Business Travel Recommendations

First off I highly recommend visiting Mr. Greg Brown’s Travel Tips. Greg has put together a concise listing of great recommendations. Thank you Greg!

General Tips:

1. For business travel, sign up for Clear. Clear went out of business.

2. When selecting seats for flights, check www.seatguru.com for seat details.

3. Ask your preferred airline if they have a accelerated rewards program for business travelers.
   Some airlines will provide at cost a 3 month trial period for you to get preferred status. During this period you’ll need to fly enough flights to keep the status for the rest of the year.

   US Airways provides this service and it costs $215 dollars to be promoted to Silver status. If you fly 7500 miles during the next 3 months after enrollment, you will keep the Silver status. You can also get gold and platinum status if you fly 15,000 miles and 22,500 miles in the same 3 month time period. Chairman can be reached at 30,000 miles. This is a great way to get status so you can qualify for free upgrades, etc. without having to endure a lot of flight time, assuming you are actually flying enough to sustain the miles.

A few tips for traveling through Denver International Airport (DEN).

1. Visit the TSA Travel Assistance web site for TSA regulation details. One thing to keep in mind while going through the security screening processes: Their sole job is to harass people and provide a perception of security. So play the game. If you get upset at the process, don’t get upset at any TSA agent – the rules are designed to be inflexible and inconvenient. Do send your congressman the complaint however – it’s the lawmakers that have created this environment.

   Recently I was able to talk with a TSA agent off duty and he mentioned he has the most problems in security with airline pilots – Pilots have to follow the same regulations as we do and they hate it just as much as we do! So we’re not alone in the frustration…
   

2. Do online Check-In. Get your boarding pass before you drive to the Airport. Most airlines will allow you to check-in 24 hours before the flight. This will allow you to completely bypass the check-in/baggage lines and you can go straight to the security line.

3. Try to fly without checked bags. By eliminating the need to check a bag, you can avoid the airline’s checked bags line which can save a lot of time. Most airlines have a 1 carry-on bag and 1 personal item policy. I have a large rolling computer bag along with my regular carry-on bag and I will sometimes be asked to “valet check” my regular carry-on bag due to the size of my laptop bag. When you valet-check the bag at the plane, there’s usually no fee, and you get the bag right when you get off the plane – literally.

4. Tell the off-site parking bus driver you are flying United regardless of what actual airline your flying. United is the first stop on most off-site parking buses, and there’s no need to go to the airline’s ticketing/check-in line if you have no checked baggage. You can walk straight to the security line with your carry on baggage.

5. Use the Concourse A bridge security line if the regular security lines are heavy. Most casual travelers are not aware of the concourse bridge from the main terminal to concourse A. The security line can be the quickest way to get to the other concourses. The bridge can be used even if your flight is at concourse B or C by using the train from A.

6. Ask for upgrades at the gate. When you arrive at the gate ask the attendant if there are any seat upgrades they may be able to provide. It never hurts to ask.