Tales from Traveling

Throughout my February trip to New York and Connecticut I put together a series of short posts that did not make it up on the blog. I’d like to share them now before the spring conference schedule really goes full swing!

By Train:

I was thinking about systems and process this morning on the train. En route to the airport, my anxiety was up due to construction delays which caused our arrival into the airport to be later than I’d planned.

While still miles away I estimated I would have 30 minutes to check my luggage, print the boarding pass, get through security, be violated by TSA, put my shoes back on and book it down the terminal to my waiting plane. Plus I really needed a cup of coffee.

So I thought about the process. At security I would have to remove my shoes but, logically, taking them off on the train would only lead to weird stares and cold feet. Even if I loosen the laces I’d most likely not gain any real time advantage, especially if I fell on my face.

I could pull out my coffee cash or emotionally prepare myself for the infamous TSA pat down (so close to Valentine’s Day, should you buy me dinner first?). Here’s the rub, throughout the morning I knew I’d have pockets of time. I’m always behind the person who doesn’t understand they’ll owe the airline money if they want to fly with a 200 pound piece of luggage. I’m typically behind the one person who packed 4 oz of liquid or forgot about their keys or tries to flirt with TSA.

So as much as I plan, I understand there are pockets of time and I trust myself to use them wisely.

No one goes into their first day of work and asks about their upcoming retirement party. There will be time. So, stop worrying about getting to step 7 before step 2 is done. And if you’re on the train, put your shoes back on.

Spoiler alert – I made the flight going from BART train to gate in 29 minutes, a personal record. I did not, however, get my coffee.

By Air:

While I’ve already covered the experience with Jet Blue in this post, I thought I’d share something else that happened on the flight. We were somewhere a few miles over Nebraska and enjoying the DirecTV available to JetBlue customers.

I particularly enjoy television because I do not have cable at home so flying is a chance for me to find new shows and relax in flight. I was hooked on an Animal Planet show called Cat From Hell because, well, I don’t like cats and this guy was the cat whisperer! Of course it’s a little intense to watch felines scratch, claw, bite and attack humans. But we’re safe on the plane, right?

Movement caught my eye when the flight attendant standing in the aisle next to the row in front of me stood up holding a cat.

Turns out a fellow passenger had opened the zipper on the pet carrying case so her fluffy feline could “get more air” and he escaped. After many “who let the cat out of the bag?” jokes I went back to watching Cat from Hell, this time paranoid that another animal would pass by my feet unnoticed.

By Shuttle:

I don’t think it’s any surprise to those who know me that I have a high standard for systems not just in my business but the ones that I work with as a customer. I’ll admit, I can be a tough customer in the way that I insist not being lied to or deceived in order to gain sales.

When we arrived at JFK and called for the shuttle to our airport the trouble began. First was the confusion between the Comfort Inn JFK and Comfort Inn & Suites JFK. Now, it appears someone in the marketing or franchising department is a little soft in the head but if you are managing either location it needs to be a priority to distinguish between locations very clearly. So when the wrong shuttle picked us up and had to return us to the airport I was a bit, well, cranky.

As part of my own travel system I make long resource lists based on the hotels where I will be staying that includes the address, phone numbers, details, pricing and more. So if breakfast is promised until 9:30am or there’s a “24 hour shuttle” I will remember.

Since I’m thorough (some would say obsessive) I also call and verify any cloudy details before booking. Doing this with the Comfort Inn & Suites revealed 2 services that allowed me to comfortably choose this location:

a) 24 hour shuttle service to the airport
b) shuttle service to the mall and local train station

We arrived finally, after the right shuttle was dispatched and the next day set out to visit the city. Having done my research, when we asked for the shuttle to the train station I was frustrated to learn that the hotel will only shuttle to the airport where then “you can then take another shuttle to the train station.”

Let’s look at this from a marketing perspective. With this logic the hotel should also be advertising rides to France, Texas, Hong Kong… because, well, they’ll give you a ride to the airport and from there you can go on to any of those locations.

Slightly disappointing, right? Misleading? Yes. Frustrating? Yes.

Second trouble was the “solution” that the hotel provides, which is their 24 hour shuttle service to the airport to catch the shuttle to the train station which is more accurately described as:

“24 hour shuttle service from the airport and once an hour transport to the airport. Every hour on the half hour for some hours of the day.” Also “it’s not our fault if you are late for your flight.”

When I addressed this with the manager she pointed to the sign at the front desk and insisted it was sufficient.

Here’s the thing, if you are going to have stellar customer service you need to look at things from the customer’s perspective. I was not in the hotel, reading their sign, when I made my decision. I called and spoke to the staff so a sign, no matter how clear, is somewhat lacking in the communication department.

By Foot:

It was cold but not snowing so walking around Manhattan was our primary mode of transportation. Since I’ve walked the city before it wasn’t difficult, my shoes were comfortable and I got in a few miles each day. I did not, however, enjoy the subway because they left me feeling as if I couldn’t read English. I’ll just conclude by saying if someone were to create an app that helps the average, intelligent tourist navigate the subway and public transit in New York City, that person would be a millionaire and my personal hero.

If you’re heading out on a trip soon, check out this post packed with travel tips and resources. Sometimes I look back and realize the only way I kept my sanity was to know exactly what I had to do to reach the gate in 29 minutes!