Happy New Year to you all!  I hope that the year is progressing as you would have to be, including all of the business travel you enjoy.

Having fallen in love with my iPhone at this point, I’ve decided to periodically review groups of iPhone apps that are applicable to business travelers.  My interest in reviewing apps is not just about the deals you’ll find, but how easy the apps are to use.

This month I’m reviewing a hotel booking apps that are tied to major travel websites whose names you’ll recognize.  I was prompted to pursue this idea by a hotel booking advertisement on TV that features two skydivers booking their hotel reservations just after jumping from their plane.  While we get to stay on airplanes until they land, I thought the metaphor of booking one’s hotel room while “flying” through the airport to grab a cab was appropriate.  Can I thumb-tap my way through the booking app while dragging my bags to the taxi stand?

The apps I have chosen to review are for aggregator sites.  As a business traveler I don’t usually use this type of site to book travel, unless I’m on a spontaneous or previously unplanned trip, where finding a deal on a hotel immediately is more important than finding a specific hotel in a particular neighborhood.

Six Hotel Booking Apps for iPhone

What startled me most about comparing these 6 apps is the wide variety of what they assume are traveler priorities.  This means that home screen layouts, navigation buttons, and how quickly one arrives at search results varies widely.  I’ve listed as bullet points the aspects of each app that made an impression as I tapped my way through them.

Note: these apps are mobile versions of websites that aggregate listings from multiple hotel sources, not apps for specific hotels.  I’ll review hotel-specific apps in a future newsletter.

www.Hotels.com

The app took 45 seconds to configure itself before displaying information the first time.  The app immediately asked to use my current GPS location.  Has Tonight’s Local Deals button on home screen Easy to filter by name, price range, rating, etc. Easy to sort by rating, distance from current location, guest ratings, etc. Regular search picks up current location, assumes 1 person for 1 night, but it’s easy to increase the number of nights, rooms, and people with a quick screen tap.  Results viewable as a list or as map locations.  Sign-in available to your existing Hotels.com account, or sign up on your iPhone.

www.Priceline.com

The app took 30 seconds to configure itself.  It asks to use your current location via GPS but doesn’t show local deals as a result.  Clicking the map locator button will then show local deals.  The app has 3 main navigation buttons:

- Negotiate: gets you prices for hotel rooms and the areas where they’re available.

- Radar: this feature (including a pinging sound) shows recent winning bids in the area and their prices.

- Browse gets you prices and locations for a “book immediately” option as opposed to bidding blindly.  You can filter by popularity, star rating, and neighborhood.  Prices shown are before local taxes.  Sign-in makes booking go more quickly, but booking without sign-in is available.  The home screen also has a car deals button.

www.Hotwire.com

The app takes about 30 seconds to configure itself.  It asks to detect and use your current GPS location.  The app immediately starts with requirements: assumes check-in date is today for 1 night, 1 person, 1 room, all easy to change from drop-down lists.  Shows number of results, then asks to list by price, star ratings; to filter by neighborhood or amenities.  No photos: this is a blind search.  When selecting by star rating, it shows price and neighborhood, but no hotel name or photo.  Amenities are listed.

www.Expedia.com

The app took 15 seconds to configure itself.  The app immediately asked to use GPS Showed hotel availability first based on GPS location rather than asking any details; 1 night, 1 person assumed, but buttons there to change those details.  Names, photos, ratings and prices are all immediately visible Sort and filter available Same list viewable as pins on a map Nice size photo slideshows; link to reviews on same screen Red pins indicate that prices are currently discounted

www.Kayak.com

Didn’t ask first for GPS, asked to send “push” notifications: alerts, sounds, and icon badges.  The app includes search for hotels, flights, cars, and a flight tracker.  The Hotel search came up with Los Angeles as the starting city, but when I challenged the location by tapping on the name, THEN it offered a GPS fix as an option.  The search assumed 1 person/night/bed.  The remainder of the list included thumbnail photos, prices, locations, and star ratings.  Buttons include Filter, Sort, Map, and Compare.  Filtering by stars meant UN-checking the star ratings you don’t want to see.  Filtering options included price, brands, and name but NOT location!  I was seeing Seattle hotels despite my Bellevue specification, and there are 15 miles and a body of water in between the two cities.  Half of the results listed were links to Hotwire deals.

www.TripAdvisor.com

The app took 15 seconds to configure itself.  The app asked to use GPS fix, and asked to send Push notifications.  This site relies heavily on user ratings.  Search menu options include hotels, restaurants, things to do, flights and a link to their user forum as a link to write a review.  Home screen buttons include Home, Near Me Now, and Faves buttons, with the search box at the top.  Hotel search asked for city, zip, address, or the option to use a checkbox called Near Me Now.  Ratings take precedence — links in hotel listings also to guest ratings are right there on the same screen.  Checking rates brings up tabs for Hotels.com, Expedia.com, Venere.com, Orbitz.com, the hotel’s website, Priceline.com, and Travelocity.com, each with their own deals listed.  Not all sites showed the details for the hotel you select; some provided their own listings for other hotels instead.  I would use this for ratings, but probably not for directly booking the room, since TripAdvisor is only a ratings service NOT a booking agent.

From a usability standpoint, I think the Hotels.com mobile site has the best, most compact design.  I found it easy to, with one or two taps, find a deal for the night.

Got a favorite travel app for iPhone, Android, or other smart phone?  Use the comment section on post to tell me which apps you like to use.

I have long been an advocate of using mass transit while traveling. I’ve been on trains and subway systems all over the world. I know most of you would prefer to rent a car to get around, but sometimes that’s just not an option.

For me, planning a transit excursion was fun; coordinating time schedules, locating bus stops, determining connections and layovers. Transit schedules have been readily available on the Internet for close to 10 years now. Even in countries where English is not the primary language, signs are often posted in English as well for the convenience of visitors. I’ve been all over Hong Kong island by bus, and it’s a great way to see the city and feel like a local, even if you don’t look like a local.

I recently acquired a full-time, on-site consulting contract near my home and decided to use mass transit rather than commuting by car through what is one of the worst highway bottlenecks we have around here. The bus to my client’s location uses surface streets and back roads, so the commute is quick and painless. Of course getting up at 6 am is challenge for me, but one I am committed to overcoming.

Naturally I began planning for my commute using the online transit pages. I remembered that a colleague on my last contract mentioned an iPhone App that delivers real-time bus information to your device. I installed it then but didn’t have much use for it until now. Having figured out the route, the iPhone app would be helpful in knowing exactly when the busses would arrive.

That one “timeliness” feature turns out to be a godsend. It removes the anxiety and frustration of wondering 1) whether you missed your bus, and 2) when it’s really going to show up. What’s nice about this particular application is that it not only shows you the bus you’re expecting, but every arrival at that stop, in case using an alternate bus is an option.

Timeliness is Next to Godliness

For business travelers, getting there on time is everything. We usually schedule our trips down to the last minute if we can, hoping that everything goes as planned. I think more travelers would consider using mass transit as part of their plan if they knew that the transit was reliable and timely. There is good news on this front; the increase in smart phone usage has encourage app developers to produce more of these real-time transit applications for our use.

Seattle is a high-tech town, so I would expect there to be coverage like this available. I went searching through iTunes, though, to see what other cities might have apps covering their territory. Naturally, having apps developed would depend on how much the local population depends on mass transit and/or how good the transit coverage is. As you might expect, the larger metropolitan areas have many apps available for download (most of them free). For example:

New York City Subways
Long Island Railroads
New Jersey Transit (Rail)
New Jersey Transit (Bus)
PATH Train (New Jersey to New York)

SE Pennsylvania Transit (SEPTA)
Washington DC Metro
NextBus DC

Chicago L (eLevated trains)
Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)
METRA: Long-distance Northeastern Illinois trains

San Francisco (bus)
CalTrain: SF commuter rail
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) around San Francisco
San Jose (bus)

But there are applications available for other metro areas as well.
Here is a partial list:

Denver
Los Angeles
Greater Boston (MBTA)
Miami-Dade County
Sacramento
San Diego
Seattle/Puget Sound

And don’t forget cities outside the USA:

Taipei
Bangkok

These are just the cities whose applications included the name of the city. There are dozens more applications in the list that didn’t include the city or region name, such as mine, titled “OneBusAway.”

These are just the iPhone applications — I saw many of the same apps in the Android Market as well.

Most of us travel pretty compactly, so hoisting a bag onto a transit bus isn’t any more difficult than hoisting it onto a hotel shuttle (except that you have to do it yourself). With the availability of this real-time transit information, the option to use mass transit on your next business trip should be seriously considered.

I invite you to jump on and enjoy the ride.

As a resident of the Seattle area, there are two big business influences on us: Microsoft — where I used to work, and Boeing — on whose planes I’ve flown the most.

This past Wednesday, the first 787 Dreamliner rolled out of the hangar in Everett, Washington (about 30 miles north of my home) in a special celebration with the CEOs of All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Boeing, along with the workers who produced the airplane. I watched a summary video of the celebration on the Boeing website, and I have to admit I felt a certain pride in being a resident here. When there’s a downturn in the airline business, we all feel it. Now that Boeing was able to finally deliver this plane, everyone who lives here is breathing a sigh of relief! I’m especially proud because they pulled it off despite the current economy.

I am looking forward to the days when the first 787s are delivered domestically, because I want to ride in one! When I travel internationally I look for flights with the Boeing 777 because I love how that plane is put together. I can only imagine how wonderful the 787s are going to be when we here in Seattle get to ride in one.

Improvements in the Airplane

The first thing I noticed on the Boeing videos is the in-seat entertainment. For Economy class, there are individual video screens in the headrest of the seat in front of you. I also noted ample storage bins, roomy lavatories, and tinted windows! No more having to sit in the dark just to be able to see the video screens. The windows are 30% larger, for those who want to look outside, and there are improvements to the Rolls Royce airplane engines that offer a smoother ride.

The new plane uses LED lighting instead of fluorescent lighting, which gives it a softer glow and lower electrical consumption. Personally, I’m looking forward to that — fluorescent lighting makes you look even worse than you already do after flying all night on an airplane.

Here is the micro-site for the airplane on ANA’s website. It will detect your language and display English, if that’s your default.

Http://www.ana.co.jp/787/

We Get Around

Among the destinations listed for this plane are cities within Japan, as well as Hong Kong and Frankfurt. According to the CEO of ANA, “The B787 is considered a medium-size aircraft but it can travel more than 52 per cent further than a similarly sized B767, while using 20 per cent less fuel. This brand new aircraft presents a new business opportunity for us to open new routes that would not have been viable before and gives us the chance to expand our network.”

That’s a really critical issue these days. The cost of fuel is already high, so a plane that can travel further and save 20% on fuel costs is a welcome addition to the skies. One can only hope that it might ultimately mean cost savings passed on to the passengers. (Hey, I’m an optimist!)

I am pleased to report that one of the 787s currently in production is scheduled for United, so I look forward to getting on that plane in due course.

It’s been an odd day today. I heard a sound in my office that has NEVER been heard before: the startup sound of a Mac Mini! I inherited my Dad’s Mac Mini after he passed away in January, and this is the first time I’ve had both the room and the time to set it up (I’m using it for testing websites on Mac browsers). Exposure to The Fruit Side has been an interesting and engaging experiment.

I am pleased to say that I have resisted buying a bunch of apps for the iPhone, but I have been looking through the iTunes App Store and collecting items that may be helpful for business travelers BESIDES the obvious travel guides and airline sites. Skip the iTunes desktop application and go straight to the Apple website:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/genre/mobile-software-applications/id36?mt=8

These are the apps on my iPhone now:

eSpeakers
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/espeakers/id426816714?mt=8
This application goes with the eSpeakers service of which I am a subscriber. The National Speakers Association utilizes eSpeakers to manage their member profiles, but the eSpeakers app has so much more: schedules, booking dates, and so on. It was a natural fit for my business.

Facebook
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/facebook/id284882215?mt=8
Good grief, I might actually be able to keep up with social networking on Facebook! Having the free Facebook app makes it easy to fill up the loose time slots while waiting for ground transportation with messages to friends, reading the streamed comments, and so on.

LinkedIn
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/linkedin/id288429040?mt=8
I plan to do more on LinkedIn than I have in the past, so having this free app on the phone is also quite helpful.

Mobile Notifier
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mobile-notifier/id343067381?mt=8
This little app tells me when a purchase has been made through my shopping cart. One has to have an account with 1ShoppingCart or one of the private label companies, which I have had for 7 years. It’s great to hear the sound of money depositing into my account.

Skype
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skype/id304878510?mt=8
I have a number of people I keep up with on Skype, and the fact that you can conduct free video calls from your phone over an Internet connection WITHOUT the computer is just aces!

QR Reader for iPhone
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/qr-reader-for-iphone/id368494609?mt=8
I haven’t had occasion to see many of these QR codes, but starting the app and pointing your iPhone at the code will immediately open the corresponding website. I plan to add the QR code for my website to my business card.

Camera Zoom 3
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/camera-zoom-3/id311657409?mt=8
I’ve missed a number of photos that I could have captured if I had just taken time to download a better camera application. This one has been around a long time, and the zoom works really well.

Here are some that look intriguing that I have not yet downloaded.

FedEx Mobile for iPhone
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fedex-mobile-for-iphone/id304462049?mt=8
When I’ve shipped boxes to or from my destination and I need to know how they’re doing, this application ought to do the trick!

USPS Mobile
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/usps-mobile/id339597578?mt=8
Same here: if I need to find a post office to mail something home, this little app would be very helpful!

OneBusAway
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/onebusaway/id329380089?mt=8
As gas prices rise, I’m experimenting with using public transit more around the Seattle area, and I found this real-time application for transit that covers Puget Sound. There are more apps like this for other areas.

What is YOUR favorite business travel-related application? Comment below so that we can all benefit!

Toolie®

Well, I’ve made it through the first month with the iPhone, and so far we’re getting along. I’ve not been this deep into Fruit Territory in a long, long time. I’m a Windows geek, not an Apple devotee, but I’m willing to adapt. <grin>

Part of the reason for switching to the iPhone at this point was because I needed to use text messaging a lot for my consulting, and the old Windows Mobile phone was dying on me. The iPhone has a nice interface for text messaging, but I keep sending all kinds of odd messages because I “fat-finger” that tiny keyboard.

Computing Before There Were Mice

Yes, Virginia, there was a time when computers did NOT have a mouse driving the interface. In fact was a little over 20 years ago that Windows 3.1 came out, and I knew that computing would change forever. Yes, I know that both Microsoft and Apple had a mouse well before that, but because of the pervasiveness/market share of Windows, the arrival of a decent Windows mouse-driven interface, the culture shifted radically.

To this day, I’m a two-fisted computer user: I regularly use keyboard shortcuts with the mouse to write and move around the interface quickly. In fact I urge my clients to use these shortcuts because they’re concentrated where you type with your left hand. I’m taking about the usual Ctrl+S for Save, Ctrl+C for Copy, Ctrl+V for paste, and so on. You’d be surprised how many people do NOT use them!

With all of this background information I am leading up to the punch line: I bought a mini-keyboard for my iPhone. Now before you fall off your chair with laughter, hear me out.

I’m sitting at a desk a lot these days, so text messaging with colleagues and clients means picking up the phone and trying to aim at that tiny keyboard with hands that can easily play octaves on the piano. I was not blessed with dainty fingers, I was blessed with pianist’s fingers. So that frustration lead me to conclude that finding some kind of thumb keyboard would be a good idea for me.

I haven’t yet bought a hard, protective case for the phone, so the first keyboard I looked at was attached to a hard case. That would make the phone and keyboard function as one item instead of two. I ordered the TK-421 Bluetooth Keyboard/Case from www.ThinkGeek.com for iPhone 3GS.

Http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/e66e/images/8108/

This particular keyboard appealed to me because it had a thumb-style size and functionality. The problem was that the keyboard swiveled out from underneath instead of opening like a clamshell. The keyboard itself was lighter than the phone, so it kept falling forward out of my hands. I had a hard time turning the keyboard’s Bluetooth on, though pairing happened quite easily. After working with the keyboard for 24 hours or so, I went shopping again.

I found that the keyboard portion was available separately from several vendors, but I just didn’t like that keyboard at all, separate or attached. After exhausting all the possibilities in the $35 price range, I decide to move up in size and cost, and I ordered the Verbatim Bluetooth keyboard from www.Buy.com.

http://www.buy.com/prod/verbatim-wireless-bluetooth-mobile-keyboard-for-iphone-ipad-ipad-2-and/q/loc/101/220011486.html

This keyboard is bigger than the phone; in fact the keys are almost full-size with a few exceptions. It comes with its own case, but it’s small enough to fit in my purse on the go. What’s REALLY fun is that hidden in the keyboard’s case is a fold-out stand for the iPhone that holds it in a suitable position for viewing while typing.

Turning the keyboard on is quite easy, pairing with the iPhone is a no-brainer, and with a little concentration, I can type quite quickly for emails, text messages, and writing my book.

Writing My Book on the iPhone

Yes, I am writing a book. Will I write it entirely on the iPhone? Probably not. But, having the keyboard with the iPhone turns it from a text-messaging machine to a mini-computer capable of capturing my chapters without breaking a sweat. I visited the iTunes App Store and found a simple word processing application that cost me US$3.99.

http://www.bytesquared.com/products/doc/iphone/

Because I write for the Internet, I’m used to using a text-only word processor. I write more quickly that way anyway since I’m not fiddling with formatting, so having an iPhone word processor that lets me put in bulleted lists and bold text is just fine! It interoperates with Word 2003-2010, so I can sync with my desktop and use the files there.

Typing with the iPhone on an Airplane

If you think that first-class passengers have more room on their tray tables for their laptops, let me correct this notion immediately! Maybe it’s just me, but I always seem to end up behind the traveler who has decided to kick back. They recline all the way in celebration of their spacious seat, and whatever hope I had for opening my laptop quickly goes away. But there WOULD be room for my iPhone and this mini-keyboard, even in Coach. Just imagining this wonderful scenario gave me hope of recovering all those lost minutes we spend in transit, without having to boot up the laptop!

For Me It’s iPhone Productivity Anywhere

I have a consulting contract now that sometimes has me hanging around waiting for meetings. I didn’t dare bring my Toolie business laptop to the consulting location, but I could pull out my iPhone and keyboard and none would be the wiser! I also think about returning to my satellite office (the local Red Robin) to do my planning sessions because I can access my client management website with my iPhone and keyboard. This particular Red Robin doesn’t have wireless Internet (yet), but I do get a cell signal, so I can fire up the iPhone and get answers when I need them.

OK, Maybe One More Accessory

I admit that the iPhone screen is pretty small — not the best for writing, but if I could get the phone up to eye level, that would be really helpful. Apparently a few other people had the same idea, because I found this accessory online.

Http://www.goilevel.com/

This iLevel clamp-on stand wouldn’t fit in my purse, but it would fit in carry-on luggage quite nicely. And on the treadmill. And on my desk. I haven’t bought it yet — I still feel silly trying to use the iPhone as a mini-computer. But those feelings will probably change as I embrace my iPhone Productivity Project and the possibility of actually getting my book written!

Do you use a keyboard with your iPhone? Tell us about it in your comments below.

I’m not used to being late to the technology party: I just got my first iPhone this month. McAlister has giggled over his iPhone for the last 3 years (http://www.tooliethetravelguide.com/blog/2008/08/email-windows-mobile- and-the-iphone/ ) and that was OK with me. He’s a Mac guy, and while I might have been somewhat jealous, I had other priorities for my phone.

For someone who has relinquished the techie life for his art studio, and claims that he doesn’t want to be thought of as a tech guy, McAlister sure loves his iPhone. He keeps it with him ALL the time. Even when he’s in Sculpture Class or at the pub afterwards with his friends, if some subject comes up in conversation that requires fact- checking, all heads turn towards McAlister, who by then has his iPhone in hand and is looking up the facts on the Internet.

Good Old Windows Mobile — a Mainstay

My old Windows Mobile phone served me well for years. A couple of months ago, I thoughtlessly left it on the top of my car as I pulled out of the driveway. The phone hung on for dear life as I drove downhill, but when I hit the curve at the bottom, it went flying off the roof and skidded on the pavement. It horrible to see (out of the corner of your eye) your phone flying towards the asphalt when you’re powerless to stop it!

When I realized what happened, I stopped, turned around, and went back to find the phone. Miraculously, I found all of the pieces of the phone: the battery, the back cover, even the stylus, and put it all back together. The phone was working!! It was a little scuffed, but it survived.

A few months later I lost the stylus for the fourth time, and this time I decided not to try to replace it. The designers of the phone had, for some inexplicable reason, decided that it should fit in the lower right corner of the phone, upside down, and once the plastic holding it in place gave up, bye-bye stylus!

The next sign of imminent cell phone death was the difficulty in using the slide out keyboard. The left corner of the keyboard was the point of impact from its flight off the car. The little Function key that provided the numbers and alternate characters I needed for text input of any kind was in that very corner of the phone. The damage really became an issue when I took on a short-term, full-time consulting contract and text-messaging became our virtual team’s primary method of contact. Mobile communications were becoming the norm again in my life, and I had to act.

Cell Phone Waiting Game

I’ve been involved with Windows Mobile since the very beginning. Back when I was working at Microsoft on the Visual C++ team, I worked with the marketing guy who was preparing presentations on the Mobile portion of this development tool. We were teaching developers how to write applications for the first versions of Windows phones back in

1995. I got to play with some of those early devices, and I was hooked. For years afterwards, I tried to find a job on the Windows Mobile team, but never found one for which I was qualified.

When the iPhone first came out, I was interested, of course, but I wasn’t crazy about the usability (this is one of my specialties). Give me a keyboard, people! I need a stylus! As the iPhones improved, they got my further attention because it appeared that one really could manipulate the on-screen keyboard with sufficient dexterity.

My next objection was the fact that one HAD to sign with AT&T to get service. I specifically left AT&T for Sprint 12 years ago because AT&T insisted that I get a new phone! At that time, AT&T was tying specific service plans to specific phones, and apparently my phone at the time didn’t qualify. I got a phone call from AT&T when I was visiting my alma mater, Wheaton College. The operator asked for my EIN number, then informed me that I would have to change service plans or change phones. I told them that if I had to change phones, I would also change carriers. I did.

So now it’s May 2011, and I have a dying phone. The last straw was seeing the offer for $49 for an iPhone 3GS. No, it’s not the latest iPhone, but it’s a decent phone, and I had to make a choice. So, I went over to the Fruit Side.

The Fruit Side?

If you’re a staunch Windows person, then using an Apple/Mac product MAY be referred to by your equally staunch Windows friends as “going to the dark side,” an oblique “Star Wars” reference. Mac people will say the same about using Windows products: no surprise there. Since I already own 2 iPods and live with 3 Macs on the network in my house AND live with a Mac Guy, I decided not to refer to my iPhone purchase as “going to the dark side.” Instead, I’ve simply gone to the Fruit Side. Hey, I’m even planning to install in my office the Mac Mini I got back from my Dad after he passed away in January. As a responsible web designer, I have to test my designs on as many platforms and browsers as I can. Now I won’t have to run upstairs to McAlister’s computer to check my sites on his Mac.

Mobile communications on cool devices like the iPhone, Blackberry, Android, and others have shifted the way business travelers operate. You can see now on your phone travel information similar to what I was preparing in my travel guides, only instantly and wirelessly from a vast repository of travel data. I’ve just begun to explore the available travel apps in the iTunes App Store, though I’ve spotted the TripIt app that goes with my subscription. Facebook and LinkedIn are already on my iPhone (I might get some social media marketing done after all), but since I have ONLY 8 gigabytes of space (hee hee), I’m being careful. More importantly, I’m being careful of my TIME and trying to not waste it on apps that won’t get me to my destination efficiently.

The App Store: it truly is a techie playground. I have a feeling I’ll be writing more about my iPhone adventures in the months to come.

The international events of the last month have been extraordinary. The upheaval in multiple nations in major oil-producing regions of the world mean that prices have increased across the board. I’m not going to get into a discussion of the political events or the world’s current dependence on fossil fuels. Instead I’d like to focus on how business travelers can cope with increased costs by using mass transit wherever possible.

Fast Track from the Airport

Much of what determines the use of mass transit from the airport to your chosen destination has to do with timing and proximity. As a business traveler, we’re not always able to use mass transit because our business takes us to multiple locations at our destinations. Rental cars become necessary, and we’re hit not only with the price of gasoline but also parking fees.

For business travels where we’re operating in one location, using the light rail or bus system should be a consideration. Below is a list of cities in the USA and elsewhere that have mass transit and light rail connections directly from the airport to the center of town. This is just a sample of the places with good coverage, most of which I have personally used. I’ve included links to their mass transit system websites.

USA

Atlanta  http://www.itsmarta.com/airport.aspx

Boston www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/subway/lines/?route=SILVER

Chicago http://www.transitchicago.com/riding_cta/airports.aspx

Minneapolis http://www.metrotransit.org/airport.aspx

New York http://www.panynj.gov/airports/jfk-to-from.html,
http://www.panynj.gov/airports/ewr-to-from.html

Oakland http://www.flyoakland.com/bart_airbart.shtml

San Francisco http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/tofrom/transp-serv/pubtrans/

Seattle http://www.portseattle.org/seatac/ground/rail.shtml

San Diego http://www.san.org/sdia/transportation/public.aspx

Washington DC http://www.metwashairports.com/dulles/809.htm,

http://www.metwashairports.com/reagan/1303.htm

International

Amsterdam (English page) http://www.schiphol.nl/Travellers/ToFromSchiphol/PublicTransport/ByTrainDomestic.htm

Frankfurt (English page) http://www.rmv.de/coremedia/generator/RMV/AutoCo/Flugzeug/FlughafenFrankfurt/inhalt_3Den.html

Hong Kong http://www.hongkongairport.com/eng/transport/to-from-airport/airport-express.html

London http://www.heathrowexpress.com, http://www.gatwickairport.com/transport/trains/

Paris (English page) http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/en-gb/passagers/home/

Singapore http://www.changiairport.com/getting-around/to-and-from-airport/trains-mrt

Sydney http://www.airportlink.com.au/

These links were not difficult to find; all I had to do was to search on Google for the airport, then look for Ground Transportation. Most of the websites whose cities had direct links from the airport had pages devoted to those services. From there, a few clicks led to the descriptions of the pages, and links to the pages with timetables and maps.

Using Transit Passes

When business has kept me in a particular city for 5 days or more, I also look into getting a weekly pass. Most cities have some kind of multi-day, multi-service pass that you can use to move around. It takes a little bit of planning, but in less than an hour you can figure out which stations you need to use, how much walking time is required, and how often the services run. I’ve saved a lot of money this way, and truly enjoyed the experience of being “a local.”

When I know that I will be returning to a particular city multiple times, I’ll even buy a reloadable transit card where available. In addition to my local Seattle “ORCA” card, I have one each for Singapore and Hong Kong. In some countries (like Singapore), reloadable transit cards are used not only for trains and busses, but also as payment cards at grocery and convenience stores.

Keep in mind that by using mass transit, you’re not only taking your rental car off the road, you’re also reducing your company liability, avoiding fuel charges and parking fees, and recapturing time you can use to practice your presentation, make phone calls, and read the paper. You’ll also save time because you won’t have to try to find a parking space or wait in line to pay at the parking garage exit.

Other Considerations for Using Mass Transit

If your business destination has a choice of hotels, look for the hotel closest to both a mass transit station and your meeting place. The time you save by being within walking distance of both is considerable. You’ll need to bring or plan to wear a comfortable pair of shoes, and suitable outwear for inclement weather. These days you can print area (walking) maps from Google Maps or other services, so you don’t even need to visit the map store, unless you want a laminated map. Having local currency in small bills is a good idea, even if you buy a transit pass, in case yours gets lost.

Using mass transit is a good investment in time and effort, and a money-saver any way you look at it.

This month’s newsletter is going to be uncharacteristically short for an appropriate reason: I have only 1 hour before boarding time. I’m in Chicago O’Hare Airport, on my way home from my father’s memorial service. Dad passed away January 8th, and we waited to schedule a service when the greatest number of relatives could join us for the celebration of Dad’s life.

Travel Then and Travel Now

The first time I remember meeting my father’s mother was when I was about 5 years old. My youngest brother was just a baby, and Grandma Frida was pretty old by then. It was a seemingly unending trip in the car; first navigating our way from Rockford IL through Chicago, then across Indiana where our toll card was punched at each end of the state. Next was the trip across Ohio and my version of “are we there yet?” Followed by the twists and turns on the road to Ashtabula. The trip was 10 hours by car, and we made it all in one long stretch because we couldn’t afford to stay overnight in motels.

The trip to see Grandma Victoria and Grandpa Anton was similar, though not as long. We took old Route 20 across Illinois and most of the way across Iowa. It only took 7 hours, but again, we made it all in one day.

All of our family trips were made by car; I didn’t get on an airplane for the first time until I was 19 years old. It was spring, and the Wheaton College Choir was going on a bus tour of the mid-Atlantic states, but first we had to fly to Washington DC to get to the bus. I remember being both nervous and excited on that first trip. I didn’t want to confess that I was such a travel-late-bloomer, but I also didn’t know the correct protocols, and was afraid I might embarrass myself.

I didn’t travel very much until I started working for Microsoft. Then within any 10 hour period in the air, I could reach most destinations in Europe or Asia. Tack on another 3 hours and I could reach Australia or New Zealand. Not only did my travel horizons increase, so did my world view. Going to Wheaton College gave me the opportunity to meet people from all over the world; traveling for business gave me the opportunity to see where they lived.

What does this have to do with my father’s passing? What I am contemplating in this newsletter is how quickly the world moves now compared to when I was a kid. It’s neither all bad or all good; it’s just fast. Things have changed a lot in my lifetime; they have changed even more during Dad’s lifetime.

Technology Overcoming Obstacles

Despite being almost 94, Dad had been busy and active right up until the last week of his life. When illness overtook him, he slipped away in just 6 days. He never wanted to linger, so despite our sorrow, we were OK with that. My sister who lived nearby was there, and my youngest brother was able to break away and join her as they kept vigil. My other brother and I connected with my sister and brother via Skype’s video conferencing service, so even though we couldn’t be together, we had regular updates.

After Dad had gone, my siblings and I met every few days for an hour or two to handle preparations for this past weekend. We got a room block for the relatives, organized the service, arranged for a family dinner afterwards, and even began sorting through the precious heirlooms handed down from previous generations. Using webcams, we could see the photographs we wanted to put into the slide show of Dad’s life, and we laughed and cried together in a way that wasn’t affordable or even barely possible 10 years ago.

Keeping Families Together via Technology

It’s hard enough to stay close to your immediate family when you’re a business traveler; staying in touch with your own siblings and parents can be even more challenging. I’m glad that my family is tech-enabled enough to stay in touch via email, Skype, and now on Facebook. I hope you’ll encourage your siblings to stay in touch as well. Life is precious, and time flies. Make the most of the opportunities you have to reach out to those closest to your heart.

From time to time, I report on useful technology for business travelers. This month I want to talk about data protection while you’re on the road.

For years I’ve carried a small portable drive for handling my nightly backups. Having your own backup drive may be fast and efficient, but with the wide availability of high-speed Internet connections in even the most modest hotels, it’s time to take a serious look at using online backup while you’re on the road.

Online Backup Programs You’ve Heard About

There are two big players in the online backup market whose names you’ve no doubt heard in the media: Mozy and Carbonite. I’ve used MozyPro, the business version of their software in the past. I registered 3 computers with them and backed up my files incrementally over time. I was paying nearly $60/month at the time, and when one of my older computers failed, I was able to recover the files I had worked on, which was terrific.

I just reviewed the pricing for MozyPro, and it’s about the same as it was when I was using a couple of years ago. For the 83 GB of files I would want to back up nightly, I would be paying $41.50 plus the monthly fee of $4.95 for just one computer. For me the price became prohibitive to use online backup for two computers, so I went back to local backups on an external hard drive.

Carbonite is the other service you’ve heard about, and several of my clients use it and like it very much. Their website offers an unlimited backup for $54.95/year, but they point out that they only back up certain kinds of files for that fee: email, photos, documents, settings, and music. You can also add videos, files over 4GB in size, and executable files. It is not designed to be what is known as a “drive image” backup or snapshot of your entire machine. Restoring your computer would mean reinstalling all of your software and putting these files back where they belonged.

Carbonite works all the time in the background, backing up when your computer is idle. MozyPro can be set to do the same thing. Both services will require you to keep your computer on all the time, and it may take several days to do the initial backup. I remember mine taking 3 days (60 gigabytes, remember?), but after that backups took just an hour or so because it was incrementally backing up only what had changed.

One issue you encounter with both of these services is the retention policy. Typically files are deleted after 30 days, so neither service is good for long-term storage. Most people only keep a few days’ worth of backups anyway, so if you’re only interested in offline backups, then these services are fine.

The Amazon S3 Alternatives

Amazon S3 is one of the best “cloud storage” options you’ve never heard of. “S3″ stands for Simple Storage Service, and it’s used by programmers and Internet Marketers to make their content available to users.

Why do I mention Amazon S3? Because of the extremely low costs involved. Right now I have about 26 GB of files stored on Amazon S3, and my bill hasn’t ever reached $5 per month to store them. Amazon charges not only for the storage but for retrieval requests, but the costs are negligible.

Also Amazon S3 can be used for long-term storage, not just for backups. You don’t access Amazon S3 using a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) program; you must use a special access tool such as Cloudberry Lab’s S3 Explorer (Freeware). What is also special about Amazon S3 is that they use alphanumeric security keys in place of a username and password. These keys are long and difficult/impossible to memorize, and less likely to be hacked by prying eyes.

Amazon S3 by itself does not have backup capability, but here are 2 programs you can consider using to handle the backup functions and storing your backups online.

• Zmanda Cloud Backup for Windows
  Zmanda uses Amazon S3 for its storage, and lets you configure what is configured when using their desktop software. You can have it back up files locally and then schedule back files to be copied to your Amazon S3 account, or you can back up directly to Amazon S3 You pay a monthly licensing fee to use the software, but you are billed directly by Amazon S3 for the storage fees. Zmanda has a nice cost calculator on their website, so you can figure out in advance approximately how much you’ll pay per month to run backups.
• Cloudberry Lab Online Backup
  Cloudberry Lab’s Online Backup has many of the same features, but instead of paying a monthly fee for the software, you buy it outright, (US$29.99) then pay annually for maintenance updates (which they say are 20% of the original price, or US$6.00). This backup software backs up directly to Amazon S3, but it offers “differential” backup, so that you’re not backing up all the files every cycle. That keeps your Amazon S3 data in/out costs down.

Getting in the Backup Habit

Whether you choose to bring a backup drive or rely on the online backup alternatives described above, the most important thing is to get in the habit of running backups. If you aren’t used to having your laptop on all night, this might take some getting used to. Don’t worry; modern laptops are built for nearly continuous operation, and they’ll hold up as long as they’re well-ventilated.

If you choose an online backup service, you can plug in your laptop at the hotel and leave it running all night so that the backups can make it to your service’s storage locations. You also save on baggage weight by having one less thing to carry.

Are you using an online backup service? If so, let me know which one and what your experiences have been by commenting on this newsletter.

No doubt you’ve seen the news, read the horror stories, and wondered about the new security procedures instigated by the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) recently. TSA began applying these procedures after my trip in September, so I have not yet experienced them. Having been “selected for additional screening” in locations around the world, the thought of being patted down on American soil makes me very uncomfortable. As business travelers, we’re going to get more than our share of screening as it is, and now having more to endure, I wanted to get some facts pulled together for you.

What My “TSA Scanner” Research Found

Not having been through the procedure myself, I doubted the wisdom of delving into the subject in this newsletter but I decided to at least begin the discussion. So in preparation for writing this newsletter, I got onto the Central Link train and went down to the Seattle- Tacoma International Airport to see what was happening.

It had been a busy day, so by the time I got to the terminal, it was nearly 7 pm. Since I live on the West Coast that time of day is pretty quiet. I was able to stand within visual range of the scanners themselves to see, first of all, what they look like. When I came home, I did a search in Google Images for “TSA Scanner,” and only found a small image on a television station website that looks like the ones used here.

http://www.ktvu.com/2010/1121/25866110.jpg

There is apparently another version that looks like a Plexiglas phone booth, seen in this photo I found on CNN:

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/TRAVEL/01/11/body.scanners/story.scanner.gi.jpg

I looked at the scanners at two different checkpoints, and neither were using them at that hour. So I went over to a TSA employee and asked about them. The gentleman was very polite and helpful, but he began by rolling his eyes a bit at my question. No doubt he had been answering this question for all his friends too. Here is what I gleaned of the procedures at this point in time.

1. You’re sent to the full-body scanner only if you set off the metal detector. At that point you may be sent to the full body scanner or just sent through the metal detector again.

2. You may be selected for additional screening at any time (he offered no further explanation).

3. You have the option to be patted down instead.

Light Me Up, Please

Personally, I’d go for the scanner. Why? Well here’s what I learned about the scanners themselves; the radiation level used is for most people not a threat. There will always be exceptions to that, and your medical professional can advise you. I found this explanation of the radiation levels on CBSNews.com.

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-204_162-10005685.html

Now About Those Images…

My question is, “who is looking at me?” The director of the TSA, John Pistole, wrote a column on November 24th in USA Today, explaining the procedures and offering facts about the process from their point of view.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-11-24-column24_ST2_N.htm

Here’s what he had to say about the images themselves:

“All images generated by imaging technology are viewed in a walled-off location not visible to the public. The officer assisting the passenger never sees the image, and the officer viewing the image never interacts with the passenger. The imaging technology that we use cannot store, export, print, or transmit images.”

Also, TSA has forbidden their employees from bringing into the viewing area anything that would allow them to capture the image separately from the scanner itself, such as a camera or cell phone, etc. Now you and I know that there will always be people who try to break that rule, but I’m guessing that there’s a tremendous amount of pressure on these employees to obey. If they’re caught breaking the rule, they get fired.

Implementation Issues

I was scheduled to get on a plane and fly to Las Vegas just 9 days after the events of September 11, 2001 — just 4 days after planes started flying again. I had paid for my ticket and pre-paid for 3 days of training, so despite my concerns, I was determined to go! We were warned to get to the airport early, and it’s a good thing I did. I stood in line for over an hour while private security personnel (remember, no TSA back then) tried to implement hastily ordered procedures with little or no training. It was a nightmare. I made my flight, but just barely.

Without all the facts in front of me, and without having spoken to the offended persons, I am suspecting that some of the horror stories come from similarly randomly applied procedures as this new phase of screening is put in place. That does not make the process any less invasive or offensive. It is my fondest hope that the implementation of pat-down procedures will stabilize, and that TSA will do a better job of seeing to it that their employees are judicious in their application of those procedures. It can’t be easy to have the job of screening, no matter how you look at it. But it’s also distressing to realize that we have to succumb to this level of screening to protect the flying public.

The Best Advice…

On my way back to the train to go home, I stopped to talk to a couple of airline employees (a man and a woman), and I asked them about the reactions people have had to the new procedures. They both immediately said that the news items had been blown out of proportion, and that “it really wasn’t that bad.” But the best piece of advice I heard anywhere came from the woman. She said very simply, “Don’t beep. Don’t do anything that might set off the metal detectors, and you’ll most likely be fine.” Well, as business travelers, that’s where we have an advantage. We have “not beeping” down to a science!

Have you been through full-body screening or a pat-down? If so, share your story by commenting on this blog post below.