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Senor Schmutzig

Senor Schmutzig

Footballguy
I could have sworn there was a thread around here regarding business/corporate travel but I have searched six ways til Sunday and couldn't find it so I decided to start another one. 

For those of you that are corporate travelers, how have things been since you started travelling again?

I'm on my 4th week in a row of travelling (be careful what you wish for, right?) since our corporate travel restrictions were lifted and while it's good to be back on the road, all of our clients/customers have pushed their conferences from 2020 and early 2021 to this fall so my travel schedule is going to brutal. Granted, I am going to some pretty kick ### places (COVID/Delta variant willing) over the next couple of months but it's not going to be easy. I just realized I have slept in my own bed only 3 nights since 7/31. 

Been to Carmel/Pebble Beach, Seattle, Las Vegas, Cancun and now Chicago since June. I have upcoming trips to Maui, Vienna, Budapest, 3x Orlando, Las Vegas and two Caribbean trips scheduled between now and the end of the year. All work related. I'm hoping to talk my wife into coming with me for at least half of the Europe trip. 

 
I am traveling for work again, but my destinations have been the likes of rural Iowa, Sacramento and Phoenix.

Crossing my fingers that my trip to Austin at the end of September won't get canceled due to Texas being a hot spot for The Rona.

 
Back at it but significantly reduced compared to what it was. And frankly, I hate every minute of it. Adding a mask to the whole airport schlep routine is no way to live. I am actively trying to limit my air travel as much as I can. Really enjoying road trips again though.

 
Ron Swanson said:
Back at it but significantly reduced compared to what it was. And frankly, I hate every minute of it. Adding a mask to the whole airport schlep routine is no way to live. I am actively trying to limit my air travel as much as I can. Really enjoying road trips again though.
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I actually enjoy work travel.  For some reason I like being in airports, going to new places (or even places I've been before), being in a hotel for a night or two, going to new bars/restaurants, etc.

I do not like having a mask on for so long though.

 
nirad3 said:
I actually enjoy work travel.  For some reason I like being in airports, going to new places (or even places I've been before), being in a hotel for a night or two, going to new bars/restaurants, etc.

I do not like having a mask on for so long though.
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I used to enjoy it as well. I was getting tired of it prior to Covid and not having to do it over the last 18 months has really spoiled me.  

 
Traveling picked up a little...but now we are clamping down a bit.

Have done a handful of things in the past 2 months. Probably at like 25% of what I was, and maybe 5% for the whole company. No international allowed, limited domestic with a bunch of hoops to jump through.

Def miss parts of it. have also liked the break.

 
Started to pick up in May for a few months, including a summer sales event for my team in July, but it's gone the other way with Delta.  Slowed to a trickle again. 

 
I was going nuts over the 16 month travel hiatus. I didn't travel ALL of the time prior but it was a good balance, to great destinations. I realized that I was energized by the ability to travel and going for so long in between trips just drained me of all of the motivation. Returning to some sense of normalcy that included travelling again saved me. My company doesn't pay me to sit in front of a Zoom screen, they want me out developing relationships and creating business opportunities. Those are ALWAYS better face to face. 

I am starting to hear that the Hawaii and Europe trips may be altered due to stricter local regulations but we'll see. Delta is certainly impacting things just as the situation was starting to improve. I'm in the travel industry so it's in our best interest to be the leaders in the return to travel, just to show the clients that it can be done safely and guests can still enjoy their vacations. 

 
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I cancelled a Florida trip at the end of July due to Delta.  Would have been my first work trip since January 2020.

I may have to go to Minnesota in September, but we shall see. 

I just bought 500 KN95 masks . . . .

 
The conference in Maui was cancelled yesterday so that was kind of a bummer. It doesn't help when the governor basically tells tourists to stay away, but doesn't necessarily require  it. I'm sure there are a bunch of pissed off travelers that can't get refunds because the airlines/resorts won't allow for it unless it's an official government mandate. 

 
Senor Schmutzig said:
I could have sworn there was a thread around here regarding business/corporate travel but I have searched six ways til Sunday and couldn't find it so I decided to start another one. 

For those of you that are corporate travelers, how have things been since you started travelling again?

I'm on my 4th week in a row of travelling (be careful what you wish for, right?) since our corporate travel restrictions were lifted and while it's good to be back on the road, all of our clients/customers have pushed their conferences from 2020 and early 2021 to this fall so my travel schedule is going to brutal. Granted, I am going to some pretty kick ### places (COVID/Delta variant willing) over the next couple of months but it's not going to be easy. I just realized I have slept in my own bed only 3 nights since 7/31. 

Been to Carmel/Pebble Beach, Seattle, Las Vegas, Cancun and now Chicago since June. I have upcoming trips to Maui, Vienna, Budapest, 3x Orlando, Las Vegas and two Caribbean trips scheduled between now and the end of the year. All work related. I'm hoping to talk my wife into coming with me for at least half of the Europe trip. 
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Recently Utah, middle of nowhere Texas, Chicago trade show, Cleveland trade show, fortunately Vegas trade show in a few weeks... you guys hiring?  

I've been back to travelling for a while, seems like flights are pretty much back to full / oversold.  I miss when flights / airports were empty back in the winter.

 
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The Z Machine said:
Anyone traveling to the EU for work recently?  What's the restrictions and/or process?
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It really depends on the country. For instance, you can travel to Italy, but if you are coming through the UK, you have to quarantine for 5-days in Italy first before going on your way. Apparently the Brits are dirty.

It's pretty much a mess right now (and changing daily) so you have to do some due diligence during the planning stages to make sure you are managing your own expectations once you get to wherever you're heading. 

 
I used to do 3-4 intl. trips a year.  I was looking at 4Q to do one this year, and it's postponed because too many early people going intl. have hit huge snags.  Including someone that got diverted for an in plane fight, missing a connection and needing a triple connect over 36 hours  to make a 14 hr long one connect work.

Did I mention the return trip on that was 24 hrs later ish (once got there) and there was no fast test available so had to wait on a covid test to get back, missing that flight.  

So yeah, it's a absolute mess out there international.  Domestic is normal.

 
Whew, trip to Austin for training at the end of September has survived the chopping block - for now.  I'm hoping that Delta starts to chill a bit cuz I'm really looking forward to being back in that town for a few days.

 
The Z Machine said:
Location would be Germany.  Normally, I'd head to China / Taiwan / Thailand once a year, but the pressing one is Germany right now.
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Acquisition deal fell through... So no trip to Germany for me in the near future.  Shame, as I was gearing up to do a 2 year expat stint there if it went through.

 
Senor Schmutzig said:
The conference in Maui was cancelled yesterday so that was kind of a bummer. It doesn't help when the governor basically tells tourists to stay away, but doesn't necessarily require  it. I'm sure there are a bunch of pissed off travelers that can't get refunds because the airlines/resorts won't allow for it unless it's an official government mandate. 
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felt lucky I got my 9 day vacation to the Big Island done before more restrictions went down.

 
Driving to Nashville for a Tradeshow in October.
Flying to Daytona Beach for a Video shoot at a manufacturing facility in October. 

Nothing international for approaching 2 years now :sadbanana:  

 
Heading to Orlando (Universal) for a quick 3 night/2 day conference. Should be a rather uneventful trip. They closed down part of Universal tomorrow night (I think it’s Dingeon’s Alley or whatever that Harry Potter thing is called) and then going to BigFire (?) with some clients on Tuesday night before heading home on Wednesday.

Was at the JW Marriott in Marco Island for a few days last week for another conference. Things are picking up again. 

Looking forward to my Europe trip next month (Vienna and then a river cruise from Budapest) but I have another Orlando trip and a quick trip to Cleveland between now and then. Hoping to retain my Platinum with Marriott Bonvoy for 2022. Shouldn’t be a problem. Only need 1 more year after that of Platinum to be lifetime Platinum with them. Also trying to get back to Platinum Pro with American for 2022. Am going to have to do some calculations to see where things fall with the travel I currently have on the books. 

 
Still more or less zero international trips on the horizon for me and it's really unclear whether there is an end date, ever, at this point.  Interestingly there are murmurings we might "embed" people overseas on longer term assignments where that would have been full expat 2 years and instead would be more like 4-6 weeks.  I don't know if that is shorter expat or longer biz trips being the goal there.

Actually have people pretty pissed they more or less earned max status on certain providers only never to use them.  I mean I get that I suppose.

 
Slowed to a trickle. Upcoming conference in San Diego but that’s it. Our customer conference has gone virtual again

 
Just bought a non-redeye nonstop roundtrip from PHL to LAX on AA for $123.   :o

Planes are full again, not sure what's going on with fares.

 
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What’s the reasons for you/your companies to cut back on travel?

is it health/safety related? Is it the bean-counters newfound money that they didn’t have to spend in T&E the last two years impacting that choice? A decision by corporate that face-to-face is not ad important as it was in the past (it still is)? A combination of the above?

My company made a choice to be 100% vaxxed early on so that hasn’t been an issue but we do have a relatively strict policy for attendance at conferences/events/shows where the organizer doesn’t have a comprehensive plan in place for Health & Safety. If an event isn’t 100% vaccinated, they need to have strong testing/mask/social distance policies in place for us to consider attending. If their policies are lax, we don’t go. 

 
At my company it's all about the $$$.  They're saving money on the travel budget.  They'll approve client facing travel no questions asked, however going to a conference/show you need to go through multiple layers of approval.

I think there also might be a safety component.  I know my boss continues to make work related traveling 100% optional for now, but I don't know of a company wide policy.

 
63 nights this year so far.  Only about 12 flying trips.  Mainly Texas... Phoenix twice.

Driving as much as possible as I don't enjoy the whole mask farce at the airport/on plane.  Not all of Texas is driveable though... so El Paso and Lubbock/Amarillo trips are flights.

 
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matuski said:
63 nights this year so far.  Only about 12 flying trips.  Mainly Texas... Phoenix twice.

Driving as much as possible as I don't enjoy the whole mask farce at the airport/on plane.  Not all of Texas is driveable though... so El Paso and Lubbock/Amarillo trips are flights.
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Currently sitting in the Austin airport waiting for my jump up to DFW then back home to SoCal.  Purposely bought a bottle of water and a candy bar so I can at least have the mask off for a bit while I'm waiting to get on the plane.

Was in training here in Austin since Saturday.  Had an awesome time with old friends and made some good new co-worker friends too.  Hope I can make it back out here soon.  I miss this place terribly.

 
nirad3 said:
Currently sitting in the Austin airport waiting for my jump up to DFW then back home to SoCal.  Purposely bought a bottle of water and a candy bar so I can at least have the mask off for a bit while I'm waiting to get on the plane.

Was in training here in Austin since Saturday.  Had an awesome time with old friends and made some good new co-worker friends too.  Hope I can make it back out here soon.  I miss this place terribly.
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Good lord.  Mere minutes after this post, things went sideways.  Got an alert on my phone that my AUS>DFW flight was going to be so delayed that I was going to miss my DFW>SNA flight.  For those of you that have never flown into SNA (Orange County, CA), there is a curfew on flights.  So no flights past 11pm.  My options were to fly to LAX or wait until 5am the next morning.  The latter simply wasn't gonna happen, as I was turning around and heading up to Santa Barbara for a college reunion on Thursday.  So LAX it was.  I am able to expense the Lyft from LAX to my house, thankfully.  Ended up getting home about the same time as I would have if I'd flown through DFW  :lol:  

Then woke up Thursday... did laundry... and drove to Santa Barbara for 4 days as part of a college reunion with all my buddies.  

It's been a LONG 8 days, that's for sure.

Off to Omaha / SW Iowa in a couple weeks.  

 
110k domestic miles on American and 98 nights at Marriott so far this year (probably 80 actual nights - I get some “free” ones). So no slowing down here…

 
Wife on first biz trip since CV has plane pull back to airport when a guy coughed so much they needed the onboard O2 to keep him conscious.  Welcome back. 

 
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kutta said:
110k domestic miles on American and 98 nights at Marriott so far this year (probably 80 actual nights - I get some “free” ones). So no slowing down here…
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I am at 87 Hyatt and 88 Marriott (probably means like 60 each of actual stays) and only 92k miles. 

Was really hoping this might be the year that I manage to sneak into Concierge Key since I have been flying since January but I feel like I will not be so lucky. 

 
Instinctive said:
I am at 87 Hyatt and 88 Marriott (probably means like 60 each of actual stays) and only 92k miles. 

Was really hoping this might be the year that I manage to sneak into Concierge Key since I have been flying since January but I feel like I will not be so lucky. 
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I think that pretty much requires a good deal of international travel. Hard to get there with just domestic. The guy I know who has it flies over 200k miles per year.

 
kutta said:
I think that pretty much requires a good deal of international travel. Hard to get there with just domestic. The guy I know who has it flies over 200k miles per year.
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Spend gets you there too. I was hoping in a down year you wouldn't need the ~$50k to be considered. A lot of our Asc partners and Partners have it from taking 3-4 flights a week pre-COVID. 

 
Flew to LA for a work trip today. Last trip of the year most likely. Travel probably 10% of what it was. We’ll see if this is a permanent change to the dynamic.

Closing on 2 years so kind of hard to see things completely returning to the before times. 

 
What’s mask compliance on the Acela like these days? Pretty strict or pretty loose?

I was invited to a meeting in NYC (live in DC), and trying to figure out my comfort level on heading up for it, or just joining remote (which I’ve been doing for the past 18 months).

A bit concerned about Delta because I have a 5 year old not yet eligible to be vaccinated, and have been pretty cautious. (I’m not sure if I’m more concerned about his health, or that he would be forced to quarantine at home for two weeks if I came back with something.)

 
First leg of 12-day Europe trip. Heading to Vienna via LHR until Sunday. Then take the train to Budapest to get on a river cruise along the lower Danube.

Booked in Business Class to London so I was able to use the American Airlines Flagship Lounge versus the normal Admirals Club. Just like the Admirals club is like night and day when compared to having to slum it in the regular terminal with the common folk, the Flagship Lounge is THAT much better than the Admirals Club. Access to better food and an open bar, not to mention the larger space for what amounts to a smaller segment of people (at least during this time of the night).

 
Senor Schmutzig said:
First leg of 12-day Europe trip. Heading to Vienna via LHR until Sunday. Then take the train to Budapest to get on a river cruise along the lower Danube.

Booked in Business Class to London so I was able to use the American Airlines Flagship Lounge versus the normal Admirals Club. Just like the Admirals club is like night and day when compared to having to slum it in the regular terminal with the common folk, the Flagship Lounge is THAT much better than the Admirals Club. Access to better food and an open bar, not to mention the larger space for what amounts to a smaller segment of people (at least during this time of the night).
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Man I wish I would work in some international travel but that'll never happen.

I get trips like... Omaha.  Spent one night there last week and had to drive into Iowa to visit a property.  I'll be going back in January, when there'll likely be a bunch of white stuff on the ground.

Will also be headed up to beautiful Sacramento for a couple of days next month.  

 
Senor Schmutzig said:
First leg of 12-day Europe trip. Heading to Vienna via LHR until Sunday. Then take the train to Budapest to get on a river cruise along the lower Danube.

Booked in Business Class to London so I was able to use the American Airlines Flagship Lounge versus the normal Admirals Club. Just like the Admirals club is like night and day when compared to having to slum it in the regular terminal with the common folk, the Flagship Lounge is THAT much better than the Admirals Club. Access to better food and an open bar, not to mention the larger space for what amounts to a smaller segment of people (at least during this time of the night).
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Interesting that Austria (and specifically Vienna) requires FFP2 masks or better (KN95, N95) only. No bandannas, cloth masks, etc. I also find it interesting that they allow for proof of past infection along with negative tests and vaccinations. I am not aware of any place in the U.S. that considers proof of past infection as being "safe".

Pretty strict rules here:

For almost all public indoor and some outdoor spaces (hotels, restaurants, events etc.), you will need to show either a negative COVID test or proof of vaccination/past infection.

FFP2 masks are required for everyone on public transport, in cable cars, and essential businesses such as supermarkets, chemists, petrol stations, banks. FFP2 masks required in all shops and museums for those that are not vaccinated or have recovered from COVID.

Restaurants are open nationwide. The following measures are in place:

To visit a restaurant, you are required to show a negative COVID test or proof of vaccination/past infection (so-called "entry tests").

Employees in restaurants have to either show a negative COVID test or proof of vaccination/past infection or wear a face mask.

For night clubs and bars, additional stricter rules apply:

A negative PCR test or a vaccine certificate is required (proof of past infection is not sufficient).

Vaccinated guests have to be fully vaccinated to enter night clubs, bars and discos i.e. you will need to show either a negative test or proof of full immunisation. This means that you are only considered vaccinated if you had both doses of the vaccine OR for vaccines that only require one dose, starting on the 22nd day after vaccination.

 
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Senor Schmutzig said:
Heading to Orlando (Universal) for a quick 3 night/2 day conference. Should be a rather uneventful trip. They closed down part of Universal tomorrow night (I think it’s Dingeon’s Alley or whatever that Harry Potter thing is called) and then going to BigFire (?) with some clients on Tuesday night before heading home on Wednesday.

Was at the JW Marriott in Marco Island for a few days last week for another conference. Things are picking up again. 

Looking forward to my Europe trip next month (Vienna and then a river cruise from Budapest) but I have another Orlando trip and a quick trip to Cleveland between now and then. Hoping to retain my Platinum with Marriott Bonvoy for 2022. Shouldn’t be a problem. Only need 1 more year after that of Platinum to be lifetime Platinum with them. Also trying to get back to Platinum Pro with American for 2022. Am going to have to do some calculations to see where things fall with the travel I currently have on the books. 
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How did you like the JW Marriott on Marco Island? My wife and I are close to booking a trip there.

 
kutta said:
110k domestic miles on American and 98 nights at Marriott so far this year (probably 80 actual nights - I get some “free” ones). So no slowing down here…
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Wow.  I think I'm barely going to qualify for AA Gold this year.  Did re-qualify for Marriott Titanium though.

 
SayChowda said:
How did you like the JW Marriott on Marco Island? My wife and I are close to booking a trip there.
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It was nice. They have a newer adults only tower that looks considerably more modern and contemporary but I was happy with the room that we stayed in. In the new tower, they have a very underutilized "Dave and Buster's" style bar/games area that has a ton of craft beer. The food was pretty good there also. 

 
Senor Schmutzig said:
It was nice. They have a newer adults only tower that looks considerably more modern and contemporary but I was happy with the room that we stayed in. In the new tower, they have a very underutilized "Dave and Buster's" style bar/games area that has a ton of craft beer. The food was pretty good there also. 
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Awesome, thanks. We just ended up booking 4 nights there in 2022.

 
Got back from a quick overnighter in KC last night.  I've been keeping a brief "travel journal".  It's neat to go back and read about how each of my trips fared a few months after the fact, since I try to visit a local hole-in-the-wall to eat and have a couple of beers while I'm wherever I'm at.  Next up is likely Sacramento, or back to Omaha/SW Iowa.  I'll likely take two more trips to Omaha/SW Iowa.  Next year should continue to be busy.  Houston-area trip likely.  I do love me some work travel.  Keeps things fresh.  Only thing I despise is wearing a damn mask in the airport and on planes.  Oh and expense reports.  Those suck.

 
nirad3 said:
Got back from a quick overnighter in KC last night.  I've been keeping a brief "travel journal".  It's neat to go back and read about how each of my trips fared a few months after the fact, since I try to visit a local hole-in-the-wall to eat and have a couple of beers while I'm wherever I'm at.  Next up is likely Sacramento, or back to Omaha/SW Iowa.  I'll likely take two more trips to Omaha/SW Iowa.  Next year should continue to be busy.  Houston-area trip likely.  I do love me some work travel.  Keeps things fresh.  Only thing I despise is wearing a damn mask in the airport and on planes.  Oh and expense reports.  Those suck.
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1. I wish there was some semblance of timeline or something for air travel without a damn mask. A good government would just require vaccination to enter the airport.

2. Get an EA and expenses are suddenly way less terrible  :lol:

 
Alright, 12 days in Europe is complete. Was there for two different conferences and saw Austria, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. 

I got back on Sunday and was back in the air to Las Vegas on Tuesday for another conference. Took the red-eye back home last night and am leaving on a ship on Saturday for conference #4 in the past 3 weeks. I'm pretty whipped already but am hopping off the ship in Belize on Tuesday versus having to stay on for the whole week. 

I have a conference in Orlando the week after Thanksgiving and then our company sales meeting the first week of December. After that, I'm done for the year. LOL.  

 
Instinctive said:
1. I wish there was some semblance of timeline or something for air travel without a damn mask. A good government would just require vaccination to enter the airport.

2. Get an EA and expenses are suddenly way less terrible  :lol:
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Yes, having to wear the mask constantly while travelling pretty much sucked. The only relief I got on the recent air flights was flying in business class overnight in the lie-flat seats. I could put the blanket over my head while I was sleeping and took the mask off. And since I was flying in first class domestically, I could pretty much guarantee a drink or snack in front of me most of the flight. Plus the flight attendants appeared to be a little less restrictive with those sitting in the front cabin. #FBG4LIFE

 
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