Author: Tim Roselandbr
Source: articlesbase.combr
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In any travel situation, the further in advance you can plan your trip, the better you will do on all of your accommodations. But in the world of business, it often occurs that you have to get to a destination immediately, and the ability to move swiftly is critical to the success of the business goal. The good news is that you can do some preparations well in advance for short notice business trips so you are not caught completely without a plan. You don’t want to have towaste timetrying to figure out how to book a flightand where to stay if a business trip comes up suddenly. Short notice business trips seem to be endemic of certain industries and job descriptions. If you know you will go through this drill often, you can make some arrangements far in advance so you have a checklist of just what to do. First of all, in a short notice travel situation, economy takes a second priority. Your employer knows that if you have to book full fare on an airline to get to your destination at a specific time, the higher expense is unavoidable. Make sure that your company travel policy has some clauses to put aside travel budget limits in such a scenario. The part of the trip where you will have the least “wiggle room” will be airline accommodations. Of course, you can use the big internet search tools like Travelocity, Orbitz or myroadtotravel. In general, those are good places to start to find what airlines do have flights at your specified times. But once you pick an airline, working through the airline’s web site directly will show you the most options they can offer and sometimes provide you with better fares, even on short notice. Be sure you watch the travel details closely so you don’t find yourself enduring long layovers that are going to jeopardize the tight timetable of the business meetings you need to attend. If necessary, spend the money on nonstop flights to assure that the business goal of the trip is top priority. Do your homework about hotel accommodations well in advance. If there are likely destinations that you could be called upon to go to quickly, you can do your research on the closest hotels to the business site so you cut down on commutes once you are there. By having your target hotels bookmarked and the phone numbers on file, you can quickly call and set up your accommodations in a matter of minutes. But if you find that your best choices for hotels are booked up on the days you will be at your site, call them anyway. A good hotel will call around to other hotels in the area and get you a room as close to your destination as possible. They can save you hours of frustration searching for a replacement room. Rental cars are usually not as much of a problem. It’s a good idea to call ahead and get a reservation, but short of a major convention or sporting event in town, there are so many rental car agencies that you should be able to find a car to rent even if you don’t start your search until you are on the ground at your destination city. You can make other preparations for the possibility of a short notice business trip like having your toiletries and personal affects you always travel with packed and ready to walk out the door. By having your travel clothes ready to go, you can virtually walk home and walk out the door in a matter of minutes. Business trips on short notice are sometimes unavoidable. Using the above tips will assist you in making your accommodations quickly and efficiently, and take the stress out of business trips on the fly.br
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pmyroadtotravel was created in late 2007 as way for my wife and I to do what we love most…Travel. We love to share our experiences with others and have recently created our first blog a rel=nofollow,nofollow href=http://www.myroadtotravelblog.commyroadtotravelblog.com/a to help us do just that. Through this blog, we offer travel tips, our own personal experiences/adventures and photos from our vacations. Please stop by and give us your feedback and remember, for all your travel booking needs please visit us at a rel=nofollow,nofollow href=http://www.myroadtotravel.commyroadtotravel.com/a/pbr
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Posts Tagged ‘airport’
Business Travel on Short Notice
Insider Tips for Business Travel
Author: Tim Roseland
Source: articlesbase.com
As with any area of specialization, there are business travelers who always seem to know what they are doing and those who constantly seem to be in a state of crisis.
Holiday Travel Tips; Planning Ahead
Author: Jawahn Thompson
Source: articledashboard.com
Air travel is expensive. But I’m not telling you something you don’t already know. There are many ways to save money on air travel – some of them will save you a little, some will save you a lot. Before you book your next trip, see if any of these money savings tips are options for you.
? Consider flying out of another airport. Sometimes the nearest airport does not have the best rates. Checking the rates at one or two of the next nearest airports may yield better airfare rates than the airport that is closest to you. It may be worth it to travel an extra hour to the airport to save hundreds of dollars.
? If you have a trip planned for the future, but you aren’t ready to order your tickets yet, sign up for e-mail alerts from all of the airlines that fly from the airport(s) near you to your destination. You never know when an airline may be running a special to your exact destination.
? If you are ready to order your tickets, order them as far in advance as possible. The cheapest airfares sell out quickly. The closer to the flight you buy your tickets; the more expensive the tickets are likely to be. This is especially true around the holidays.
? If you are booking travel during the holidays, consider flying on the holiday itself. The days prior to a holiday, airfares can be the highest they are all year. If you can fly on the day of the holiday, you can get some of the lowest airfares of the year. If you do decide to book on the holiday, try to book as early in the day as possible in case there are any delays so you don’t miss the holiday festivities once you get to your destination.
? If you are phoning the airline directly for your tickets, ask for the cheapest fare, not just the fare for coach. There may be a cheaper fare in a better seat, but you’ll never know if you don’t ask.
? Fly on the off days. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and sometimes Saturday are considered the off days (unless it’s around a holiday). If you can fly to and from your destination on those days, you are much more likely to get cheaper flights.
? Check out the fares on red-eye flights. Those flights don’t sell out as quickly as other flights and therefore may have less expensive fares. Sure, if money were no object, the red-eye probably wouldn’t be your first choice, but then again you may sleep your way through the whole flight. That’s always a good way to spend a flight. And if you combine flying on the off days with flying a red-eye on an off day, you may get a real deal.
? Do your homework by comparing rates on the different websites. Travelocity, Priceline, Expedia, Orbitz, Cheap Tickets and many other websites have discounted airline tickets as well as discounts on hotels, car rentals, and other things related to travel. Take the time to check out the rates for each website each time you book your travel.
? While you are doing your homework, don’t forget to check out the airline’s websites. Sometimes the airline’s websites have even better deals than the discount sites. All this homework takes some time, but it will pay off in the end with big savings.
? Go outside your comfort zone. You may be used to always flying the same big airline, but if you consider one of the newer smaller airlines, you may be surprised at the savings you can grab.
? Before you book your tickets, make sure that the price you have includes all fees and taxes. If you’re not getting the full price of the tickets including fees and taxes, you may not actually be booking the least expensive airfare.
Now that you’ve saved money on your airfare, there are some things that you can do to help save money in other areas of your flight.
? Find out what the maximum luggage weight is for the airline you are traveling, and make sure you don’t exceed it. If you check in luggage that is over the weight limit, the airline can charge you a fee for each bag that is over the limit.
? If you are driving to the airport, plan to leave early enough so that you can park at one of the off site parking facilities that are close to the airport.
? If you’ve got a college age niece or nephew, next door neighbor or someone in that age range who lives nearby ask them to drive you to and from the airport. You can pay them $25 each way and save a bundle on airport parking, and get door to door service to the airport.
? Take your own snacks. If your airline does serve food, they may charge for it, and chances are it won’t be very good. You also won’t be tempted to pay the high price for the snacks you buy at the concessions after security because you’ll already have what you’ll need on the plane.
? Same goes for your reading materials. Bring your own that you already have at home instead of buying them from the airport stores. A flight is the perfect time to read that book you’ve been meaning to read.