Well, I just got caught. I am at the airport in Montreal, leaving for a business trip, and today I decided only to take carry on luggage.

This is usually an advantage because when I arrive at my destination I don’t need to wait around for my luggage- and as this is is a short trip, just a couple of days, I really don’t need that many clothes and personal items.

Personal items, that’s where the problem is. When passing through security I got my shaving cream and gel confiscated because the containers were too large. The lady was very nice and said that it is happening to a lot of business travellers.

I guess I have to make sure to buy the smaller travel size items.

Al least they let me keep my deoderant…

Since I am planning my first business trips of the New Year- I thought I would share a couple of tips about business travel.

1. Always have some cash. This is especially important when you are travelling to other countries for two reasons. Firstly, not every hotel or restaurant takes credit cards. Secondly, even when they do, you may have problems with international transactions. I typically carry 100-200 dollars on me at all times when I travel.
2. Speaking of credit cards, have more than one of the major cards on you because you never know when somewhere will not take it. I always have a Mastercard and a Visa card on me. I was reminded of this recently when I went to a restaurant near where I live in Montreal and I tried to pay with my Mastercard. Unfortunately this particular restaurant only accepted Visa.
3. Always arrive early. On my last trip to Colorado the main highway from Denver to Vail was closed on the morning I was supposed to return to Denver due to a snowstorm. Because I checked out of my hotel six hours before my flight, I had the chance to drive a totally seperate route around the storm. This route took me a full six hours and I just made it to the plane on time- but if I had left the hotel in the afternoon I would have never been able to make it.
4. Look around tripinform.com. You will find many more ideas on this site

Having done a lot of international travel, my first question before planning a trip to a foreign country is do I need a visa?

Here are the steps you need to follow in order to get your visa.

1. Find the Embassy of the country you will be visiting located in your own country- these days, many of them have websites so it should be easy to find.
2. The website will have a section called Consular services- or something similar. Go to that section to find out the exact requirements you will need
3. Print out the requirements. It is very important to follow them exactly. If you submit your package with any single omission it is likely that it will be refused.
4. As an additional precaution- call the Embassy to verify the requirements. Fee structures sometimes change without notice.
5. Submit your documents to the Embassy with the appropriate fee. Note that most embassies do not accept cash or personal cheques.

Some countries, such as Russia, will require a letter from a tour operator. If you are not going on an organized tour, don’t worry, check around your local travel agents and online to see how to get such a letter. They are usually available for a fee. I have used the website Visa to Russia to get invitation letters sent to me for visits to Russia.

Other countries, such as Libya, will have special requirements such as requiring your passport to be translated. For this kind of service it is best to call the embassy to ask how to get it done. The last time I had it done someone met me outside the embassy and with an an official stamp, made the translation- for a fee.

Prior to my last trip to Moscow I was in line at the Russian Consulate in Montreal and the person in front of me was very frustrated, telling me that this was the fourth time they had come back. The only reason that this would happen is if something was missing from the package. Once again you must have everything required or your application will be refused.

There is a funny article on CNN talking about how a guy from Germany booked a flight online, only to end up in Sidney Montana instead of Sydney, Australia. You can find the article here.

This reminded me of a similar experience that I had with a client of mine.

I was expecting a visitor from the United States who was coming to visit my company’s facilities. He told me that he was staying at the Fairmount hotel. So I went to the Fairmount hotel in Montreal to pick him up.

After looking around in the lobby I could not find the guy so I called him on his cell phone and asked where he was. He told me near the St-Laurent room. St-Laurent is a very common name here (there is a city St-Laurent and also a street with that name), so I went to the hotel reception and asked where the St-Laurent room was.

Reception: Sorry sir, no St-Laurent room at this hotel.

This is strange. So I ask them: is there another Fairmount hotel in Montreal?

Reception: No, this is the only one.

This had been going on for 45 minutes now so in desperation I call back my client and ask him to find the phone number of the hotel he is at so I can call his hotel directly and get the exact address.

He give me a phone number starting with 418. I almost dropped my phone. He was in Quebec city. It is 3 hours away from where I live- which is Montreal, province of Quebec.

Right province, wrong city.

I guess he was quite a bit luckier than the German tourist.

My client made arrangements for a flight the next morning to Montreal.

Thanks Roadgladiator for finding the CNN article.

Interesting story from Engaget.

First Boeing’s Connexion service announced that it was being shut down, and now the scheduled ASiQ/Panasonic service has been delayed until 2008.

This does not look good for the possibilities for WiFi on airplanes.
I am of the opinion that there is definitely a market for onboard wifi- just take a look around the number of people working away on their computer the next time you fly.

But the companies offering these services have to make sure that the service is offered for the right price. Just look at the failure of onboard phones. While phones have been available on planes for a long time, most people have never used them due to the high cost.

Just a reminder, the United States will have new requirements for Canadians traveling into the US. Starting January 23rd, 2007, you will need to bring a passport with you (previously you only needed a piece of id such as driver’s license).

I think that this does make sense. If the United States government wants to implement this then we have to respect their rules. For me it does not make a big difference as I always have my passport when I travel. In any case the passport is a standard document and it will make customs officials’ jobs a little easier. But it will make a difference for some people who are used to driving to the United States.

Last year I was going to Mexico and the person behind me in line was actually travelling with only his drivers license. He was complaining that he had to get a letter signed by a commissioner of oaths to prove his identity. He didn’t have an answer, though, when I asked him why he didn’t get a passport.

The additional requirements are making me think again about joining the NEXUS program.

Roadgladiator is asking for people to submit their business travel gadget christmas wish list. As I travel a lot and am definitely a “gadget” guy, this is somthing I wanted to talk about.

First, excluding my laptop, these are the gadgets that I already own and travel with now:

• Worldphone- mine is an Imate Jasjar. I get to use it for phone calls, but it is also a fully functional pocket PC. There is a lot to say about this phone, but what is nice about using it for travel is that it has standard 3.5″ plugs so you can use most standard headphones to use the phone as an MP3 player
• Sanyo Xacti C6 videocamera. This is a tiny videocamera which takes great video. The only issue with a videocamera of this size is that the video sometimes shakes. But the absolute best thing about this video camera is it’s size
• My digital camera, the Canon Powershot SD600. Just like the Sanyo videocamera this is a tiny unit which makes it perfect for travel. It is so small that I carry mine everywhere I go. I tried to use the Sanyo for pictures but the Canon pictures are much better.

One of the neat things about all three of these items is that they all use standard SD memory cards.

 So now for what I need…..I’m pretty sure that all of these technologies exist but I have not had the chance to look into them.

• I really need a GPS. I am terrible with directions and get lost all the time. However, I do not know whether I should get a bluetooth GPS so I can use the screen of my phone to view directions- or a handheld one with it’s own screen.
• Portable Card Scanner. I attend trade shows all the time and end up with hundreds of business cards. I would love a way to easily scan the cards into my computer when I go back to my hotel room instead of muddling through them when I get back to the office.
• I would like a watch which automatically changes time zones. I don’t know how many times I arrive somewhere and forget to change the time.
• An Ultraportable voice recorder which I could attach to my computer and transcribe my thoughts to a word document.

I hope that Santa will be nice to me this year… and if he isn’t…. well there are always the boxing day sales!

Here is my tip for the day. This one is about renting cars.

If you are renting a car in a city which you are unfamiliar with, consider renting a car with GPS.

I am notoriously bad with directions and by now being able to rent cars which have GPS units, I can now travel without needing a map. This is especially useful if I am travelling alone.

GPS units are not very expensive, typically you can rent these units for around ten dollars a day- and they are very easy to use. You input your address and the unit will calculate the most direct rouet to your destination.

If you have never used one, the best thing about this technology is that if you miss a turn, the system automatically calculates a new route to your destination. This is the big advantage of using GPS over traditional maps.

One other advantage is that the system will give you an approximate idea of the time it will take to reach your destination- which is good to know if you have an appointment at a certain time.

One downside is that it does not always take you exactly to where you need. You may be close, but the place you are going to may actually be across the street for example.

But when you compare the price of renting a GPS to the price of getting lost and being late for appointments- this is a must have technology.

I will not rent a car without it.

One of the things I get asked about sometimes is and what can be taken back through customs.

The basic rule is: know what you must declare. If you live in Canada you can find answers to the most common questions here

A case in point. On once occasion during a period of time when I had been travelling a lot I was coming back from France with some foie gras in my suitcase. The foie gras was sealed in a jar. When I arrived into Canada I had checked the box on the form indicating I had no food. But when the customs officer asked me, I suddenly remembered that I did indeed have a small jar of foie gras and I mentioned it.

From that comment I did get flagged and had all of my luggage searched. I was told that I could be given a $400 fine and I had to plead with them not to give it. The only thing that saved me was the fact that I had told the customs officer the truth, but that I had just filled out the form incorrectly.

On another occasion I was returning from Russia with 5 bottles of vodka in my luggage. This was of course more than I could bring back and as such I declared it. As my luggage came out on the belt I could smell it from 20 feet away. One of the bottle had leaked, soaking my entire bag with vodka! I am pretty sure that I would have been searched if I had not claimed the fact that I had it with me.

Here is a tip to help you save money with your hotel bookings. If you have made your plans well in advance, double check the hotel rate the week before you travel.

I am going to New York City next week. As I have known the dates of the tradeshow for a long time my hotel was booked a couple of months ago.

Yesterday I went to the hotel website just to make sure that they have high speed internet (they do), and just for fun I put in the dates next week that I would be staying there, to see how much more the last-minute planners have to pay.

I was very surprised to see that the price shown on the website to me was cheaper than the price on my original booking. In fact over the 3 days of my stay it is $100 cheaper. And as we have three people from company my staying at this hotel, the time I took to double check (5 minutes) allowed my company to save $300.

So do make it a point to double check your prices- it might save you some money.

Just a quick update on my issues rescheduling a flight with American Airlines which I mentioned earlier this week.

On thursday I had called to try and get a change to flight from one leaving at 5 p.m. to an earlier flight which left around noon. The initial feedback from American Airlines customer service was that I had to pay $500; which even they agreed did not make sense, or that I should go to the airport on friday and fly standby.

As I did not have anything else to do on friday I went to the airport in the morning well before the earlier flight. The American Airlines counter people were very nice. I was put on the earlier flight, given an exit row seat and was not charged anything for the change. Thank you American for the outstanding service.

I am currently on a business trip, and have completed my meetings. I am now trying to reschedule my flight home to an earlier time in the day tomorrow because I was originally on a late flight.

I have found that the best way to get a ticket changed is usually to call the airline directly as they are the ones who will be letting you on the flight you require.

So I call up American Airlines to ask if I can get on the earlier flight tomorrow. Please hold….. I’m sorry sir, that would be $500 plus fees…. then some explanation about the kind of ticket my travel agent booked. I missed the explanation due to my surprise at the price- my full original ticket including 3 flights was only $1000. The person I talked to at American Airlines was actually very nice and recommended that I just go to the airport tomorrow and they will probably get me on the earlier flight just for a small fee, because there are over 60 seats still available.

I guess the question I am asking myself today is- how can it be over $500 to reschedule a flight one day, then $50 or $100 less than 24 hrs later. Does this make a lot of sense?

 This is exactly the kind of thing that people hate about airlines.

As I was passing through Montreal airport this morning I wondered to myself what the airports could do to make things more convenient for passengers. I spend a lot of times waiting at airports which gives me a lot of times to think about this. Here is what happened today:

I go to the airport an hour and a half before my flight, which is about the latest I could get there. There is a lot of waiting at airports. And waiting in line happens to be one of my pet peeves.

This morning I counted that I had to wait no less then four times.

1. First you have waiting in line just to do self check in.
2. Next you wait to get a luggage tag.
3. Thirdly you wait waiting to pass through US customs, and
4. You wait to pass through the security check

I would have experienced a fifth wait- the waiting prior to boarding at the gate, but on this occasion by the time I actually got through security I just had enough time to get to my gate and I ended being one of the last passengers to board the plane.

What really amazed me is that my luggage was put onto a conveyor belt just before I entered the security zone. This was about half an hour before my flight was departing, between my third and fourth lineups. I thought that my luggage wouldnt get on the plane, but lo and behold, my luggage was off the plane and on the conveyor at my destination when I got there.

If they can do this for luggage they must be able to do something for people. I am not saying that it will be possible to eliminate all waiting, but I think that someone smart should take a look at how to minimize some of these waits.

One of the things I always tell people is to always keep some cash on you while traveling, because you never know when you will come across a situation when you will need it.

I broke my own rules today.

I wasn’t traveling- but I am leaving on a one week business trip tomorrow. I usually keep some cash on me but in this case I thought to myself never mind, I will use credit cards today, and for the rest of the week I will be in the United States so there is no need for Canadian cash.

This afternoon we decided to go and find a small honey farm outside of Montreal. The farm sells over 40 different kinds of honey, and when we went to pay they said sorry, we only take cash. I had seen a back one kilometer back down the road so I excused myself to go and get some money. The machine was not working. The problem when you are out in the country is that you really don’t know how far the next bank is going to be, and I had never been to this area before so I just started to drive. I passed a couple of gas stations and considered going in and asking where the nearest bank was but, I am a man, and in any case, I know what banks look like so there was no real need to do that, it would waste valuable driving time. I eventually found a street which looked like it had commercial buildings and I found my bank machine and made my way back to the honey farm- my entire trip to get some cash taking me 40 kilometers and close to an hour.

This is a prime example of why you should always keep some cash on you.

As I mentioned in another post these days it is a good idea to have a couple of small gifts handy when you are travelling. This can be especially useful in some situations. As a person from North America, it not always customary to bring gift for clients and it can also be seen as some sort of influencing. However, in some cultures it is required protocol, and in fact can be considered as extremely rude if you do not have a gift for the people you are meeting. Just as you would not go over to someones house for dinner without bringing wine or dessert, you should always be ready to offer a gift if it is necessary.

So, here are some ideas about getting gifts.

The first question is what to get. I myself usually like to bring a get a gift which is local from you live, and as such would be difficult for the recipient to get themselves. As I live in Canada, I often bring something related to maple. This could be something like maple syrup or maple candy. Sometimes, if I know that the person that I will visit may drink, I will being Sortilege which is a maple whisky liquor which is made here in Quebec. Or, I may choose to bring some local artisanry like an Inuit carving, made from wood or stone. If I know that I will meet a lot of people then I may being small things like pens or key chains.

One important thing to keep in mind is to be very aware of the culture of the people you are visiting, in some cases (more in the Western world), offering gifts can be seen as influencing, but in some, like in the Middle East for example, it is very common an part of normal practice. In fact, I have been at meetings where my local partner asked if I had any gifts for the people I was meeting, while I was visiting. I was very surprised as he had not asked me in advance if I had brought anything. Has I not been ready, it may have resulted in a very embarrasing situation.

Another point to remember is that it is good to have a couple of different gifts. This way, if one person is more important or higher ranking, they get a better gift.

Finally, if you have some kind of an ongoing relationship with the person that you will visit, try to keep a mental note of what they like- I had one client in the Middle East who had told me that his wife loved chocolate, so every time I would come I would make sure to bring a box for her.

Keep these ideas in mind and I’m sure your gift giving will go well.

I just ran across what must be the definitive list airport wifi access over at travelpost.com. They also have a listing of the airports with free wifi access here

A few of the airports on the free list are in Canada and my home town Montreal is mentioned as one. I have never bothered to try connecting there but as it happens I will be passing through this airport twice in the next two weeks, so I will be checking it out.

For those of you who are just starting to travel for business, here are a few pointers to make your business travel easier. When I was in Scouts I was told to “be prepared” and hopefully this will help you.

1. Bring wrinkle-free clothes. If your clothes are not wrinkle free you can have them pressed by most hotels for a small fee.
2. Always be ready for the common situations. In my own case, as I am in sales, I am often asked to give a presentation. These presentations can last anywhere from 5 minutes to two hours, so I am always keep my computer pre-loaded with them which allows me to start anytime when asked. The second thing that I get asked all of the time, because I am in sales, is for pricing. So I keep a copy of our price list taped to the inside cover of my notebook. 
3. If you are renting a car- rent one with a GPS. The additional few dollars a day is well worth it in order to guarantee that you are not late to an important meeting.
4. Always have one or two small gifts with you. This is maybe not as common in North America, but in many countries you will be given a gift and it is important to be able to return the favour

I was on my way from Tunis to London, via France. My flight was supposed to leave at 5 p.m. and arrive in Paris just past 7 p.m. This would give me time to get to my hotel near Charles de Gaulle airport for an evenings rest before my morning flight to London where I was scheduled to meet some customers. Little did I know that a short flight was going to become one of my worst traveling experiences.  As my flight from Tunis was international, I had to be there at 3 p.m. The flight leaving Tunis was delayed for several hours, and unfortunately the airline (Air France) chose to tell us about the delays in 30-minute increments. Each time we would get close to boarding time, the departure time was pushed back. At first there were rumours of trouble with the aircraft. What we found out eventually was that the air traffic controllers in France were on a one-day strike. Why no one from Air France in Tunisia, seemed to be aware of this initially, or why they would tell us about aircraft trouble, I have no idea. If this had been known- which Im sure it was in the rest of the world, I would have much preferred to move my travel plans back a day then spend my entire evening in Tunis Airport. What did Air France offer us for a delay of 7 hours? A can of soda or a bottle of water (one or the other- not both). Thanks Air France. But my night wasn’t over. Eventually the flight from Tunis did depart- we boarded just before midnight, landed in Paris after 2 a.m., and had collected our luggage at around 230 a.m. At this point I had a problem. I was not sure how close my hotel was to the airport, and I had a flight to London at 7 the next morning (meaning I would have to come back at 5); So, I decided to stay at the airport. Unfortunately at this time of night there is absolutely nothing open at Charles de Gaulle airport, and equally unfortunately there seemed to be many other passengers in similar situations. So I spent the next three hours wandering around, occasionally finding a spot to sleep; only to be woken up any time I seemed to get my eyes closed for more than a couple of minutes. Many times I was woken up by the machines that clean the tile floors. What a horrendous racket they make- not only from the brushes, but the machines also beep loudly. Unshaven, unwashed, and very unhappy, by the time I got on the flight to London I was little more than a walking zombie and when I eventually got to my hotel in London. I called my clients to cancel my meetings for the day and went directly to bed. Before you travel, in order to make the best of it, in the unfortunate case that you ever find yourself in a similar situation, do take a look at the website www.sleepinginairports.com. Charles de Gaulle is listed as one of the worst airports to spend an overnight. That does not come as a surprise to me.