Corporate Housing Shoppers Blog – Advice, News, and More

CNN Money.com recently published an interesting article about Paul Ziff, who is president of Zenith International. Ziff travels solo 60-80 days out of the year, and offers advice on how to get more enjoyment out of your business trip. Some tips from Ziff include going to baseball parks just before the game, when certain seats are released inexpensively, and putting a piece of yellow tape on your luggage to make it more easily recognizable in an airport baggage claim. The article is entertaining and well worth a read.

This Fall Congress stands to vote on legislation that would allow airline passengers the right to leave a plane that has been waiting to take off for three hours or more. The bill would require airlines to provide food, water and bathrooms to passengers stranded on flights unable to take off or access a gate. Is this legislation needed? A USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Transportation Department data found that more than 200,000 domestic passengers have been confined to more than 3,000 planes for three hours or more since January 2007. The most famous and recent example is of a flight that was stranded on the tarmac overnight, while passengers complained of a total lack of food and water as well as an unclean bathroom. In 1999 airlines successfully lobbied to keep a similar bill from passing by promising to live up to voluntary customer service commitments. Clearly these were empty promises and it is time that some action was taken.

My brother is a business traveler and one of the ways that we keep in touch with him while he’s out of the country is through programs like Skype. The effects of video conferencing on business travel is not as clear cut as NBTA’s online videos on the subject would have you believe. Yes, on the one hand video conferencing does eliminate the need for some business travel. But the trips it eliminates are the shorter, more expensive ones. The impact of video conferencing on the longer trips is this: it’s easier to create contract and temporary jobs now because of the ability to telecommute. More contract jobs means more business travel, not less.

According to the NBTA, or National Business Travel Association, business travel has dropped 10% from 2008, and is being scrutinized by politicians and the press as an unnecessary expenditure. The article goes on to say, and rightly so, that persuasion is easiest when done in person and business travel creates jobs. What’s needed is an effort to streamline the waste, not eliminate business travel altogether. (more…)

One of the huge advantages to using corporate housing is the presence of a fully equipped kitchen. This can be a life-saver for your expense account, as you can cook your own meals at home instead of eating out. (more…)

In the article “Impact of High Oil Prices and Economic Downturn on Business Travel,” the NBTA, or National Business Travel Association, notes that managers are making the following new habits in company policy:

1. Refueling a car before returning it to the rental facility.
2. Sharing ground transportation costs with other employees.
3. Moving to smaller, less expensive car rentals.
4. Renting more fuel efficient cars (non-hybrids).
5. Using more public transportation when traveling.
(more…)

The Business Traveler Guide has compiled a list of 30 Tips for Better Business Travel. Everyone from tech gurus to corporate bloggers have contributed to this comprehensive tome of advice, and it is well worth reading. (more…)

The New York Times reported that more and more, business travelers are using social media to network with new clients, to locate appropriate venues for client dinners, and to get information about the area they’ll be traveling to while on the road. The article went on to mention that Twitter, Facebook, and Yelp are excellent sources of information. (more…)

The New York Times reported that business travelers who blog about their lives on the road have become more prevalent. If you have a business blog that you would like to contribute to our Blogroll, please comment below.  We will gladly give it our consideration.