11 Essentials Tips for the Business Traveler

As they say, getting there stopped being half the fun whenairplanes were invented. If you travel a lot, here are some tipsto make it more palatable. 1.Go ahead and pay to join something like AA's Admirals Club. With it you'll get assistance with reservations, seat selectionand boarding pass issuance; a quite place to wait and work;complimentary snacks and beverages; private bar at mostlocations, and showers at some. At around $450/yr. for oneperson, it could be well worth it.2.Use airport Conference Rooms and Executive Centers.Saves everything from nerves to time to money. No membershiprequired. Eliminates need for overnight stay, hotel or carrentals. There are 22 available at O'Hare, for instance. Executive Centers come equipped with everything you need toconduct business. Call 1-800-237-7971, option 3. 3.Keep all your luggage on wheels, use one carryon, invest ingood luggage. According to the US Transportation Dept., about 1 in 200 bagsare lost, misdirected or stolen, which is about one person perflight. 87% of this happens at the curbside check-in station. Advantages: don't have to tip porter; don't have to arrive asearly; if you miss your connection, you can easily rebookyourself; you can easily volunteer to be bumped on a fullflight; no wait once you land. 4. Take a book with you. Better than TV in most hotel rooms, good for waits, also good tohide behind if you get next to someone in the plane who annoysyou. Leave it behind for another traveler or tear off chaptersas you go along and lighten you load.5. The travel wardrobe. Coordinate to one color, like black. Many women, myselfincluded, swear by Tencel. Indestructible, always looks nice.Choose the right print blouses and it won't show stains.Gentlemen, consider microfiber fabrics. Choose something withinner pockets (that zip!) for important papers and cash. 6.Don't appear wealthy.Especially important in 3rd world countries. Wear cheap-lookingwatch and jewelry and leave the diamonds at home. Makes you lessof a target for pick pocketers and luggage theft. If you musttake a camera, guard the lens; popular with pick pockets as well.Remove luggage tags from other trips. It's a tip-off for thieveslooking for the "rich frequent traveler".7.Cash.Hide cash in different parts of your body. If travelinginternationally, get new bills, as some countries won't take"dirty" money. In Africa, for instance take new $100 bills. Theexchange rate on anything lower is not good. Check with someoneelse who's been where you're going. i.e., in Russia, they aren'tsupposed to take US dollars, but they sure do.8.If you get a rental car, write down all the information aboutit. Just in case you forget what you're driving.9.Stay alert. Take a water bottle with you for dehydration anddrink 2 glasses of water before you board. While on the plane,splash water on your face; when you get to the hotel, take awarm bath. Dry membranes are more vulnerable to infection.Go rested. Try the Argonne Anti-Jet-Lag Diet:http://performance.netlib.org/misc/jet-lag-diet .10.Take measures to avoid developing deep vein thrombosis.Drink lots of water, avoid beverages that dehydrate, avoid saltyfood, wear support socks, get up and move around whenever youcan, exercise your feet and legs 4-5 mins. every hour. 11. Check out some of the travel products at sites such aswww.magellan.com . You'll find No-Jet Lag tablets, head and foot rests, packingaids, micro fiber wear, all sorts of helpful things.