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Smart packing tips for business travelers {Gadling}
Jun 8th 2008 9:51PM I can pack for up to 10 days with two bags: my carry-on rolling office (McKlein leather with removable handle & wheels) and a 21" expandable rolling carry on (Briggs and Riley Transcend). Anything valuable goes in the rolling office, which comes on board and goes overhead except on smaller regional jets (then underneath the seat in front). My packing suggestions: 1 business shirt per day, 1 pair of slacks for every 2 days - dark colored to hide any stains. Minimize ties by planning on 1 for every two days, but make sure your shirts look different enough so people won't notice the tie and slacks are the same (and don't wear them back to back either). Buy wrinkle-free shirts and slacks (i.e. Brooks Brothers and better). If you need to wear a jacket for business, then wear it when you travel and hang it frequently in your car, on the plane, etc., so it stays wrinkle-free. A lightweight sweater at night can go over a t-shirt or that same shirt you wore during the day (assuming you're not exposed to tropical heat!), minimizing any casual clothes. The t-shirt I wear underneath it I can then air out and wear some other night or to sleep in. Travel in loafers that slip off easily, look into Casio G-Force plastic watches (don't usually need to come off at security and have many other uses including very accurate time), and make sure your shirt/jacket has a pocket you can easily slip your boarding pass into as you pass through security. Travel with earplugs and an inflatable neck pillow if you can get used to them. Buy an extra phone/PDA charger and keep it in your suitcase.
Choosing the Right Luggage {Gadling}
Jun 8th 2008 9:27PM Briggs & Riley has as close to an unconditional repair/replace guarantee as you can get. I just purchased a new one yesterday (Transcend 22" rolling carry-on). I fly between 150K - 200K annually , often several times a week, so I need sturdy, reliable, durable luggage. A bag I have to send out frequently for repair because it can't take the hits is useless to me - but my needs may be different than yours. I used to use a Travelpro Crew 22", which is the largest rolling bag you can put wheels-in on a domestic US flight, but I kept having problems with the wheels. I loved the bag, but the wheels kept going bad on me - even on the newest Crew (the "6"). The plastic upright bracing on the bottom was also completely destroyed by the end of my 4th week with it - just torn off the bag in large pieces every time I flew so now it won't stand up. I also literally have to drag it around with rubbing wheels as well - and they start to smell like burnt plastic after about 200 yards or so. I am having the wheels and support repaired, and it will be my backup if I ever have to send in the Briggs for repair. The Briggs & Riley was about $279, but considering that I have already gone through 3 Travelpros in 5 years it will pay for itself if I never have to replace it. It is expandable, lightweight, has solid ball-bearing wheels, and does not feel flimsy (especially the pull-out handle). The 21" x 14" x 8" unexpanded (21 x 14 x 11 expanded) size will readily fit wheels-in into domestic overhead compartments on full-size planes. Many local carriers in Asia require a 20" maximum size for overhead bins, so if I go back to China and Japan and fly domestic carriers I may pick up a smaller one for clothes and items I want to carry on. If I was traveling to a tourist destination where luggage security was questionable, I would bring the repaired Travelpro out (it is a very common-looking scruffy black bag), but on my domestic business trips where the bulk of my traveling is done I will go with the new bag for reliability, speed, and ease of my aching back and shoulder (the wheels are superb!). I also chose a dark red bag instead of black so it will be easier to identify both on the baggage claim AND behind the scenes if an airline ever has to search and locate my bag - did you ever notice how many variations of black rollaboards there are?
Packing Tips: Tried and True {Gadling}
Jun 8th 2008 8:58PM Putting breakables and even liquids in or between your shoes (after first placing in a ziploc bag) will minimize damage, and placing them soles sideways and out will add to the stiffness of the walls of the bag.
Packing Tips: Tried and True {Gadling}
Jun 8th 2008 8:55PM I can only assume Stan has never been to China either!
Sky Is the Limit: Why Even Sunny Days Can Ground Airplanes {Gadling}
Jun 8th 2008 8:37PM Sometimes those "blue sky" weather delays are the result of delays at the point of origin of your plane. If the plane you are taking to San Juan is delayed inbound from Chicago due to snow, even though it's clear in Miami where you're waiting, guess what.... you're stuck! What I WOULD appreciate is being told the TRUTH, so I know if I should look for alternate plans or wait patiently (which I CAN do, IF I know what my options are!). I recently spent an extra night in Chicago due to weather delays, waiting for a flight to LAX. The weather delays were from the inbound plane coming from Pennsylvania. Two other LAX-bound flights left because their inbounds came from other cities where there were no weather delays. My plane finally arrived almost 7 hours later - after midnight - and was then cancelled at the gate because the crew's available flight time had run out. I have no problem with the crew not flying because they had been in the air too long (or even sitting on a runway), and they deserved a rest; I DO have a BIG problem that United was apparently unable or unwilling to keep track of this - they should KNOW who the flight crew will be and if they are qualified to fly at any given hour. It was inexcusable for United to keep their passengers (and some of their flight crew, too!) waiting at the gate for almost 8 hours, knowing within the last 2-3 hours that the crew they had scheduled would be unable to fly. It wouldn't take too much of an effort to write a program that would start a flight crew's flying time on an internally-available computer countdown clock so something like this won't happen again. Scenario: Plane won't land until midnight? Check. I see on this program that the copilot will time out at 1:00am, so we can't use him on a cross-country flight. Let's find somebody else to copilot (or announce 3 hours earlier that the flight is not going so pax can rebook) What's so difficult about THAT?
Galley Gossip: Flight Attendant Pet Peeve #1: Answer please! {Gadling}
Jun 8th 2008 7:16PM Kent said...
Lets see, she's annoyed by people paying several hundred dollars to sit in cramped seats, wait in long security lines, and had to scramble to find seats close to others in their party. Then the attendent, who is used to the loud background noises and can hear above them, comes up with a cart and mumbles "wo blah da nk?". She can't understand why someone will say "What?". Here's some advice. Talk louder, slower, and try and actually have some Dr. Pepper on the drink cart. I've only ever been offered Coke or Sprite.
Response: Let's see - The FA did NOT charge you several hindred dollars, the FA did NOT design the seats or the planes, the FA did NOT make you wait in long security lines or design the screening procedures, the FA is NOT in charge of deciding what to stock on the plane, and the FA did NOT book your seats or those of your party... yet you choose to pick on him/her. The FA may also be USED TO the omnipresent noise associated with jet planes, but he/she has no CONTROL over it, and by no means can "hear above" those noises anymore than you can; in fact, he/she may even have slight hearing loss as the RESULT of them.
Here's some advice to YOU when you see the FA there with the drink cart: remove your earplugs or headphones, look at him/her and PAY ATTENTION so you can understand what is being said. It's obviously not the first time you've flown, so when you see the cart coming (like you know it usually does) why don't you act like an 'experienced' (and polite) traveler for a change and have your order ready, talk louder and slower back to the FA, and *shocking* say "please" and "thank you" for a change? I'm sure the FA actually CAN understand why some might say "What?"; what she CAN'T understand is why a supposedly experienced traveler like you can't pay attention, have your drink order ready, and speak as loudly and clearly as you wish he/she would. She/he probably also can't understand why you feel it necessary to take out your grievances on her/him over things which she/he has no control. She/he probably also wishes the rude, lewd, crude, obnoxious, and arrogant passengers would just fall asleep so she/he can give better attention and service to people who act more polite and civil, and - dare I say it - friendly. Of course, as part of her/his job the FA could never SAY any of this, so as a frequent flier (200,000 miles in 2007) I will say it for all of them.
When you fly, there is still ONE thing over which you have complete control - your attitude. Please remember to check it, or better yet leave it at home. You will find that you and everyone else will have a more enjoyable flight if you don't bring it on board with you.
Galley Gossip: Flight Attendant Pet Peeve #1: Answer please! {Gadling}
Jun 8th 2008 6:38PM Ron Thomas said...
Why dont attendants realize that they
owe their jobs to satsifying customers
wishes regardless of how many times they
have to ask customers requests.Bitchy and
ornery attendants should get another line of work. They drive business away !
You must indeed work for NWA !
Hey Ron,
Why don't some passengers realize they owe a safe and sane flight to treating everyone else with a little respect? Bitchy and ornery passengers will make other passengers bitchy and ornery, and will eventually even make flight attendants bitchy and ornery too. Soon the whole flight is bitchy and ornery because a few self-important, obnoxious, arrogant passengers can't be civil to their neighbors - including the ones working the flight. The nice FA's you would like to have serving you are the ones that either quit in disgust or got jaded a long time ago. Some airlines seem to attract a pushy, rude, obnoxious clientele and I avoid those lines wherever possible. I would have to say that while in flight, the majority of the dissatisfaction I receive comes from my fellow passengers, not the FA's.
Oh - FYI - even though most FA's are partly in it for the "perks" as someone else recently mentioned, those perks are disappearing as full codeshare flights mean fewer seats available for standbyes, and most FA's and other airline employees have had to give back perks and even salary over the last few years as discount competition and higher fuel costs have forced the airlines to cut back anywhere and everywhere.
