Business Travel Tips

A survey sponsored by Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) shows the majority of companies are well prepared to deal with the threat of a H1N1 swine flu outbreak with minimal concern levels expressed by individual business travelers.

Below you have the survey’s figures.

- Sixty-two percent of the survey’s respondents said that their companies have a pandemic emergency plan that covers the evacuation or hospitalization of infected travelers in a foreign country.

- Fifty-eight percent of the respondents reported that their companies have been upgrading these plans on a regular basis.

- Sixty-eight percent stated that travelers and employees are advised of the upgrades every three months.

- Twenty-four percent said travelers were advised or reminded of the program prior to every trip.

- Forty-seven percent, have restricted business travel but only to Mexico. Excluding travel to Mexico, only 11 percent of respondents cited travel restrictions.

- Thirty-seven percent of the respondents said their companies were restricting travelers from attending meetings to avoid them may be exposed to the H1N1 from the handshakes and sneezes of others during business meetings.

- Only 28 percent of business travelers requested a cancellation or postponement of a business trip to a country with reported cases of H1N1 swine flu.
(source)

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) offers a free night with every two stays spent at its hotels between 4 May and 3 July 2009.

Free nights can be earned and redeemed at more than 4,000 hotels in 100 countries across seven brands — including InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites or Candlewood Suites.

The redeem period to use the IHG free nights is between 3 July and 26 December 2009.

To take advantage of the IHG free night promotion you are required to register at getafreenight.com before booking the stay. You can earn up to 4 free nights.

Delta Air Lines offers customers 500 miles for round-trip flights booked at delta.com.

The offer is valid beginning today through May 31.

In Europe travelers have been urged to postpone non-essential travel to the United States or Mexico as swine flu fears grow.
After holding emergency talks with EU foreign ministers over the deadly outbreak of swine, the European Union’s health commissioner Andorra Vassiliou advised people to reassess their travel plans.

In the U.S. major airlines are maintaining flight schedules to Mexico.

Bloomberg reported that as of Monday morning none of the airlines have canceled flights because of the swine flu outbreak.
Katherine Andrus, assistant general counsel for the Air Transport Association trade group was quoted as saying “I don’t think travel restrictions at this point are something anyone views as necessary”.

Airport workers have been instructed by the Center for Disease Control on how to deal with travelers about illness and fever.

Alaska Airlines announced it will institute a $15 fee for checking the first bag on its and Horizon Air’s flights.

With this new first bag fee, effective July 7 for tickets bought beginning May 1, the airline will also commit to pay passengers if their checked luggage are late.

Alaska Airlines says a bag will be at baggage claim within 25 minutes after a passenger’s plane parks at the gate, or the passenger will receive $25 or 2,500 of the airline’s mileage plan miles.

The fee for checking a second bag will remain $25 as the fee for a third checked bag will drop from $100 to $50, after July 7.
Frequent fliers with elite-level and active-duty military personnel will be exempt for the fees. Also the fee won’t apply to first-class and passengers flying inside Alaska.