TripActions Joins #TravelSkills Twitter Chat
Business travel is an incredibly rewarding and productive part of growing a company and career, but it can get rough being away from home and dealing with frustrating, outdated booking tools.
The weekly #TravelSkills chat on Twitter provides an opportunity to brush up on road warrior know-how such as insider scoops on the best promotions, finding the best deals, and nabbing the best hotel room. It’s also a great place to catch up on the week’s biggest travel news stories, share travel photos and experiences, and build a Twitter following for further connections.
Chris McGinnis, travel columnist and TravelSkills founder, and Johnny Jet, one of Forbes‘ top 10 travel influencers, moderate the weekly #TravelSkills chat. TripActions was thrilled to join them last week as co-host and sponsor to talk about living our best lives as frequent travelers.
The conversation covered favorite business travel destinations, advice for a first-time business traveler, tips to minimize jetlag and master packing, the best business travel apps, work-life balance, and much more.
Johnny was tweeting from Los Angeles, Chris from San Francisco, and the TripActions team from Palo Alto and London. The #TravelSkills community also joined from New York, Tel Aviv, Dallas, Austin, Seattle, Chicago, and more.
The TravelSkills team asked the most pressing questions that road warriors consider in living their best lives. Read on for the top tweets from the conversation:
Q - Which business travel destination could you visit over and over again? Why?
A1. Biz destination to return to: No question. #NOLA I keep finding new stories to write solely so I can keep going back. #travelskills @VisitNewOrleans pic.twitter.com/yuBzNCBe8t
— Spud Hilton (@SpudHilton) October 11, 2019
A1: London is always a fun place to spend some time #travelskills pic.twitter.com/gcWFbjzLms
— Matt Long (@LandLopers) October 11, 2019
Q - Where are you now?
This is great! Joining from Tel Aviv #travelskills https://t.co/lRKUOtycqh
— Ariel (@arielcoco) October 11, 2019
ROLL CALL: Greetings from @AUStinAirport fellow #TravelSkills chat denizens! pic.twitter.com/5gOhb0mtmQ
— gary leff (@garyleff) October 11, 2019
Q - What tips or advice would you offer someone going on their first business trip?
A2 - Know the company Travel and Expense policy. It’s important if you want to keep traveling and keep your job #TravelSkills
— John Ramirez (@jfrworld) October 11, 2019
A2: Don’t check a bag! Travel light. Stay nimble so you can dash from meeting to meeting with ease. As @PeterSGreenberg would say, there only two kinds of luggage: carry-on and lost! #travelskills https://t.co/J3sFIQfcPV
— Tim Jue (@timjue) October 11, 2019
Q - How do you cope with jetlag or sleep issues when traveling?
TIP #TravelSkills We love our @TripActions eye mask for resting deeply on the plane. pic.twitter.com/B7dZQG8Fs1
— TripActions (@TripActions) October 11, 2019
Q - What apps and tools do you use to help keep your trips organized and streamlined?
A4 I started using @TripActions and its made me a better prepared & organized traveler. I book faster, earlier and arrive with less stress -- sincerely. I also use @Pocket to read everything on the plane I can't during the week. #TravelSkills
— Samantha Shankman (@SamShankman) October 11, 2019
A4: I'm a trip organizing luddite. It's no @TripActions, what I do is:
— gary leff (@garyleff) October 11, 2019
- save confirmation emails for air and hotel
- email myself any notes i need
- use my airline app
- go to the hotel I always stay at unless I get an email reminding me I'm staying elsewhere#travelskills
Q - What’s most important to you when booking your trips: Price? Loyalty? Experience? Why?
I'm experience led every day. @gtperotto has a valid challenge which is loyalty leads to experience (upgrades etc) but you have to put up with lesser experiences to reach and maintain that status IMO
— Caroline Strachan (@carostrachan) October 11, 2019
Routinely @grantkmartin - it pays to be loyal - #titaniumeliteforlife and 5 nights from in-year ambassador status. :)
— Greg Perotto (@gtperotto) October 11, 2019
@TripActions TIP TripActions factors in your loyalty status & booking preferences so you’ll continue to rack up points on airline/hotel bookings while earning TripActions rewards (gift cards or vacations) and saving your company $ on hotel bookings #Ad #TravelSkills
— JohnnyJet (@JohnnyJet) October 11, 2019
Q - How do you (our should you) balance family life with frequent travel?
A6: Balancing work and family life is never easy. FaceTime makes it easier. I try to take early-morning flights out and red-eyes home to minimize the time away. #TravelSkills
— Scott Mayerowitz (@GlobeTrotScott) October 11, 2019
@TripActions TIP When possible, extend your business travel into a #bleisure trip and bring your family along. #TravelSkills
— Chris McGinnis (@cjmcginnis) October 11, 2019
Q - What are your top packing tips for people who are constantly on the go?
Comfortable shoes. Nice noise canceling headset. @away bag for luggage. Work out clothes!! Laptop and phone charger. Check check check.
— Meagen Eisenberg (@meisenberg) October 11, 2019
A7 My top packing tip is to Never Unpack. Seriously. If you travel frequently, have a set of toilet trees, underwear, etc for home and for travel. It's a complete game changer #TravelSkills
— Andrea Feczko (@AndreaFeczko) October 11, 2019
Q - How do you save money when booking airfare, hotels and car rentals for business travel?
A8: I save money for business trips by making sure I know what is and is not covered. For the things not covered I then maximize my credit cards accordingly to get the maximum amount of points. #TravelSkills
— Angel Trinh (@pnywisetraveler) October 11, 2019
TIP #TravelSkills Following your company’s policy saves everyone money AND you receive Amazon gift cards for smart booking choices.
— TripActions (@TripActions) October 11, 2019
Q - What’s the best part about frequent travel?
Being a global citizen #travelskills
— Caroline Strachan (@carostrachan) October 11, 2019
Best thing about frequent travel is meeting new people and experiencing new cultures, which is more more important now than ever. I'm in South Africa for a week, & it's great to see how other people live and interact with each other. A good lesson for our times. A9 #travelskills pic.twitter.com/5PILa7htLa
— Jim Byers (@JimByersTravel) October 11, 2019
Q - Share a photo of you on a business trip or at your favorite business travel destination!
A10 My favorite business trip destination is London! Last year I went for @MongoDB London and took a quick train ride to Paris on the weekend. 👌🏽 #womenintech #TravelSkills pic.twitter.com/VyeXs3EBR3
— Dania Micala | Latina in Tech (@DaniaMicala) October 11, 2019
A10. A @starclippers #cruise in Italy this summer and yup it was for business #travelskills pic.twitter.com/cdZqJ8xBSt
— Dana Freeman (@DanaHFreeman) October 11, 2019
In addition to the powerful in-person connections forged, building a sense of community is an important part of living your best life as a frequent traveler. Frequent flyers can share insider tips and insights to make the most of their business trips and feel a part of something bigger than themselves. Follow TripActions on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and yes, even TikTok, to keep in touch with your community of fellow road warriors wherever you go.