Business Travel Tips

United Airlines is offering discount airfares on flights from a number of U.S. airports to Frankfurt, Germany, this Summer.

The rates, starting as low as $333 each-way, are interesting for people who are planning to stay at least five nights in Frankfurt, as a minimum-stay of five nights is required to grab the deal. Also, the fares are one-way, based on a round-trip purchase and do not include taxes and fees.
Booking must be done by June 11.
Travel period: June through September.

Below a sampling of United’s discount to Frankfurt (details on United’s website) from:
- Baltimore/Washington $384
- Boston $378
- Chicago O’Hare $394
- Cleveland $378
- Denver $397
- Los Angeles $406
- New York City $333
- Orlando $393
- Phoenix $408
- Portland, OR $408
- San Francisco $415
- Washington Dulles $384.

Aer Lingus announced a sale on flights from U.S. to Ireland.

Business Class tickets start from as little as $799 one-way (fare based on a round-trip purchase, not including taxes) on flights to Dublin and Shannon airports.

The U.S. airports where discount are available are including: Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston, Washington D.C., and Chicago.

Flights must be booked by Sunday, June 1.
Travel period: through September 15. Minimum or maximum-stay are not required.

With major corporations heavily slashing their travel budgets, business and first-class travel have experienced, according to what International Air Transport Association is reporting, the biggest plunge in five years.

(photo by Sebastian Keil – CC license)

Many industry experts say it is not only a consequence of the surge in oil prices and resulting rise in airfares.

businessweek.com listed some reasons which suggest companies are going to cut on business travel even when this downturn will end.

- Modern air travel is becoming a pain.

- Frequent business trips can wreck executives’ health and family lives.

- People are really becoming conscious of the environmental costs of business travel. So in the effort to grow their green image, companies are racing to cut their carbon footprint — with air travel which is often a big piece of that.

- Videoconferencing and similar technologies are really going to give companies the chance to save on business travel, increasingly enabling employees to be connected around the globe without leaving their desk chairs.

The newspaper, citing what some big companies suggest, says technologies such as HP’s Halo and Cisco’s TelePresence, which cost up to $300,000 a pop, usually pay for themselves within nine months.

Consulting firm BDO Seidman is pushing employees to meet virtually by using WebEx technology, which lets co-workers across the globe scrawl on whiteboards and share documents. The company is saving $1 million a year.
“It’s not just about travel reduction, it’s also about increasing communication“, firm’s development director MaryEm Musser said. (source)

As fliers have expressed surprise following American Airlines‘ move to add a $15 fee for checking a first bag, industry experts warn the new fee is likely to create havoc in airports .

(photo source: MaxMilli0n).

MarketWatch.com suggests travelers will try to beat the system by squeezing all their belongings into carried-on bags, with non-seasoned fliers, who might not know they can’t bring aboard water bottles or other banned items.
That could hold up the lines at security checks.

With airlines continuously looking for new revenue sources in the effort to handle skyrocketing fuel costs, experts also predict rival legacy carriers are likely will follow AA’s move soon.

American Airlines announced it will charge many passengers $15 to check their first bag beginning June 15.

Full-fare Economy and First-Class travelers, as well as members who hold elite status in AAdvantage frequent flyer program will be exempt.

As most of airlines are already charging for checking a second bag, American Airlines’ move could lead competitors on the way to charge passengers for checking their first piece of luggage.