That’s the first thing seasoned business travelers advise those embarking on a life on the road. More advice:

• Be nice: You could just get an upgrade, but don’t forget Rule #1.
• Never pay cash: Use a credit card, it’s safer.
• Travel light: Lighter luggage means speed and less effort.
• Have a Plan B: Like any expedition you must have a back up plan.
• Be skeptical:- If a deal looks to good to be true, then it probably is.
• Visualize first class: If you look like upgrade material, then you a better chance of moving up the plane.
• Join the club: Frequent fliers do sometimes get better treatment.
• Keep a photocopy of your passport: It’s so much easier to replace it when you have a copy.
• Get plenty of rest: Being overtired causes stress and other problems.
• Enjoy the perks: In a hotel make sure to take the freebies, that’s what they’re there for.

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Some predictions from USA Today:

1. Your airplane may be older than you.
2. Your pilot may be younger than you.
3. Your flight will be oversold, late, and more expensive too.
4. A more expensive room at the inn.
5. International premium-class bargains.
6. An Asian travel boom.

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You can’t help yourself. Every time that you get on an airplane, you pick up that Sky Mall catalog and flip through it. You convince yourself that you’re just passing the time to relax before you land and get down to business. You tell yourself that you just want to browse the latest gadgets and laugh a little about them. But the next thing you know, you’ve racked up a credit card bill buying an old-fashioned hot dog maker that you probably didn’t need.

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Business travelers are no strangers to the discomfort of red eye flights and all-nighters, so news that more and more airlines are offering flat-bed seats is welcome to stiff, aching backs.

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Business travelers know the rigors of the road and the nightmare of navigating, but new GPS technology can help. Here’s what to look for:

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You’ve heard of sabbaticals, those extended vacations that many professionals take to do something that they’ve always wanted to do in their lives. Traditionally, these experiences have primarily been for professors who take a year off to write a book or go out into the field. Now businesses are beginning to see the benefit in offering a sabbatical option to professional employees. The experience rejuvenates the professional and brings them back to business with a bounce to their step and a sense of creativity in their work.

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There are two major issues to consider when selecting the laptop bag for your business needs.

1. Image: Image is still everything when it comes to business. So if you’re a Trek bicycle rep, Avoid the fine Corinthian leather and consider a laptop backpack; it lets your customers know you’re one of them. If you’re a diamond broker, though, a fine leather laptop bag will boost your image.
2. Storage: Are you just a laptop and a notebook away from your next meeting? Then a small, unobtrusive laptop bag is perfect for you. If you carry a sample box along with all sorts of electronic equipment then you’ll want to find a roomy bag that’s easy to carry around. Consider one with a telescoping handle and wheels.

(Photo via flickr cc)

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Begin your trip right by wearing appropriate clothing to the airport: Slip-on shoes, empty pockets, and little or no jewelry.  Put all liquids into a sealed plastic bag, and have your laptop easily accessible for x-ray.

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The future of air travel has arrived and it looks like it comes on an à la carte menu.

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Business travel is hectic. You dash from your flight to grab a taxi, asking the driver to stop for a quick meal on the way. Then it’s to your hotel room where you let the bellman take your bags so you can finish up a quick phone call. You turn the Internet on your room and check your email from your laptop before heading to the local office to check in. It’s only been a couple of hours and already you’re a little frazzled. As a result, you’ve probably forgotten to gather together receipts at all of the little stops you’ve made. After all, who really remembers to ask every taxi driver and bellman for a receipt?

The smart business traveler remembers. All of the traveling that you do counts as business expenses. Even if your company isn’t going to reimburse you for every aspect of the travel, you still get to count it as money spent on business. That means that when it comes time to doing your taxes, you can use those receipts to get some money back. Rather than costing your money, business trips can be a way to see another city at almost no expense.

Get in the habit of asking for a receipt at every single stop on your business trip. Once you’ve develop the habit, it’ll become natural and won’t put any extra crunch in your time budget. Another habit you should acquire is organization of those receipts. Get a little travel organizer that can go with you when you head out on business. When you get home from a trip, make sure that the receipts make sense and go into a file that you can access come tax time.

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Always more spacious and with more amenities than coach class, first and business class have become even more comfortable and luxurious in the last year or so. Below are just a few of the new features.

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Soon business travelers will be able to plug into the Internet from the air.

JetBlue already offers email and instant messaging to some of their customers. American Airlines, Virgin and Alaska Air will be upping the ante and offering web surfing next year. Panasonic and Australia’s Qantas have forged a partnership and are working to add more connectivity to travelers by the end of next year.

Business travelers are divided on this concept. Some will absolutely relish the chance to work when they’re held captive in an airplane while others will miss their break from the daily grind. Unfortunately, this really isn’t something the travelers get to decide. Airlines have determined that Internet connections on airplanes are completely safe and they feel that offering the service will boost their sales, so the decision has already been made. We’re just waiting for the technology to catch up.

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Germany’s already a world-renowned location for trade fairs and congresses, and with the opening of the new Trade Fair and Congress Center in Stuttgart, the country has gained another world-class location for business events.

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In years past, air travel for many meant getting dressed up. Back then the service was personal, there were free meals and snacks to boot. Boy how times have changed.

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When you’re traveling for business make sure clients and colleagues can get in touch with you by creating an automatic response message for your email:

• Stay professional. You don’t want clients to think that you’re partying in Vegas even if that’s where your business happens to be.

• Explain briefly why you’re away. If you’re on business for a special promotion, this can be a promotional tool to let people know about it. Otherwise, mention that you’re in transit for business and will be unavailable until you’ve reached your other office location.

• State realistically when a response can be expected. If you’ll be checking e-mail while away, say when. If not, provide a date of return. Then make sure to keep your credibility by replying to all email by then.

• Provide an alternative means of contact. This is optional and depends on if you want to be reached but a phone number or other means of contact could be a good way to keep business flowing while you’re on the road.

• Double-check it. Make sure there are no typos. Double-check that you’ve set the date correctly and marked it “on” so it works. Make sure you’ve got it set on all accounts that you use. Then send yourself a message to be sure that it works.

Remember to consider your own safety when leaving this automatic message. If you work from home or your clients have any reason to know where you live, you might not want them to know that you’re away from your home for an extended period of time. Consider leaving a more generic automatic response or using a push-email-to-phone function instead.

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If you’re headed out of town on business travel, you don’t want to get to the airport to discover that your flight’s delayed. Bookmark these sites to ensure that doesn’t happen.

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