There is no question that holiday travel can be tedious, expensive, and chaotic .  Starting next week, expect the volume at airports to increase significantly and airfare to increase as well.  I just purchased a ticket from Boston to Cincinnati for the week before Christmas for $600.  A direct 90 minutes flight that usually is around $275-$300.  Imagine the money you’ll save your client by simply working remote.

Ask your client about working remote now and communicate those airfare prices.  Thanksgiving is usually a no brainer for working remote.  No one wants to fly out on Sunday night and return Wednesday night before Thanksgiving.  Not to mention, you’ll spend more time traveling then doing work.  From a productivity point of view alone, remote during this week makes sense.  I don’t take PTO, simply because what am I going to do during that week, go shopping?  Get at 4am to get the deal of the day at Wal-Mart?  I don’t think so.

Now Christmas will be tricky this year.  Both Christmas and New Years land on Sundays, giving most people the 26th and January 2nd off.  Looking at the calendar, it looks simple to work on site Monday January 19th – 22nd with no problem.  The only issue will be, everyone will be trying to get home that Thursday.  So if you do this, give yourself tons of extra time for airport security.  The next week your could ask your client if you could work Tuesday – Friday (27th – 30th)….but do you have to?  This is the week I would suggest remote work for sure.   Finally, the week of New Years, we will all have to deal with a Tuesday – Friday travel schedule most likely (Jan. 3rd – 6th).  Expect massive lines at the airport that Tuesday morning.  Even though Jan. 2nd is a holiday, I would suggest mid day flights.

It’s a love hate relationship with this time of year.  Just remember, remote work can save your clients lots of money and you lots of headaches.

This week I was forced to fly to lovely Charlotte, NC on not so lovely US AIR (I call it US SCARE…I prefer not to land on rivers).  When doing my seat selection online I noticed all the seats up front has different prices on them, $6 for a middle seat??  $25 for just a regular aisle seat, but close to the front.  $35 for an emergency exit seat.  This is crazy!  I mean all the seats are the same, I didn’t see any difference when boarding with the exception of the emergency rows.

I decided to do some research on this.  As an almost exclusive Delta flyer, I had never heard of such a thing.  Here is what I found about various airlines:

• AirTran charges extra for extra-legroom “priority” seating—$20 for a one-way trip from Atlanta to Los Angeles for example. Because AirTran charges $6 to reserve any seat, the extra $14 seems like a reasonable amount. Charges may vary depending on schedules.
• Frontier is installing several rows of extra-legroom seats in its A319s and E190s, which you can buy and reserve starting when you check in, as early as 24 hours before departure, for $25 per flight segment.
• JetBlue has installed several rows of extra-legroom seats in its A320s and one row of its E190s, which you can buy and reserve at the time of original booking. The price ranges from $10 on short trips to $40 on transcontinental flights.
• Spirit charges extra for all advance seat assignments: $7 for a middle, $12 for an aisle or window, and $15 for an exit row.  Jeez, I’ll pass on this airline.
• United has installed extra-legroom “Economy Plus” in all mainline aircraft. You can buy eligibility by the trip or by the year, but actual seat assignments are made at departure, subject to availability, and you may not actually get into the “Plus” section—a feature that severely degrades the attractiveness of the deal.
• US Airways charges a fee for several rows of “choice” seats, based on being the front of the cabin rather than extra legroom. I didn’t notice any difference when boarding.
• Virgin America calls its exit-row seats “premium economy,” and charges a fortune for the extra legroom plus a bunch of other less valuable features. It’s a bummer.

Alaska, American, Delta, and Hawaiian don’t charge for advance exit-row seating on their websites.  These seats are held for their frequent flyers.  You would think there was a way to buy a seat, but it doesn’t look like it. Continental doesn’t list pricing but states that they do charge for “premium” seating.

On a final note, I did pay the extra few dollars on my way down…and was allowed to go through the Elite line at security.  That was nice.  When I got to my seat, I had so little room I could not even use my laptop.  I think I’ll save my $6, and next time just fly Delta.

The new show, PAN AM, certainly appeals to the frequent flyer’s of today, and their envy for the “good old days.”  I couldn’t stop admiring the plush seats in both first class and in coach.  I couldn’t take my eyes off the booth type seat in 4D with the family (and cheating husband).  Everyone was certainly jealous of the couple being offered a bottle of champagne…even if ended up going to the English spy.  The bottom line, I’m hooked on this show just for it’s nostalgic view into true customer service.

From the very beginning this new series focused on the luxury of the customers experience on Pan Am.  Check out security.  No lines, simple little x-ray machines with no real scrutinizing of the luggage.  Real martini’s served in real martini glasses.  And did you see the kid visiting the captain!  I love the guy holding on to his huge briefcase during take off on his lap.  I was surprised no one was smoking, but it was only the first episode.  Finally, did you notice the food!  Oh, the good old days.

OK, so they didn’t have loyalty programs yet, so my experience would have been a bit different.  And the show obviously is working up to have ‘off the plane’ drama.  I don’t care…I’m hooked, and if you fly, you need to check this show out!