Business Travel tips

Pick an airline and hotel company that offers the most flights to your work destinations and lodging options. Stick with those chains to maximize rewards. Nowadays points can be used across many chains.

Get a travel card to, again, maximize rewards.

Invest in a nice set of wireless headphones.

Which airport will you be using as your hub?

1. Travel Away
2. Lyft if you’re a Delta flyer, they partner together so you earn miles when you use Lyft.
3. I prefer Hilton, but I know a lot of people like Marriott.

Addition: if you don’t have TSA-Pre already, get it. Also, pick one airline and use them exclusively to get status.

Briggs & Riley carryon wardrobe bag
B&R U174 Link

Ditto on getting one go-to Airline & Rental Car Company.

I always dress in a sport coat when I fly, I find it has paid dividends when I have to go to Plan B or C when dealing with airlines or with business meetings once I get where I’m going.

1 Red Oxx - Air Boss

2 Enterprise/National

3 Hilton

Once you know what airline you'll be on, get a Business/VIP lounge membership for that airline. Waiting 3 hours for a flight while relaxing in a huge lounge chair with a coffee and food is nice.

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Starting a new position in January 2019 that will require travel in the United States a couple times a month no more than a couple of days.. The travel by air will be new to me so I would appreciate some helpful tips. Here you go:

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I do mostly int'l travel, but can comment:

1. The best carry on luggage - The largest suitcase that will reliably fit. You're going to wear out whatever it is, so if you can find a model that holds the wheels with screws (not rivets) that's what you want.
2. Getting in, out and around Airports - Uber/lyft for the US. Taxis are shite outside NYC.
3. Hotel chains to use - Get a hotel member number for one of the common chains. Hotel rewards programs are total shite, but at least you get something.

Main advice:
DO:
Get member numbers for everything: Airline, rental car, hotel.
If your boss doesn't give a shite, any time you rent a car get the FULL INSURANCE. If your company is paying for it then why not.
Take the window seat. Research shows you're a lot less likely to catch flu/cold on a plane if you're at the window.
Stay in hotels that have an attached restaurant preferably with a bar. It's fricking convenient.

DONT:
Check electronics.
get adventurous in new places.

1. The best carry on luggage
This one is a personal prefrence. Carry on bags are slightly different than checked bags because you won't be beating them up, but I think of luggage as "expendable" as in, if I get two years out of them, I did well. I like this one because it has spinning wheels, they are built well, and extremely lightweight. Always go with the international carry on size, because regional jets tend to have smaller overhead bins and you'll end up gate checking.
LINK
2. Getting in, out and around Airports

This one depends. If I know I will not be doing any site seeing, or if I will be staying in one location (let's say a hotel confrence room) I will just Uber. I have never used Lyft but I assume they are just as good. I have used Uber at many airports around the world, and have NEVER had an issue. Plus, they are local and give great advice. Most airports have designated Uber/Lyft pickup points to make the whole process easier and you can reserve times in some cities now.

If you go the rental car route, pick ONE and only use them. My company as a discount with Hertz so I have stuck with them for a few years. Most major airports let you pick your car upon arrival, which is a nice feature. You can always request a car, and they do pretty well at accommodating. I have called them a day ahead of time and made some pretty interesting requests (Our CEO came in and we wanted a new, black, clean Chevy Suburban and I got one the next day with less than 100 miles). Our account with Hertz gives us insurance, but if yours does not, GET IT. It is not a sucker bet. I got rear ended pretty good once and they brought me a new car, and that was the end of it. They handle everything. They also come with toll tags in all cars now, so that is nice.
3. Hotel chains to use

This is largely a personal preference. How much is your company willing to pay? Are you on per diem or expenses?

If the company pays for it, and you are in big cities, pick one of the bigger guys: Hilton, Shearton, etc. I personally use Hilton, and again, they are very good to their loyal customers. You can get silver with only 10 nights I think. Most bigger brands like Hilton also have smaller chains in network like Doubletree and Hampton and Garden Inn. Pick one, and stick with it, no matter what.

4. Airlines
Again, personal preference. I am based out of MSY so I could chose between: AA, Delta, United, Southwest, and Spirit. I will give you my experience.

Southwest They have no true perks for frequent flyers unless you do something like 120 segments a year, but the staff and schedules are nice. You can change your flights for free however you can't pre-pick a seat.
Hubs: They have "focus" cities such as MCO, HOU, and DAl
American I fly American now, and I am Platinum Pro. They have been very good to me, offer upgrades to frequent flyers, but the system is "interesting" For flights under 500 miles, it is compliemntary, but you are competing against everyone else who has status. For flights over you have to use "500 mile upgrades" so for a flight of 999 miles you would use two, but a flight of 1001 you would use three. You can buy them for $40 a piece or earn 4 with every ten thousand miles of flying. You only earn access to the admiral's lounge if you become ConceiargeKey but it is invite only.
Hubs: DFW, CLT, MIA, ORD, and LAX

United I have not flown them in 15 years, I could not tell you much other than they are a standard big boy airline.
Hubs: DEN, IAH, SFO, and EWR

Delta I was Platinum with Delta, and I only switched to American because I moved to New Orleans from Georgia where ATL is located. Delta is great, my FIL is Diamond which gets him Porsche airport transfers and SkyClub access.
Hubs: ATL, DTW, JFK, LAX

*Whether you chose Southwest or American/Delta/United, it is all the same. As a frequent traveler, they will help you every time as long as your are polite. If your flight is delayed/canceled or something like that, just know it is NORMAL. Regular folks fly once every two years or so, so their opinion is pretty mute. I hear all the time "oh delta did this or AA did this..." Airlines make 80% of their revenue from people who fly their airline more than once per year. Think about that.

Lots of good advice in here. Once you get into a pattern, certainly get premium credit cards to maximize the benefits of spend. Amex Plat is a no brainer for anyone who flys Delta and takes uber one a month.

My friend travels a crazy amount for work (up to 5 flights per week) and predominantly on Southwest. He said he flys them because the points are the easiest converted into cash (cash equivalents, really). I think last year he cashed out points for several thousand worth of Amazon gift cards. He doesn’t value the domestic first class and always is A1 on SW so he minimizes time on a plane. Just something else to consider.

The only thing that I haven’t seen in other replies:
An Apple Watch is a must! Automatically changes to the correct time zone.
The only thing I have in my pocket is my drivers license. My boarding pass is on my watch. Makes life very easy!

Two sets of toliteries

Travel is bag read to go all times