Travel tips for road warriors on the move and extended stay travelers who like long term vacations.

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Family Travel Mixing with Business?

April 25, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

It’s that time again. Children are nearing the end of the school year. And a long winter indoors followed by perfectly mild weather has everyone looking to get out of the house. About now, your business trips could probably use a little more variety to keep them interesting. It may be the perfect time to take the family with you on one of your trips.

When you’re looking to take your family with you, an Extended Stay Hotel is a perfect choice. Children stay free with their parents. Pets are welcome, meaning that you can take the whole family along and not also have to worry about boarding your pet. With a suite, your family has more room and also a kitchen, so you have an option whether to cook or eat out. Plus, Extended Stay Hotels are mostly located conveniently near cities, which make for travel destinations with lots of available activities.

Of the places you travel, which are good places to bring the family? Here's a website with some great information about family destinations in the US. This MSN article also has some good ideas for family travel. And even if you can’t bring the family along on your business travel, check out some of the last minute deals that Suite Savings offers every weekend for some purely recreational family travel options near you.

The Best Subway

April 18, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Subway Guide for City Travelers

April 18, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Have you ever been stuck in a new city, trying to figure out the metro?  When you’re on a business trip and have to hit the ground running, sometimes you just don’t have the time to navigate off the cuff.  Here are a few resources online that can help:

Before you go to a city, check out their local transport website.  That’ll have specific information and won’t be too hard to find on Google.  To get you started, here are the pages for New York, Washington DC, Dallas, LA, and Chicago.  Here’s a site that has compiled most of the world’s subway systems for you, to make your trip a little more convenient.

If you’re looking for help on the go, check out some of the cool programs that you can download to your PDA.  Metro is a free program that will give you directions and city information from 250 cities worldwide.  Tube can be purchased city by city and gives you detailed information of your specific destination and has great interactive graphics.

Although it may not help you get around, BoingBoing has compiled anagram transit maps that let you see the most familiar subway stations in a new light.  It’s worth checking out.

This should help you find your way around no matter where you are since most metro areas have subways.  However, if you find yourself in a bind, you can always just hail a cab.

Why Travel?

April 18, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

In New Zealand, the National Business Review came out with an interesting study on why business travelers take to the road and the skies.  What they found is that most business trips are being done for reasons other than increasing profit.  I think this is probably also the case in the US.  Business travel is mostly about making contacts and gathering information, not necessarily about directly affecting profit.

This is an interesting study that shows that improved technology in communication would not cut down on the need for business travel.  Travel for conferences and creating valuable business relationships will not be going away anytime soon.  The contacts and connections made on trips outweigh the expenses of traveling.

Why do you travel?  What are your objectives and your goals.  When the goal is not an increase in profit, it is sometimes hard to quantify.  How many business cards do you want to collect by the end of the conference?  How many new business opportunities do you want to create?  What kind of information and input are you looking to get out of your journey?  With traveling goals that can’t be defined by dollars, it’s worth reconsidering how we measure the success of these excursions.

Road Warriors

April 13, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

I'm not sure how much the term road warrior comes into your daily vernacular, but do you use one word or two?  Road warrior or roadwarrior?  If you search Google for both, it seems that many more people use two words, but obviously the alternative has gained acceptance too.  And does anyone know if the phrase was ever used before Mad Max?

Travel Resources Article from Forbes Shuns Blog

April 4, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Forbes just came out with a list of the 13 best travel sites on the web. I regret to note that the Road Warrior Tips blog was not included. Ah well, we’ll stay the online travel industry’s best kept secret for a while longer. If you want to read more about Forbes’ take on travel sites, visit the article.

Even though they left out this Road Warrior resource, the article did have some insight and point out some very useful travel resources that we thought would be worth sharing here. These are well-designed sites that have useful services and navigation. A lot of these sites are especially useful if you’re looking for ideas of what to do in a specific area, as well as deals for rental cars and airfare.

Here’s a list of some of the sites mentioned that would greatly benefit business travelers:

Flyertalk.com – get the most from your frequent flier miles

Breezenet.com – great for discounts on car rentals

Concierge.com – get a better idea of what’s in the area from the people who know

Gridskipper.com – learn all the insider tips of your upcoming urban destinations

MyTripJournal.com – keep in contact with all your friends at home quickly and easily

SeatGuru.com – look up your plane type and airline to know what seat to should request.

Free Vegas Monorail Ride

April 3, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

When the Las Vegas monorail raised its prices, it left casino-hoppers looking for alternate methods of transportation. However, for the next six months, you may be able to get a complimentary ride down the strip and be spared from the Nevada sun. This monorail can be very useful since it links several casino/hotels with the Las Vegas Convention Center.

According to the deal, if you book anything on VEGAS.com or lasvegas.com, you’ll get a free one way pass on the monorail. This applies to any purchase, meaning that you can get a ticket for a show, tour or pass to a nightclub, and any of these will get you the opportunity to get to the conference on time without overheating. Plus, you’ll have the chance to take a break from work and see some of the Las Vegas shows and entertainment.

So if you’re headed down to a conference soon, well, lucky you. The weather is currently 70 degrees and sunny. Plus, you can try out this useful offering and get around the strip quicker and easier. And if you’re looking for a comfortable and budget-friendly place to stay, perhaps leaving you more money to enjoy a casino or two, look here for Extended Stay Hotels properties in the area.