Hotel Room Safety

a door swinger with text and polka dots

A lot goes into choosing a hotel for business travel, and safety is frequently a top concern. You may think once you’re in your room you can let down your guard, but unfortunately that’s not always the case. Some reports have come out of the Black Hat and Def Con conferences that attendees staying at…

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My favorite carry-on suitcases

a grey luggage bag with zippers

What suitcases do I have the most experience with, and out of those which are my favorite? Reader B asks…. Hi RW! You talk a lot about suitcases and how choosing the right one is so important. I need a new suitcase soon so I wanted to ask you which suitcases you have used, and…

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5 Frequent Mistakes New Business Travelers Make

a suitcase full of items

Remembering my early days of business travel makes me cringe a bit. I overpacked like crazy, missed out on a ton of points, didn’t know my company policies, and wasted a lot of time at airport security. Little by little my trips got more efficient and went more smoothly, but it took a while! Hopefully…

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Don’t forget to declare food products when going through customs

A few months ago fellow Boarding Area blogger Gary Leff posted about an incident with Delta, Global Entry, and a woman traveling to the US from Paris. It caught my eye and I’ve had it saved as a personal reminder because this woman 100% could have been me. The passenger, a Global Entry member, was…

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2018 Summer Business Travel Beauty Must-Haves

a close up of a tube

Last week one day the temperature in central Texas reached 110 degrees. We’ve had almost 30 days over 100 this year, and we’ve still got over a month left of summer. Yowzer! It is hot, not just here but all over the country. It can be hard to look professional when you combine the craziness…

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Rent from Avis, get Amazon gift cards (and how to do it)

a screenshot of a website

Amazon and Avis have teamed up to offer money back–rent from Avis, get Amazon gift cards. Simply link up your Amazon and Avis accounts, and you’ll get 10% of your rental fee back in Amazon gift cards within 48 hours of completing your rental. Sounds great, right? Actually, if you are already an Avis user,…

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Amazon Prime Day deals that are great for travel (Day 2)

a group of blue bags

Prime Day started yesterday with a bunch of great deals, but also a bunch of site glitches. Those Amazon dogs are cute, but I wanted to shop! Luckily, today the site seems to be up and running without any issues. Fingers crossed that continues! Here are the Amazon Prime Day deals that I think are…

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Amazon Prime Day deals that are great for travel

Prime Day starts today! There are already some fantastic deals, with more to come. Here is what I’ve seen and what I’m keeping my eye on. Note: Most of these deals are for a limited time only and are available only for Prime members. You can try Prime free for 30 days if you’re not…

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Hotel Pet Peeves

a bed with white pillows and a floral blanket

During business trips your hotel becomes your home away from home, and it can play a pretty big role in whether or not your business trip feels successful or not. If you have a bad night’s sleep or something malfunctions it’s can be much harder to concentrate on your actual work.  Some things, like an…

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When to wait for people to put their suitcase into the overhead bin

a black bag in a drawer

Last week I flew to the west coast and back for a series of customer meetings. The flights were generally good, on time, with a few open seats. Although coming home one flight was delayed into Phoenix and I had to run to catch my connection. I never would have made it if I’d had…

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