Business Travel Tips: Discover Your Inner Boy Scout
Like a Boy Scout, a business traveller has to be ready for anything. The dynamic work culture and growing business needs may require you to travel on short notices. UNIGLOBE experts discuss how you can become an all time ready traveller without much hassle. A lot of it is simply remembering the Boy Scouts time-honored motto: Be prepared.
BE READY TO GO...
UNIGLOBE experts strongly recommend to do some pre-planning while you decide to travel. The packed bag is just one part of being prepared, a lot of smart planning can happen long before you even book your trip. Here are few things to consider while planning a trip.
- Pick an airline points program and stick to it. The more you travel using the same airline, the more benefits you’ll derive from the points program - like upgrades, early boarding and other perks that can make travel less stressful. Focus on the airline that has the most destinations from your home base.
- Balance being frugal with being practical. If you’re staying overnight, it may seem smart to choose the cheapest hotel room, but if the hotel is an hour-long cab ride from your meetings, it may not be worth it. Same with the cheapest flight — it’s probably not worth it if it takes you twice as long to get where you’re going.
- Check in before you go. When your flight is eligible, checking in online means you’ll have one less line to stand in.
MAKE IT EASIER ON YOURSELF...
Minimize travel stress by being prepared with everything you need to breeze through security, be comfortable on the plane, and find a good meal and a hotel at the last minute if necessary. Have your meal preference shared with your UNIGLOBE experts, that will make sure you eat right on the trips. Here are some tips for speedy check-in without any hassle.
- Don’t check your bag. It’s a huge time-waster. And what if it gets lost? I maximize space in my ready-to-go bag with Eagle Creek Pack-It Compression Sacs.
- Pack toiletries with liquids in a clear bag to speed up security checks, following the 3-1-1 rule.
- Wear shoes without shoe laces, if possible.
- Apply for expedited traveller status through a program. The faster lanes can save you an hour at the airport.
- Load up your phone with essential apps.
- Avoid lines for public transportation tickets.
GET COMFORTABLE...
"Comfort isn’t a luxury on a business trip; it’s a necessity. There’s nothing worse than trying to impress a group of prospects after a less-than-restful flight.", says a UNIGLOBE expert. Take note of these important tricks to make your next trip comfortable and land work ready.
- Spring for the extra legroom. You’ll be less cramped and more importantly, be able to open your laptop in flight. That’s your golden time to catch up on email using Gmail offline.
- Invest in high-quality audio. Brands really do matter when it comes to earbuds for music and podcasts on the plane. Carry noise canceling headphones and don’t forget extra batteries if your headphones require them.
- For the long flights, take along an eye cover for easier napping.
- Always hydrate with lots of water and keep some bars in your bag for those times when you miss a meal or need a pick-me-up. You never want to go into a meeting on an empty stomach.
EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED...
Leave nothing - and we mean nothing - to chance when making an important presentation.
- Take along every possible connector. HDMI, DVI, AV out, Apple Lightning — whatever you might need to show presentation content from any of your devices. Keep your content on a flash drive on a keychain as backup.
- Be prepared for low-tech settings. If there’s no Wi-fi, you can use mobile tethering to turn your phone into a hotspot. If you can’t use your phone, use slides for backup. If you can’t show slides, be prepared to use a spiral bound version of your presentation or an erase board if you have to.
- Be just as prepared for high-tech settings. If you find yourself in a conference room with Apple TV, know how to take advantage of it to elevate your presentation.
KEEP IN TOUCH...
If you’re travelling internationally, be sure you have a good international calling package that makes it easy to manage minutes and data plans as those charges can rack up quickly (Ask your UNIGLOBE experts to help you in choosing the right card for you) Also, it’s great to know that texting from one iOS5 or greater device to another is free internationally using iMessage.
Last but not least, use Facetime or Skype to stay connected with you family and friends.
There’s no need to pack a Boy Scout uniform on your next trip, but it definitely helps to think like a Boy Scout.
by Soumya Prakash on 07/02/2015 in Business