#tipsforbusinesstravel

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Useful Packing Tips for Business Travel

Packing for a business trip requires forethought and planning. Know where you are going and what you will be doing. Take only those items that you need, less is more. All clothing should be interchangeable and appropriate for business settings.

1.     Plan itinerary

Organize the itinerary in order of the travel in a folder with all reservations, tickets, and documents.

Know flight times, hotel addresses and phone numbers, and car rental reservation numbers in addition to the names and places of the business meetings.

Plan any non-business activities like sight-seeing.

2.     Prepare

Research local customs that need to be observed.

Obtain passport and travel documents, if necessary.

Obtain an amount of travel cash, less than $100.00 USD. Airports are horrible to exchange monies.

Purchase travel-size toiletries.

Check the standard power outlet configuration. Purchase outlet power adapters, if necessary.

Check the local public and religious holiday schedule for the location and time of year.

Check the weather for the location and time of year.

3.     Pack luggage

Choose luggage that is one size smaller than believed you need, for clothes.

Pack one pair of underwear and socks for each travel day.

Pack an extra pair of shoes for non-business activities.

Pack coordinated shirts and trousers. Take one less pair of trousers and one less shirt than believed to be needed. All clothes should be neutral in color to maximize matching. Every item should match every other item (including ties). T-shirts should be nice enough to be worn with sport coats.

Pack travel size toiletries. Skip the fancy toiletry bag and use a zip-lock plastic bag.

Pack a winter coat in luggage, if needed. The coat can be retrieved from the luggage at the end of flight.

Pack a water-tight plastic bag. These are useful for wet clothes or storing messy items in your luggage.

Evaluate if a smaller luggage piece can be used.

4.     Pack a briefcase or travel bag

Choose a briefcase or travel bag to carry work material and itinerary. This bag should remain with you at all times. Never check it at the airplane.

Take all work material in the briefcase.

Pack a digital camera in briefcase.

Pack any medications in briefcase.

Pack a book or other reading material in briefcase.

5.     Dress

Wear a comfortable business outfit for travel to reduce the number of packed items.

Wear a sport coat. The sport coat serves multiple purposes. It has multiple pockets to store documents. The sport coat is excellent for different temperature variations during travel. The sport coat is acceptable in a wide range of business situations. The sport coat signals to airport authorities that you are traveling on business and can assist in passing through authorities.

Wear a pair of business trousers that are wrinkle resistant.

Wear appropriate comfortable business shoes. Try to wear shoes that slip on. This will speed time at the airport security check.

Enjoy your trip!

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Smart Tips for Business Travelers

Few years back traveling was nothing but a pain but with the passage of time things have been made a lot easier. Not only is it more affordable than ever, but there are a lot of great tools out there to make it both productive and more enjoyable.

Out of all the tips that make your business trips easier, top 7 are shared below:

1. Get elite status: Nothing beats having being an elite member of an airline insofar as travel goes as the perks are just great: Faster lines, free upgrades, first class upgrades, the ability to use their lounge in the airport, etc.

So, how do you get that elite status? Of course the obvious way is to travel a lot with a single airline. But there are other ways as well:

Use their credit card. This is probably the easiest way to get to an airline’s elite status. Use their credit card and every time you charge and you get miles.

2. Disable the seat recliner in front of you: Is there anything worse than, an hour into your flight, having the person in front of you recline their seat and take away a quarter of your space? No. One way to prevent that unenviable experience is to use the “knee defender,” a nifty devise that you position that physically prevents the person in front of you from leaning back.

3. Get a great four-wheeled rollaway: This is vital for two reasons. First, checking bags is for amateurs, so having one great bag is critical. Second, a great rolling bag makes travel so much easier since a rollaway with four wheels can stand without you having to touch it, thus freeing your hands. Mine is made by Atlantic and looks like any other two-wheeled rolling carryon bag, but when needed, you can hit a button and two more wheels pop out, thus effectively turning it into a cart that cannot tip over.

4. Get some noise canceling headphones: No, they are not cheap, but they are worth it. Being able to shut out that crying baby, or engine noise when you are seated above the wing, can’t be beat.

5. Bring along some backup batteries: For your laptop, yes, but also, did you know you can buy an external backup battery for your iPhone? You can, and on a long trip, it’s worth it.

6. App up: It would be impossible to list all of the great apps that are out that make travel better and easier, but here are some of the top ones:

TripIt easily turns flights, hotel, and car reservations into a simple itinerary. Additionally, the app allows you to get flight status, driving directions, and more.

SeatGuru gives you detailed airline seat analysis, comments about seats which have limited recline (yes!), less legroom, bad windows, etc.

7. Never buy car rental insurance: Not only does your normal auto insurance probably cover any problem you may have with your rental, but so does your credit card in all likelihood.