June 23, 2009
Improvement Techniques for Travel
As summer plans get underway, what improvement techniques can you consider? What will make a difference to your company (or you)?
1) Shopping for the best lodging rate - this can be done by using an aggregator site that compares hotels for you; or you can go to a favorite brand and shop them. However, look at ALL rates when booking - often the ‘best rate’ doesn’t take into account pay-in-advance pricing, corporate discounts, or discounts for groups such as AAA or AARP.
2) Flexible pays off - if your travel plans are flexible, and you are flying, many airlines now allow you to see up to 3 days before and after, and compare rates. This is great if you can control your destiny (can pick your own travel dates).
3) Ask the hotel to service your room less - many hotels tell you that they care for the environment, yet still change out towels daily although they state that if they are “hung up” they will not. Spend an extra minute to provide feedback to the housekeeping management staff that you’d like them to honor that (if you don’t mind using the same towel for a few days in a row - since all I do is towel off a clean-from-the-shower body, I never mind…). Ditto for changing sheets daily. I don’t do that at home; why do I need it on the road?
4) Do you really need to lug the laptop? When traveling remotely, clients will often provide a workstation (complete with computer) for me; so a USB flash drive is really all I need to be productive. Hotel business centers often have 2-3 workstations available for evening work, and even have a great printer in most cases. So consider whether the “less is more” mantra can be applied to your carry-on, and leave the laptop (unplugged) at home.
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