Tips for a First Time Business Traveller?

try and use the same airline, hotel, car rental etc to max your pts/miles

 

Try to join the mile high club, and learn how to fight off box cutter weilding terrorists! And give angry eyes to every arab you see!

 

If you are staying at the same hotel or getting like a business suite at a residence in, then you can leave a couple of suits there and have them clean them when you are gone over the weekend.

Again, it may be better for you to rent an apartment and keep some clothes there, but bringing some extra clothes each week and having them laundered works well.

Find ones that are tied together, for instance, Hilton also ties in with American Airlines.....and try to stay somewhere that recognizes points.

I travel a lot, and miss my family a ton, it sucks....nothing can replace being there, but video conferencing is the next best thing, at least you get to talk to them and see them.

You will be back on the weekends though, and I am thinking of doing a similar deal but for 3 years....so if you would let me know how you are holding up, I would greatly appreciate it.

DD

 

regarding item 1)

travel friendly suits will help out a lot in the first place. ideally you want to carry them in individual garment bags with you in the cabin. look for "wallybag" brand garment bags. they are relatively cheap and very good at preventing wrinkles. i do not like the garment bags that hold more than one suit at a time or the ones that fold at the top. one fold at the bottom is best for preventing wrinkles/crushing.

alternatively, you can pack 2 suits in a special suitcase for such and just check that in. "briggs & riley" or "rimowa" brands are your best bets here for design and durability. i recommend going this route if you will not be flying business/first, since there will not be much free space in economy for storing garment bags overhead without them getting crushed by someone else's carryon.

shirts - ask your dry cleaner to box them chinese style instead of putting them on a hanger, and then just throw em in the suitcase

ties - i just roll them and loosely place 3-4 of them in a deep rectangular plastic tupperware box. this is the only way i've found to be guaranteed they won't be wrinkled by the time i reach the hotel.

shoes - fill them with shoe trees so they don't get crushed and then each in those fabric shoe covers

also good to take one of those lint rollers along with you for the suits.

for mon-thurs i would say you will probably need 4 suits a week! :grin:

 

I only have advice on #2 - and that's don't overpack. When I travel I typically go to eat in the evening in whatever I wore into the office that day - granted I don't wear a suit and tie, those I would leave in the hotel. No problem though with slacks and a button down for dinner.

Your first trip you are going to way overpack. You'll have a better idea of what you'll actually use and what you won't after that.

 

Tons of packing and travel tips on YouTube.

Start here.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=packing+tips&aq=f

Hope this helps.

 

I travel fairly often for work, and definitely recommend pippendagimp's suggestion on getting a Rimowa suitcase. I purchased this one - it's a carry-on hard case, and can fit a lot. When you're in and out of airports as often as you will be, you won't want to be waiting at baggage claim for your luggage. This suitcase also has an attachment clip that let's you attach another smaller bag -- I use it to hook my computer bag onto.

Another piece of advice I have for you is to see if there's anyway you can avoid using the corporate card, and use your personal card instead. When I travel for work, I always stay at Starwood hotels and use my Starwood American Express card -- the reward points add up incredibly quick.

 

I travel for work, but usually 2-3 extended trips per year, so my advise is more geared towards quick trips. Get an TSA-approved laptop bag to save you time going through security!

G'luck!

 

I travel 4 days a week too, but I don't need a suit.
My standard list for business casual:

5 Underwear
4 Shirts
4 Black socks (even if I'm in brown belt mode, I don't care)
Brown shoes or Black shoes
Brown belt or black belt (match the shoes)
a combination of 4 dress shirts/polos
2 workout shorts
1 workout shirt
2 white socks
1 workout shoe
+ jeans and casual shoes in advance of a team dinner night or going to a bar... not frequent
instead of shoe trees, use rolled up undershirts or socks inside the shoes.
keep plastic grocery bags, twist ties, and shout wipes in the outside pocket of your luggage

check your bag only once in the beginning of the project to bring large shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion, toothpaste, etc liquids... and NEVER check your bag again after that. 1 roll-aboard case and 1 laptop bag/backpack is all you need. leave the big bottles at the hotel desk for when you come back.

buy an extra phone charger and a usb cord.

always clip your car keys inside your laptop bag (there's usually a little hook inside one of the pockets). and keep a pen in your car to write down your airport parking location on the ticket.

stay in hiltons or marriotts (starwood is great, but if you will be working in a lot of cities, it's harder to find them), and fly continental or southwest.

don't dry-clean your clothes unless you have a visible stain on the neck or from a spill - they'll last longer.

wait for sales for no-iron clothes (jos. a bank, brooks brothers, sometimes you can find them at marshall's or ross). especially a high-quality wool suit.

don't eat heavy food on thursday afternoon. no one likes the airplane pooper.

 

I've been traveling Monday-Thursday for the better part of 3 years now. If you're going to be doing this a bit, a few pieces of advice.

-- Get a good suitcase that's carry on size. I personally like TravelPro with garment attachment, but there's lots of good options.

-- Buy wrinkle free shirts. This is a lifesaver. Jos. A. Bank has a decent selection, as do more and more higher end tailors. I also like Charles Tyrwhitt for this. If you hang them in the garment bag, take them out of the suitcase and hang them in the bathroom while you shower, they look as good as ironed.

-- With regard to suits, you may want to have 4 suits for variety, but never take more than 2 at a time. To be honest, I'd often go with just one if it's fairly simple (black). I also generally didn't need to wear suits, so take that for what it's worth.

-- Dress shoes without laces. That's probably the best piece of advice you can get. You don't want to be that guy in the airport.

-- With regards to reward points, in general, stay at the same brand. Most of my colleagues and I were Starwood loyalists (W, Westin, Sheraton, etc.). Check the company websites -- often they'll run promotions like points multipliers, or free weekend nights for x amount of stays, but you have to sign up for them to get the rewards. The boards at Flyertalk.com are very much on top of this as well, and may be worth a scan once you decide an airline/hotel chain.

--If you're a reader, buy a Kindle. One of the best purchases I made in the last year just for how much I use it when traveling.

 

how many cartons of cigs can you put in your carry on?

 

Use the same Airline, Hotel chains and rental car companies to maximize points.

On hotels (travel...ALOT), find hotels with HDTVs. Holiday Inn Express and Courtyard by Marriott (look for re-design lobby) are good for that...so are Aloft and 4points by Sheraton (Comfort Suites are good too). You can use there websites to see room pictures and sometimes the room description with say 27inch or 32 HDTV. Why? Get you an xbox 360 or ps3 to take with you, keeps you out of trouble. PS3 is easier to bypass Hotel Free wifi acceptance screens because of the web browser. I use a 360 (i have the new one) and will use the built-in wifi if there is no acceptance screen or i will internet connection share with my Mac (and do it with PC too) so I can use the Mac's web browser to get past that screen (and just use the Mac as the wifi adapter).

 

I recently switched to a backpack for my laptop instead of the over the shoulder...why did I wait so long? So much easier walking through airports with a backpack.

I have been using Hilton hotels...tons of locations and options. The point system is pretty good, and you'll earn free nights after only a few trips.

Definitely go for no iron dress shirts...Brooks Brothers shirts are pricey, but so worth it.

One thing that is always a challenge for me is eating right. Not only low calorie/low fat, but making sure you get all of your vitamins/minerals. It can be tough to get fresh fruits/vegetables when your traveling, especially for 3 or 4 nights. I always take some multivitamins with me, and try to get some fresh fruits daily. If your hotel has breakfast, try to grab some there. I usually end up at a Hampton Inn, and try to grab fruit/yogurt for breakfast.

 

www.flyertalk.com has a lot of frequent flyer advice about specific airlines, their offers, etc.

I'd register and check it out.

 

This is a great thread....and if you don't mind I would like to ask a question.

Nike,

You say you have been doing this for 3ish years, how do you like it? Do you have any kids? Do you still make most ball games etc?

The reason I am asking is that I am mulling over 2 offers right now.

One is for a similar situation where I would basically be in Michigan Mon-Thurs....

The other is working at home and traveling about 2 weeks a month or so.

The one in Michigan is almost double the money......but I would probably have to get an apartment, another car, and pay for my flights weekly.

I am having the worst time trying to figure out what to do....

Especially since the Michigan one is my Dream scenario...work wise.....

But living in Austin with the family and being pretty comfortable is good too.

So, the real question is....how does it feel being gone Mon-Thurs every week?

DD

 

I agree with the no overpacking comments, but find a way to fit in a pair of jeans, because you will want to get out of suit pants, and you don't want to wear them out anyway. And definitely workout apparel. It's easy to add lbs on the road and it helps time go by faster, too.

Also, keep your travel toiletries and home toiletries separate. That way, when you leave on a 6 am Mon morning flight, you can just grab the toiletry bag without messing with the stuff you used that morning.

Tidestick pen or shout wipes.

Keep a pair of extra collar stays in your suitcase for back up.

Keep your extra phone charger in your briefcase, and never use it at home.

Learn to check in for flights with your phone

Same hotel and airline. AmEx Membership rewards

My wife uses packing cubes, but I hate them. To each their own.

I also like the Tumi fold up garment bag.

You'll get in a groove pretty quickly and figure out what works for you.

 

In the past couple of years, I spent 7 months on the road in Toronto, 6 weeks in San Francisco, and 6 weeks in Austin (my office is in Chicago).

One perk of the travel is the hotel points. In March, I had enough points/miles for a first-class flight to Tokyo, with free 4-star hotels in Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto for just about two weeks.

 

and no work shoes with laces. security at the airport only sucks because of people who don't know how to do the routine. don't be that guy