Frequent Flier: Keeping an Open Mind Allows Anyone to Wander in
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Even with the utter misery of modern air travel, I still find it possible to engage fellow travelers in conversations that may, if Iâm lucky, lead to new friendships.
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Jet lag isn't just caused by time zone shifts.
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âMillage runnersâ seek out the longest flights and the most connections hoping to game the airlinesâ frequent flier rewards programs.
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or decades, an airline job was a coveted plum. Good pay, generous benefits, strong unions and the glamour of air travel made pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and even baggage handlers the envy of their neighbors.
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More travelers are thinking of frequent-flier miles as a little like Monopoly play money, and online booking sites, are thinking up new ways to both earn and use the miles.
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BUSINESS travel kindles my imagination. The experiences that I have on the road spark my creativity and become a part of my designs.
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An independent film producerâs goal: Get to meetings by attaining frequent-flier platinum status on Northwest Airlines.
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Travel: Air travel is becoming as controversial as wearing a fur coat. But do we really have to feel guilty about flying?  Tom Robbins reports.
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The Web 2.0-social networking phenomenon&#39;s seemingly irresistible force field has ensnared yet another niche: travel.Dopplr, a hosted service, allows users to track the travel schedule and whereabouts of themselves and their friends through a visual interface reminiscent of Facebook, rather than traditional means such as e-mail.Although the application is still in private-beta phase, its backers have wasted no time in courting workers in large enterprises -- those with the most intense travel schedules. While for most users, Dopplr is invite-only -- a buzz-building gimmick harkening back to the early days of Gmail -- the company more recently created the Dopplr 100. Employees from the 100 companies on the list can sign up for the service. Among the 100 are Sun, Microsoft, and IBM.Other startups, such as Tripit, are also trying to marry social networking and travel itineraries. Tripit takes user-submitted information such as airline and hotel confirmation e-mails and uses the data within to generate a tailored itinerary, replete with maps, local weather info and the like. It also allows users to create lists of friends.But Dopplr may stand out in terms of early buzz -- the company claims nearly 100,000 users -- and for quickly orienting itself around business users.Dopplr&#39;s chief operating officer, Taneli Tikka, said the company&#39;s enterprise ambitions arose from research into their existing user profiles. &quot;We analyzed the user base and found that clearly there were industries ... that were using it more than others,&quot; he said.James Governor, an analyst in the U.K. with Redmonk, is a vocal cheerleader for Dopplr. (Governor also shares an office with Dopplr founder Matt Biddulph, but says their business relationship ends there.) Governor recently issued a challenge to software companies listed on the Dopplr 100 through his blog, urging employees to sign up.He says Dopplr ultimately provides &quot;manufactured serendipity,&quot; for social and business-related scenarios.For example, if you had to travel to a distant city on business, you might well spend the night in your hotel room alone. But Dopplr could alert you to the presence of a friend or colleague who by happenstance is also in town, Governor said.Governor also notes the enduring presence of Web 2.0 conferences, despite the ever-growing richness of the communication-centric technologies that give rise to such events. &quot;Increasingly we work and meet in online interactions. .... That&#39;s not to say it&#39;s not rich, but it&#39;s no substitution for face-to-face contact.&quot;&quot;Some people don&#39;t like other people, and Dopplr probably isn&#39;t for them,&quot; he joked.Dopplr could also help enterprises save time and money, Governor speculated. A company might send three teams of workers with slightly overlapping responsibilities abroad on separate trips over time, for different reasons. &quot;With Dopplr you might be able say wait, let&#39;s send one guy on all three calls.&quot;The question outstanding, though, is how Dopplr will evolve its service into something fully enterprise-ready.One crucial topic for CIOs is security. Business users have given Dopplr feedback regarding this issue, according to Tikka. &quot;That&#39;s definitely something we need to carefully look at. We think companies should keep their confidential information with them and keep it confidential,&quot; he said. &quot;We would only be limited to kind of trivial stuff that doesn&#39;t really help if someone was to eavesdrop.&quot;In the meantime, Tikka said, Dopplr plans to monetize its service through a couple of avenues. Later this year, the company hopes to offer subscription-based premium accounts, which would include assorted value-added services to the basic platform. The company also intends to deliver finely tuned commercial advertising based on user profile information. Also in the works are plans to extend the Dopplr 100.
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The ultimate flight-to-safety investment.
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Remember what you've learned, and keep those lines of communication open!
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Janice D&#39;Aloia of Portland, Ore., has about 1.5 million frequent flier miles on United Airlines. Chris Thomas, a marketing executive in Jacksonville, Fla.
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Potential distractions at the computer are ever present and enticing. So research is aiming at ways to keep you focused.
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A little serendipity can take you places, including where you want to go.
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New software helps corporate travel managers track down business travelers who overspend. But it also poses a dilemma for honest travelers who are only trying to save money.
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When it comes to business travel, you can never be too careful or prepared.
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Scrunched in the packed coach cabin, J.P. Maxwell eyed the lone empty seat in first class. An elite flier on Continental Airlines , he was upset. Maxwell was convinced he should have been automatically upgraded for the recent four-hour trip.