I have brought loved ones on business trips several times, as have almost all other business travelers I know. As long as they pay their own way, I’ve never thought there was anything wrong with bringing someone along. After all, it’s not costing your company anything extra for someone to share your hotel room or rental car! But a recent discussion on a message board made me realize that not everyone agrees with me.

According to some opinions, if a company sends you somewhere and you don’t spend all of your time working, you are stealing from the company. Another comment was that it may not be unethical, but if having family on a trip distracts you from doing your job then it’s wrong. While I still don’t think bringing family or another loved one on a business trip is unethical, I do see the point that if it’s going to take your energy from the task at hand it’s not a great idea.

So, Readers, what do you think?

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With all the talk about American and US Airlines merging, I started thinking about airlines and frequent fliers. Loyal frequent fliers can be an airline’s best asset, and there are so many ways to treat them well. I’m just curious—if you had to pick the top three things, which are the most important?  Is it boarding first, loyalty programs, comfy seats, lounges, fly-by lanes, or something else?

In my opinion, the loyalty program, availability of upgrades, and comfortable seats are the things I value in an airline. The loyalty program is a no brainer. Upgrades are great—I’d rather sit in first class than just about anything else. But of course I won’t get upgraded every time, so it’s important to have comfortable seats in coach too. In fact, I think I would rank comfortable seats as second most important after the loyalty program.

Readers, what do you think?

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Let’s play another game of “Was this rude?”! The last time I asked this question we had a great discussion. This morning while flying to Dallas I saw something that seemed questionable to me etiquette-wise. This situation is (IMO) definitely not as controversial as last time, but I still thought I would put it out to the community.

This morning I flew on American to Dallas. I boarded with the Elites, and got comfortable in my window seat. A guy sat in the aisle seat, but didn’t put on his seatbelt or get stuff out—I assume he was waiting to see if someone needed the middle seat. As time passed, the plane (and overhead bins) got more and more full. Eventually I heard a women say, “Mind if I slip in front of you?” and moved (without waiting for an answer) into the space between the guy and the seat in front of him. He assumed (as did I) that the woman needed to get into the middle seat, and moved to stand up and get out of her way. “Oh, don’t get up,” she said. “I’m just waiting to get to my seat up there. I had to put my bag way in the back!” So, the guy just kind of sat there awkwardly while the woman stood very very close to him and waited to get to the front of the plane.

I’m of two minds about this. On the one hand, I’ve seen flight attendants do it often and it doesn’t seem rude then. Plus, well, if you have to get to the front of the plane how else can you do it? But it just seems like it would be super uncomfortable for both parties. Of course, the woman didn’t seem uncomfortable at all, like she did this all the time.

Readers, what do you think? Is it rude to stand in the row in front of someone? What could she have done instead? What would you have done?

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Inspired by the poll a few weeks ago about what makes a road warrior, I am very curious about how much you guys travel for work. The general consensus seemed to be that a road warrior is someone who takes 1-4 business trips per month. I think that’s accurate, especially when you’re going by averages. There have been times when I didn’t travel for an entire quarter, and then traveled every week for months after. On average, though, I travel about twice per month. The past three weeks I traveled each week, and now I am home until January. Hooray!

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Recently, a friend said that a road warrior is anyone who travels for business on a regular basis, even if that’s only once a quarter. It got me thinking—is there a threshold? How often do you have to travel to be considered a road warrior? There are people who travel Sunday-Thursday, every week, and people who travel three or four times a year. And of course, people in the middle who travel a couple of times a month. So Readers, what do you think?

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One year ago….

• TSA crossed the line….again.
• I fell in love with navy and discovered the awesoness of gel soles.
• On my journey to more miles, one strategy worked (a miles credit card) and one backfired (trying for a travel voucher).
• Movie streaming apps on my phone changed my life. No joke.
• The Top Five Travel Necessities: Things I Wear is still very true, and something I consult for packing all the time.

Two years ago…..

• I answered readers’ question about traveling to rainy destinations and plus-size travel outfits.
• The TSA announced some updates to its liquids carry-on rules.
• I got super excited about flats, boots, and travel wallets.
• Andi Fisher from Misadventures with Andi wrote a great post about healthy eating on the road.
• Readers voted, and decided the correct term is “rollaboard” instead of “rollerboard”.

Three years ago…..

• The Home Warrior and I had a fantastic trip to Napa.
• I wrote about the importance of sleep on the road.

When I’m on vacation, tipping housekeeping is a no brainer.  In fact, any time I stay in a hotel for longer than a few nights it’s just included in the budget. But for business trips I’m usually in the same place for a night or two, and in the hotel hardly at all. It’s not that I don’t want to tip housekeeping; it often just slips through the cracks as I’m dealing with work craziness. I tip room service, valet, and bellhops—why do I forget housekeeping? According to CNN’s tipping guidelines, $2-5 per night is appropriate. Maybe I just need to remember to bring more cash….

So I’m interested in what everyone else does. Do you tip housekeeping if you’re somewhere just one night? How much?

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Texas has finally cooled down a bit. This week we have sunny skies and temps in the mid-eighties. Woohoo, fall is here! It makes me dream about driving around the hill country, enjoying the scenery and lovely weather. This, in turn, has got me thinking about cars in general. I love, love, love my Prius. But I also love being able to try out different cars when I’m traveling. Of course I usually have to take whatever my company allows—I’ve spent a lot of time in Ford Focuses (Foci?) and the like. But I’ve also been lucky enough to get randomly upgraded on a pretty regular basis. Most memorably I’ve driven a Dodge Charger (that baby has some power!), a Mustang (bright yellow, not subtle), and a convertible Beetle (because in beautiful California, why not?).  If I had to choose a favorite, I’d choose the Charger, as it was super fun to drive.

So, because I’m curious, and in honor of our current contest, I want to know what type of rental car you would choose if it were up to you (and not company policy). If you want to leave the specific model in the comments that would be great!

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A few months ago I was lucky enough to have all my flight segments for a multi-city trip upgraded to first class. Woo-hoo! The best part, of course, is the extra space. Being pregnant, I couldn’t enjoy the booze (lame) and I’m always hungry, so the second best part was the food. Since I traveled at all different times of the day, I got to try out breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was my first time to have all three meals in a short time span, and allowed me to compare them more equally. The verdict? Dinner is definitely my favorite. It’s hard to mess up pasta, so that’s what I usually order. Add a buttered roll, a perfectly fine salad, and tasty dessert—what’s not to like? Breakfast is my second favorite. I really like cereal with fresh fruit! Lunch was the worst. In fact, I don’t know if I’ve ever had a plane lunch (domestic) that I’ve liked.  The only redeeming part was the pita chips. All of these meals were on American—I haven’t flown first class on other airlines in a looong time so I don’t remember their food.  But I am definitely curious to what others think, so take the poll!

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When e-readers first came out, I’ll admit it. I was skeptical, because I love the experience of reading. Holding a book, turning the page, perusing my personal library for which of my favorites I am ready to re-read. Walking into a bookstore is practically a religious experience for me—the smell, the stories, the possibilities. I just knew there was no way some electronic device could possibly duplicate my sacred reading experience.

But while one of the things I love about a book is its heft, that very thing makes traveling with lots of books quite difficult. I am a pretty fast reader, so for a week-long trip I would often need three or four just to get me through the flight time. What finally made me willing to try an e-reader was needing to make a trip to Manila, with transit time of 25 hours one way.  I just couldn’t figure out a way to make the logistics work. How could I possibly carry enough books to entertain me during fifty hours of travel time?? So I sucked it up and bought a Kindle.

I was hooked. That first trip with my Kindle, I was amazed at how light my purse was. No longer full of stacks and stacks of books, it was incredibly easy to lift and carry. Hooray! I’ve been a convert and evangelist ever since.

Since I was a fairly early adopter (not super early, but early enough I guess), people would stop me often, in airports, airplanes, restaurants, wherever, to ask me how I like it. The honest answer is that I love it. Instead of replacing my beloved books, it is an addition to my library. I will still buy books on occasion, but I’m more discerning about which ones. I buy random paperbacks or things I want to read over and over on the Kindle, and special things in book-form. It makes travel so, so much easier. No longer do I have to plan out how many books to bring—I just grab my Kindle and I have hundreds at my finger tips. So easy!

Now I’ve had my Kindle for a few years. It is old-school—it’s not in color, and it looks like an actual book when I read it. It’s not back-lit, which means I need a light to read it, but it doesn’t hurt my eyes like a computer screen. So even though I’m mostly pretty happy with it, all these new e-readers are intriguing! Nook, Kindle Fire, pretty color displays…..

So I wanted to ask you guys—which one do you like best and why? Do you think it’s time to get a color e-reader so I can read magazines or go online? Or do you still prefer paper books and magazines?