chrisl137

I think that was a reference to this thread, which was linked in post 88 of the present thread.

qofmiwok

Fun post. A bit extreme, but as a former corporate type I do roll my eyes at the corporate buzz words, and how every conversation sounds the same and has barely changed in 30 years. But really let's face it, the problem is broader; it is everyone who talks loudly (on their phones or in person) in airports and airplanes and hotel lobbies, whether they are discussing business or telling boring stories to their friends. Some people just seem to have no sense that they are in a public space and not a personal space.

AStarr

I do this too when I can... I have overheard some pretty nasty conversations in major chain hotel restaurants during these "business" dinners. And while having airport lounge access is really nice and pretty awesome, it is all too often interrupted by someone loudly talking on a mobile phone because their conversation is oh-so-important. It might be important but many airport lounges have areas to have those conversations so that one isn't disturbing the peace. Fortunately it's a rare occurrence and most of the lounges I'm in have sensible and discreet enough staff that gently ask them to relocate to those areas... haven't seen an outburst of defiance yet.

mikesyr18

Anyone who takes the time to think would understand that date has passed and the travel had been done and over with.

The person arguing with me just doesn't understand apparently...

thelark

pinniped

100% no question about it for me: business travel is the single biggest challenge for me in terms of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

I bring running gear. I try to find at least one night during every trip where I avoid the big, boozy dinner with clients/colleagues. I try not to go hogwild at the hotel breakfast buffet or lounge. But something always goes sideways: I don't actually find time to go running, or the boozy dinners are unavoidable, or I get stuck in an airport for longer than I thought and eat something crappy there.

I'm sure some people are better at it than I am, but for me it's tough to stay in decent shape during periods when I'm traveling a lot for work.

By contrast, during personal travel I usually do very well. I tend to eat/drink light and, even if I'm not doing full workouts during the trip, always have a very high step count and am active in general. It's the biz travel that's a killer.

tbuccelli

It is not being lazy - sometimes you just have places to be. As for having a three year old, I have raised 4 children and we took all of them successfully through airports, holding hands and not have issues nor inconveniencing others....

tbuccelli

Thanks for finding reference, but I now get a page not found when I click on it.

chrisl137

I think you're also missing the point that was being made - that you're relatively inexperienced in travel, and from your posts in this thread, don't have a very good picture of the range of business travel that's out there or the impact it has on the people doing it. Many of the posters on this thread have been traveling for work and pleasure for many decades, even predating all the various perk programs. I'm a relatively light business traveler on average - I don't have a "travel job", but depending on what I'm working on might have bursts of very high travel, and I work with relatively generous travel policies (no paid F, but very flexible otherwise), I have friends who I visit most places that I travel for work, and it still gets old.

Business travel gets old for almost anybody, and you end up doing some hard travel (e.g. 3 day RT from LA to central europe, with a flight between two countries while you're there, or back and forth west coast to east coast twice in a week because you have to be in two places at once) and the companies that sell travel know it. They offer the perks to make it all a little more pleasant (or a little less unpleasant in the case of sitting in a metal tube for 15 hours) so that you'll pick them over their competitors. Companies that have employees who travel generally understand all this and try to accommodate it - they know they're taking you away from home a lot and want to make the travel pleasant within their economic constraints so that employees don't get sick of it and quit (which does happen). While you personally may feel that whoever is paying the bill "earned" those perks, both the service providers and the employers who are paying for the travel (at least in the US) treat them as belonging to the person doing the traveling, and that's not going to change any time soon.

chrisl137

weird. just checked and it still works for me, even in a clean browser.

pinniped

This.

I remember traveling through large airports with toddlers. I was able to do so without being a selfish pig about it. If we used a moving walkway and the wanted to remain stationary on it, we did so single file so others could move past. I'm flabbergasted that other people think it's acceptable behavior to block the entire path - with kids or without.

ctporter

"whoever is paying the bill "earned" those perks"

I travel for work, between 75k-109k per year. I use a corporate travel card that I am responsible for paying in full each month. My company re-imburses me for my expenses - BUT, they bill the client for my expenses. So who is really "paying"? Who at these companies should benefit from the miles/stays/days? The accounting clerk that processes payments? The owner of the company, the stock holders? Why should random companies (different clients for each job) get a few airline miles or hotel stays or rental car days instead of the person that did the traveling?

chrisl137

I'm fortunate in having a small number of places I go regularly, so I find hotels that make it easier - I stay at a place in the DC area that has a full health club on the first couple floors that hotel guests are allowed to use for free, and pick other hotels based on the equipment they have. Most of the time I'm either traveling alone or with people who don't have any need for big business dinners, so we usually go our own way for food and I can keep that under control. One of the best places I ever stayed with respect to fitness was in the VOQ on an air force base - the room was nothing special, but they had a book with maps of recommended running routes of many distances, and there was a *huge* well equipped gym that I could have used (I brought a bicycle and pedaled around on base instead).

For personal travel it's easier - most of my personal travel ends up being long hiking or cycling trips so it's more a matter of finding enough food than getting too much of it.

84fiero

Same here. We traveled extensively with our daughter as a toddler - no way is it necessary to stand side-by-side with a 3 year old on a moving walkway. Single file is just fine. We always did the best we could to keep things efficient for our family and others when traveling with our kid.

catsfroggy1

There is a walkway if you don't like it. You are the one who has a false sense of entitlement. Too lazy to walk.