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Thoguh posted:But not with a no fee card. It's either $75 for the Citi version or $95 for the Am Ex version. Which can make sense purely for Gold if you're planning on taking a single long vacation and staying at a Hilton property. I don't get why they're giving away their second highest status level for so cheap.
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May 8, 2014 01:47
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I just accepted a job where I will likely be travelling 3 out of 4 weeks a month. I have never worked in a job like this before. I accepted it because it sounded fun, the pay is good, and I'm just graduating college. I will be back home every weekend (they fly me back every Thursday.) Is there anything I should know, expect, or do? Many people have commented on it being really stressful travelling this much. Personally I kinda like the idea of seeing the country on my employers dime. (Even if I probably won't be doing much "seeing.")
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May 8, 2014 23:41
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Consulting, I presume, if you're doing Mon-Thurs?
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May 8, 2014 23:47
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Consulting, I presume, if you're doing Mon-Thurs? Yes, project management / consulting.
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May 8, 2014 23:53
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Take care of yourself. Eating poo poo food, not exercising, and drinking too much are hard habits to break, so just don't start them. Pack exercise clothes and shoes, and a resistance band set if there's no gym in your hotel. If you're going the same place every week, wash your clothes Wednesday nights and leave them in a bag with the hotel concierge for when you come back.
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May 9, 2014 01:50
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Sign up for every single points program their is, for every single airline, hotel, rental car agency, and train. If you make a career of Also, have fun. Traveling for work is a lifestyle, and may not suit you forever, and that's okay. It's also okay if it does.
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May 9, 2014 02:21
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Ynglaur posted:Sign up for every single points program their is, for every single airline, hotel, rental car agency, and train. If you make a career of
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May 9, 2014 02:52
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kitten smoothie posted:Take care of yourself. Eating poo poo food, not exercising, and drinking too much are hard habits to break, so just don't start them. Regrettably it took me 4 years and 50 pounds to realize that (and I'm still not as good about it as I should be). It's so easy when somebody else is paying for it! Thoguh fucked around with this message at 03:12 on May 9, 2014 |
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May 9, 2014 03:07
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Ynglaur posted:Sign up for every single points program their is, for every single airline, hotel, rental car agency, and train. If you make a career of Check with your company after you sign up, some places provide you with insta-status and you don't have to scrub-life the first however many months.
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May 9, 2014 04:39
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If you feel lonely, just hit up the different LAN threads and meet gooonz and do goon meets.
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May 9, 2014 07:48
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kitten smoothie posted:Take care of yourself. Eating poo poo food, not exercising, and drinking too much are hard habits to break, so just don't start them. Super great advice. I would also suggest putting together a travel friendly wardrobe and learning how to efficiently pack. When you travel for work you will hate spending time in airports. Spend a little extra coin on some nice easy maintenance clothes, get some good shoes and don't be afraid to spend money on nice luggage.
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May 9, 2014 15:11
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Don't eat at the hotel if you can help it. Talk to folks about what's good in their city and keep good notes. Make sure you exercise as was stated before and that you eat correctly. If you have to track your expenses, figure out an optimal system to do that and keep up to date. Learn the ins and outs of your company's travel policy. Key questions - are you allowed to book econ+? are you allowed to use your weekend flight home to fly somewhere else instead? if there's a price differential, who pays it? etc. Get inflight wifi and pick an airline that has inflight wifi. (Posting from just over the Sandia mountains right now, hi guys!!) If you go to the same hotel repeatedly, leave some work clothes with the dry cleaner there to be cleaned over the weekend. Then you don't have to pack as much. Good luggage is key; we have luggagechat in this thread every ten pages or so.
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May 9, 2014 17:10
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As some of you may know, I did the AA status challenge and switched over from DM. I hit the gold part yesterday in a month; should hit plat in the next month. The process is pretty easy and costs a hundred bucks for Gold, $TBD for Plat. Of course I am currently folded in to the second to last row of a 738 cross-country with some rear end in a top hat in front of me leaned all the way back since my status didn't post til the flight filled up.
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May 9, 2014 17:12
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Don't forget to tip the maid. Hotel workers talk to each other, you'll get better service. It's also helpful when you inevitably forget to cancel some reservation on time and don't want a $200 expense to hit for a night you didn't travel. Good companies allow you to expense this. If you're company doesn't let you tip $1 for the maid, they're not likely to treat you any better.
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May 9, 2014 20:21
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Spend the money to buy decent luggage, but make sure to get one small enough to easily fit in the overhead compartment. Get a really sturdy backpack or messenger bag and make sure to carry extra cables for your phone, laptop, extra earbuds, etc. Follow a routine and always, always pack your stuff in the same place in your backpack every time so you can easily do a quick check to make sure you aren't leaving anything behind.
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May 9, 2014 20:32
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I actually just keep a plastic bin in my closet of stuff I frequently travel with: So when I pack, I can just dump it out on the bed, and then put everything either in the suitcase or back into the bin, depending on what's needed for that particular trip. (Of course, this works best if you can keep a separate set of toiletries, chargers, etc. specifically for travel.) P.D.B. Fishsticks fucked around with this message at 22:13 on May 9, 2014 |
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May 9, 2014 22:06
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^ I too have separate toiletries for travel. I actually like to keep a little pouch of less often used items in my travel bag at all times, like Tylenol, dry shampoo, a Tide Stick (I don't think I've actually used this ever), and nail polish remover wipes (I use e.l.f.)... for example if, the night before a big presentation, you realize you still have on penis nail stickers from a bachelorette party. I also pack a car charger and an aux line in my backpack. Having my own tunes/gps is a nice way to not go crazy if I have to do a lot of driving. Oh, and DRINK LOTS OF WATER.
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May 10, 2014 00:17
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taco show posted:I also pack a car charger and an aux line in my backpack. Having my own tunes/gps is a nice way to not go crazy if I have to do a lot of driving. Extra cables are a huge must for me, basically bought additional chargers for Android/ios devices and both usb/aux cables as soon as I started traveling. Having your own tunes beats terrestrial radio, and XM isn't bad, but can't count on rentals having that perk.
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May 10, 2014 00:23
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If you're going to use your phone as GPS in rentals get this. It folds up to no space at all and allows you to stick it on any dash without falling off/over. Not having to look down when navigating when you're in someplace new, driving on the left side of the road is so much safer. Maybe not important if you stay the whole week, but I pack my shirts in the foil you get from the dry cleaners to avoid wrinkling. So far the only thing that has really worked for me and I have a lot of one night stays in lovely small town hotels that don't have overnight laundry service. Seconding the lots of water, I've gotten massive headaches out of nowhere because I forgot to drink after a long flight.
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May 10, 2014 01:11
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Pvt Dancer posted:If you're going to use your phone as GPS in rentals get this. It folds up to no space at all and allows you to stick it on any dash without falling off/over. Not having to look down when navigating when you're in someplace new, driving on the left side of the road is so much safer. This is drivers ed 101 stuff, but make sure you locate and understand the wiper and headlight controls and have your GPS/phone navigating before you put the rental car into drive.
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May 12, 2014 21:09
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Also check that the headlights are on and working; I got pulled over two blocks from the airport once. Couldn't figure out how to get them to go on, returned car, got an upgrade 
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May 12, 2014 21:19
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Get one of those little retractable ethernet cords. Wifi in hotels is a hit-or-miss business and wired internet usually works better.
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May 13, 2014 23:12
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Get one of those little retractable ethernet cords. Wifi in hotels is a hit-or-miss business and wired internet usually works better. gently caress that, get a portable LTE hotspot/mifi thing.
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May 14, 2014 14:59
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Cocoa Crispies posted:gently caress that, get a portable LTE hotspot/mifi thing. Or get a phone with tethering. Seriously. Hotel internet is notoriously terrible.
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May 14, 2014 16:26
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FrozenVent posted:Keep going back every few days to change your appointment, eventually something closer will open. My first appointment was six months out, then four, then three, then next month, then the week after. So maybe a month and a half after I got the "please schedule an appointment" notice. I know this is last page... but mine was literally 20 hours after they asked me to book an appointment and the wait at the office was less than 10 minutes. Thanks, Global Entry!
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May 14, 2014 16:33
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To Vex a Stranger posted:Or get a phone with tethering. Seriously. Hotel internet is notoriously terrible. Really? It might just be me, but at Starwood properties the internet is always solid, if not decent. Although, I am mostly in W and Westins so that might be why.
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May 14, 2014 20:11
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Belldandy posted:Really? It might just be me, but at Starwood properties the internet is always solid, if not decent. Although, I am mostly in W and Westins so that might be why. Ok when I say terrible, I mean unable to stream or download television, and constantly getting disconnected from games. This was the case in the three Hilton properties I stayed at in Nashville, as well as my other various Hilton stays. Maybe there's the connection (the internet is provided by ATT)
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May 14, 2014 22:39
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I'm especially annoyed by hotels that charge for the internet, it just seems petty. "That'll be $250 for the room, and uh... If you want the internet, it's going to be $8." I'll tether if I'm not roaming, just on principle.
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May 14, 2014 22:41
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FrozenVent posted:I'm especially annoyed by hotels that charge for the internet, it just seems petty. "That'll be $250 for the room, and uh... If you want the internet, it's going to be $8." And the more expensive the hotel is the more likely they charge for internet. The cheaper the hotel is the more likely they offer free internet in my experience. Airports are similar. Small airports tend to have free internet. Big hubs want you to pay for it. However, I don't really care because I can expense internet costs at the hotel. Which, I assume, is what they are counting on when they charge for it.
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May 14, 2014 23:12
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FrozenVent posted:I'm especially annoyed by hotels that charge for the internet, it just seems petty. "That'll be $250 for the room, and uh... If you want the internet, it's going to be $8." Just all the taxes and fees are getting nuts, I wish they'd just build it into the price. Like 50% of the cost of my rentals are fees, and hotels can be pretty bad sometimes too.
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May 15, 2014 02:26
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Thoguh posted:And the more expensive the hotel is the more likely they charge for internet. The cheaper the hotel is the more likely they offer free internet in my experience. Airports are similar. Small airports tend to have free internet. Big hubs want you to pay for it. I ended up stuck at YQG a while back, and they charged for internet. The only store or concession the terminal has is a snack counter (Overpriced as poo poo) and a free coffee machine for when the snack counter closes at, like, 5. As far as airports go, that one didn't impress me.
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May 15, 2014 02:31
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Hilton properties tend to have completely useless internet and I also end up at the mercy of tethering. Sometimes it can handle Spotify if I'm lucky. Took a shower at the Centurion Lounge in DFW today, this was a nice surprise: 
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May 15, 2014 02:40
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The thought of paying for enough mobile data to cover streaming is pretty frightening. I just offline whatever I want to watch with Plex and use hotel status to comp Internet if needed. That being said, biz travel always covers Internet for me so I don't see it as a big deal.
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May 15, 2014 02:53
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Our corporate rate comes with Internet access included. I think they did it to save us all the extra 5 minutes on our expense reports.
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May 15, 2014 14:04
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I'm a little late for points/rewards chat, but Sheraton has this great feature where you hang the "make a green choice" tag on your door and you don't get maid service and then get 500 points. It weirds me out when maids come into my room anyway so it's a win win.
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May 15, 2014 14:08
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The newest internet bullshit I've ran into is the 'premium' internet. I was at the Hyatt Regency in NOLA a couple of months ago, and the 'free' internet was fine for browsing and whatnot, but they really pushed the 'premium' faster internet on you for the extra $15/day. I was irritated on principal, but I carry a Verizon 4G LTE hotspot so I just used that instead. At 3 bills a night I shouldn't be dealing with gimped out internet and getting hard sold 'premium' internet.
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May 15, 2014 18:32
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skipdogg posted:The newest internet bullshit I've ran into is the 'premium' internet. I was at the Hyatt Regency in NOLA a couple of months ago, and the 'free' internet was fine for browsing and whatnot, but they really pushed the 'premium' faster internet on you for the extra $15/day. I was irritated on principal, but I carry a Verizon 4G LTE hotspot so I just used that instead. At 3 bills a night I shouldn't be dealing with gimped out internet and getting hard sold 'premium' internet. The best is when they don't even specify how fast either the "basic" or "premium" are. Status has gotten me a free upgrade on occasion, which is handy when I need to do a lot of data-intensive work.
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May 15, 2014 18:52
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Meh, I just expense that poo poo. Ain't no thang. I feel worse for regular people staying at the hotel. Same deal with hotel booze, food and room service. It makes sense that it is all geared towards people who travel for business since we are easily their largest customer group but there should be some sort of concession for normal travelers. It's some real 1% bullshit that drives regular people towards Econolodge and poo poo like that.
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May 15, 2014 21:16
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While we're hating hotel internet: gently caress all custom login systems that don't work half the time or force you to enter the password 3eF2*as+u7=m5gabu*Ud from some smudgy paper everytime it drops out. Is it a 0 or an O? Let's try all 27 possibilities. The only remotely reasonable ones are where the login/pass are your room number and last name, make it simple you assholes. I've even had a hotel in the UK block SA on grounds of it being 'entertainment'. You're on a business trip, no fun allowed!!!
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May 15, 2014 22:16
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Why would a hotel block entertainment sites? I know they're sort of like an office at night, but holy poo poo.
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May 15, 2014 22:25
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