Out of Office: If You Can't Fly Business Class, Hope for Another Golden Era of Travel
This post is part of a series in which LinkedIn Influencers and members share their business travel advice and stories from life on the road. Read all the posts here.
Our tolerance of travel is framed in our childhood. For me, it is one part parents who thought nothing of piling the kids into the backseat and driving 10 hours, then 9 hours and that last 11-hour leg to Denver. We were acquainted with in-laws and, I believe, the occasional outlaw.
A seminal moment was looking back at Boston's Logan terminal as we taxied out in the new 1960 Boeing jet. In the summer fog sat a triple-tailed TWA Constellation. The romance of that plane has never left me.
None of this prepared me for the lowest of lows. I missed an Air France connection at Charles de Gaulle Airport and enjoyed the luxury accommodations of the Roissy Holiday Inn. The off-yellow decor was coated in off-black cigarette tar. Call it Aged Gitanes.
I have just about given up on domestic travel. My tips and secrets are direct: Always fly business class and hang up your own suit jacket (the airline hangers destroy shoulders in even the best-made suit). If you can't fly business class with the blessed, then there are no tips or secrets. With respect to my offspring, Cattle Car has deteriorated to a point of no return. The rareness of a "great flight" is topped only by the total lunacy of out-of-control carry-on baggage policies.
International is different. Fly selected foreign airlines. Avoid suspect foreign airlines. Take U.S. carriers abroad knowing one in about five flights will be okay, none great.
International is different. Fly selected foreign airlines. Avoid suspect foreign airlines. Take U.S. carriers abroad knowing one in about five flights will be okay, none great.
For those younger travelers who missed the golden era, my only secret is to pray for a return of that triple-tailed TWA Constellation and the service and magic that it represented.
Photos: creative commons licensed (BY-NC-ND) flickr photo by Mr.TinDC (top); Author's Own
CFP | Retirement Specialist | Speaker | Author | CEO RD WealthCreation | SC-licensed Financial Planner
10 年I love flying first class or business class but usually fly economy (coach) because of the price differential. So much can be done with the money saved!
Business Strategy, Market Development, and Career Coaching
10 年I love jet engines. Gets you long distances in a relatively short period of time.
J??ining the d??ts
10 年great point... the romance was certainly there. i did an old Bristol Brittania turboprop to Akrotiri Cyprus and a VC10 to Kai Tak Hong Kong and although they were military the thrill if not the comfort has stayed with me for 30+ years. Even the turbulence did not bother me much then. Give me a A380 or 777 these days - still dont like the Airbus sidestick idea and A330 ride though!
my God..........a Connie!