Toolie Business Travel Newsletter July 2009In This Issue:
Toolie's Monthly Travel Tip: Going With The FlowThis issue marks the 5-year anniversary of the Toolie Business Travel Newsletter! It's been my pleasure to provide travel tips and insight to you all this time, and my intention to continue this newsletter as long as you keep reading! Thank you for your patronage. When I was traveling for Microsoft, most of my big trips took place in the summertime, when we held the annual TechEd event. I took the content delivered at the US event to Europe and then to smaller versions of the content in countries around the world. As you well know, summertime brings out the leisure travelers who travel only occasionally, and who usually don't have loyalty-status with the airlines they've selected. For them, travel is arduous anyway, but not having an understanding of how the system works nor best choice of seats and connections, they're frustrated before they even get off the ground. A Tale of Two Travel Scenarios My 6 am departure out of Seattle for San Francisco was uneventful and pleasant. I had been granted an upgrade, so I was also comfortable. Coming into SFO, my friend Bill who was also on the plane headed for Phoenix, invited me into the Red Carpet Club, where we had a quiet place to sit, talk, work, and snack. We knew we had a 3-hour layover, so we just chilled, waiting for the time to board. Then word came that the connection was delayed by 30 minutes, then an hour. That was OK, we just went back and sat down. Finally, it was time to board. This was an all-coach seat flight AND every seat was taken so it was going to be a very cozy voyage anyway. But I was pretty mellow; I still had several hours before the opening session at the Convention, and I wasn't worried. I had only 2 hours sleep (not unusual for me on some of these trips) but I was holding up pretty well. By contrast, there was a large (about 15 members) extended family that was traveling on the same plane, and they had already been on the ground in San Francisco for several hours waiting for this connection. Tack onto that an additional 90-minute delay, and the head of the group was pretty unhappy. The plane was oversold, and while his group had all received seating, they were scattered all over the plane. One of the younger members was going to be seated next to me, as it turned out. Everyone boarded the plane and wedged their suitcases into the available space. I recall seeing on the Standby List that there were another 9 people waiting for seats who were probably not going to make this flight. I wondered about how their day was going: probably not well. Just Then, The Mechanic Arrived Then from the cockpit we got word that there was going to be an additional delay of nearly an hour. You could hear everyone on the plane groan at the same time. I have to say, I dislike being boarded and then told to have to wait before departure, but the head of the extended family was VERY unhappy. For the next few minutes, the aisle in the plane looked like the hallway between gates. Several sets of travelers got up to leave the plane to attempt to make other arrangements for travel. Connections were at stake (as always) but the fever pitch of activity reflected the anxiety level of travelers whose vacations were being ruined by airline delays. I overheard one traveler say "this ALWAYS happens when I fly xxx airline." I thought to myself, "this would probably be happening to you on any airline you don't fly frequently" but I didn't say that out loud. I've BEEN the person without loyalty-status. It's just no fun at all. Taking My Toys and Going Home What happened next I did not expect. The head of the large extended family returned to the plane and waved to them to leave the plane. Two women traveling together who had made several trips to the customer service counter also left the plane. There were 2 or 3 other small groups of people who got off the plane. Suddenly, our completely full flight had more than 20 seats open, including the one next to me. While I was pleased to have more elbow room (due to the now empty seat on my right), my thoughts turned to the 9 equally-anxious passengers on standby who would have been happy to be on this flight. By now, other arrangements would have been made for them, and they were probably sitting in yet another gate area waiting for a seat. There was no way to recall them to this plane. No one else boarded the plane after the mass exodus. We simply left the gate and got underway. It's Not Just About YOUR Plans What's the lesson here? Well, the title of the newsletter is the answer: go with the flow. It's not easy to be serene when your travel arrangements are messed up. Your only defense is to build in sufficient time before and after your critical business meetings (and vacation plans) to not mess up your obligations. But in this situation, I was angry on behalf of those who could have made that flight. Their travel plans were just as important as mine or those of the people who got off the plane. The exiting passengers had seats; they could have made the next leg of their trip, but they chose instead to disrupt the plans of others. I can appreciate their frustration, but they had no sense of what others were enduring, only their own issues. I know I am preaching to the choir here. You are business travelers -- if you hadn't already come to some of these conclusions, you've probably picked them up from my writing. What you CAN do that I can't is to help the leisure travelers in your extended family cope with travel troubles. Prepare Your Tribe for Travel Teach your kids that patience is necessary when moving through the travel "system" (check-in, security, boarding, sitting). If they're young, make sure they have activities to keep them occupied, and snacks to quell hunger pangs. Explain that emotional tirades won't make things happen faster (I've already tried that -- don't bother), and help them sit still for long periods of time so they get used to the fact that they can't run up and down the aisles (tried that too -- the flight attendants don't like it). McAlister reminded me that most other alternatives to coping with boredom on the plane are either illegal or impractical. Tell your relatives to dress comfortably and build in extra time getting to and from the airport. Make sure they get enough rest before they leave town. Tell them to try packing a day early -- that gives them time to figure out that they've forgotten a critical item before they've left the house. Having left critical items behind previously, I know this last tip is worth its weight in gold. What things have you done to prepare YOUR tribe for travel? I'd love to hear about YOUR coping tips so that I can share them with your fellow readers. Thanks! ToolieTravelBlog.com Business Travel News Service Gets Around!It's been enjoyable to comb through business travel news stories from other sources to find some that are relevant to you for my www.ToolieTravelBlog.com. It's also been gratifying to see my blog posts show up on Twitter and on other blogs! The power of social media is real, and really helpful to small business owners like me. If you're not already involved in social media for your business, you're missing a real opportunity. Toolie's Travel PlansIt was my great pleasure to present a session on Web 2.0 and Social Media to the National Speakers Association National Convention participants in Phoenix in mid-July. I also got to see my brother Joel and his wife Adria in Tucson while I was there. I am home for a while -- my next known trip is in October, but I am working on some opportunities for September. October 10th I'll be speaking to the New Orleans Chapter of the National Speakers Association -- it'll be fun! Stop by my web site, http://www.tooliethetravelguide.com and say 'Hello,' especially if the Live Chat icon says I'm online. I love to hear from my subscribers anytime! Toolie®
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