Business Travel Tips

Continental Airlines is offering discount business class flights from the U.S. to Europe.
The offer is valid for two different periods: between Nov. 21 and Nov. 27 (travel must be complete by Dec. 4) and Dec. 19 and Jan. 1 (travel must be complete by Jan. 9).

The European destinations that are subject of the promotion include Amsterdam, Lisboa, London, and Paris.

Below is a sampling of Continental’s sales fares to Europe (please note: fares are round-trip and do not include taxes and fees).
- Cleveland to London from $1,430
- Houston to Paris from $1,830
- Newark to Amsterdam from $1,330
- Newark to Lisbon from $1,230
Check out details of the promotion on Continental’s page.

With employees increasingly involved in business travel, it is more important than ever for companies to look for the best travel insurance.

With so many online and offline travel insurance companies around, the best way to find the best value for money travel insurance is to compare travel insurance policies through price comparison websites.

Moneysupermarket.com offers an effective way to do it.
This price comparison site has a travel insurance section where over 450 travel insurance companies are compared within seconds to find you the cheapest deal around.

Whatever way you decide to get your travel insurance be sure to get a comprehensive deal where you and your belongings are full covered should damage happen to either!
With high tech equipment such as laptops and other computerised devices often taken on business trips it is therefore essential to get all luggage covered to a high value so that should any equipment or valuable data be lost you can be compensated to the full amount.

Members of JetBlue’s frequent-flier program TrueBlue will get triple points on all tickets booked at jetblue.com between July 30 and Sept. 23.

To qualify for triple points, customers must register online and then book a roundtrip flight on jetblue.com between July 30 and September 23, 2009 for travel between August 17, and September 23, 2009. Your triple TrueBlue points will be issued once qualifying travel is complete.

Under JetBlue’s current TrueBlue frequent-flier program, customers get a free ticket after earning 100 points.

Last week JetBlue had announced major changes to its TrueBlue loyalty program that will be effective beginning September 28.

The National Business Travel Association ( NBTA) praised the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) announcement to expand the Global Entry pilot program to an additional 13 U.S. international airports.

New airports joining Global Entry program include: Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Sanford (Orlando), San Francisco, San Juan, and Seattle.

With these newcomers, the full list of airports operating Global Entry includes the nation’s top 20 international arrival airports. The seven airports already operating Global Entry include: New York’s John F. Kennedy, Houston’s Bush Intercontinental, Washington Dulles, Los Angeles (LAX),  Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, Chicago O’Hare and Miami.

Kevin Maguire, NBTA president and CEO, said: “The expansion to the top 20 U.S. international airports will give frequent business travelers a quick and secure means to enter the U.S., ultimately helping to promote the flow of international commerce. We thank U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for their dedication to the program and look forward to further expansion to accommodate the future growth of international travel.”

The Global Entry program provides low-risk, pre-approved travelers expedited entry into the U.S. Program participants bypass regular passport control and proceed directly to Global Entry Kiosks, where their identity is confirmed using biometrics.

With the new screening methods also known as full-body image scanners introduced at some airports in the U.S., many are raising the issue of privacy. Nearly 40 groups oppose these new scanners — already used at security checks in 20 airports across the U.S. — as a violation of privacy.

After seeing images of real humans on the scanner screen at Cleveland Hopkins Airport, Connie Schultz, columnist for Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer, shares her impressions of the new imaging technology which is being tested at security checks in that airport.

“The images are not porn, and we all look bad. Every body sags or poofs out somewhere.

Anonymity is protected. Faces are blurred beyond recognition. The agents looking at the images aren’t the same ones waving passengers through. Agents cannot bring cell phones or cameras into the screening room, and can’t leave until the last screened passenger has departed. The Transportation Security Administration insists the images are not stored.

There are advantages to whole-body imaging for passengers.
The only clothing passengers have to remove is their shoes. If you have an artificial joint or implant, you will no longer trigger the alarm and have to surrender to a pat-down. You can just strut your fine, artificial self through the scanner.”

(Full story)