It’s 5AM, You’ve been up since 3AM to shower and make your 6AM Flight! You are TSA Pre-Check so that means you can breeze through security lines to get to Starbucks with little or no wait for your soy latté- right!!!
WRONG!!
Reality is you woke up at 3AM, scrambled to get to the airport to drive and drive and drive around the airport parking deck to find a space that won’t require you to walk 10,000 miles with your luggage in tow. You’re TSA pre-check, but so is everyone else, so the major benefit is at least you don’t have to take your laptop out or take your shoes off! (Yuck-who wants to put their bare feet on those floors! Not me!) Finally, you make it to the Starbucks line but again so did everyone else, so get comfy! Nevermind the guy in front of you who forget to preload money to his Starbucks App! The nerve!
Does this scenario sound familiar? It certainly does to me!
I’ve been traveling to conferences, tradeshows, and customer sites for years (I am also THAT person who has a travel curse and no one wants to travel with me- but let's save that for another blog on another day!) and so you would think the above experience would get easier! I have learned a few tricks though along the way that have made the whole experience much more enjoyable for me!
Top 10 Travel Eases:
- Load the Airline Mobile App! Why does this help? You can pay for your checked bag (and get an easy e-receipt for expense reporting) right from the app and you can download your boarding pass to the app! This makes checking in and checking your bag much easier!
- Entertainment Apps- most of the airlines now offer separate in-flight entertainment apps! Download the app ahead of time and get logged in while you have wireless before the flight! Most of the entertainment is free.
- Make Use of Your Airport Time! Need an example- check out @RealSalesAdvice twitter feed to see how he made use of his airport time for a short social media video!
- Your Carry-On Luggage- makes a huge difference! Make sure you have your smaller carry-on that can easily fit under the seat in front of you! Overhead bin space is few and far between these days unless you are first class or business class select! I personally like to have a bag that has compartments. Two compartments that are easily accessible for your phone, device chargers, etc. (Tip many aircraft's now have power outlets-Yippee!)
- Productivity On the Plane- I have personally found that I can actually get a lot done on a flight! The weeks before my travel, I like to plan out what I can work on while in flight and I chunk it out based on the time in the air! If your first flight is 45 minutes or less, it’s probably a waste to purchase the internet, so I like to use this time to plan for offline work! Examples, writing blogs like this one, updating or creating presentations, etc. I save any online work like emails, working in Salesforce for the longer flights!
- Arrival- Unless you are late or cutting it way close for a connection- Chill out! I have found that I don’t get off any faster by standing up, huffing and puffing about the hundreds of people in front of me also standing up to get off the plane- so I sit right there in my seat and even let people behind me get off! I usually check my bags, so I have to wait for them anyway- so why hurry up just to wait!!
- Have a Connection- Use that handy-dandy airline mobile app to find your next gate! I never trust the gate numbers on my ticket (unless it’s my mobile ticket) or the gate number provided when I first checked in! Why- because they change constantly! Trust me! Be there done that- it’s not fun! So while you sit and wait for all the people in a hurry to get off- check your mobile app for your next gate or even to get the baggage claim number! It will prevent you from having to stand there with 20 other people staring at the gate screen in the airport!
- Uber at the Airport vs. a Taxi- Well I can’t say I have a lot of experience on this one- I tend to just grab the taxi since it’s there! Here’s a helpful article! Some airports restrict ridesharing or there is a flat fee added for airport pickup- so just be aware of that! SFO does allow ridesharing services- there is a fee for the ride and they will pick you up in the same location where people drop off!
- Dress for the weather! If you are at Dreamforce 2016- follow @ZynBit on Twitter and we will be keeping you up to date on your Dreamforce forecast! Layers is always the best way to go- it’s been my experience that expo halls and meeting breakout rooms are on the cold side!
- Working The Conference- Standing for 10+ hours a day is no joy ride! Not to mention the walk to and from the hall! I see a lot of people wearing 3 inches heels at the conference- You Go Girl! Not for me- sorry! Flats-Flats-Flat and don’t forget your fitness tracker! You should have no problem crushing that step goal!
If you have already made it to San Francisco, Bravo! We hope your travels were enjoyable and if they were not, we hope these tips can help you on the way home! We also hope we see all of you in the Cloud Expo- come visit us and register to win a sunset cruise on the bay at booth #1946!