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How to ensure you have trouble-free air travel on business
When you have to travel overseas on business, it is smart to make the flight as trouble-free as possible. You can accomplish this by attending to some important matters at the airport and minimising the effects of air sickness and jet lag during the flight. And it pays also to know what to do in an emergency - just in case...
1. Become travel-smart.
Consider the following advice:
- Arrive early rather than late for your flight. Why endure the discomfort of negotiating peak-hour traffic wondering whether you’ll make it on time? Play it safe: for international flights, be at the airport two hours in advance. Besides, you can arrange a better seat if you arrive early and ensure that your baggage is safely tagged and booked in.
- Double-check your connections. If you have to make a connection or two before reaching your final destination, know your scheduled arrival time and the departure time of each connecting flight.
- Allow the airline to help. If you travel often, get to know the customer relations people. In so doing, in an age of competition, you won’t need to be a movie star or a politician to get a better seat, an upgrade, or other special services. Airlines want to help. Let them.
- Join a VIP club. Particularly for frequent flyers, VIP airport clubs are handy if you arrive early or your flight is delayed. Enjoy the free refreshments; relax; work; use the office facilities or showers; or conduct a meeting.
- Don’t do in the air what you can better do on the ground - advice from experienced business flyer Mark McCormack, who continues: ‘I used to catch up on reading and paperwork during flights. But I soon realised I could do this more productively on the ground. Now I catch up on sleep because there are no phones and few interruptions 30,000 feet in the air. As a result, I’m more awake on the ground.’
- In the air, set your watch to destination time.
- Dress the part. You’ll get better service from airline personnel if you’re well dressed; and your seating companion may prove to be a useful new contact - provided you don’t have to explain why you’re wearing a track suit or jeans.
- Take work to do in an airport lounge in case the flight is delayed.
2. Take care with your baggage.
Your baggage will arrive safely with you if you take it on board as carry-on items - but that is not always possible. So consider these points:
- Identify your bags clearly. Use a concealed ID tag and attach brightly coloured tape so that your luggage stands out from the rest. Inside, include details of your itinerary and addresses.
- Address your bags prudently. Never put your home address on your luggage, announcing to would-be thieves that you’re not at home. List your business address or the name of your travel agent. Similarly, a prestigious title is a tip-off that your bag might contain valuables.
- Allow enough time. Arrive early to check in your luggage without being rushed.
- Make sure the counter clerk tags your bags correctly. Ensure that they’re labelled with the correct destination. Keep your claim stubs in a secure place: you may need them if your luggage goes astray.
- Be aware of airline and customs restrictions on baggage and its contents.
- Know what to do if you lose your baggage. File a claim at once: baggage can usually be traced and recovered within a day. If you delay your claim, the recovery becomes more difficult.
3. Combat air sickness and jet lag.
With improvements to aircraft, air sickness is rarer these days; but jet lag still remains a problem. Long flights across time zones can cause disruption to your body’s natural rhythms and cycles; you can get to your destination exhausted, even distressed. Reduce the discomfort by taking this advice:
- Prepare in advance: change your eating and sleeping habits to match the time zone of your destination.
- Choose your flight carefully, to avoid lengthy stopovers or to leave in the morning and arrive when it’s time to sleep.
- Try to get as much space on the plane as you can. Fly first class, choose the emergency exit seat where the leg-space is greater, or stretch across an empty seat if possible.
- Avoid travelling alone. Jet lag can lessen when you travel with others.
- Keep fresh. Use toothpaste and toothbrush, deodorant, mouthwash, razor, after-shave, and moisturiser.
- Don’t drink alcohol - or at least drink moderately. Drink water.
- Exercise. Take a walk. Stretch. Combat deep vein thrombosis.
- Eat less; eat right; or don’t eat at all. Schedule your eating according to the time zone of your destination. Eat nothing exotic in flight.
- Sleep, or don’t sleep. Again, keep the time zone of your destination in mind and adjust your sleep pattern accordingly.
- Avoid prolonged flights. Excessive cabin dryness and accumulated sleep debt can wreak havoc on your body.
