I hate business travelers.
#211
Join Date: Apr 2016
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We mostly agree. I don't mind any of the same things but generally don't pay much attention to either leisure or business travellers in general.
But when the burning resentment of some career-stalled cubicle dweller gets the better of him and he starts ranting about how much he hates people who travel for business I'm more than happy to enjoy the moment. Cooped up in his tiny work space should he hear the sound of a distant jet engine it means someone like me is comfortably seated in J on their way to conduct business that is well out of his league.
But when the burning resentment of some career-stalled cubicle dweller gets the better of him and he starts ranting about how much he hates people who travel for business I'm more than happy to enjoy the moment. Cooped up in his tiny work space should he hear the sound of a distant jet engine it means someone like me is comfortably seated in J on their way to conduct business that is well out of his league.
I have the best job on the planet, but it does not involve any travel. It does, however, give me lots of time off for personal travel. So, being the spoiled diva that I have become thanks to FT, spend my extra cash on J class travel and see the world while I am still upright. I certainly don't hate business travelers, and having remembered when I did that for a living, I often let them get ahead of me in boarding or whatever.
Strolling in to J class with a buzz from the lounge after all the important business folks have boarded is the true definition of leisure class in my opinion.
Of course, I never let on that I spent the previous week directing traffic in the parent drop off lane in a parking lot, or did crowd control of 2200 teenagers in a sweaty hallway, but whatever. That guy or gal sitting in the pod next to you might be some low paid civil servant like me.
Hate is a negative emotion, but I do sometimes admit to sometimes feeling sorry for the harried business traveler rushing to and fro.
#212
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I have the best job on the planet, but it does not involve any travel. It does, however, give me lots of time off for personal travel. So, being the spoiled diva that I have become thanks to FT, spend my extra cash on J class travel and see the world while I am still upright. I certainly don't hate business travelers, and having remembered when I did that for a living, I often let them get ahead of me in boarding or whatever.
Strolling in to J class with a buzz from the lounge after all the important business folks have boarded is the true definition of leisure class in my opinion.
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Strolling in to J class with a buzz from the lounge after all the important business folks have boarded is the true definition of leisure class in my opinion.
.
I dont understand the cubicle-dwelling comments either. Like, there are plenty of jobs that dont require working for the boss-man, pay much better than flying jobs, and have lots of time off to actually enjoy one's travels.
I too enjoy being the one in the lounge in shorts, strolling in after the uber-importants with their endless carryons, and then having a cocktail on my flight while the suit next to me is working hard on their 400th power point of the year, while me and the mrs are heading out on our holiday. Multiple times a year.
#213
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best post of the thread.
I dont understand the cubicle-dwelling comments either. Like, there are plenty of jobs that dont require working for the boss-man, pay much better than flying jobs, and have lots of time off to actually enjoy one's travels.
I too enjoy being the one in the lounge in shorts, strolling in after the uber-importants with their endless carryons, and then having a cocktail on my flight while the suit next to me is working hard on their 400th power point of the year, while me and the mrs are heading out on our holiday. Multiple times a year.
I dont understand the cubicle-dwelling comments either. Like, there are plenty of jobs that dont require working for the boss-man, pay much better than flying jobs, and have lots of time off to actually enjoy one's travels.
I too enjoy being the one in the lounge in shorts, strolling in after the uber-importants with their endless carryons, and then having a cocktail on my flight while the suit next to me is working hard on their 400th power point of the year, while me and the mrs are heading out on our holiday. Multiple times a year.
#214
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,303
So if I only travel to New York, only use taxis, only go through one traffic light on the way from the airport to my destination and don't take stuff I might want or need when I get there I'll follow your example. I think it might be a while before that happens.
#215
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And you can't really mitigate the time spent on checking and retrieving a bag. I guess you can gamble that the wait to check it will be 0, which works great until the time you're wrong and you miss your flight - or simply miss the baggage cutoff time and have hassles getting your bag on the other end. I guess you can try to time summoning the Uber to arrive at exactly the same time as your bag... There's not much risk to you (five bucks at most), but it's kind of a d---- move to make a driver wait on me.
The pleasurable thing is just traveling light and avoiding all of the hassles of checking and retrieving bags whenever that's a reasonable possibility. That's true on both business and leisure trips.
#216
Join Date: Apr 2009
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I landed yesterday at CDG - about 25 minutes behind schedule. Then there was some kind of security incident where the police wouldn't let us up from the gate area to the airport exit for about another half hour. I had a business call that I had scheduled for that time and instead of taking from the back of a taxi as I had planned (no checked luggage!), I ended up taking it while standing at the bottom of the cordoned-off escalator with about 150 people waiting for the police to allow us out. At a certain point, an overweight, poorly dressed gray haired American woman comes up to me and says "excuse me, are you from the States?" I said, "I'm on the phone". She said "I know you're on the phone, are you from the States?" - puzzled, I said, "yes, why" - she said "you shouldn't be such an 'ugly American' and talk on the phone here!". I was quite taken aback, but needless to say I told her she should mind her own business.
OP - was that you?
OP - was that you?
#217
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Please send advice directly to mrs.rankourabu.
#218
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,303
I never said checking a bag was pleasurable, I said it makes the travel experience more pleasurable. Not carrying x kgs around the airport, to the bar/restaurant, to the toilet etc. Not wondering if there will be overhead bin space when you board. Not worrying whether it'll be safe by your seat in the lounge when you go for a smoke or to the loo. These are all pluses whiich to me outweigh a few minutes in a check in queue.
As above, you'll just end up waiting on the bus/taxi/train/traffic light etc etc and we'll end up almost equal but I'm already ahead in the pleasurable travel stakes by having checked my baag originally.
Get there early. You can drink/relax/work/chat in the airport so you don't need that time to drink/relax/work/chat before you go there.
I'd rather take stuff I might need/want and not use it than not have stuff and find myself wishing I'd brought it. When the airline is taking care of it for me that's even better.
And you can't really mitigate the time spent on checking and retrieving a bag. I guess you can gamble that the wait to check it will be 0, which works great until the time you're wrong and you miss your flight - or simply miss the baggage cutoff time and have hassles getting your bag on the other end.
I'd rather take stuff I might need/want and not use it than not have stuff and find myself wishing I'd brought it. When the airline is taking care of it for me that's even better.
Last edited by ft101; May 25, 2018 at 3:50 am
#219
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: DFW
Posts: 8,036
I landed yesterday at CDG - about 25 minutes behind schedule. Then there was some kind of security incident where the police wouldn't let us up from the gate area to the airport exit for about another half hour. I had a business call that I had scheduled for that time and instead of taking from the back of a taxi as I had planned (no checked luggage!), I ended up taking it while standing at the bottom of the cordoned-off escalator with about 150 people waiting for the police to allow us out. At a certain point, an overweight, poorly dressed gray haired American woman comes up to me and says "excuse me, are you from the States?" I said, "I'm on the phone". She said "I know you're on the phone, are you from the States?" - puzzled, I said, "yes, why" - she said "you shouldn't be such an 'ugly American' and talk on the phone here!". I was quite taken aback, but needless to say I told her she should mind her own business.
OP - was that you?
OP - was that you?
#220
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Get there early. You can drink/relax/work/chat in the airport so you don't need that time to drink/relax/work/chat before you go there.
#221
Join Date: Sep 2005
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Posts: 1,358
I don't get the discussion that checking a bag is or is not superior to carry on only. Obviously each has advantages and disadvantages. On longer trips I like bringing larger liquids and gels, as well as just more clothes and other stuff, in general. It can be advantageous not to lug around a bag. On the other hand, I often like having the bag as on longer connections, I do a hike in the terminals, sometimes even several miles pulling the bag behind me, to get some exercise. On average, it seems to me, albeit a small sample size, that checked bags come out faster in a number of foreign countries vs. the US. Waiting 20 minutes is commonplace at US airports and I've even waited an hour for my checked bag. From DCA, I could be in a taxi and arrived home in 20 minutes.
#222
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I suspect this isn't usual, but my bag was literally the first one out at IAH today (international arrival) despite not flying in F. I also only waited a couple of minutes after going through Global Entry.
Otherwise I normally travel for short enough periods that I can (and do prefer) not checking anything. This might change if bag fees are reduced or eliminated--at least for the first bag anyway.
Otherwise I normally travel for short enough periods that I can (and do prefer) not checking anything. This might change if bag fees are reduced or eliminated--at least for the first bag anyway.
#223
Join Date: Jul 2008
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I don't get the discussion that checking a bag is or is not superior to carry on only. Obviously each has advantages and disadvantages. On longer trips I like bringing larger liquids and gels, as well as just more clothes and other stuff, in general. It can be advantageous not to lug around a bag. On the other hand, I often like having the bag as on longer connections, I do a hike in the terminals, sometimes even several miles pulling the bag behind me, to get some exercise. On average, it seems to me, albeit a small sample size, that checked bags come out faster in a number of foreign countries vs. the US. Waiting 20 minutes is commonplace at US airports and I've even waited an hour for my checked bag. From DCA, I could be in a taxi and arrived home in 20 minutes.
#224
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Put me firmly on team carry-on. With some careful packing and the right luggage combo, I have managed to pack for 3-4 week trips with wardrobe choices ranging from black tie, to Japan in winter to tropical islands. It can be done. Nothing is worse than getting off a long flight (or series of flights) and waiting 30-45 min for the bags to even start coming out. I'm most of the way to, if not already at my hotel taking a shower by then.
You also run the risk of bags being lost if you have connections. I remember one NYE trip to Brazil where my bags didn't arrive until well into Jan., that was fun.
You also run the risk of bags being lost if you have connections. I remember one NYE trip to Brazil where my bags didn't arrive until well into Jan., that was fun.
#225
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This is such a cool thread!
Even though it started on the border of Troll-land, it's been thought provoking.
My two cents.
1. Carry on outbound, check through on return. Applies to business or leisure. When traveling with SO (leisure obviously), we split stuff up between our two cases so only one gets checked and if lost or delayed, we're both still good. Also, a week or a month, I'm packing into an international carry on.
2. I never really think of business travel as travel at all. It's just work. I don't care where I'm going, at the end of the day, I'm going to work (in someone else's space) and sleeping in some cloned chain hotel that could be in Des Moines as easily as Paris. These joints are rarely in the city center, and, even when they are, certainly don't come close to the character and sense of place (and eccentricities) of the independent boutique hotels I patronize on my own. Sure a few dinners outside the hotel and short walkabouts are nice, but in trade for 11 hour flights and endless meetings?
Nope. It's just plain work. And because of the time away from home, not my favorite kind of work.
3. Real travel on the other hand is my hobby. And I patronize this site because it makes me better at it. That includes gleaning tips - sometimes gems - from the many road warriors who contribute here.
Even though it started on the border of Troll-land, it's been thought provoking.
My two cents.
1. Carry on outbound, check through on return. Applies to business or leisure. When traveling with SO (leisure obviously), we split stuff up between our two cases so only one gets checked and if lost or delayed, we're both still good. Also, a week or a month, I'm packing into an international carry on.
2. I never really think of business travel as travel at all. It's just work. I don't care where I'm going, at the end of the day, I'm going to work (in someone else's space) and sleeping in some cloned chain hotel that could be in Des Moines as easily as Paris. These joints are rarely in the city center, and, even when they are, certainly don't come close to the character and sense of place (and eccentricities) of the independent boutique hotels I patronize on my own. Sure a few dinners outside the hotel and short walkabouts are nice, but in trade for 11 hour flights and endless meetings?
Nope. It's just plain work. And because of the time away from home, not my favorite kind of work.
3. Real travel on the other hand is my hobby. And I patronize this site because it makes me better at it. That includes gleaning tips - sometimes gems - from the many road warriors who contribute here.