So, I just found out I get to go on my first work trip (well, first real one - I had one other one where I got to rent a car & drive for 5 hours to Roanoke, VA to spend 2 days with one of my clients).

So, I'm local to IAD/DCA/BWI in that order & I need to go to Shelton, CT. The nearest airport is HVN - other options include LGA/JFK/BDL/HPN but all would require renting a car using my company's CDP (insurance included) - that's about 60-70/day - by flying into HVN, a co-worker could pick me up or I could take a cab for fairly cheap.

As a 100% leisure traveler, my preferred carrier is NW, where I've got Gold Status & a WC Membership - I couldn't get any cheap flights out of DCA/IAD to HVN on NW/CO/DL - my secondary carriers are US/UA where I have Gold (requested Silver, was given Gold) on US (and I'll probably fly 30K on them this year overall - bankruptcy concerns still, maybe more, but at least that's my max through June) & Premier on UA (comped from last year - flew ~20K on them in 2004 & just didn't see the value of being a Premier on UA based out of DC).

So, trying to figure out the best cost/value to me/time spent/connections/club time ratios was impossible ! Fare price was a major concern (don't want to piss off the people paying for this!). So I ended up booking on US out of BWI (which is a haul from my house) - I've got a Monday morning flight that leaves around 10AM (did I mention I will be flying back from a weekend trip into IAD the night before arriving at 10:36PM?). My flights are all on Dash-8's, except one 737 on the return for PHL-BWI (91 mile flight, I'm hoping I get upgraded ) - so no real upgrade opportunity & no club access for my layover in PHL or my departure from BWI (NW/CO, why no clubs at BWI?? I can't even go into the CRC at PHL since I'm not flying DL metal!)

I'll be up near HVN for 2 days - I'll have to bring suits. I've got a garment bag for those (thanks to an offer Gleff informed me about about a year ago for a $7 garment bag on Overstock.com!), but my 22" rollaboard isn't in the country right now (because my Mom & my sister took it with them to India/BKK/HKG for a month & a half long trip!) - SO, that means I may have to use a bigger bag & possibly (ugh!) check luggage!

Overall, despite the fact that as a business traveler, I won't get the things I'm used to as a leisure traveler (free upgrades on almost every flight, lounge access, etc) - but I think it'll still be fun! I'm sure most of you don't even remember your first real business trip - but if you do, anything crazy every happen on them? Anything embarrassing or something that you'll never forget?

Have fun! It's a whole different dynamic when somebody else is paying. My first business trip was to Jordan when I was working for the British government in export promotion. I was 24 and more than a little wet behind the ears. The promotion and show went pretty well, despite some C-list British celebrities having been booked to add British "sparkle" to proceedings. One night, after a long day on the trade stands, a few of us decided that some wine and western food was just what we needed. Pizza Hut is perhaps not the most obvious choice, but on a public sector per diem rate, it would do. We had eaten great Jordanian food for a week and had been wonderfully looked after, so it was rather ironic that it was our one and only western meal that gave us all the galloping trots the next morning. We quickly established a rota on the trade stands that would allow each member to dash to the lavatories every 15 minutes or so, passing any potential trade contacts on to whoever had just returned from the facilities. Being foreign and slightly exotic, we got away with this by pretending that we were passing people around so we could all get a chance to meet them! I don't think we did any damage to Britain's export prospects, and we all felt that we had more than done our duty for Queen and Country!

Congratulations! ^^^

Hope it's the first of many.

One word of warning:

Add: Long Johns, boots, gloves, heavy jacket. Also, a Kevlar vest is de rigeur in some parts of Shelton. Keep away from the mall at night.

with all your flying this is your first biz trip Wow.. I never knew all your travels were on your own dime

As far as stories, I don't have anything out of the ordinary but I do know that when I get into a situation whether its my fault or the airlines/hotels etc... I still always try to get the best deal for the company as I'd rather have the profits be on our bottom line than an airlines or hotels. I'm overhead so that means each dollar spent is a dollar that could be income. Yeah Yeah I know we recoup some overhead costs through our indirect billing rates but still.... better to save that money for the company than the airline or hotel

Congratulation

As you are an experienced traveller already, I just wish you'll behave as you have behaved in the past. Remain yourself, try not to become the arrogant, demanding, (alledgedly)hurried business traveller that I meet all too often on my trips.

Relax and enjoy yourself. Let us know how it went... ^

I remember my second biz trip was with only a few days notice and the only n/s on the route were WN and AA. AA had sold out on the segment there so company booked in WN. Of course, on the way back, they booked AA in first (either only seat available or were compensating for the first leg), which was my first experience in AA domestic FC.
Well, have fun and good luck on whatever you're doing.

Yeah - I've traveled a lot on my own dime - thanks to FT & NW bump vouchers, I've been able to do it relatively cheap & surprisingly well! Also, sleeping in airports, camping in other countries, and staying in places that are super-cheap helped a lot too.

I'm definitely looking forward to the trip - I think it'll be fun. I'm a little nervous because my department isn't actually paying for it - another department that requested that I come up on this trip (I'll be taking over a new client) is paying for everything so on this trip, there'll be one girl from my department & about 5 others from another department whom I've never met before (even though they're paying for me to go). So, not only am I meeting with a new client and working with a product I've had limited experience with, but I'm also going to be with some of the bigger name people people in my organization - so this'll be interesting - a little nervous, but I'm sure I'll get through it!

Thanks for the stories everyone - NNH - sorry to hear of your troubles - I've been there in Thailand where I had one of the worst 2-days of my life! At least you had sanitary toilets where you were - I wasn't quite as lucky! kcvt750 - thanks for the tips on Shelton - I doubt I'll be near the mall though!

It went pretty well! I got back into IAD the night before, got about 5 hours of sleep and packed my bags for an early morning flight out of BWI. Flew on US to HVN - which is probably one of the smallest airports I've ever been to. It had 2 gates - a DL gate & a US gate.

I stayed at the Courtyard in Shelton - which used to be a Ramada Inn - it says its only taking reservation after 2/21, but they were in full operation. The breakfast was pretty decent - usually hotel bacon isn't that great, but for some reason, it was pretty good. They were doing construction still on the second floor, but I was given a room on the fifth floor. The hotel had wireless high-speed internet & I had my managers old laptop with me. Which, of course, didn't have a wireless modem on it. Luckily, the front desk had a wireless adapter, so that worked out for me well.

I got a lot of stuff done & met with the people I needed to meet with. Overall, I'd say it was pretty uneventful - nothing exciting - we went out to a nice dinners - where they were ordering 50.00 bottles of wine (expense accounts - luckily, they picked up the tab - my manager wouldn't have been happy if I paid for that dinner). The flights were all on time & my one upgradeable segment got upgraded. The difference was that for this trip, I had to book through Cliqbook (Carlson-Wagonlit corporate booking tool) and because of this, I wasn't able to check my reservations on US's website (I could use VirtuallyThere.com though) - and b/c of this, I couldn't get my upgrades processed without calling US directly - which was a bit of an annoyance. A good trip & I'm looking forward to more!

Glad it worked out OK. You keep on keepin' on! ^

Glad you had a good time and thank you for the feedback.