These will seem obvious but knowing about them will hopefully help you avoid learning from painful first hand experience. 1. Forgetting your passport - or not having at least 6 months validity left. 2. Checking baggage. Most seasoned road warriors will only have carryon luggage - you'll never see them waiting at the carousel. 3. Getting annoyed with airport security. Unfortunately they hold all the power and occasionally you'll encounter someone who abuses it. Getting frustrated or angry won't help get you through to your gate any faster - in fact, you can end up missing your flight. 4. Not checking stopover duration. Getting stuck in an airport for 8 hours isn't much fun and will have you wishing you'd spent the extra few hundred dollars to fly direct. 5. Drinking too much alcohol on the flight. Airplanes already dehydrate you - drinking will make that worse, stop you from sleeping properly. 6. Leaving your iPad / phone / wallet in the seat pocket in front of you. 7. Missing a meeting because you slept in because of jet lag. Check your alarm clock - know what it sounds like and then put it out of reach so you can't simply turn it off. Also ask for a wake up call as a backup. 8. Missing flights because you misjudged traffic conditions. Ask your hotel concierge about peak traffic hours and if anything special is going on in town. 9. Forgetting your reading glasses. 10. Religiously sticking to one airline or network to maximise points/miles. The reality is they are often difficult to redeem and expire quickly yet many road warriors go out of their way to fly on an airline, even when it's more expensive, takes longer and is less convenient. source: www.beready.net. |