I'm a Trusting Guy

Since most of my travel is for work I need to keep track of my expenses and such.  I learned a valuable lesson today.  Don't necessarily trust the employees at the companies you trust with your business.

I returned my car to the SeaTac rental car AVIS facility on Saturday and rushed off to my flight.  I was running a little late and trusted that things would happen as they always do:

• I park my car and get all my stuff out
• The people checking in the cars with check it over for fuel and damage
• I get a receipt emailed to me by the time I am boarding my flight

Not exactly what happened.  I received an email from AVIS but it was reminding me of my next rental coming up.  I assumed it was my receipt.  I started gathering my receipts for my trip expenses today and on the AVIS website it indicated I had to return the car before I was able to retrieve my receipt.  This isn't good. 

I was thinking the worst, I was going to have to buy AVIS a new car.  Or second worst, I was going to be charged a whopping late return fee.  Luckily 2 of the 3 kind folks in AVIS customer service that I spoke with were able to help me.

The first person I spoke to in customer service told me they would transfer me to the appropriate group to help me.  She transferred me to the Reservations group and they were definitely not the right people to help me.  The Reservations group apologized and transferred me back to Customer Service and that guy, James, helped me out like a boss!

When James looked for the car he found it had been rented already (whew).  He updated my rental agreement to indicate I returned it on time and all is right in the universe.

Updated Holiday Travel Advice

Last year I gave you advice on holiday travel and things have changed slightly since then.  There are some potentially really nice things happening that may make air travel less stressful but they aren't here yet.  Just to tease you:

• The TSA rules are still in place and it is rare to find a TSA agent with a sense of humor but they're out there ready to make at joke for the people in the security lines.
• There may be a change to the in flight rules regarding using your mobile phone to make calls.
• New technology may change rules on amount of liquid travelers can carry onto a plane.

 There are a couple improvements and it gives us hope that there is some common sense being used in the government bureaucracy regulating air travel.

• Electronics are allowed to be used during take-off and landing with some limitations
• Lap-tops are not included
• The device needs to be in "airplane" mode
• The airline has to get permission for their fleet of planes to allow electronics usage
• Security lines are getting easier for some travelers with a new program called "Pre-Check"
• The program is mainly for frequent flyers (but they're out of your way if you aren't one)
• Participants don't need to strip down (shoes stay on) or take the liquids out of their carry-on

This year we are starting off with a tricky travel season.  Major weather storms are hitting the northeast US.  You may think that since you are not traveling to that region you'll be immune from weather travel delays.  You couldn't be more wrong!!  Your plane may be scheduled to work in that region before coming to your airport.  If it gets grounded due to the weather your flight is going to be canceled or at least delayed until a new plane gets freed up for your flight.

Everyone needs to remember to exercise a little additional common courtesy this year.  It may not seem like it but only about 14% of the US population, or 43.4 million people, will travel more than 50 miles this holiday season.  It will seem like everyone is out there getting in your way.  Please be considerate of the other people out there doing the exact same thing you are doing, going to see loved ones for the holidays. 

Lastly, the folks working in the travel industry need a little more consideration from us, too.  They are dealing with a more stressful work environment than usual.  Imagine how you feel when your workload jumps by 700%!  It's also a good idea to keep these folks on your good side.  If (and when) delays or cancellations happen, who is the person HELPING you?  I personally want gate agents, baggage handlers, and all the others to be willing to go the extra mile for me.

Crossing the Border

Getting myself across the border from the US into Canada is pretty simple. However, I recently learned that getting a package into Canada is another story entirely!

I needed to get a tablecloth and literature stands up to Guelph (don't laugh, that is the name of a real city in Ontario).  That is a particularly expensive venture but I don't know why.  We contracted UPS for the job to get these simple items to me on Tuesday.  I checked on the package at the end of Tuesday and was told by Andy, my friendly UPS customer service rep, it cleared customs at 4:42PM and I would not receive my package until Wednesday.  I was a little miffed that my company paid for delivery on Tuesday and that didn't happen.  I expect that as a delivery expert, UPS would be able to get me that package on Tuesday, seeing as it cleared customs during business hours.  I really don't think that is unreasonable, however, UPS did think it was unreasonable.

UPS was not able to meet a single expectation I had of them. 

• I expected delivery on Tuesday, FAIL. 
• I expected them to be able to communicate what was happening when they said they would call me, FAIL.  
• I expected UPS would be able to arrange for me pick up the package at their delivery center Wednesday morning so I would have it for my trade show, FAIL.
• Seriously, they couldn't arrange to hold a package in place for me to come to the package!

Well, in the end I got the package.  And I was completely underwhelmed at the process.

Convincing Your Company

I travel a lot for work and can work from any Continental US location.  Luckily my company recently agreed with me.  I moved with my family to where my wife grew up and we're closer to her entire family.  The benefits are numerous but I won't bore you with those, yet.

I want to talk about my process for convincing my company I could work remotely.  When I was hired it was explicitly stated that I would be based at the home office.  I worked every other week in the field and the alternate weeks I was expected at the office.  My travel territory is all of the US and Canada.  It doesn't make much sense to travel to some areas with little biotech research happening so places like the Yukon Territories will not be honored with my presence.

So, I had to come up with a plan to get my company on board with me moving.  First, I didn't mention anything about moving to anybody.  No one, not a single soul knew about it, especially anyone that might have a connection with people at work.  If the plans fell through at the last minute I didn't want my management to think I was looking to leave the company.  My goal was to be sure I was retained.

I formulated my arguments why I should be retained.  There was a good chance I could be let go if I wasn't perceived as a valuable team member at my company.  Looking back at my accomplishments and figured I was doing very well in my company's opinion.  I gathered information about how well sales were going with me on board.  I brought in additional information about the non-sales goals I attained while on board.  I also showed how I would be additionally motivated because of the benefits of my personal life after the move.

Finally the day came where the reason for moving was set and all my reasons were rehearsed.  Yes, I rehearsed conversations I would potentially have with my boss.  That morning I went into my boss' office and asked if I could have lunch with him to talk about work.  He said yes and that we can talk about anything except my leaving.  This was starting to look promising.  I assured him that this conversation would be about the opposite of me leaving.  At lunch I mentioned what I was planning and he immediately agreed that retaining me would be the goal.  YES!!!  But now we had to convince the President and the CEO.  The best part was he was going to take point on these discussions and all I needed to do was gather cost information differences from traveling from my new location.

I was a little surprised about a few items the company needed to know.  There are tax differences between states that can be problematic.  First are income taxes for my paycheck and less obviously, some states are going after sales tax revenues of companies with any connection to their state.  In this case having an employee located in the state.  Luckily my new state doesn't have a sales tax.  There are also other benefits, like health insurance, that are affected by where you live.

After all is said and done, I am happily domiciled in my new state.  My children are in their schools.  My travel schedule is back to normal.  And, I will try to update this blog more regularly.

I forgot something

I was on vacation when planning my latest trip.  I recommend not trying to do that because the details get lost.  The detail I lost was making a rental car reservation.  This is a slight problem since I needed to drive between San Diego and LA.  A taxi just wouldn't cut it. 

I had to think fast.  I recently downloaded the AVIS rental car app to my phone so I popped it open.  I entered my trip information and reserved a car.  Then I crossed my fingers and hoped there were cars available. A minute later I received my reservation confirmation email.  one minute later I received an email with the space my car was waiting in for me to pick it up.

I won't lie to you, I was really happy that worked.

Business travelers are jerks

I follow a business travel group on LinkedIN.  There are many posts that ask opinions on how other travelers act or how the industries treat travelers.  In my never to be humble opinion the average business traveler is a self-centered, egotistical jerk that thinks every other traveler should conform to their way of thinking/traveling.

A few of my greater annoyances with travelers (focusing mostly on airline travel) are presented:

1. Children are people and have every right to travel on airplanes.
• Some business travelers get extremely annoyed at small children that act like small children.  They complain about seats being kicked, screaming toddlers and babies, incessant questions, or being touched by children.  When asked the traveler doesn't blame the child but blames the parent for not controlling the child.
2. There is a finite amount of space for carry-on luggage and personal items.  Deal with it.
• The airline staff tries to get people to put their personal item under the seat in front of them to allow as much space as possible in the overhead bins for roller bags.  So the frequent travelers feel that people that put multiple items in the overhead bin are breaking a rule.  To some this is an affront that deserves condemnation.
3. Delays and problems occur in travel and sooner or later you will experience a problem if you travel enough.  So quit getting angry with the nice person helping you.
• Business travelers feel like their problem is the most important and industry staff must help them regardless of the cost to the airline. They raise their voices, point fingers, demand concessions, and fail to realize the person is doing everything to help the customer.

I can empathize with customers experiencing situations you do not enjoy.  For my part, I get annoyed at all the people that crowd the entry way when boarding the plane.  I will nicely ask people in front of me if they are boarding when it's my turn and if they aren't I will comment snarkily, "Then get out of the way".

However, when most situations come up like the ones mentioned earlier, I maintain an emotional calm.  I do so because:

1. Children, parents, and everyone in general are going to act in the manner they feel is appropriate.  I can't control them, I can only control myself.  I wish others would learn this and have a healthier reaction to people that are allowed to act however they choose.
2. Airplane space is getting more crowded.  The carriers are adding more seats limiting legroom and the additional passengers means additional carry-on baggage.  Unless an actual rule is implemented about storage requirements we will deal with people acting differently than we think is appropriate.  None of us get to decide what behavior is appropriate for everyone.
3.  A person helping me is not the one causing problems, on the contrary, they're the one helping me remedy a problem.  I tend to be grateful for people trying to help me.

The over arching idea: Control your own emotions since you can't control other people's actions.

Bumped to a new airline

Occasionally delays occur that require the airline you booked with to change your flight to another airline entirely.  Last week, I flew to Philadelphia and had the last flights of the evening.  My flight delay would get me to my connection in Detroit 6 minutes before my connection took off and there were no other flights into Philadelphia on Delta available that night.  Therefore, I was booked on an American Airlines flight.

I am not crying about this change.  I could justify a whiny post because I was delayed, I had to connect in Chicago, and got only 4 hours sleep before I had to present technical data the next day to 2 highly valuable customers.  What I want to share are what you can possibly expect based on my experience.

If you had first class seats you probably won't get them on the next flight.  This is typically a risk even if getting moved to another flight in the same airline.  I would also be prepared for a middle seat because you are getting onto the new flight very late.

You can still get mileage on your loyalty account.  Simply ask for the credited mileage and the staff can estimate what you would normally receive.  You will not get credit for any segments flown but this is better than nothing.

Schedule changes for other reservations are your responsibility.  If you have a rental car reservation and hotel reservation you will need to connect with those groups to avoid losing your reservation or incurring a penalty.  A simple call to the company customer service group will help.  As you can imagine, they are pretty used to these issues.

All in all, I am happy with how things went.  It could have gone much worse.

Better flying through technology

There are plenty of arguments to be made that working with a person is better than with a computer.  A person can understand subtle nuances about challenging situations that a computer that relies on mathematics cannot understand.  However, the speed and precision of a computer can be pretty helpful.

Last week I was on my way to Texas and arrived at the airport my customary 1.5 hours before my flight.  I was passing the time on my tablet when I heard an announcement over the public address system that my flight is delayed due to a mechanical issue and that a new plane is being sent to replace the non-functional one.  Good, I don't want to fly in a non-functioning airplane.  The delay is expected to be 1 hour 20 minutes.  This would mean I landed for my connection at the exact moment my next flight would be departing.  This is not good. 

I stand up to talk with the gate agent and change my flight.  In the time it takes me to stand up and put my tablet in my backpack the line at the gate is at least 50 people long.  Instead, I grab my iPhone and check the Delta App.  Not only is my app aware that I'm delayed, it is suggesting new flights for me.  So, I start walking in the direction of the gate I know the suggested flight is departing from and accept the change in itinerary on my iPhone.  My new flight leaves in about 20 minutes, I am 50 feet away from the new departure gate, and I hope the app doesn't take too long to update my itinerary in the system.  A moment later I walk up to the gate desk and tell them I just changed flights on the Delta App.  The woman looks at me and asks if I am Jason.  Yes, I am, not only was the itinerary updated in the system immediately, I will be arriving an hour earlier, and the new flight and connection were upgraded to first class. 

My final worry was my checked bag scheduled for the other itinerary. The gate staff called down to the baggage handlers who would "do their best" to get my bag on my new flights.  I wasn't holding my breath.  I am very happy to say my expectations were exceeded.  I saw a man carry my bag to the conveyor belt in the plane I boarded.

I arrived early with my bag and had a great trip.  The only problem was the rental car agency didn't have my car ready an hour early.  I guess that will be in the next upgrade for the app?

Customer Service: The Current State

As a sales professional I pride myself on responsive and good customer service.  I am not perfect but I always make an effort to be a top echelon service provider.  In my travel experiences I find myself wanting to hold people up as shining examples of great customer service and deride other people for obvious customer service failures.  I find the ratio of good to bad is sadly, equal.

My last trip had examples of both and I present them here for your reading pleasure:

Airline gate staff tend to get a lot of bad press about customer service.  When a flight is canceled or delayed they are the bearers of bad news and are also the ones that are trying hardest to help the stranded passengers.  My business trip got cut short by a couple hours and I was able to get home earlier.  I my flights were full and I got the second worst seat on the plane.  Last row window is only 1 step up from last row middle.  The seats don't recline and you get to smell all the aromas emanating from the bathroom.  I asked the Delta gate attendant for a better seat if available.  This gentleman had a scowl on his face that made me think I was going to get moved to the middle seat ion the last row.  I made a little small talk, joked a little that I promised not to be a cranky customer, then I shut-up, and let the man work.  I sat and watched him furiously tapping away at his computer station for about 10 minutes.  I honestly thought he forgot about me.  I gently asked if everything was "OK" to which he responded, "You will be very happy with your new seat assignment, just give me another minute."  True to his word, he handed me a new boarding pass with seat 2D assigned to me and I was very happy. I don't think I did anything special to deserve the upgrade but I was patient and nice and he was very kind to me.

Bartenders are generally a pleasant group of people that serve us.  So, when you get one that is less than pleasant it makes an impact.  I was on a layover at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport close to dinner time and went to O'Gara's at the airport by gate F12.  I beat the big dinner rush by 15-20 minutes and had an hour before my flight boarded.  I sat waiting for 5 or more minutes before the bartender acknowledged me.  I ordered a beer and asked for a food menu.  She grabbed the menu the guy next to me just set down and slapped it on the bar in front of me.  I interpreted her non-verbal communication to mean "It was right here all the time buddy! You really need me to hand it to you?!"  A minute or 2 later she gave me my beer and took my food order. 

Now, mentally insert 25 minutes of time that is completely devoid of this bartender making even the slightest eye contact with me.

I nursed my beer and waited for my food.  A man sits next to me and goes through the same process I went through of waiting 5 minutes for the bartender to come over.  He ordered a beer and asked for a food menu.  He received the same slapping of the menu.  We looked at each other and I said to him that she did the same to me.  Ten minutes later he orders the same food I ordered.  I mentioned I was on the Denver flight and had waited a half hour for my food.  He looked at me horrified because he was on the same flight which was now boarding in 20 minutes.  I felt a little panic myself thinking that I need to have time to eat the food I ordered.  So, I tried in vain to get the bartender's attention.  I even went so far as to empty my beer, which usually sets off a bartender's ESP.

Finally, I gave up on the bartender and grabbed another worker (non-bartender) and asked her to check on my food.  I said it loudly enough that the bartender heard me and commented in a snarky manner that the food comes out when the kitchen prepares it.  Meanwhile, the other person went to the kitchen and returned immediately with my food.  The following is a transcript of our conversation:

Me: How long has this been sitting back there?

Bartender (BT): I don't know but I can't make this go any faster? Do you want to cancel your order?

Me: No, I have the food but I only have a couple minutes to eat this before my flight.  I have an expectation of quick food service in an airport restaurant.

BT: Did you see we are in the dinner rush?  What do you expect?

Me: You're a restaurant and you can't anticipate that at dinner time there will be a rush? Seriously, I also have an expectation of courtesy from you.  Apparently all my expectations are going to be missed today.  Can I just get my bill?

BT: Here (hands me the bill). I can only offer you a 10% discount.

The only satisfaction I had from my visit to O'Gara's at the airport was in tipping the bartender appropriately for their courtesy and service.

Business Travel Drawbacks

When I tell people I travel 50% for work I get 2 responses:

1. That must be really cool
2. That must really suck

The truth is that I can agree with both responses.  I enjoy going around the country and meeting new and interesting people.  I occasionally see and experience new and interesting sites.  I have days full of work activities that can extend through the evening eliminating any chance to get out and see the area.  And I am away from my family and miss important events in their lives.

I am able to schedule a majority of my travel around the most important family events.  The occasions that require my attendance I make sure that I am around.  But I miss mid-week birthdays and we push family birthday celebrations off to the weekend.  I miss soccer, baseball, basketball, rock-climbing, dance, and football practices for my children.

The biggest part of my life that I miss, is not being there for my wife.  We are both busy and we try to partner up on the work that needs to be done around the house.  I know when I am around, and I am helpful, she really appreciates me.  I am grateful that she does not get terribly upset with me for the lack of help I can provide when I am traveling.  I completely understand that when I am present and unhelpful she gets frustrated with me.  (I never help myself by trying to diffuse the situation with humor, someday I'll learn.)

I know quite a lot about how to travel efficiently.  I am continuing to learn how to be a productive family member while traveling all the time.

Driving in the USA

I hate to stereotype but I notice geographical driving habits. Some are quirky and some are quite obnoxious.  As a business traveler I am not solely relegated to flying.  I frequently rent cars and occasionally drive great distances for work and vacation.  Some people think I'm crazy because every year, at least once, I drive two days out and two days back from my in-law's property.  The craziness is that I have 3 young children.  They are great travelers and it's quite easy.  I wouldn't attempt it with other people's children.

 As a resident of any state I think it is normal to have some rivalry or animosity towards your neighboring state drivers.  I'm no different.  Illinois drivers drive fast and erratically.  They make lane changes like the cat that suddenly decides they don't like the room they are in and immediately dash to another room.  Minnesota drivers are probably my least favorite group.  They tend to camp out in the passing lane at a mere 5 MPH over the speed limit.  Having to pass a person on the right bugs me.

Other geographies have odd habits, too. 
Wisconsin drivers do a really weird thing when turning onto a busy boulevard.  When the first lane is clear, they'll drive out to the middle of the boulevard and wait for traffic to clear in the next lane.  I've seen Washington State drivers do the same with the center left turn lane on roadways.
 
In Pittsburgh, when the red light changes to green, the drivers in the left turn lane up front gun it to make their turn and beat the on coming traffic.  If the on coming traffic hesitates the second left turn car will try to gun it through, too. 

California drivers fly down the highways, city streets, parking lots, back alleys, everywhere.

Utah drivers are annoyingly polite.  I noticed they will slow down and let you make a lane change no matter where you are in relation to them.  I was being passed by a driver and I planned to pull behind them, so, I turned on my blinker.  The driver slowed way down and let me in front of them and subsequently passed me later.

I imagine the differences of driving habits internationally are vastly different, too.  I hear that traffic in Asian countries is a circus.  I am hoping to see that for myself soon.

Getting away from winter

I had a great plan, travel south during the winter to get away from the cold of Wisconsin.  Apparently Southern California wasn't in on the plan.  I spent last week in San Diego and Los Angeles and I needed to wear a hat.  The temps were higher than my home temps of 20F but they were far from hot.  When I complained to my friends and family back in Wisconsin I was met with very little sympathy and a little mockery.

I learned that professionals that travel a lot tend to get 2 responses to their travel schedules:

1. "That much travel must be hard."
2. "You suck! Getting to go to all those great places."

The truth is a little of both.  A career with 50% or more travel takes one away from their family and friends.  This is extra difficult when the children are young.  The upside is that the destinations are different and interesting.  There is little time around work schedules to enjoy all that the different places have to offer but occasionally schedules do allow a little fun. Usually the best things to find are the local restaurant that serves great food.

Why do I have status?

This last trip I had to ask the customer service people why do I have status?!  Twice!

In the priority line you would think that when a position opened up you would get called first.  I mean, the Elite members direct hundreds of thousands of dollars to the company.  There are two reasons I direct my purchases to a single provider:

1. Free upgrades
2. Getting to the front of the line

  OK, I know I sound like a whiner and I should be patient.  But I'm not!  I lived up to my end of the bargain by being loyal and the airline and car rental company are benefiting from my loyalty.  I take about 24 business trips a year.  If we can assume that is $500 per trip for airlines and $250 for rental cars I spend about $18,000 per year.  It's probably higher since prices are rising.  If I have customers spending more than $10,000 when their average purchase is $500 or less I would treat them very special.

Alright, I am done being a whiner. . .on my blog.  I'll continue to kvetch when I don't get my privileges. 

Yo Taxi!

I just got back from my first trip of the year.  A sojourn through San Diego and San Francisco that was colder than I hoped.  Business is good and travel is the same, people still crowd the boarding area for the airplane for no good reason and rental car companies still seem to be the least organized group of travel service providers, I'm looking at you AVIS.

I don't normally take taxis since I rent cars, but in San Diego I didn't need a car and I only went to one location.  I forgot to check a few things before I got in the taxi so I want to share my experience so you will know (and I will remember) to be prepared. 

Taking a taxi from an airport is different than hailing one on the street.  Airports control access to taxis and you need to find the taxi stand.  There are signs directing you to the stands, but they vary in effectiveness.  Some signs outright suck, I'm looking at you San Diego International Airport. 

In busier airports there is a taxi dispatcher on sight that directs you to a cab.  These dispatchers know everything you need to know about taking a taxi.  So ask these folks questions like:

• Do all taxis take credit cards?  Usually the law requires it in the cities.
• I know it is hard to believe but taxi drivers will lie to you so you will pay them cash.  Frequently they will try to intimidate you into paying cash at the end of your ride.  This intimidation is usually in the form of a simple statement of "Cash".  Just be firm and tell them they can either take the card or give you the ride for free.  Ignore any huffing or complaints.
• How much will it cost to get to my hotel?  You should know about where your hotel is located, usually the name of the hotel indicates the neighborhood; for example, Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel.  (Yeah, shameless promotion of a great property.)
• It does not happen frequently but on occasion taxi drivers will take the long way to your destination.  I usually take a quick glance at my iPhone map app to verify we're not going out of our way.  If you suspect you are taking a long route, copy their name and taxi permit number which will be displayed in the front of the cab and report it to the area taxi commission.  The hotel can help you.

Seriously, taking a taxi is pretty simple so two items to remember is about all I can think of as important.  Enjoy your travels and I'll enjoy mine.