Holidays – The Office Pot Luck…do I have to participate?
It’s the time of year where our clients will often have pot luck lunches as a way to celebrate the holidays. As a traveling consultant, I don’t have the resources to bake a cake or make Mom’s famous meatballs. So the question is, if I don’t have anything to bring…do I have to participate? Yes, you do.
Like it or not, you really do have to make an appearence and bring something. I usually volunteer to bring the drinks, a few bottles of 2 liter sodas is easy to pick up. What about paper plates and utensils, also pretty easy to pick up. Not too hard to find a local bakery to bring cookies or cupcakes either. Just because you don’t have a kitchen to cook, doesn’t mean you can’t bring something. And don’t expense what you bring, that is just tacky.
Office parties are a great way to network with full time employees, your project manager, and other consultants. So although you may feel like you are not part of the team being a consultant, if you were invited…they think you are part of the team. Not showing up would be considered rude and might generate a negative reaction from your colleagues. Take a few minutes the night before and stop at the grocery store. Be creative and show up with your holiday smile.
Holidays – Buying gifts at the airport…not a bad idea
We all pass them every week, the little stores in the airport showcasing local city T-shirts and “stuff.” I can’t remember the last time I actually went into one, other than to get a bottle of water. So, the other day I went into one of the stores and looked at all the shirts, hats, and junk that said Indiana on it. What one of my nephews really wants an Indianapolis Colts sweatshirt? They haven’t won a game all season! But then I noticed, there are actually some really nice stores in here as well.
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Salt Lake, Detroit…all have really great stores. I usually just run to the Delta lounge and pay them no mind. This got me thinking, “hey, I’ve got several more flights. I could pick up a gift or two each time I’m at the airport.” Let’s face it, the Barnes and Nobles at the airport is way more convenient than driving to the mall. Plus the clothing stores are really nice. I just got my father a great shirt at the PGA Tour Shop. I don’t remember seeing one of those at the mall.
With names like Brighton, Brooks Brothers, Erwin Pearl, and Godiva…you really can get some great shopping done. No tacky Cincinnati coffee mugs, but certainly a great handbag from Brighton for my niece. Certainly not buying a cheese head in Madison for my brother in law, but he’ll love this box of chocolate covered pretzels. Who says you have to go tacky?
Now finally, there is one little logistical thing about doing this…getting the stuff home. I don’t ever check luggage, so I always have a carry on and personal bag/backpack. So another words, anything I buy has to fit into one of these bags. Keep that in mind. You don’t want to have 4 shopping bags and a carry on when trying to board the plane. Small simple items that can squeeze into your purse or briefcase are perfect. After a few weeks of travel, you’ll have 1/2 your shopping done and be ready to start gift wrapping.
How do we handle the holidays as traveling consultants??
This time a year seems to be a juggling game. There is so much I want to do…decorate, cook, shop, but no time to do it. Being on the road adds a challenge to getting ready for the holidays that our friends and family just don’t get. I thought over the next couple weeks I would do a series of articles on how to tackle those things we “have” to do and those things we “want” to do for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.
Let’s start this limited series of holiday exploration with my list of 12 HAVE to do’s and LIKE to do’s…
- Get gifts – Who do I really need to buy for?
- Decorate – Do I really HAVE to?
- Christmas Cards – A tradition that I really enjoy
- Host Thanksgiving – our duty since we go to my parents for Christmas
- Travel – Flights for work, drive for holidays, and work out from where and when
- Bring in 2012 – I could just sleep…can’t I?
- Take everything down – How did all this crap get up in the first place?
There are a lot of things I would “LIKE” to do as well:
- Cook Apple pie – My years contribution for Thanksgiving
- Black Friday – It would be so much fun to get up at 4am for the big sales
- Bake Christmas Cookies – I love frosting cut out cookies
- Volunteer – I used to do this every year at the hospital …when now??
- See The Nut Cracker – Another yearly tradition that seems to be harder to do
Some of my friends think I’m just plan crazy…they don’t do this, and they don’t even travel. Well, if you are like me and enjoy the holidays, then you can understand the struggle. One thing I’ll never do…travel or not…is be a Scrooge!
FLY – Save yourself the trouble during the holidays, work remote!
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.
FLY – Is it Worth Buying Extra Legroom?
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.
Points – Do you take the welcome amentity or points when checking in?
It’s a hard choice sometimes, especially after a long day of travel. The real question should be, “what do I get?” I mean why can’t we ask that?? Some hotels give you huge wonderful trays of cheeses and crackers with wine. Others give you a tiny sliver of brie with 6 crackers and a water. I mean how do you really decide?
Take a look at the pictures to the side here. The first picture looks really nice, lot’s of cheeses and fruits with nice bottle (1/2) of wine. Can you guess the hotel? Hotel – Marriott
The 2nd picture is probably the most disappointing tray I’ve ever received at this hotel. The cheese was nasty, and it came with soggy toast points, 1 bottle of 
beer, and 1 bottle of water. Yuck! Hotel – Omni
This third picture is looks wonderful. Variations of cheeses, full pastries, and other goodies. Now this I would give up my 500 points for. Can’t see it, but there is a bottle of wine behind there. Hotel – Sharaton
This 4th picture makes me laugh. I was at a full service Marriott in San Diego by Qualcomm stadium (yes, during the power outage). They gave me an entire pack of brie cheese (unwrapped in the box) with an apple and banana. The bottle of wine was so small, why bother with two glasses? Sad tray, and seriously…what am I going to do with a whole box of brie? Hotel – Marriott
This one looks like someones left overs. Did they run out of cheese and nuts? Just sad really, I’ll take the points please!! What is strange is this same hotel gave me a 6 pack once with a great tray, during Mardi Gras. I guess other times of the year cheese is scarce. Hotel – Omni
Have other pics? Send them in and I’ll post!
Sleep – Starwood Allows Guests to Write Hotel Reviews Directly on Web Site
Starwood Hotels & Resorts will launch on Monday a first-ever online review function that allows its customers to make unbiased comments about its hotels and service directly on its web site.
The new program follows a recent survey taken among Starwood preferred guests, which includes many business travels, in which 85% said they find value in consumer ratings and reviews on travel sites.
FLY – Check out SkyTrax, Largest Airline Review Site
Check out SkyTrax at http://www.airlinequality.com/ This site offers passenger reviews of airlines, hundreds of airports, and lounges. They offer seat lay outs for all different planes. There are rankings based on feedback on all kinds of catagories as well. Really a great site with tons of information on your future destination airport and airline.
EAT – Piccolo Mondo Italian Restaurant Arlington, TX
This cute upscale restaurant is a short 10 minutes drive from the Dallas airport, and is totally worth checking out. With a baby grand in the bar area and a raised dining area, the atmosphere is sophisticated and charming. One would expect a pricey menu, but other than the lobster, average prices were in the $16-$22 area.
Although we were tempted by the endless selection of appitizers, our table of four went with salads. The house salad with crumbled blue cheese and a light balsamic dressing, kick started the meal perfectly. I went for the italian favorite, lasagna, while others had eggplant parm and spinach stuffed ravioli. The red sauce was great! And I’m picky about my red sauce. Get a side order of garlic bread, it also was incredible. We all were stuffed and happy when leaving.
I guess I wouldn’t normally write a review for just another italian restaurant, but the background of the grand piano, wonderful service, easy location, and great food put this on my list. Over all rating – A+
When traveling, it seems I would forget my head if it wasn’t tied on!
Last week I was in lovely Mobile, AL for a couple days to visit a client and some consultants. I had to switch hotels the second night to be closer to the airport in the morning. When I was getting ready for bed that evening, I realized I forgot to check the bathroom of the previous hotel before checking out, and had left all my bathroom supplies there. I had nothing. I had left my toothbrush, toothpaste, brush, contact solutions, deodorant, razor, shaving cream….everything at the other hotel.
I started to think about all the items I have forgotten over the last year or so. It adds up to a considerable amount of money. All because I am rushing and not taking a few minutes to make sure I’ve gotten everything. Here is the breakdown:
Hotels – I have forgotten 2 phone chargers ($30 each), 2 polo shirts ($80 each), all the bathroom supplies mentioned ($50), and a pair of dress pants ($80). I guess some key areas to look before leaving your room include the closet, dresser drawers, the desk, nightstand, and obviously…the bathroom. Total loss year to date – $340
Airplane – In the last year I have gone through two Bose headsets ($300 each), an iPad ($150), an iTouch ($300), and a couple DVDs ($50). I left them all in the seat pocket…rushing to get off the plane without checking. I had a consultant call me just a few weeks ago who had left their laptop on the plane. That cost him $800 out of his own pocket. My total loss year to date – $1100
Rental Car – The need to hurry through security to only sit in the Delta lounge has continued to cost me some serious money. So far this year I’ve gone through 3 car phone chargers ($30 each) and 2 GPS ($150 each). Somehow I’ve managed to leave these items sitting right on the front passenger seat and didn’t even bother to look. One trip I left my wallet, but luckily that was recovered. Total loss year to date – $390
My total loss year to date is around $1,830!! All because I can’t check around for just a few minutes before rushing off. I think I’ll start using chords to attach this stuff to my waist. I just bought an iPad a few months ago; I don’t take my eyes of it when I’m on a plane. Forgetting a toothbrush is one thing…but I’m hoping to hang on to my other travel toys moving forward.
Click on my image below for my Professional Profile
consultant-tips.blog 
Comments