Business Travel Tips

Passengers at Denver International Airport will be able to use Clear cards which will enable them to navigate airport security checkpoints more efficiently.

For an annual fee of $99.95, passengers enrolled on the Clear card system, are supplied with identity cards complete with encrypted fingerprints or iris images, to get faster security checks.

Clear program has already lanes at airports including New York JFK (Terminals 1, 4 and 7), Orlando, Jacksonville, Cincinnati and San Jose, Calif..

According to a study conducted by Topaz International, booking business travel on public Internet sites (such as Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, and airlines’ direct sites), costs more ($75 more, in average) than booking using a corporate travel agency.

Topaz International, a research firm serving the corporate travel industry, has provided comparative studies since 2001, and in each year, found that agency fares were equal to or lower than those offered through online sites in over 91% of itineraries.
“The five years of comparative airline purchasing patterns indicates that the online alternatives are not always cheaper, but in fact have been higher over the past few years,” said Bradley Seitz, President and CEO of Topaz International.

Travel agents are pointing out that a travel agent constantly analyzes travel expenditures on their clients’ behalf and uses their personal relationships with suppliers to negotiate the lowest fare options, which are generally not available to the public. (source: TRAVELSAVERS, global marketing organization for independent travel agencies)

Those who book and buy between 12:01am on Tuesday, October 30, through 3:59pm on Wednesday, October 31 a flight from San Francisco to Dublin with Aer Lingus, will pay the ticket as low as $199 one-way.

This discount airfare online applies only for tickets purchased online, at www.aerlingus.com.

Aer Lingus, which launched this discount airfare to celebrate the new San Francisco to Dublin route inaugurated on Sunday (October 28), offers two classes of service on this route: Classic Economy and Premier Business.

American Express Charge Cardmembers will have the opportunity to transfer points to frequent flyer accounts, or book reward flights with either Hawaiian Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines.

That after American Express has added Virgin Atlantic and Hawaiian Airlines as new partner airline.

American Express Cardmembers will enjoy greater choice and flexibility; participating passengers will be able to take advantage of flights to more than 80 destinations, including London, Hawaii, and Australia.

According to a survey conducted by Synovate Travel & Leisure research firm on behalf of Carlson Hotels Worldwide among 1,000 International business travelers, last-minute flight cancellations were the most frustrating travel experience.
Below some survey’s findings.

- Flight
75 percent of business travelers surveyed said last-minute flight cancellations and delays were their most frustrating travel experience. Just lower is ranked lack of communication by airline personnel. Surprisingly International business travelers are more irritated by screaming children (61 percent) and incessant talkers (47 percent) than by confronting the hassles of airport security (32 percent).

- Hotel Service
Seventy-two percent of hotel-bound business travelers cited that the “basic condition of rooms” frustrated them most followed by uncomfortable beds (64 percent) and rooms that are were not ready following a late arrival (64 percent). “Requesting a non-smoking room and not getting it” and “miscellaneous surcharges” each frustrated 61 percent of survey respondents.
The survey found that the most popular hotel perk is a room upgrade (59 percent), followed by the availability of free Internet service (56 percent) and an exceptionally comfortable bed (50 percent).
(source)