the dromologue that is this architect

I travel a lot. It is not unusual for me to visit 3 countries in a week. This entails dealing with stop-overs, flight delays, flight diversions and, my personal favourite - flight cancelations. Hotels are by no means undifferentiated - even in the mundane world of business travel; and knowing which to book into and which loyalty programmes actually add value to you while you travel (rather than offering an imagined free night in the far future) makes a great deal of difference…at 1am with snow on your shoes and frost in your hair after arguing with the cab driver about American Express versus Visa.

At the request of a few colleagues; here are 10 tips that make my life easier…

1. Never check-in baggage. It can get lost and you lose time waiting for it. Most small intra-european carriers will allow you to drop off your luggage by the aircraft and some even allow you to pick it up as you disembark. This is a good option. Lufthansa is particularly good here.
2. Get two bags. One small enough for your ipad, phone and wallet; and one large enough for a week’s packing and your laptop; but small enough to be hefted around airports because you never check your bag. I like Tumi, especially this one for the larger and this one for the smaller.  A smaller bag allows you to keep the stuff you want to use on the plane (other than your laptop - although I use my ipad for offline email too) in one place and avoid having to play Aircraft Boules: I am sure you have seen many people hold up the seating line in the aircraft as they sift through their bags and pockets, deciding which to take with them and then (if they’re not sitting on the aisle) ‘casting’ these items onto the seat…a small messenger bag with all your essential stuff makes this much easier. As a side note - forget those bags that say they are approved by aviation authorities for going through security without having to remove your laptop or ipad. Europe may have heard of these, but airport security guards clearly did not get the memo.
3. Use Mobile boarding if your phone has a reliable battery. Mobile boarding cards, stored on your phone are great - no paper, an inherent track of where you went (for expenses). But make sure that your phone has enough charge. I have often found myself with plenty, only to have a series of calls at the airport and found that I have none left for the boarding line. They will usually issue a paper pass but it can get tricky depending on the mood of the airline attendants. British Airways has a great mobile app as does Lufthansa.
4. There are certain travel gadgets that make life easier and less risky: A portable mobile phone charger - I use a Solarmonkey. An hour’s trip to the airport can be a great time to do calls..but it will kill your battery. The monkey fully charges a BB in about 30 mins. A portable multi-tip power adapter is also a must-have…saving you from carrying a myriad different chargers. I use the Tumi one and its has lasted me for almost 7 years. I don’t see it on the Tumi website…but it can be found at other places. You can get similar from the Gorrilla folks too. This may sound crazy, but I have before used a car charger to charge my BB while in a cab. In my experience most cab drivers will allow you to borrow their USB etc.
5. Never keep coins. I have a HUGE jar at home from before I followed this rule. I put all notes into my travel wallet, where I keep my loyalty cards, frequent flyer cards and all expense receipts etc. and I leave all coins as a tip for hotel room cleaning staff. My wallet is over 20 years old, but I wish it was something like this.
6. Consolidate your frequent flyer points on two accounts for OneWorld and Star Alliance. Although you may always want to fly with one airline, it is not always prudent to do so if you are managing your travel budget responsibly. It makes no sense to have multiple FF accounts with every airline you fly. I have BA and lufthansa’s Miles and More which cover most airlines. If you fly out of Heathrow, a BA silver or Gold card makes a HUGE difference to security lines and the lounges are very good. Virgin has fewer lounges but they tend to be better outside of UK than BA lounges.
7. Hotel Loyalty programmes are an illusion. It takes ages to get enough points to take the family anywhere decent and chances are (if you travel a lot) you want to go somewhere off the beaten track anyway, so the best strategy is to try to consolidate on frequent chains and get yourself upgrade, late chek-out and executive lounge access rights. I use the Ambassador service from Priority Rewards which always gives me an upgrade at any Intercontinental. I also use Hilton where I can. For the rest, I try to accrue frequent flyer miles against my BA account. Over time, this can make quite a difference. The advantage of getting miles from hotel stays is that you can use the miles for anywhere you want to go, whether that chain is there or not.
8. Hotel Routine is crucial. If you live in a hotel for 75% of the month, a little routine can help manage the disruption of check-in, check-out, queue, fly, check-in…. I always unpack as soon as I arrive, set up my chargers for my phone, ipad and laptop; get internet access and download latest email; find the BBC World news channel.
9. Showers are your friend. Clothes crease in a bag, not matter how well you pack them. Get your laundry to make sharp creases on the arms as these tend to stick. On arrival hang your shirt for the next day in the shower (away from the water jets!) and turn it to max heat. Close the door. Do your emails for 20 mins. This steams the shirt and gets most creases out. For trousers; you can hang then in the shower too, but I find that hanging them upside down from a dress hanger (provided all hotels) preserves their leg creases and pulls the knee creases out pretty well.
10. Never rush for a plane. Leave plenty of time for travel to the airport. The cab can be used for calls. The stress of running from one end of Munich airport to the other just isnt worth it.

Part 2 will deal with more advanced topics such as which airports have the best smoking lounges and where you need additional transit time…