don’t have the luxury of having a $30 million or $40 million aircraft waiting around [to take up the slack]. The carriers just don’t have the space to get passengers quickly to their destination.”

In time of rising travel costs, guides suggesting companies and travelers on how to realize savings are welcome.

Michael MacNair, CEO of MacNair Travel Management, a privately owned American Express Representative Office, has authored a book titled “Smooth Landings”, a step-by-step guide to achieving lower travel costs, enhanced productivity, dependable support and improved control.

MacNair’s book is mostly targeting small medium businesses.
The author says: “….many businesses have no access to the tools and philosophies that large companies utilize to control this second largest controllable cost for the average U.S. business“.
He explains: “Many organizations are confused about what to do when managing travel, so they allow each traveler to make his or her own choices with little guidance and education, which results in travel anarchy.”

With this book, travel managers will learn how to identify:
-benefits of managed travel and how to define expectations;
-steps to take to manage this cost to ensure the company and its travelers realize savings;
-what to ask for and expect in the marketplace to deliver the greatest results.
The book is available at amazon.com. Price: $19.95 US, $22.95 CA.