Traveling Under Contract

In the travel industry service providers have this mysterious arm of employees called sales managers. Or Account Executives. Or something along those lines to give the grueling and cruel position some sense of power and respectability. Like the ubiquitous "Fuller Brush Man" they beat the bushes of corporate America hustling for the attentions and business of other corporations in what can be summed up as some of the most cut throat day trading left on the planet.

The corporate volume agreement is a key tool used to guarantee a revenue stream from a major customer in to the service provider, be it airline, rental car company or hotel. Travel providers operating on microscopic profit margins need every penny they can get. Corporations with far flung operations want as much of a break in travel costs as they can get. Now comes the fun...can they get a better discount from United or America, from Sheraton or Hyatt, from Avis or Hertz? McDonald's?

Most restaurants do not generally have a sales force beyond their marketing division which deals in print advertising and television commercials. After that their reputation, location and whether or not they accept the corporate card of choice are usually all they need to get people off the streets and in to their dining rooms. Hotels have rooms to fill and they measure their performance in terms such as "room/nights," or how many nights each room of a given property can generate. A one-night stay? Meh. Too much work. A group of 30 for ten nights each? Now you're talking! More of those, please, and how about some help with all those meeting rooms?

Rental car companies have huge fleets of cars in all sizes to keep on the roads and the longer the rentals the better for them. They have to move the car, often as a loss-leader to get to the margin boosting add-ons like collision damage waivers, GPS and category upgrades.

Same with airlines only amplified to an unimaginable degree. They have thousands of empty seats to fill, any one of which might be available for sale from one to six times a day depending on how often that particular aircraft takes off and lands within a 24 hour window. Add in other variables like market competition, day of the week and time of the year and that seat can have literally dozens of possible fares attached to it. Do you go after Grandma or General Electric?

Buy more, get more, basically, and other "toys" can come with those contracts, too, like free nights and cars, upgraded cars, rooms and seats in First Class. Airlines will even "match" membership status across frequent flyer programs. Other incentives can include memberships to the airline club lounges or even their particular brand of "Special Services" which amounts to individualized airport concierge service at the largest (and most notorious) hubs and key markets.

Today everybody pretends that their agreement is exclusive and that penalties will be invoked if the corporation double-dips with other service retailers in key markets. Doesn't happen. The corporate account often has multiple contracts designed for different things that covers the spread of their travel and lets them hit their travel targets across the board. No airline in their right mind will kill the goose so they can have all of the golden eggs. In markets like Chicago, New York, Boston and Los Angeles, it's sign here, then here, handshake, here's your bag of treats and thanks for buying exclusively with us!

Wink wink, nudge nudge.

Gotta go.

Mileage Milestones

What is it about our cars that cause us to take interest in the odometer reading? Whether the car is used or new I surely am not alone in being fascinated when the "clock" turns over every 1,000 miles. The paradox in seeing the range of numbers turn over, of course, is that each mile depreciates our prized possession that further while marking some minor sense of achievement in the distance personally traveled. Too bad much of that mileage is centered upon the commute to work and trips to the grocery store. Purchased or leased, a new car, new smells and all, represents virgin mileage. Nobody else has driven the vehicle and it almost encourages the new owner not to put too many "clicks" on the meter, this to try and preserve as much of the newness of the vehicle as possible. That first turnover, at 100 miles, usually eases the inevitable, that the car/truck/bike was bought to be driven - there was no turning back. Not legally, anyway. With a used car the thrill, if any, lies merely in the purchase for we all know this horse has been ridden before and whatever personality it contains it is ours to learn and adapt to. How many times has the car passed some milestone that you had previously marked in your mind to observe and then missed it by a mile? Here comes the next, "000" in the series and you want to watch the mileage turn over. Then, either forgotten or distracted, you look down and the odometer says "001." Argh! After retracing that mile back up the road in your mind you remember where you were when the event most likely occurred: either traveling at speed and unable to take your eyes off the road or just pulling out of the gas station and several blocks down the road before remembering. Or something to that effect. Oh but the worst ones are still to come. All kinds of numbers can come in to play: the birthday, a zip code or the miles that correspond to the month, day and year. There's nothing now to do except wait for the next occasion to pop up, in another 1,000 miles. Try something like when the odometer is only a few miles short of 333, 3333 or even 33,333. There is no next thousand miles for that number to come around again, it's gone. There is only another 11,111 miles to go until 44,444 pops up on the odometer and you are hopefully there to see it. A little over 11,000 miles? That's anywhere from nine months to at least a solid year of driving to get to and get through, but most definitely you will do your best to remember that next one. My car just went through 111,111 miles on the clock and I was there to see it. I was driving at high speed at the time, though, so I couldn't take a picture of the moment but I do remember it and where I was...on my way to work! I bought mine used so not all of those miles are mine but indeed I enjoyed being able to mark that milestone. I'm not entirely sure I will have that car when it reaches 222,222! Gotta go.

The Drive Thru The Desert

So there I was in California on business for the last time in 2010 that also included a weeklong visit to Phoenix, Arizona. This after having already been on the golden coast for a week and all within days of the Christmas holidays. I prayed to every god known to man that this trip would end quickly because I was due on the East Coast for the family festivities!

The issue with this trip was how to get between our offices in Los Angeles and the ones in Phoenix. Where most of you are automatically saying "fly, silly!" I chose to drive the 400 miles instead. My rationale seemed fairly straightforward at the time, starting with the rental car. I typically use Hertz and saw that the one-way rental between my pick-up in California and the drop-off in Arizona was not that much more than renting a car for a week at each location. The other consideration was in saving the airfare for myself and the co-worker I was traveling with even after filling the topping off the tank before leaving and filling it once again after we'd arrived.

Further, having previously written about the backwardness of checking in two hours ahead of a one hour flight I figured I'd be at the outskirts of Phoenix at roughly the same time any scheduled flight would have arrived from Los Angeles. Here's how I saw the flying option playing out:

a. Leave for the airport at 12 Noon for a 3PM flight out of either LAX or Burbank to Phoenix from our offices in the Valley. ALWAYS plan an hour to get to LAX from anywhere in LA, minimum.

We left the offices at exactly 12 Noon to begin our drive down The 215 towards Pasadena.

b. Arrive at the car rental agency at 1PM, turn in the car and take the shuttle to the terminal.

c. Arrive at the check-in counter at 1:30PM and check-in, including one large suitcase for two weeks worth of clothing. My computer case and camera bag are my two carry-ons.

We'd driven 80 miles to merge with The 10 for the haul through the desert to Phoenix.

d. After making it through security there is roughly an hour before the flight with boarding to begin 30 minutes prior to departure. In this day and age of carry-on space, there is a reason to be there as early as possible. Oh, and though I'm a premium customer on American, they don't fly the route. It would have been either Southwest or USAirways, neither of whom hardly know I exist.

e. IF the departure is on time at 3PM, we arrive in Phoenix at about 5PM after the time change, maybe 5:15 after some generous schedule padding by the airlines.

Roaring down the road past Indio and Blythe we crossed in to Arizona along the lines of 6ish.

f. Collecting luggage again takes until at least 5:30 or 5:45 after the flight has landed followed by the shuttle bus to the car rental counter just outside the west end of the runways.

g. The car is picked up and the hotel maybe 20 minutes away in Tempe, even in the thick of Phoenix afternoon rush hour. If we had flown we'd be checked in at the hotel by 6:30 at the latest.

As it happened we pulled in to the Arizona capital about an hour after that and went straight to dinner. Relaxed, comfortable from the smooth ride and the generous front seats of our Toyota Camry as compared to the convenience of an hour and fifteen minutes in coach.

No bags to check and possibly lose, no long lines at security to deal with and possibly be strip-searched in to the bargain, no cramped seats, lack of carry-on space, delayed flights or overworked and possibly surly crews. We got there when we got there with all of our stuff in the trunk where we put it.

I'd do it again in a minute, even to Tucson!

Gotta go.

Chariot of Choice

I haven't talked about cars after all this time which is pretty lame for a guy to overlook I must admit. For my own personal car I prefer Nissan products, having owned two Maxima's in a row and enjoyed nearly every minute of owning them. After more than a few mechanical disasters with G.M. I vowed never to own another make of theirs no matter how much they say they've improved. I have one life, I only ever need to own one car and I'm not about to waste a second of living wondering when, not if, the thing will cost me two months' salary on top of the monthly payments to fix.

Although I haven't done much touring with the current model, with the first Maxima I got in to the habit of taking photos of the car at various places of interest around the country. It was bought in California and ran for over 209,000 miles before finally giving up the ghost in Maryland. In between the more memorable trips included driving the Pacific Coast Highway, Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming, Mt. Rushmore, the Eastern Shore of Maryland and a few weekend road trips from Chicago to St. Louis for baseball games.


My father, one among many, started the family tradition of giving our cars a name. Rather than name each one individually, however, it was simply handed down from one to the next. His name of choice? "The Goose." I have no idea why. It started with a green Oldsmobile Delta 88 and made it through at least a few Cadillacs although I think he only calls his Lincolns by their given name these days. When it came my turn, with my first Maxima I took one look at the thing and declared it "Snoopy!"

Actually the car had more than a few names, depending on the mood I was in and where I was going. "Snoopy" came from the all white exterior with the exception of the black side mirrors, just like the ears of that oh-so famous beagle. If I was in a hurry to get somewhere, Snoopy was also referred to as Max, the more butch side of the model name Maxima. (Maximillian was never a consideration). More often than not, though, I simply referred to the car as "Buggy" whenever I went out riding just for the sake of going somewhere.

From top to bottom, I'd like to introduce "Snoopy" resting by the Bay Bridge the week I bought her, paying her respects at Buddy Holly's grave in Lubbock, Texas, patiently enduring the hijinks of a friend's youngest son in Little Rock and last but not least, "Buggy II" in Maryland where she was acquired. She drove me swift and true to Texas where we live happily today.

"Buggy" has lasted through all of those names and on to the car I'm driving now. It fits whenever I say I'm going to take the Buggy out for a ride in to the countryside although I don't have driving gloves, a long coat and goggles. Before the Nissan fix I drove around in a Mazda once but thankfully hadn't quite gotten in to naming my cars at the time. If I had I might have called it Madge!

Gotta go!

The Black and Gold

Exactly how does one end up choosing a preferred car rental company? It's not as straightforward, say, as choosing a favorite airline for most of us. The airlines concentrate at large cities and hubs but get spotty in smaller markets which contribute to the selection process. Cars, however, are represented in equal measure at just about any airport with a runway longer than 5,000 feet so how, again, does one decide which will be the chosen instrument of road transportation. In my case Hertz was the chosen provider of a former employer of mine and I've largely been with them ever since.

Corporate travel budgets have shrunk and I never traveled that much for work even during the glory days but that has done little to alter my preference of Hertz for personal use. While traveling recently in the South Pacific Hertz came through for me in a way the other car provider I employed did not. Price is still the final determinant when arranging travel and Hertz was not able to match Europcar on the Australian leg of my journey but I'll get to that in a moment.

Hertz was the vendor of choice for the heavy driving I planned through the North Island of New Zealand. At the downtown Wellington Hertz office I was presented with an orange Toyota "Yaris." Orange? I razzed the counter girl good-naturedly for giving me a large pumpkin of a car and only 1600CC to run around in but the car was otherwise faultless. Neither was it Europcar's fault that I hardly used the little silver "Getz" by Hyundai that awaited me outside of immigrations at Sydney's airport. Damp and rainy weather curtailed most of my driving plans which was fine because Central Sydney is perfectly suited for walking and public transport. No, the trouble I had with Europcar, affiliated with Alamo was upon returning the car.

Most rental companies only validate or take out a small hold against your credit card at the time of pick-up but Europcar charged the entire rental right from the beginning! I wasn't aware of this when I landed which is my fault for not fully understanding how the charges were to be handled but it is a complete lack of sophistication on their part not to be able to alter the form of payment on the last day of the return. I appealed to Alamo when I got back to the U.S. who deferred to Europcar, basically sending me back to the scene of the crime.

Why all the fuss? Not knowing how much of a hold I expected them to take I used my credit card to preserve my liquid cash, planning to pay in full with my debit card when it was all over. They didn't whereas Hertz did. The last straw for me with Europcar was that they did not even honor my AAdvantage frequent flyer program for mileage credit on the rental.

Hertz did, and helped me over the hump to the next elite status level in the process. The Black and Gold!

Gotta go.

Ferraris and Fleming's

Tampa is my favorite city in Florida, let's just get that out of the way right up front. To me it offers the best style and comfort of living without trying to be something it's not. I've been visiting the Tampa area as far back as 1991 so it was with great anticipation that I was sent on a business trip there last August. I phoned up some friends who live in the area and made plans to enjoy a couple of days in the office followed by a weekend re-connecting and enjoying the city.

One friend of mine picked me up at my hotel for dinner that evening and while I said that I could still find my way around, he insisted it would be easier to just come and get me. We hadn't seen each other in a good while and I looked forward to a pleasant evening of catching up over good food. The Cuban community in and around Tampa is nearly as strong as that in Miami but roast pork was not on this evening's menu. Tonight would be my first experience at Fleming's Steakhouse, a favorite of his, along the lines of a Don Shula's or Morton's of Chicago.

I just love the look on the face of the doormen when they rush to open the car door for guests then turn back to look more closely at you to see if you're "somebody" or not. Here comes my chum tooling up in a red Spider, don'tcha know! The last Italian car I might have parked my backside in was a Fiat or an Alfa Romeo at best but nothing and I mean nothing this high on the food chain. The man is clearly doing well for himself I thought as the comical part of the evening started early. That would be watching Mr. Awkward, yours truly, trying to get in to this low-slung roadster with a smidgen of dignity.
It didn't work but by the time we got to the restaurant I'd at least figured out how to alight from the thing with the air of someone who was to the Ferrari born. The valets couldn't get to the car fast enough and where my buddy strode in as any high-profile regular would I turned and gawked right back at the gawkers trying to see if they were "somebody," too.

The maître d' recognized my host and we were seated swiftly at a good table. Things on the celebrity spotting chart got off to a good start when my companion casually pointed out Raheem Morris, the new head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and another regular at this upscale beef emporium. While the steaks were good Mr. Ferrari was not impressed with our service this evening. The waiter seemed indifferent and pre-occupied and it showed. The manager made the necessary apologies after checking to see how things were going for us; it's always interesting how they always anticipate a positive response to their perfunctory inquiry. She got an ear full from my blunt buddy.

On the way out we got a repeat performance from other guests leaving and arriving. The valets were used to my host and had probably decided quickly enough that I couldn't be much more than a hanger-on. Still, how many times is the valet parked car waiting right outside the door, a mere flick of the keys away as we lowered our sated bellies in to the red beast for the ride back to the hotel?

I knew that much of the score: A Ferrari parked right outside of their front door? That's all any other visitor or pretender needs to see to wanna be seen!

Gotta go!

The Optimist's Optimum

The kind of vacation I just returned from makes it difficult to try and encapsulate the entire experience in one article. At the same time if I were to share my experience regarding every facet of the adventure I would probably be posting articles will in to June of next year! Then the idea came to me that would fall somewhere in between those extremes. Publications such as Conde Nast Travel are constantly ranking service providers in a myriad of categories so I thought I would do something similar.

Below please enjoy the listing of service providers I employed to get me to, from and around both New Zealand and Australia while also keeping me in lodgings and fed in most cases. The links are to their individual websites but for the more noteworthy in each category please look for an article to be posted in the near future.

I give you, "The Optimist's Optimum"

Best Airline:
American Airlines
Qantas Airways
Jetstar Airlines
Emirates

Winner: Emirates
Why: I flew their trans-Tasman service between Auckland and Sydney on the new A380. The flight was on time, the aircraft roomy, the 34" pitch the most generous of all the flights and a full hot meal service that was included in the price of the ticket. Laptop power and a USB port at each seat beat Qantas by nose (shared power) and an entertainment system designed for flights longer than 12 hours - we were in the air for less than three. The Emirates system came with its own directory booklet that featured not only how to use the system but all of the games, music, television and movie programming on offer, including numbered codes for each item to punch in to the satellite phone controller to take you directly to your selection instead of scrolling through the endless listings one at a time. On-demand technology finished off the icing by allowing passengers to choose what and when to stop and start their programming. Oh, and how about the wood trim in the lavatory...in coach!?

Best Airport
Dallas/Ft. Worth
Los Angeles
Auckland
Wellington
Sydney
Melbourne

Winner: Sydney
Why: This one was close between both Australian airports, really. Melbourne almost got the nod simply because the airport featured one terminal for both international and domestic operations, similar to Wellington. Both of those airports, however, are smallish affairs. Between them, Melbourne would get the nod although Wellington offers views and approaches over the water that are challenging to pilots and exciting for plane watchers.

That was the edge that Sydney got over the others in the same class. All featured separate terminals either for airlines or between international and domestic flights but Sydney wins overall. The terminal was easy to navigate, distance between gate and runways fairly short (sorry DFW) and, while DFW is the only one that has a dedicated observation area, the views of Sydney airport across Botany Bay from the beaches along General Holmes Drive are second to none.

Best Car Rental
Hertz
Alamo/Europcar

Winner: Hertz
Why: Very simple really. Hertz allowed me to receive credit for my AAdvantage frequent flyer account, Europcar did not. More heinous than that, however, Hertz allowed me to change the form of payment at the end of my rental, Europcar did not. Both cars were similar, the Toyota Yaris at Hertz and the Hyundai Getz at Europcar, both were clean, ran well, sipped gasoline and the counter staff were helpful and pleasant. Not getting mileage credit or particularly being allowed to alter payment, however, are hard to get over.

Best Restaurant
Tulsi
The Meat and Wine Company
Northerner Motor Inn
Daniang Dumplings
Tony's on Wellesley
Bordeaux Bakery
Okurukuru Winery

Winner: Tony's
Why: The surprising contender was the Northerner Motor Inn in rural Kaitaia, New Zealand. The attached restaurant served enticing food thoughtfully prepared and in a nouvelle style quite unexpected in a city of only 6,000 and heavily dependent on the summer tourist trade which was still a good month away.

Tony's is a favorite because of the old world decor and the generous cuts served in unique styles, from a fiery peppercorn and cream sauce to the "Pacific" which includes crabmeat stuffing and lobster sauce topping succulent fillets. My choice, the "Scotch Fillet" was a bit more rare than the medium/medium-rare I preferred but both meal and service were otherwise par excellence.

Best Hotel
Sydney Travelodge
Wellington Mercure Willis Street
Rendezvous Auckland
Mantra Tullamarine
Northerner Motor Inn

Winner: Rendezvous Auckland
Why: With the exception of the Mantra and the Northerner I booked the other three online through either Expedia or Orbitz. Rendezvous was one of the ones that was paid in advance but the rate was less than $70/night. What a steal! A member of the Clarion/Choice chain of hotels, this was a former 4-star property that still in my mind deserves the rating. Queen bed, marble vanities, separate glass shower, Jacuzzi tub and a location in the heart of the city, barely two blocks from the Sky Tower. This is "the" new address for me in Auckland whenever I return, on par with any Hyatt or Hilton to be found in the United States.


Best Tour
Harrisons Cape Runner
Host Family - Taranaki

Winner: Host Family
Why: Always go with a local if they are willing to take you around. There is no time limit on how long to stay at any one location, no scheduled "rest" breaks at gift shops on the take who also happen to have restrooms. Even better, as in the case of this picture here, sometimes the views and locations are better than any place the scheduled tour can reach. This particular view is enjoyed by wedding parties who wish to use the mountain above the lake as a backdrop for their nuptials. Had I driven around the Taranaki region of New Zealand on my own or as part of a tour I would most likely have not enjoyed anything this spectacular.

Harrisons offered a solid, comprehensive nine-hour tour of Cape Reinga and Ninety-Mile Beach out of Kaitaia in the Northland region of New Zealand, about five hours north of Auckland at the very tip of the island. They offered access to Ninety-Mile Beach I wouldn't have dared with a rented car so kudos to them for that. Like any guided tour, however, they were on a schedule which meant short visiting windows at some of the attractions along with the "rest stop" at the town gift shop and artifacts emporium which means they share the receipts for any sales made between them. If it weren't for Ninety Mile Beach alone I would have never signed on but this is what happens to cars that venture on to the sands and stop in the wrong places.

Best Internet
Gloria Jean's
Rendezvous Auckland
Melbourne Airport

Winner: Gloria Jean's
Why: A large internet cafe featuring more than 60 workstations, some with CD and DVD burn capability is attached to one of this chain's stores in central Sydney. What I liked was being able to establish a user account by paying in as little or as much as I liked, including come-and-go privileges for unused internet time. I did not have to use all my paid time in one sitting and could pay to add as much time as I liked without fear of being timed out and logged off in the middle of critical e-mails or other work. The charge? An astoundingly cheap Australian $5 bought me over 3.5 HOURS on the web!

Melbourne Airport offered $5 but only for 30 minutes, knowing there were only so many options at an airport and especially once past security. Rendezvous offered a similar rate, $5 for 30 minutes but also only up to 10mb of downloadable material. I blew threw the meter several times while trying to watch sports highlights from back home without knowing why I was timing out well short of my limit. Not good.

Best Music Store
Real Groovy
JB Hi-Fi

Winner: JB Hi-Fi
Why: First let me say that I love Real Groovy. It is a very large and funky record store that would fit right in with Rasputin's or Amoeba in Berkeley, California, featuring new and used CDs, DVDs, vinyl LPs, printed and tie-dye tee-shirts and all the usual trappings one might expect in a music store of this kind. What caused me to choose a more conventional chain such as JB Hi-Fi, however, was the fact that they had the music I was looking for but also a very helpful stock clerk who knew her inventory and her music. The ding against Real Groovy this time was the performance stage/runway they added in the back of the sales floor, ostensibly to showcase up and coming local talent as well as bring in potential new customers at the same time. This was a bad thing because a local band cranked up a short set list in full volume just when I was trying to sample a new band at a listening station. Can't do both at the same time and in this case I was pressed for time. Kinda hard to feature new releases at listening stations while a one-off band is playing music others in the store may not care to hear.

Gotta go!