Business Travel Tips

The Federal Aviation Administration has updated the rules for airline pilot work.  Based on the new FAA rules, the maximum time a pilot can be scheduled to be on duty is between nine and 14 hours — that also includes wait time before flights and administrative duties.

The maximum amount of time pilots can be scheduled to fly is limited to eight or nine hours.

The minimum amount of rest time between duty periods is 10 hours, a two-hour increase over the old rules. Also, the changes will increase 25 percent the minimum time off between work weeks.

New limits will be set on how many hours per month pilots can fly. Pilots flying overnight would be allowed fewer hours than pilots flying during the day.

The airlines have two years to adapt to the new rules. The FAA estimated the cost to industry at $297 million over 10 years. (source)

Dallas/Fort Worth, New York JFK and Atlanta are the best airports in the United States for providing Wi-Fi and other tech amenities, according to a study conducted by PCWorld magazine.

The study, “The 20 Best Airports for Tech Travelers”, identified the most tech-friendly airports, terminals and airlines in the U.S.

In order to carry out the study, PCWorld researchers visited 3300 gates, where they counted more than 17,000 electrical outlets, 5,000 USB ports, and 1,350 charging stations and conducted performance tests of Wi-Fi and cellular broadband service, in the 40 busiest airports in the U.S.
PCWorld found that the top 20 U.S. airports for tech amenities were as follows:

Dallas/Fort Worth
New York Kennedy
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International
Detroit Metro
Sacramento International
Oakland International
New York LaGuardia
Salt Lake City
Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall International
San Francisco International
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International
Raleigh/Durham International
Nashville International
Minneapolis/St. Paul International
Chicago Midway
Cleveland Hopkins International
Los Angeles International
Seattle/Tacoma International
Kansas City International
Portland (Ore.) International
(source PCWorld).
Also PCWorld, on the other hand, found that Denver International, Washington Dulles International, and Boston Logan International offer meager amenities per gate, and slow wireless service.

Last week, Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport has been added to the TSA Pre™ pilot, the program that allows TSA officers to use volunteered information to make risk assessments before the passenger gets to the airport.

American and Delta frequent flyers can take advantage of it — when flying domestically out of Las Vegas — at D Gates First Class screening lane.

In early 2012, two new airports will be added to the TSA Pre pilot, Minneapolis St. Paul (MSP) for Delta passengers and Los Angeles (LAX) for American Airline passengers.

As for airlines, TSA also announced US Airways and United will be the next airlines to offer TSA Pre™ pilot to eligible passengers in early 2012.

Global consulting and auditing firm Deloitte & Touche released a survey looking into the business travel habits based on the age of the traveler.

According to the study, young people are planning to travel for business more often than older people in 2012.

As the survey shows that more than 60 percent of business travelers expect to travel about the same in 2012 as 2011, 27 percent of those in the age group 18-44 said they expect to travel for work more often in 2012 than this year.
This figure decreases to 16 percent among business travelers 45 years and older.
This Deloitte & Touche’s study was an online survey conducted among 1,000 business travelers.

US Airways announced some changes to their Dividend Miles frequent flier program. The changes will be effective February 15, 2012.

The quick ticketing fee of $75 on awards booked now applies to reservations made within 21 days of travel (before the change the fee window was within 14 days of travel).

The free baggage allowance for Silver Preferred members has been reduced from two to one bag (for tickets booked on or after December 15, 2011 for travel on or after February 15, 2012).

About Mileage upgrades to First Class, you can redeem from 5,000 miles plus a $25 fee and now, you pay only for flights where upgrades are available.
You can see the new mileage upgrade chart here.