Business Travel Climate is Changing
Businessmen who used to focus on flying using cheap airplane tickets and staying in discount hotel rooms or purchasing discount travel packages are seeing many changes these days; everything from first class seats being added to domestic regional jets to overseas cell phone service and electronic boarding passes.
Premium seats on regional jets are becoming more widespread and are highly valued. Such seating offers additional leg room, more reasonable space to work, and the ability to exit faster once a plane lands, which is key for those traveling on tight schedules.
Recently US Airways announced that it would start offering first class seats on 110 of its regional jets in September, following similar announcements by American, Delta, and United.
International business travelers could be negatively impacted by AT&Ts proposed takeover of T-Mobile which has spurred competitive concerns. Currently AT&T customers find it easier to connect overseas than Verizon and Sprint customers. If the merger is approved, experts are concerned that the cost of international connection may rise.
The problem faced by Sprint and Verizon customers who travel abroad is that the technology these companies currently employ is not in wide use in others areas of the world.
Many developments in technology are helping, allowing travelers to check a flights status, rebook if needed, and take care of problems while traveling. Mobile travel apps have made the lives of informed business travelers much easier.
Airlines have seen increased use by passengers of electronic boarding passes, whereby airlines are able to read bar codes that have been sent over the Internet to a variety of passenger hand held electric devices, including smartphones, iPads, and iPods.
There is a definite downside to some of the evolving new technology. Employees sharing their company or travel plans on social networking sites may be damaging their personal security as well as jeopardizing companies proprietary information. Lost electronic devices are one the biggest potential threat for security breaches.
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