The Business Of Slow Travel

Slow down for your business travel?? Is there really such a thing as Slow Travel for business? Or are business people being targeted with make-believe "Slow Travel" business trip scenarios?

Now that is a serious question.

Is there a straight answer? Probably not. Simply because the answer is going to be a little of both. Yes and no.

Unfortunately we do live in a world where not all of the people possess hearts full of joy and compassion for their fellow man. We do live in the real world, and yes there are charlatans that walk amongst us.

But their business, is none of our business. Our business is to try and make our business trip one we can consider "Slow".

A real, SLOW business adventure.

Because, hold on to your hats boys and girls...... Yes indeed, Virginia there is a Santa Claus. The mythical is not so mythical. By that I mean there is such a thing as "Slow Business" travel. :-)

Depending upon your schedule (shockingly, slow business travelers will likely still have a schedule), your trip can be whatever you make of it even if you are on a fairly strict time constraint. Because Slow Travel is not always about the time itself. Often it's about how the time is spent. In fact, in my opinion much of the slow methodology is not so much time oriented in so far as tossing your watch into a river. To me it's focus targets the quality of a given period of time and my recognition thereof.

Whether it's 10 minutes, 10 hours, 10 days, or 10 weeks. Maximizing the quality of that time in your life is of the utmost importance. When I first began learning about What "Slow" was all about from Geir Berthelsen (founder of The World Institute Of Slowness- www.theworldinstituteofslowness.com ), it quickly became apparent to me that it had almost nothing to do with the time itself.

It's real value lies within my own personal happiness gained from the appropriate use of that same time.

In other words, an appreciation for what ever time frame you have allotted to you. Giving us the ability to truly utilize Slow Travel in the business world too. Because let's face it, there's not a business trip that any of us have been on where we couldn't take one single minute to stop and smell the roses. Not one conference where we could have gone out in our lunch on the grass, listening to the birds in the trees, instead of working the crowd in a lunch room.

The same holds true in traveling to our business destinations. On any given business trip, with a little thought, we could certainly be a little more creative a lot more fun planning how we're going to get there. There's no reason why instead of the subway we couldn't take a ferry or a boat if there happens to be water between us and our business destination. There's no reason why we couldn't take a train with a sleeping car the night before the big conference, instead of taking the 2 a.m. redye and showing up looking like we were mugged someone along the way.

Yes Slow Travel (www.slowtravel.org ) is about time. But it's not about the quantity of time. Rather, it's about your consciousness of its value and a specific effort to use it to the best of your ability, making it pleasant, calm, serene, and pleasurable. You can spend that exact same time racing, panting and stressing. Or, you can spend the moments making your life just a little better than it was before.

All on the company dime. SLOW is SWEET.

Learn more, visit www.slowtravel.com, www.slowtravel.org or www.theworldinstituteofslowness.com today. The true pioneers of the slow movement and the driving force behind the furtherance and education regarding a SLOW lifestyle overall.

Your Own Travel Business With Coastal Vacations

The travel industry is big business. In fact, research shows it’s a $5 trillion industry. And if you’d like to get in to grab your fair share of the profits – plus enjoy some travel – there’s never been a better time to get started in your own business, especially with all the latest technology and Internet advances offering a verity of affordable marketing, sales networking and other opportunities.

And one company in particular with a top-notch travel product package is Coastal Vacations. For more than 10 years, they have been supplying lifetime discount vacation memberships and helping travelers save up to 75% off of their airfares, hotels, car rentals, cruises, condos and more. That’s one super value package costing pennies on the dollar – and FOR LIFE.

Not only is the travel package awesome, the Coastal Vacations business enterprise offers a variety of tools and services for helping even the novice of entrepreneurs get started, including:

• A service center to answer phone calls from your prospects…so you can focus your time elsewhere.

• Presentations to your prospects for you …so you can focus your energy elsewhere.

• Marketing collateral so that your leads are transformed into customers …so you can use your budget on other things.

• Prompt payment from sales..so you don’t have to worry about income.

Studies shows that roughly 95% of all home based business entrepreneurs are not earning income…at least not enough. But not Coastal Vacations.

About Coastal Vacations

At Coastal Vacations, in business for more than11 years, Coastal Vacations Directors watch their earnings increase multi-fold because the Coastal Vacations’ tools actually do more than 95% of the work for them. And the results are that the Coastal Vacations system brings you no less than $1000 per sale.

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So if you are truly looking for your own home-based business – complete with a great, proven product plus plenty of marketing, sales and other business tools to make it work – then Coastal Vacations is the business for you.

Create Unlimited Cash with Your Travel Business

Travel in the United States and to other parts of the world is growing by leaps and bounds. It's easier than ever to travel by plane, cruise ship, bus, or car, and many people are taking advantage of modern-day travel conveniences.

Unfortunately, this $8.5 trillion industry is not without fault. Fuel costs and other factors have taken a toll on travel prices, but can actually benefit your business. If you're already in the travel business or thinking of starting a travel venture, now may be the best time ever to cash in on what seems to be a disadvantage to many travelers. Since everyone loves travel (even when it is expensive), you can create unlimited cash while helping others take their dream vacation for fewer dollars.

Unlimited Travel Opportunities

If you've always loved to travel and want to help others plan their vacations, there are unlimited travel opportunities to help you start a travel business. With a travel business, you not only create unlimited cash for your own income, but you can also plan unlimited vacations of your own with a tremendous discount. Then, you can use your own travel experiences to help others find the perfect vacation. You can also offer the discounts to your family and friends.

With some travel business models, you can sign on to be a travel representative (not an agent) and offer the travel packages at a discount with huge commissions paid out directly to you. And the real advantage of these types of opportunities is you can usually sign others up to sell travel packages as well. You will receive instant profits when they sign on as well as when they sell vacation packages to others. It's a great way to travel to exotic places while earning unlimited cash through your very own travel business.

How to Sell Travel Packages

There are a number of ways to realize your dreams with a travel business. You can use the Web, magazines, or classifieds to target niche markets in the travel industry. For example, target people who want to visit a certain country or city. You can target families or honeymooners. You can target business travelers. With a website, you can add unlimited travel articles to your website to attract readers who are interested in visiting certain places around the world. You can also create a travel newsletter or e-zine to capture the e-mails of your site visitors. The travel industry is broad, so the more targeted your marketing efforts, the faster your business will grow.

How to Offer the Opportunity to Others

You'd be surprised at how many people would love to start a travel business, but don't know how or where to start. Once you gain some experience in your travel business, you'll be able to offer tips and helpful resources for others who want to do the same. Also, don't ignore those who are seeking "any" business opportunity. Many people want to work from home, but aren't sure what type of business to try. You can educate them about starting a travel business, and build their confidence to try it out. Be a motivator and a helper, and you'll soon see tremendous results!

Each time you travel, write down key points and attractions of the places you visit. Offer articles about first-hand travel experiences on your website along with photos. Detail how much the total trip cost (with your company's discount) and the fun things you did while there. Putting together travel editorials such as these can become your own personal testimonial to those who are considering the opportunity.

When you sign on for a travel business opportunity, be sure to consider the amount of commission being offered, how much you will need to invest to get started, and how easy it will be to promote the business. Can you promote the business online? Does the company provide a website for you? Can you add content and photos to your website for your own marketing efforts? Does the company offer unlimited vacations at discounted prices? These are key factors in earning unlimited cash while doing something you enjoy!

Cutting Costs For Your Travel Business

In order for your travel business to be profitable, your revenue must exceed your expenses. A way that you can begin to increase your revenue is to look for ways to lower your expenses.

Look over your current expenses and place them in one of two groups: one are expenses you cannot do without (like utilities, Internet access, etc), the other is for expenses you may be able to lower or eliminate. Here are tips to help you with your costs.

Travel and Fun

The areas where many home businesses can begin to whittle down expenses are with travel and fun. For example lower the cost of holiday purchases by purchasing less expensive but better gifts like engraved or logo stenciled marketing tools that also cross-promote your business: not pads, stickie pads, pencils and pens, magnets, etc. And discuss travel perks, packages, discounts and coupons with your local travel agent or an online agent who has great packages or plans to offer you.

Needed Expenses

Annually take a look at your monthly and other regular expenses like utilities, office meeting space, Internet access, etc. Take at least one to three days total and comparison shop all of them for better rates and packages to service your in more efficient financial ways.

Also seek ways to cut back on using so much; using too much utilities like power for all the computers, phones and other gadgets that may be able to be turned off in the night time to save on energy bills. Lower your heating and air conditioning, too.

And recycle where you can. Use the back sides of printed papers for note taking and daily phone notes and calculations that can be keyed into the computer later.

Buy in Bulk

Another good way to save on your travel business expenses is to buy in bulk – either taming up with another entity, a neighbor who also has a home-based business, or working via a wholesaler. When you cut out any middle people – like drop ship coordinators and retailers, you can help lower your expenses.

Also try to use what you have. See about revising what you have on hand or learning how to re-package it with something else – like upgrading old software instead of buying new.

In summary, it is all too easy for business expenses to spend. Watch your costs and cut what you can!

Business Travel With The Wife

If you are an infrequent traveler you may need some tips to keep the wife happy while you are jet setting around the globe. Many individuals do not realize the tolls that traveling can have on married life. Occasionally your travels are going to take you to a location that your spouse would love to attend. You may be servicing customers near your or your wifes childhood homes, you may be visiting a destination that she has always desired to be at, she may simply want to spend some time with you.

After you make the decision that the spouse will be going on the next business trip, you need to review your corporate travel policies. Many companies have fairly lax rules on spousal travel. However it could be possible that you have to pick up the differences in hotel room costs for the second person. Most companies however wave this fee if you are in good standings with them.

So the accommodation's are settled what is left to meet the wifes expectations well you will more than likely have to make some adjustments in your travel plans. Unless you work for a company that is far more progressive than any that I have seen before, you will be picking up the tab for your wifes travel. So start looking at sites such as http://www.travelblogger.info and reviewing the travel prices that they provide. By researching early you have the opportunity to cut some significant costs from your bill.

This early research will also allow you to properly plan out your visits and time them with travel concerns. Always research all arrival locations for the cheapest airfare. A great example of this was my co-worker who was asked to go to Germany for some problem analysis. His spouse made the executive decision that she was going to also be going to Germany. After looking at tickets from the local airport to Frankfurt (typical landing point) he found the tickets to cost no less than $1395.00. He talked with me and I suggested he look at Berlin International Airport. The total for the ticket dropped to $611.00.

Now he had to clear this change of plans with our boss because it increased his driving time on the ground by 1 hr. But the $600 + dollars that he saved on airfare travel more than made up for the increased car ride time.

Speaking of the car. Make sure that the spouse is on the car rental agreement and insured. If your wife is like mine she is not going to be happy cooped up in a hotel while you are in facilities all day. She is going to want to get out and about during the day. Checking this minor point will save you loads of time and aggravation.

The final item of concern is your dining tab. Be exceedingly careful and research your corporate policy closely on this one. Typically you will be allowed to pick-up the room breakfast on the corporate account for the wife. However it is highly unlikely that you will be able to expense out her lunch and dinner meals. As a matter of fact I have seen one gentlemen dismissed on this account. Now he had other issues, but this is the corporate policy that he broke that achieved the pink slip.

So in short you need to research where you are traveling too, you need to research when you are going to be traveling, and you need to look in depth at your corporate travel policies and don't assume anything. Corporations have been in business for many years and most of the expense details are spelled out clearly in their guidelines. Where there is headway ask your supervisor and they should be able to inform you of exactly what will and will not be allowed to pass on your expense report.

Charles Cater

Business Travel

The globalization of trade and the World Trade Organization taking a leading role is defining new rules and policies in international trade and commerce. As a result, global and local business travel and their frequency acquired greater importance and urgency than ever before. Business travel for individuals and corporate executives is essential to maintain and promote business.

If you intend to travel on a business mission, you should plan the itinerary of your travel carefully. New air travel companies are surfacing to join the race to attract customers. There is a great competition to provide better traveling facilities at competitive rates. Air service companies are coming up with ingenious schemes to lure customers. These schemes usually take the form of special airfare packages for certain destinations within given spaces of time. Since business trips are usually short, you can make use of packages that include return fares, hotel stays, rental cars and cabs for local transport, and other services.

You should be careful to check whether you are being overcharged for your stay in the hotels to outbalance the undercharge on air tickets. You should also make sure the tickets in the flight you intend to board are available. You need to contact your travel agent well in time to avoid any last-minute hassles in obtaining the ticket.

Before leaving for your destination, you should make note of the distance of the venue of your visit from the airport and the means of transport. You may be allergic to certain types of weather, such as the humidity during monsoon in destination cities that are located on seashore, or the dry air of metropolises that may crack your skin. If you are traveling to colder regions, you need to carry woolens and other cold-weather gear.

You may not know the local language of the country or state you are visiting. You need a translator to communicate with your counterpart. Not the least important part of your planning should be getting to know the geographical situation as well as the time zone of the destination city you are going to visit.

All these aspects of your business travel need careful consideration and thorough planning.

Business travel insurance

Traveling is a part of our day-to-day life. We all travel because of one reason or other and can be national or international. Traveling always involves risk. So, whether you travel for pleasure or business, it always safe to travel with proper travel insurance. If your are properly insured, there is no need to worry about the risks involved in traveling like loss of luggage or baggage, flight delay, accident, medical emergency or evacuation.

Formerly, Travel Insurance was considered as a luxury. But now travelers are aware of factors that are not under their control like trip cancellation, medical emergency, evacuation, flight delay, loss of baggage etc.

There are many kinds of insurance policies. Travel Insurance comes in front of you in different shapes like Travel Health Insurance, Travel Medical Insurance, Vacation Insurance etc. Whether it a business or leisure trip, proper Travel Insurance is crucial because of many reasons. It protects your travel investment, belongings and health. You can hold travel insurance for personal and business purpose it is always true that a proper Travel Insurance makes your trip memorable.

Apart from personal insurance, Business Travel Insurance also covers computers and other business equipment of businessmen or travelers who travel for a business purpose. Business Travel Insurance makes perfect sense and is always a policy or contract under which the insurance company agrees to pay a sum of money to the insured for a damage or loss or injury as a result of some uncertain event during his trip. This can include flight delay, baggage loss, medical emergency, accident or disasters. Under a Business Travel Insurance contract, the insurer pays for business loss or damage faced by the insured during his trip.

Many things can go wrong during your business trip. This can be your baggage loss or a flight cancellation, or your destination become unreachable due to bad weather, or even you can fall ill and have to postpone the trip. You cannot control such events, but with the help of proper Business Travel Insurance, you can minimize their outcome. Whether it is a small enterprise or a large corporation, the success of a business is largely based on the dedication and hard work of the members of that organization. But it doesn’t matter how industrious you are, because one disaster or catastrophe can destroy your business and wipe out all the profits. The only way to make sure that the effort and money that you invested doesn’t fade away when a disaster smacks is by protecting your business with appropriate insurance.


About Author:

Adrian Rogers - For related articles and other resources, visit : http://www.buy-travel-insurance.com/

Build Your Own Travel Business At Home

Do you like to travel? Would you like to travel more? Would you travel more if you could find some real bargains, say 50% or more off the regular retail price, not just the 10% AARP or 10% business discount often available at motels?

If you do like to travel, I’m sure you have gone the route of search-engine searches for discount travel, only to find the major Internet booking engines with their flashy “lowest prices guaranteed” all offer exactly the same prices.

The truth be known, some bargains do raise their heads above all the “cheapest prices guaranteed” but good luck finding them. You must tenaciously search every day, and even then some of those specials are alive for only a few hours. Is there an easier way? I think there is, and you can turn travel into business.

Yes, those bargains are there, reserved for the travel professional in the form of travel perks, business tax deductions and sales commissions. Consider these points:

•Own your own booking engine and earn commissions on all travel booked through your site -- your own travel and the travel of anyone and everyone that you can drive to your booking engine.

•Operate a legitimate travel business and you can apply business tax deductions to your own travel as long as you include that travel in your business plan, and you keep accurate records.

•Many travel industry businesses offer familiarization trips, FAM trips for short, to professional travel agents and agencies so that they can then “sell” these services to their clients. These FAM trips may offer huge discounts or free accommodations and trips when the agent books 8-10 clients for the same accommodation or trip.

•Travel agents can build their own FAM trips calling the travel vendor directly, offering some form of advertisement back home, and requesting travel professional discounts.

This month my wife and I are taking a quick summer vacation to Canon City, Colorado, for a ½ day white-water rafting adventure in Bighorn Sheep Canyon and a 2-hour train ride in a vista-dome through the Royal Gorge. We have acquired two nights’ lodging because we want to further explore the business opportunities in the area. We contacted the vendors as travel professional with an offer to do a write-up on their company and publish it on the Internet. In return we received ½ off the raft trip and the lodging and complimentary tickets for two for the train ride. After applying business tax deductions, we estimate that we will realize close to a 70% savings or $300 on this one very short trip. Not too shabby!

You can indeed travel for less and travel more. In fact, your travel can become your job. What a great life!

Build Financial Freedom with Your Own Home-Based Travel Business

Many people are looking for financial and personal freedom by starting their own home-based business. The opportunities are endless, just depending on your own interests. You can be responsible for your own success and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

One of the most appealing factors in a home-based business is the freedom to work when you want. You can set your own schedule and work as often or as little as you would like. There are no bosses or other employees to worry about. It is up to you to set the limits and goals for your business. If you want to work full- or part-time, the decision is yours.

Start a Home-Based Travel Business

A very successful field for many people is a home-based travel business. Being a home-based travel agent means making available travel products produced by someone else. You can do it two ways. You can be a referral agent, directing people to a travel agency. Then you would receive part of the commission on these sales. You can also book your own vacations and travel. You will receive a commission on that as well.

The second way to have a travel business is to be a booking and selling agent. You would deal directly with the clients to help them find the kind of traveling experience they are looking for. Then you would research the options for them. You would deal with the travel supplier, looking for the best options. Then you would present the options to them and let them choose what they want. After they have decided, you would make all the arrangements for them. In exchange for all this, you would receive a higher commission than the referral agent.

Get Help Online

Becoming a home-based travel business is not complicated. There are many online sites that will help you get started. You don't need a lot of money to start out and you can get plenty of information and support. By checking these sites, you will learn how to get started and have many of your questions answered. They can help you get started in an orderly manner and have a professional home-based travel business ready to go.

There are numerous places online to find discount travel packages, coastal vacations, and many other travel ideas. You can choose whom you will work with and enjoy the benefits of helping others. You will find the business opportunity is only limited by your time and motivation.

Be Successful In Your Home-based Travel Business

Even if you do not want to have a fulltime home-based travel business, you could earn enough to give yourself free trips and share discount travel with your friends. You can earn enough for a decent second income even if your time is limited.

Whether you want a home-based business as a full- or part-time job you will find that some great opportunities are available. By starting your own home-based travel business, you can build your financial freedom from a dream to a reality.

Business Owners: Five Surprising Changes That Affect Business Travel

I took my business on the road for three months while traveling by car around much of North America. In 2007, I took almost as long for a road trip from Massachusetts to Alaska and back. In those four years, several things changed that significantly affected some practicalities of taking care of business when away from the office and one’s home base for that long a time. If you’re planning extensive business travel and haven’t been on the road in a couple of years, some of these changes might come as a surprise to you, too.

1. Internet access. In 2003, high-speed Internet was a specialty item in the hospitality industry, restricted to a few name-brand hotel and coffee-shop chains. Before I left on my 2007 trip, several people told me blithely, “Wi-fi is everywhere now.” I’m glad I looked skeptically at that assessment.

During ten weeks of travel in Canada and the U.S., only one-third of the time did wi-fi work conveniently and right away in the room where we were staying. Another third of the time we were able to use wi-fi after quite a bit of technical fiddling or by going to the motel office or restaurant. And the other third of the time, we would have been without Internet access had wi-fi been our only option. I had three backup options for this contingency: going online on dialup with the modem in my laptop; using my handheld phone/computer (an AT&T 8525) to pick up email; and telephoning my virtual assistant to ask her to check my email for me.

2. Receipts. If you’re planning to deduct business travel expenses on your taxes, then you need to save receipts and you need a written record of the expenses and their business purpose. What changed since 2003 in this regard is that more and more businesses provide receipts on thermal paper whose ink fades and smudges with the least exposure to sun or friction. This means that if you shoe-box your receipts into a pocket or a compartment in the car before you record your expenses, you could be unable to decipher your evidence. I’m not sure what the IRS’s take on this development will be, but I’m glad I had the discipline to record the expenses in a little notebook at least every day or two.

3. Plastic. During our 2003 trip, we had to keep hitting up ATMs for cash, because quite a few places where we had to pay for things did not accept credit cards. In 2007, the only places where we really had to have cash were a few tolls and a few tourist attractions. We had one Canadian ten-dollar bill with us left over from the previous trip, and apart from that we were able to charge nearly everything. When a panhandler tried to hit us up for cash, we were able to say truthfully that we had none. We were putting everything on plastic, sorry!

4. Cell phone coverage. Our surprise here was that there wasn’t as much improvement in cellular service for the more remote sections of the U.S. as we expected. Along interstate highways, you can pretty much expect to get a signal. But otherwise, where population density is low or nonexistent, cell phone coverage is usually likewise absent. A big exception was national parks. I had a long conversation with a friend back home from Denali National Park in Alaska, where the whole county has only 1800 or so full-time residents.

5. Mail forwarding. This change isn’t the progress toward efficiency that you might expect. It took longer in 2007 than in 2003 to get postal mail forwarding going and longer to stop the forwarding. My postmaster explained that forwarding was now centralized and computerized. Whereas previously, individual post offices had been in charge of forwarding mail addressed to residents in their service area, now this was handled at the regional mail processing facility. My postmaster could put in the request to start or stop mail forwarding, but he had no direct control over the process, and it took 7-10 days for the forwarding and the no-more-forwarding orders to take effect.

Be prepared for these and other changing conditions, and you’ll have a better, easier and more prosperous time away from home.

Business Owners: Can You Depend On Wi-fi When You Travel?

"Don’t worry – wi-fi is everywhere these days!"

That opinion is widespread, but as I prepared for a 10-week sabbatical road trip from Massachusetts to Alaska and back, I didn’t give it much weight. I would be traveling to some of the most remote areas of North America and needing to check my email each morning and night to keep my business affairs humming along smoothly.

Because I found it impossible to get reliable information on Internet access along our route, I prepared for worst-case scenarios. And I’m reporting my findings here to help others plan for a similar trip.

Before we left home, I equipped myself with a wi-fi card in my laptop and purchased a handheld phone/computer device that could access wireless Internet too. The laptop also had a modem that could be used for Internet access through a phone line. And for further backup, I had a virtual assistant whom I could call to request her to check email for me if I were stuck someplace where neither wi-fi nor dialup worked.

My husband and I stayed in mid-priced or budget motels, lodges and bed and breakfast inns. We also took a few overnight ferries. While we took day hikes, we never camped out in the wilderness. Here’s what we experienced:

Wi-fi in motel or B&B room, worked fine: 34%

Wi-fi in office or restaurant, not in room: 12%

Wi-fi in room worked intermittently: 14%

Wi-fi took more than 20 minutes to get working: 8%

Wi-fi did not work after considerable fiddling, used modem instead: 6%

Wi-fi down town-wide from storm or outage: 4%

Wired high-speed Internet in room: 4%

Wi-fi available but forgot to ask for password: 2%

No wi-fi available, used modem instead: 12%

No Internet connection at all available: 4%

So, only one-third of the time did wi-fi work conveniently and right away in the room where we were staying. Another third of the time we were able to use wi-fi with some delay or inconvenience. And the other third of the time, we would have been without Internet access had wi-fi been our only option.

In those no wi-fi situations, hooking up the laptop to the phone line was our next option. Most of the time, this happened in isolated places where finding a coffeehouse with wi-fi for patrons was totally out of the question. And in nearly all of those cases, the laptop modem came to the rescue.

In Watson Lake, Yukon, however, a town of about 1500 people, the high-speed Internet network was DSL and did not work because phone service throughout the town was down. This meant that my backup plan – calling my virtual assistant – wouldn’t work, either. There was nothing I could do about it until we drove on to another waystation on the Alaska Highway where my hand-held device picked up wi-fi at a truck stop.

In Alaska, we stayed one night at a rustic lodge in the middle of nowhere that said they had wi-fi in the restaurant, but it didn’t work, and our room did not have a phone line to which we could plug in the modem. The lodge did not have a pay phone, either, for a call to my assistant, so again we hunted down a wi-fi connection in the next couple of towns the following day.

We were in luck – these nights and the nights we slept on ferries that didn’t have Internet access – didn’t generate any of those angry "Why the #%@$* didn’t you answer my email?" messages that any business owner dreads.

One bonus bit of advice: In many places, motel clerks stared at me blankly when I asked if they had wi-fi. But they all understood the question, "Do you have wireless Internet?" Use the longer question, especially outside of metropolitan areas.

Business Class Travel

Business persons and general travelers alike have to travel frequently to different parts of the world or within your own country. Many prefer to travel economy class to save expenses on airfare. You might in this case have to face the inconvenience of sitting cramped in small seats with very little leg space to move about. As an affluent business man or an executive on an important business mission, you may just get cramped, physically tired and mentally demoralized traveling in such inconvenience and may not therefore remain in the right frame of mind to execute your business transaction successfully. Inconvenience apart, your business stature cannot allow you travel economy class. The answer to this lies in traveling business class.

The seats in the economy class being cheaper usually remain overbooked, while quite a few of the costlier business class seats remain vacant for want of customers. As a result, flight companies offer certain attractive packages to lure customers to book for business class seats.

Business class is more comfortable than economy class due to ample leg space and greater maneuverability. The service and the cuisine in the business class seats are certainly better and more courteous. Again the package for business class seats takes better care of you in after-flight service. You are escorted form the airport and lodged in first class hotels commensurate with your business status. These packages may certainly be cheaper if you ask for the return ticket within a stipulated time.

If you are a frequent flier, you should stick to one airline for all of your travels. Once you are identified as a loyal and regular customer, you are offered higher rebates in your airfares and shown greater respect. That way you can sit relaxed in the business class seats, enjoy good and sumptuous meals, and be serviced more courteously. You can also do your homework or paperwork while traveling and have good nights’ sleep when your journey continues overnight.

A Coastal Vacation Business Idea For The Home Based Travel Agent

Travel remains one of the most lucrative and competitive industries in the United States. Every year entrepreneurs seek a coastal vacation home business idea so that they can tap into this market.

For many of these people becoming a home based travel agent fulfills a lifelong dream of owning a franchise. This gives them the ability to become their own boss.

Many who seek a coastal vacation home business idea target certain areas. Some want to sell vacations on the east coast, some prefer the west coast but others look at areas such as the Bahamas and the Caribbean. When a home based travel agent takes charge of his or her business, he or she chooses the territory want to sell.

Research shows that families will travel anywhere that they feel offers great amenities at a great price. The market for cheap family vacation packages grows each year. A smart home based travel agent seeks a coastal vacation home business idea that caters to families.

Starting a home based business requires sales and marketing skills. Many who look for a coastal vacation home business idea lack sales or marketing skills. A home based travel agent needs these skills to compete in the travel industry.

Skills such as prospecting for new customers and closing sales often elude new business owners, leading to failure.

A coastal vacation call center provides a full-time sales force for those wanting a coastal vacation home business idea. A home based travel agent without a sales staff will face a difficult time, especially if they lack sales or marketing skills. The coastal vacation call center helps the home based travel agent succeed.

The entrepreneur may not realize the importance of sales when he or she searches for the coastal vacation home business idea. Customers do not seek out a home based travel agent, so the agent needs to show creativity and use all the tools available.

Placing a few ads in a newspaper or a phone book does often does not bring business to the travel agent’s door. Networking, either online or in person, allows the travel agent to meet important contacts. A sales force frees the home based travel agent from sales so the agent can network.

The fear of losing sales deters some who seek out a coastal vacation home business idea from using a coastal vacation call center. Coastal call center employees train to close sales, not to steal a customer from a home based travel agent.

The coastal call center employee explains the package and gets the customer to sign on the dotted line, freeing up valuable time the home based travel agent uses to prospect for new customers.

A home based travel agent that does not take advantage of a coastal vacation call center dooms the business to fail. The help the travel agent receives from the call center with his or her coastal vacation home business idea ensures success. The travel agent will not find this kind of help from any other coastal vacation home business idea.