Travel tips for entrepreneurs who frequently fly

Working as an entrepreneur can often mean that you have to travel to speak to potential suppliers, clients, partners or investors. When this requires you to frequently fly, you may feel that you are losing quite a lot of productive time both while you are in the air and while you are going through the necessary processes at the airport.

If you can do some things to keep the dead time down and speed up your journeys to and from the airport, you can make good use of your business trips to get more done no matter how much you frequently fly, and also cut down on how much your trips cost in terms of man-hours and expenses.

Here are some tips for people who regularly travel and frequently fly for business and who have to fund their business travel out of their own pockets.

Getting to the airport

When you are travelling from an airport close to home, it is usually best to have a plan for how you will get there in advance. It may seem best to use public transport to keep costs down, however, in many cases, especially when you are only travelling for one day or overnight, it can actually be a cheaper solution (and certainly more convenient) to park your car at the airport and travel there under your own steam.

Travelling using your own car means that you won’t have to leave any earlier than necessary due to train or bus times, and you will also have none of the hassles associated with carrying your flight luggage on public transport. Make sure that you are familiar with the parking situation at the airport you most often use, and if the airport isn’t especially close to your home, consider looking into staying at a hotel close to the airport that has an arrangement for parking.

Often, Entrepreneurs will decide to stay in an airport hotel before the trip, to make sure that they are refreshed and on time for the flight. You can even get specific packages for a hotel park and fly service –  on the birminghamparking.com website, they feature many different Birmingham airport hotels with parking, that are part of this deal.

Have your devices ready so you can work on the plane

When you are travelling by air, it can mean that you have hours of time confined to your seat with nothing much to do. This can be an excellent opportunity to get some work done, but only if you are well prepared for this. Some people fly with the intention of working but end up seeing it as too much of a hassle to go into the overhead locker and get out their laptop or tablet, or they find it difficult to work without an internet connection because they didn’t plan a work activity they could do without one prior to the trip.

If you have something like a document you can be writing or editing, or some figures to look over, prepare the files in advance and have them available on your phone and tablet as well as your laptop, so that you will be able to work even if the cabin is full on the plane and you have to check your laptop bag.

Have a spare battery pack fully charged for all trips

Make sure you have a spare battery pack so that you can use your phone or tablet for the whole of the flight without the battery dying. This is especially important because you will probably need your phone to be switched on once you arrive at your destination. You will not want to use up all of your battery power while you are on the flight. Another thing you can consider doing is bringing hard copies of things you need to look at so that you don’t have to rely on devices to get work done during your travel period.

Take advantage of loyalty schemes

One thing that can help you save money as well as time when you travel frequently on business as an entrepreneur, is to use the same hotels, airlines, and hire car firms and to take advantage of any reward schemes they may have. You will find it much easier to plan your trips if you already have an idea of which companies you will use, and you can also get some very good rewards, which may help you save money on future trips or which can be used for other things, such as holidays. Most major airlines and hotel chains belong to a loyalty scheme and you may find you can join one that combines all of the things you use on a typical trip so that you get even more points every time you have to travel for work.

By planning your journey effectively every time, taking advantage of loyalty card and member schemes, and using any means you have to keep working while you are in transit, you can save a lot of money and time. This will make your business trips productive before you even arrive at your meeting.