Are You a Frequent Flyer? Here’s How to Avoid Airplane Health Risks

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How to Avoid Airplane health Risks by GTI travel

Airplane travel can be a time to get work done, take a nap, or catch up on your favorite Netflix series. Unfortunately, if you are a frequent flyer, you can also be catching a cold from your fellow passengers or sapping your energy by succumbing to unhealthy eating and sitting on long, cramped airplanes.

Here are some ways to avoid airplane health risks:

Bring an Empty Water Bottle

You might be tempted to leave your water at home knowing that you can’t take it through security, but you can take an empty water bottle and fill it up before boarding the plane. Taking your own water helps you make sure you are hydrated throughout your trip which is the best way to keep your nasal membranes moist in the dry pressurized cabin air, making it easier for your body to flush out germs. Companies can provide their business travelers with a water bottle with the company logo to encourage drinking water while traveling.

Flush Carefully

Germs in the restroom are a given, but you can avoid contact with the many microorganisms in the airport and plane restrooms by using a paper towel while touching surfaces of the toilet and door.

Pack Healthy Snacks

A pack of peanuts or pretzels is not the best nutrition for a flight. Bringing or purchase foods that will make you feel good, like:

  • Salad
  • Granola or protein bars
  • Fruit
  • Yogurt
  • Hummus and vegetables

Not sure where you can get healthy foods to eat while traveling? A travel agent can help business travelers know what is available and where to find it.

Take a Deep Breath

Low humidity, high pressure, and less available oxygen make airplane travel put a load on your respiratory system. Here are some travel consultant tips:

  • Take long, deep, easy breaths to get more oxygen into your bloodstream.
  • Bring saline to hydrate your sinuses and flush out germs.
  • Take off contacts, especially if you are sleeping.
  • Use eye drops to flush out bacteria and keep eyes moist.

Move Around

Whenever you are allowed to get out of your seat, make sure you take the opportunity to stand, walk down the aisle and move. That can prevent the possibility of developing deep vein thrombosis leg clots. When you are in your seat, be sure to move your legs and ankles frequently and to drink plenty of water to keep your body hydrated and your blood moving.

Vitamins and Medications

Don’t forget to also pack your vitamins for the flight. Keeping your energy up with good foods will help your body fight off infections and make you feel better. Forget something at home? Your business travelers will have someone they can call for help if you have the 24/7 personal services of GTI travel consultants.

Use Travel Consultants for Booking Travel

The truth? Less time in the air is your healthiest bet. Using a travel management company can help you make sure business travelers have the most efficient travel possible to and from their destination.

 

Expert Travel Planning for Sports Teams

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Traveling together with a sports team for an overnight tournament can be an excellent experience.The team can spend time playing the sport they all love, bonding together as they spend time at the hotel, and enjoying the excitement of competing at a high level. For coaches and sponsors of the team to enjoy the travel just as much, they should consider using travel planners specializing in sports travel to take care of all the trip details like flights, hotels and ground transportation. Read more

Ways to reduce Business Travel Expenses for Small Businesses

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Business Travel Management CompanyHave you noticed that your business travel expenses keep on increasing? Don’t blame your employees. The fact is that the cost of corporate travel continues to increase, with flights, hotels and rental cars all costing more in 2017. Finding more money to fund that travel can be a headache, but don’t despair, there are ways to reduce business travel expenses for small businesses:

Use Help to Book Travel

Booking in advance is the best way for individuals to save money, but that doesn’t always work in business travel. Frequently, business travelers may only have a few days notice. So how can you get good rates? If you use a travel consultant to help you get tickets for airlines and hotels, you have the advantage of: Read more

Why Use a Travel Agent for Corporate Travel?

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With travel websites so easily available, does it still make sense to use a travel agent for corporate travel plans? Absolutely, because time is money and just getting there doesn’t mean your money is well spent. Business travel agency consultants work to help their customers have the best possible travel experiences. Here are some things you need to know about travel agents:

Travel Agents Don’t Cost You More

Perhaps the biggest misconception about using a corporate travel consultant is that it will cost your business more for travel. The reverse is true. When your company tries to use self-planned travel, you waste money. A recent interview with an industry veteran in The Atlantic points out that more businesses have gone back to using corporate travel agents because: Read more

Do Travel Agents Get Free Trips?

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Do travel agents get free trips, GTI TravelFrequently, people that work as travel agents encounter the question, “Do you get to travel all over the world for free?” Sometimes the people asking the question are interested in working as business travel consultants themselves, or they may just wonder how travel agencies make money. Here is what you need to know about travel agents and their perks:

Not Many Freebies

In truth, most of the time, travel agents don’t get free travel although they sometimes get discounts or a chance to keep the commission they would get on their own travel plans. An agent might have the opportunity to travel at a discount if:

  • Convention properties give them a cheaper trip to let them learn about their property on a working vacation.
  • They learn about last-minute trips that haven’t been filled and are being offered at low prices to agents.

How Travel Agents Make Money

In the past, most travel agents made the most money off of airline commissions, but changes in booking travel have reduced that stream of income. Now business travel consultants get revenue through service fees and commissions. Some of these fees are paid by businesses, and others are paid by the vendors themselves.

How Travel Agents Really Travel the World

Most of the time, when travel agents take trips, they pay the same way that you do for their personal travel, out of their own pockets, although they may be able to book their own travel and earn a commission. Occasionally, if they are lucky, they could get a trip as a door prize at a convention, just the same as you might at your business convention.

Do Travel Agent Commissions Add to Business Travel Cost?

Not in the long run. Often the service fees or commissions might be something rolled into the cost of the trip no matter who makes the arrangements. However, when you work with a travel agent, you have someone who knows your needs and is personally interested in making sure your business travelers are safe and have a well-planned trip.

Are Corporate Travel Consultants Worth Paying For?

While your business may pay for the travel planning, that service fee will more than be made up by:

  • Saving employee time to book trips.
  • Better travel arrangements and often better travel itineraries that save time and money.
  • Upgrades available only to agents.
  • Protection of having your business travelers able to have access to travel help 24/7.

Why Travel Agents Enjoy Their Job

If there isn’t free travel, what makes people enjoy being a travel agent? Most travel consultants are people-oriented and love organizing trips and helping other people. They find their job fun and love it when a trip is more successful than the business traveler expected. So if your corporate travel agent planned a particularly successful trip, be sure to tell them!

 

6 Ways Travel Agencies Make Your Business Travel Easy

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Business Travel, Travel Agency, GTI Travel

While booking your own travel is possible, more and more companies are discovering that while “DIY” is great for home improvement projects, it can backfire big when you apply that to important aspects of your business like travel arrangement. Here are 6 ways travel agencies make your business travel easier:

1. Someone to Call

With weather delays, lost luggage, changed meeting times and illnesses, the list of potential challenges that could interrupt your well-planned business trip are practically endless. In fact, when you are traveling for business and need to be on time, it seems that delays and problems are the norms, rather than the exception. When you use a GTI travel management consultant, you have someone to call 24/7 that can help you:

  • Reschedule.
  • Find the information you need.
  • Get emergency supplies or help.

2. Peace of Mind

Ever hear a report about terrorism in another country or political demonstrations and worry about your business travelers? With a travel agent in charge, you and your travelers have the peace of mind of knowing that no matter what they encounter, an expert is in charge of getting them to their destination and home safely.

3. Better Travel Arrangements

Even though you can get all of those flights, hotels, and other arrangements on your own, you can’t do it as well as an experienced travel agent who has:

  • Access to special pricing and discounts.
  • The ability to get upgrades or extras.
  • Experience in creating itineraries that provide for better travel.

4. Save Money

Not only can a corporate travel consultant save you time, they usually save you money both in planning the trip and in managing your business travel expenses for your company. Why? They can help:

  • Develop best practice travel policies.
  • Train employees on policies.
  • Track compliance.
  • Analyze and articulate business travel goals.

5. Tips and Tricks

A travel agent has heard your question a thousand times. That is good news. It means they are more than prepared with any possible answer that you need. They can give you good information about preparing to travel. Moreover, they can help you avoid many travel glitches with their tips and tricks on:

  • Best itineraries for your route.
  • Which areas of the town or hotels to avoid.
  • The easiest way to get around a city.
  • What you need to pack and what you don’t for a particular country.

6. Local Information

Whether you are traveling domestically or internationally, business travel agents can help you be prepared by providing:

  • Local weather information.
  • Currency conversion information.
  • Information about visas and identification you will need.
  • Travel warnings and information about vaccines.
  • Directions to hotels, transportation or business meetings.
  • Where to buy things you forgot to bring.

Who wouldn’t want instant access to the best travel industry knowledge and information for their business travelers? You would not handicap sales people by not providing them everything they need to succeed. By using travel agent services you let your business travelers focus on what they do best: represent your business.

 

The Secret Guide to Negotiating Rates and Fares With Travel Agents. Shhh… Don’t Tell Anyone!

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Want to reduce spending on business travel? Who doesn’t want to get the most from their expense budgets? The money you don’t have to spend on travel can go into growing your company or providing incentives to your most productive employees. Here is the secret guide to negotiating rates and fares with travel agents:

Get Help From a Travel Management Company

First tip? Don’t go it alone. No business can really compete in an online search with the volume and resources available to business travel agency management. A management agency can make sure you have access to discount rates only available to corporate travel agencies. In addition, they can further assist you in assessing your travel needs clearly and setting goals that help you: Read more

Your Work Requires You to Travel all the Time. How to Stay Fit while on the Road?

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Staying healthy on the road takes planning, but it is worth it when you don’t feel guilty about indulging in the local cuisine. Here are some tips for staying fit while on the road:

Pack Workout Gear

Simple shorts, T-shirt, sneakers and you are ready to go. Having them with you will be a good reminder to take the time to use them. If you forget your gear, give a call to your travel agent who can direct you to a place you can purchase replacements, or can let you know if your hotel has something you can borrow. Read more

Some Things Business Travelers Should Not Leave Behind

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With planes to catch, endless security lines to navigate, car rentals to book, and the need to keep up business expense documents, business travelers may sometimes dread the next trip. Making your business travel go more smoothly is the job of GTI business travel consultants. Here are some of our suggestions for things business travelers should not leave behind:

Wifi HotspotThings Business Travelers should not leave behind - GTI Travel

One sure way to waste time on a trip is to lose the ability to contact clients and business associates. While a business traveler can sometimes rely on good WiFi in hotels and airports, they won’t have to worry about finding a good connection or pay extra fees if they carry their own company hotspot.

Medicines But Not Shampoo

Or a hairdryer, or soap, or anything else you can reasonably expect to find at a hotel. Business travel will be easier if a traveler packs light and goes carry-on only. If they do forget something, they can often get it from the front desk attendant at the hotel. Unsure what to leave behind when traveling abroad? Ask your international travel consultant for country-specific recommendations.

Navigation System

While travelers can sometimes get a GPS with a rental car, companies often tack on hidden fees each day of use. Moreover, a system in a car won’t help if you are walking or taking public transportation. A better option is to use your smartphone’s maps app and download maps of the area ahead of time.

Spare Business Clothes in Carry-on

Spills happen, and so do flight delays that can cause the outfit that looked great in the morning to look rumpled and unkempt. One tip from travel planners in Philadelphia is to keep not only spare business clothes with you, even if you do check a bag. They also suggest business travelers keep these items for freshening up:

  • Small lint roller.
  • Spot remover.
  • Colgate Whisp disposable toothbrush to get rid of coffee breath.
  • Facial wipes for freshening up.

BYO Caffeine Fix

Standing in line at the Starbucks can take forever at an airport. While a traveler still might want to do that if they have a long layover, it doesn’t hurt to try this tip: bring an insulated mug and fill it up with hot water for free at any airport eatery. Then the traveler can add their own favorite tea or even Starbucks Instant Coffee.

Understanding Company Travel Policies

Business travelers need to follow company policies to make sure their expenses are reimbursed. The clearer the policies, the better. If your company policies need some sprucing up consider using a travel management consulting service. Management services can help your company:

  • Develop best practices travel policies.
  • Educate employees about travel.
  • Help your company save money on travel.
  • Assist in travel policy evaluation.

Personalized Help

Lastly, the most important thing that business travelers need is someone they can call 24/7 for questions, help in an emergency, or assistance in changing reservations. GTI corporate travel management agency specializes in providing business travelers all the assistance they need so that you have peace of mind and they do too.

7 Reasons Why You Should Use a Travel Agent for Your Next Business Trip

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Use Travel Agents for your next Business Trip - GTI TravelWith the availability of online booking, you may wonder if your business should use a travel agent. Perhaps you are unsure whether that will save your company money. Here are 7 reasons using a corporate travel agent is still the best idea for your next business trip:

Better Travel Deals

One thing that most people don’t know is that the very best deals on travel are only offered to travel agents with specialized connections to services. Moreover, as we all know, getting the cheapest deal on travel may not always be the best choice if the layovers lose the traveler time or hotel accommodations are not clean, safe or centrally located.

Saves Time

Looking for travel reservations online takes time, especially when business travelers are looking for a particular itinerary or are trying to save money. Expert travel agents often can make better travel arrangements and often can make a better itinerary because they know the layout of a city without having to read various reviews and look at maps. Letting an expert take care of the travel arrangements saves the business travel time that they can better spend getting ready for meetings.

Personalized Attention

When you use GTI Travel, you will have 24/7 access to a live person in the case of any need to:

  • Change flights.
  • Book a different hotel.
  • Locate something you forgot.
  • Take care of an emergency situation.

Expert Advice

Global travel agents have personal experience and access to information that can make your business travel safer, easier and much more pleasant. Even if you’ve been to a city many times before or spend hours researching, you probably still won’t have the up-to-date information they have about:

  • Best service at hotels.
  • Highest quality restaurants and meeting rooms.
  • Easiest travel within a city.

Higher Quality at Cheaper Prices

Want to save money? A travel management company has the clout to leverage their client’s upgrades or special services at bargain prices. Moreover, they buy in volume and so can often get deals that you couldn’t get online.

Help When You Need It

Unfortunately, lots of things can go wrong on a business trip. You can have a layover, a health emergency, a change in meeting plans or baggage that doesn’t show up. If you buy your tickets online, you are on your own, but with a travel agent at your side, you have someone that you can go to for help. GTI international global consultants have offices worldwide with specialists who can take care of any emergency, to make sure that a business traveler makes it to and from their destination safely and on time.

Help With Travel Policies

Have a small business? Wondering what is the best way to save the most money on business travel? GTI’s Small Business Travel Management services provide not only travel agent services for booking business travel but also:

  • Help in evaluating your travel policies for best practices of your industry.
  • Assistance in setting up travel policy management.
  • Evaluation tools to help you assess the cost effectiveness of your business travel.

The bottom Line? To have better, safer, cheaper business travel be sure to use an agent. Read more about our business travel management services here https://www.gtitravel.com/small-business-travel-agency-management/.