Month: December 2014

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Business Travel Travel Tips Vacation Travel

Traveling With Your Four-Legged Friend

traveling with petsI recently saw a bumper sticker that read, “It’s all About my Dog,” and oh, how I could relate! For me, it’s all about my pet Hank. Without me realizing it, Hank has slowly begun to control my life over the last four years and has somehow became a member of the family. People say pets become like children. At first, I didn’t believe this statement, but now I think it’s worse than that. My children have never kept me from taking a vacation, but every time we think about going out of town, the big dilemma is: Who is going to watch Hank and will they keep him at their house or will we be able to find someone willing to stay at our house because, of course, it’s better for Hank to be at ‘his’ house.

Luckily there are pet-care options when going out of town for a business trip or vacation. Should you choose to leave your pet behind, there are many services for dog sitters, either at your home or at an off-site location. If you do take your pet to an off-site location, you may want to slowly introduce them to the new surroundings so that when you go on vacation it won’t be a traumatic experience. If you choose to have someone watch your pet at your home, it goes without saying, be sure you do your homework to find someone you can trust, who comes highly recommended.

Additionally, there is the option of taking your pet with you. Many hotels–even upscale hotels–are pet friendly with a deposit. Your pet can even travel on the airplane, but be sure to check your airline’s policies for the size of your pet, time of year, and temperature of the cargo compartment if you have to ‘check’ your pet.

Your Christopherson Business Travel agent or Andavo Travel agent, depending on whether or not you’re traveling for business or leisure, will be happy to assist you in finding those pet friendly hotels and airline regulations. Happy Traveling … Ruff, Ruff.

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Business Travel Travel News

FAA Guidelines Permit More Device Use, Take-off to Landing

Although the FAA announced changes to on-board, in-flight cell phone usage more than a year ago, many people still don’t know that they can continue to work (or play Candy Crush) on their cell phones and tablets even after the airplane door has closed.

Passengers may now use e-book readers, play games, listen to music, and watch videos on mobile devices during take-off and landing, as long as they are in Airplane Mode. However, do keep in mind, there may be differences in the application of this allowance between the various carriers and/or plane types. Delta, United, and American Airlines do comply with this new regulation, by allowing the use of portable electronic devices below 10,000 feet on all U.S. domestic flights. Frontier passengers, on the other hand, are still required to turn off and stow their devices.

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Business Travel Travel News Vacation Travel

Travel trend report: “bleisure” travel

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More and more business travelers are adding leisure activities and vacation days to their work trips.

The trend of mixing business and leisure travel, a.k.a bleisure travel, is becoming increasingly popular, according to many news sources and worldwide surveys. More and more business travelers are adding leisure activities and vacation days to their work trips.

According to Skift.com, 83% of business travelers say they use time on business trips to explore the cities they’re visiting. Another 60% of respondents said they’ve taken a business leisure trip, and 30% have added two vacation days to business trips. Six in ten respondents say they’re more likely to take this kind of bleisure trip today than they were five years ago, and 78% think adding leisure days to business travel adds value to work assignments.

For businessmen and women who travel frequently throughout the year, they use bleisure travel as a way to stay connected to their families.  Additionally, since the company picks up the business traveler’s flight, it can also save the family money on airfare.

Many travelers are unsure if their company has a policy on bleisure travel. Is it allowed? Encouraged? Discouraged? These are questions to discuss with your company before delving too deep. Simply ask if your company has a policy on leisure activities during business trips. As long as the traveler is not charging the company for their leisure activities, most companies don’t seem to mind.

If you would like to travel for business and pleasure on your next business trip, your Christopherson Business Travel agent would be happy to assist you with your plans. Or they may connect you with one of our vacation-planning experts at Andavo Travel, Christopherson’s leisure travel division. Either way, Christopherson has the resources and expertise to assist you with your next bleisure trip.

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Business and Leadership Business Travel

Business Traveler Behaviors Based on the DISC Assessment

As a business traveler, you probably think you know what kind of traveler you are. But ask yourself: Is your behavior consistent on every business trip? Or does it change depending on the situation? If you’re uncertain, perhaps you should take the behavioral assessment test known as DISC. With DISC, behavior types are divided into four categories: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness.

To illustrate, let’s relate business traveler behaviors to the behaviors of shoppers. With permission from Dr. Mimi Hull, I will share her DISC assessment of holiday shoppers, as there are many similarities to travelers. I have added travel commentary in italics.

Which shopper (traveler) behavioral category are you?

D Shopper – Dominant, Direct, and Decisive

  • Does it all in one day–typically the day before.
  • Would prefer you to tell them what you want and where to get it.
  • Shops online buying gift cards, typically all from the same place.
  • Hates long lines, the crowds, traffic jams.

For a D Traveler, same day trips are a must. They exclusively use Christopherson Business Travel’s AirPortal®/online booking tool for all travel needs. Airline status is important and he/she will expect his Christopherson Account Manager to get him bumped to a higher status.

I Shopper – Influencing, Interactive, and Including

  • Loves the pageantry of the season.
  • Feels bad if not invited to a party.
  • Buys “Pretty more than Practical.”
  • Impulse buyer who likes to shop with friends and make a day of it.
  • Talks to anyone and everyone.
  • Sees lines as an opportunity to get to know people!

I Travelers love the hustle and bustle of the airport and may wish they could go in the SkyClub lounge to “hang out” with everyone.  They enjoy browsing and shopping at the airport stores to buy gifts for a loved ones. They enjoy getting to know their airplane seat mates. Once at their destination, short meetings turn in to long meetings and then going out for drinks with everyone afterwards.

S Shopper – Supportive, Systematic, and Steady

  • Makes a list in June and starts buying in July.
  • Has a list and a plan before leaving the house.
  • Gifts are thoughtful, practical and often homemade.
  • Out-of-town gifts are wrapped and sent by Thanksgiving.

S Travelers purchase their airline tickets far in advance and have an agenda for the entire trip. They takes treats, pens, and notebooks when visiting clients. They prepare presentations far in advance so not to be caught off guard.

C Shopper – Conscientious, Cautious, and Calculates

  • Creates a budget and spreadsheet on who is getting what gifts.
  • Researches price and buys practical lasting gifts.
  • Would prefer to compare prices online.
  • Hates the crowds and the lines.
  • Does not want to talk in line.

C Travelers will have a copy of their presentation for everyone, including a blank page for notes. They demonstrate (with spreadsheets and graphs!) long term goals and cost saving opportunities. They are a member of TSA Pre-check so as to avoid long security lines. They wear head phones to listen to his/her favorite motivational speaker while waiting in line.

To learn more about the DISC assessment, visit Dr. Hull’s website. Take your own DISC assessment, here.

Categories
Business Travel Travel Management Travel Tips

Why Book Through A Travel Agent?

pichjkChristopherson Business Travel provides their clients with two ways to book travel–through a customized online booking tool or with a team of experienced agents.

In a Forbes article by Larry Olmsted, I was reminded of the many reasons why choosing to book through an agent may be the best way. As Mr. Olmsted explains, “the bottom line is that they know more than you do, they are better connected than you, they have access to benefits you can’t get otherwise, they can often beat any other prices available (even online, yes), and after you have planned everything, they provide a safety net during your trip that you simply won’t get by booking yourself or buying insurance.”

Christopherson agents average 20 years of experience in the travel industry. Many of our corporate clients have realized the benefits of our agents’ expertise, saving time and money–by leaving it to the experts!

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Business Travel Travel News

Dubai: The Fastest Growing City

3I recently had the opportunity to travel to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to attend the Virtuoso Chairman’s Event. The UAE was established as a country in 1971 and is located in the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf.

Dubai has undergone a rapid transformation—from a desert located, pearl-diving culture, to one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Today, Dubai is a tourism, aviation, real estate, and financial services hub and has become a world-class cosmopolitan city.

The city has become famous for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

Dubai’s oil revenue accelerated the early development of the city, but its reserves are limited today. Less than 5% of their revenue comes from oil.

While they are famous for their “over the top” buildings and tourist attractions, the thing that most impressed me was the vision the city’s leaders had to invest their oil windfall in building their future.

Forbes Magazine said this about Dubai: “The recipe for success is not complex: rule of law, free trade, low taxes, business-friendly regulations, free movement of people and capital, no tolerance for corruption, physical safety, and security of property. That’s it.”

Dubai’s ruler was quoted to have said: “When the oil runs out will we be clapping or crying?” He wanted to invest the money in a way that they would be “clapping.” This is a stark contrast to some of their neighbors in the region who have squandered their oil revenue on terrorism and other things that will not build a future for their people.