travel tips

Podcast #143 — How Bad is Business Travel For Your Health; Make Layovers Fun

No long-distance travel this month. Instead, I”m getting back into regional jets, and waiting out a long delay in Cincinnati has me wondering about American Eagle’s flight scheduling algorithm. My flights into CVG cause me to think about the impact of losing hub status. CVG looks overbuilt, but MEM is spending money to shrink itself….

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Podcast #137 — New Year’s Travel Status Tips; How to Shop for a Suitcase

So we’re four weeks into the new year and 30-50% of us have already ditched our New Year’s resolutions, but we still have time to get our 2018 travel status lined up. Over the holiday break, I bought a non-smart carry-on to replace my now-banned Bluesmart; I walk through my shopping criteria. All this and…

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Ruthless Packing Tips

My longest packing sessions involve trying to get 10-14 days of clothes for multiple climates and/or activities into a single 22-inch carry-on bag.  Two years ago, it was packing for a March trip that spanned Iceland and Southern Spain. Last month, it was a 10-day drive through Scotland with clothes for rainy day hikes and…

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Podcast #127 — Critiquing My Top 10 Travel Tips; Reviewing VPNs

In this episode, I talk again about digital security on the road, especially the use of a VPN. I review three VPN products, including NordVPN which is giving away a year’s subscription to a TravelCommons listener. I dig into the process of generating the Top 10 Holiday Travel Tips listicle I do every couple of year,…

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Podcast #126 — Beating the Traffic; Rethinking Carry-On Luggage

Seems like I’ve been doing as much driving as flying since the last episode, so I’ve switched from apps that track flight delays to those that help me dodge traffic backups. I talk, yet again, about buying pay-as-you-go SIMs while traveling, but the need to do that may be ending. And I’ve reshuffled my carry-on…

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Top 10 Holiday Travel Tips

As the economy recovers, so does travel volume. As you gird yourself to wade into the crowds, here are 10 tips to keep you moving over the river and through the woods… Expand Your Fly-vs.-Drive Tipping Point — My normal tipping point is 350 miles; anything less and I drive it. However, the holiday traffic changes the…

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Podcast #123 — How to Avoid Travel Delays

It’s been a tough travel month for a large portion of the traveling public. Between Delta and Southwest system outages and two straight Thursdays of thunderstorms in the east half of the US, dealing with travel delays has been a part of this month’s travel experience. In this episode, we think about ways to avoid…

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Podcast #119 — Digital Security On The Road; US Airports Getting Better?

Here’s a little something to keep you entertained while you navigate the holiday airport lines. We talk about digital security on the road — what’s the right balance between hassle and hack? We also dig into JD Power’s latest airport satisfaction survey. They report a tick up in traveler experience and, for the most part,…

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