USA Today
Last year, Bill Hall clocked 100,000 miles traveling for business.
But on at least half those trips, Hall never landed in a hotel bed. Instead, he flew round trip from his hometown of Dallas to Orlando or Los Angeles and was back home in time for dinner.
"It cuts travel expenses," explains Hall, 62, a vice president at a telecommunications company. The speedy trips made his family happier as well. "I was home at night. ... They are of the opinion they'd rather have me come home late at night than not come home at all."
Hall and some other business travelers are adding a whole new endurance test to the notion of "road warrior." At a time when many companies have slashed budgets and require corporate trips to be as efficient and inexpensive as possible, more business travelers are returning from trips the same day they go rather than spending several nights — and hundreds of extra dollars — on the road.
Often the trips entail shorter flights of three hours are less. But some business travelers are trekking from coast to coast or even overseas and back without an overnight stay, says Carol Ann Salcito, president of the business travel consulting firm Management Alternatives.
"More and more people are doing that now," Salcito says of the rapid turnarounds. "And, of course, the economy has lent itself to making that even more of a necessity."
Salcito speaks from experience. Based in Connecticut, Salcito once flew to Asia and back without staying overnight. And she's done the same on trips to Texas and California. It's not just the recession driving the trend, she says. Many travelers also have a desire to be home as much as possible during these uncertain times.
Being in their 'own beds'
"It's not just the economy, it's a secure feeling of being home," says Salcito, who believes that more people began taking one-day business trips after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, when planes were temporarily grounded and travelers couldn't immediately get back to their loved ones. "People remember how difficult it was to get back home. They want to be in their own beds, in their own cities, in their own states."
In the fall of 2008, when the economic downturn was deepening, Hall says that his company decided to continue to travel but to save money wherever possible. As a result, Hall covered the same amount of terrain, but instead of spending his usual 50 to 60 nights away from home, he cut that to 35 last year.
"We'd take the 6 a.m. flight and the 7 p.m. flight," instead of flying back home the next day, he says. That saved the cost of extra meals and hotel rooms.
Such rapid trips may not work for everyone, Hall acknowledges. But during these tough economic times, they may be increasingly necessary. "I'm not sure everybody has the stamina to get up at 4 a.m. for a 6 a.m. flight ... and get home at 8 or 9 that night," he says. "Everybody has to look at it their own way. But the reality is, as we try to do more with less, that's what's required."
Does it really save money?
Anne Seymour remembers a time early in her career when she would take business trips that kept her on the road for two weeks in a row, hopping from city to city.
But no more. Particularly in the last few months, she has been flying round trip from her hometown of Washington to cities such as Louisville in a single day. She plans more of the same in 2010.
To make those truncated trips work, Seymour says that she sometimes has to leave home so early that "I don't even know that dawn is coming."
The shortened business trips are not an especially big money-saver, says Seymour, a victim's advocate who is an independent consultant. "You end up taking cabs. You have to do things to be Jane on the spot. You have to schedule your days very well."
Instead, Seymour is motivated by a different payoff. The faster she can wrap up time on the road, the sooner she can return to her life.
"I want to be in my own bed at night and wake up in it the next morning," she says. "The alternative is getting up at the crack of dawn the next day and then coming home or moving on to somewhere else. And I'd rather have that day at home. ... I just want to be around people I love."
While more individuals are choosing to leave and return from a business trip on the same day, companies are not explicitly requiring their employees to do so, Salcito says.
"I have seen companies that say, 'Try to travel the most efficient way possible, so if you can go in and out in the same day, try and do it if you can,' " she says. "But you run into some difficulty if you try to put that into a policy, because you're typically infringing upon an eight-hour (work) day. So you leave it to the best judgment of the individual."
Harmful to your health?
Some business travel advocates don't think the rapid-fire trips are a good idea.
"It would seem to be pretty extreme," says Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, which represents corporate travel departments. "No doubt, at least coast to coast, (it) could be ... harmful to your health."
Mitchell says that he's seen the reverse of extreme travel: People flying in the night before a meeting because drastic service cuts by the airlines have made it harder to fly into a city and make a morning meeting the same day. "The reliability of the system has eroded. ... So there's actually more reason to go in the day before and incur the hotel charge so that you know you will make your meeting in the morning."
Still, Bruce Thomas is another business traveler who believes that fast trips have their benefits.
A national spokesman for an electronics company, Thomas, 47, flies round trip in a single day from his Kansas City, Mo., home to meetings in Orlando or other cities across the U.S. He's often able to get back home in time to see his two daughters play in an evening soccer match.
"We still spend money on travel," Thomas says. "We just try not to waste it. If you can do more with less, then do it."
But on at least half those trips, Hall never landed in a hotel bed. Instead, he flew round trip from his hometown of Dallas to Orlando or Los Angeles and was back home in time for dinner.
"It cuts travel expenses," explains Hall, 62, a vice president at a telecommunications company. The speedy trips made his family happier as well. "I was home at night. ... They are of the opinion they'd rather have me come home late at night than not come home at all."
Hall and some other business travelers are adding a whole new endurance test to the notion of "road warrior." At a time when many companies have slashed budgets and require corporate trips to be as efficient and inexpensive as possible, more business travelers are returning from trips the same day they go rather than spending several nights — and hundreds of extra dollars — on the road.
Often the trips entail shorter flights of three hours are less. But some business travelers are trekking from coast to coast or even overseas and back without an overnight stay, says Carol Ann Salcito, president of the business travel consulting firm Management Alternatives.
"More and more people are doing that now," Salcito says of the rapid turnarounds. "And, of course, the economy has lent itself to making that even more of a necessity."
Salcito speaks from experience. Based in Connecticut, Salcito once flew to Asia and back without staying overnight. And she's done the same on trips to Texas and California. It's not just the recession driving the trend, she says. Many travelers also have a desire to be home as much as possible during these uncertain times.
Being in their 'own beds'
"It's not just the economy, it's a secure feeling of being home," says Salcito, who believes that more people began taking one-day business trips after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, when planes were temporarily grounded and travelers couldn't immediately get back to their loved ones. "People remember how difficult it was to get back home. They want to be in their own beds, in their own cities, in their own states."
In the fall of 2008, when the economic downturn was deepening, Hall says that his company decided to continue to travel but to save money wherever possible. As a result, Hall covered the same amount of terrain, but instead of spending his usual 50 to 60 nights away from home, he cut that to 35 last year.
"We'd take the 6 a.m. flight and the 7 p.m. flight," instead of flying back home the next day, he says. That saved the cost of extra meals and hotel rooms.
Such rapid trips may not work for everyone, Hall acknowledges. But during these tough economic times, they may be increasingly necessary. "I'm not sure everybody has the stamina to get up at 4 a.m. for a 6 a.m. flight ... and get home at 8 or 9 that night," he says. "Everybody has to look at it their own way. But the reality is, as we try to do more with less, that's what's required."
Does it really save money?
Anne Seymour remembers a time early in her career when she would take business trips that kept her on the road for two weeks in a row, hopping from city to city.
But no more. Particularly in the last few months, she has been flying round trip from her hometown of Washington to cities such as Louisville in a single day. She plans more of the same in 2010.
To make those truncated trips work, Seymour says that she sometimes has to leave home so early that "I don't even know that dawn is coming."
The shortened business trips are not an especially big money-saver, says Seymour, a victim's advocate who is an independent consultant. "You end up taking cabs. You have to do things to be Jane on the spot. You have to schedule your days very well."
Instead, Seymour is motivated by a different payoff. The faster she can wrap up time on the road, the sooner she can return to her life.
"I want to be in my own bed at night and wake up in it the next morning," she says. "The alternative is getting up at the crack of dawn the next day and then coming home or moving on to somewhere else. And I'd rather have that day at home. ... I just want to be around people I love."
While more individuals are choosing to leave and return from a business trip on the same day, companies are not explicitly requiring their employees to do so, Salcito says.
"I have seen companies that say, 'Try to travel the most efficient way possible, so if you can go in and out in the same day, try and do it if you can,' " she says. "But you run into some difficulty if you try to put that into a policy, because you're typically infringing upon an eight-hour (work) day. So you leave it to the best judgment of the individual."
Harmful to your health?
Some business travel advocates don't think the rapid-fire trips are a good idea.
"It would seem to be pretty extreme," says Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, which represents corporate travel departments. "No doubt, at least coast to coast, (it) could be ... harmful to your health."
Mitchell says that he's seen the reverse of extreme travel: People flying in the night before a meeting because drastic service cuts by the airlines have made it harder to fly into a city and make a morning meeting the same day. "The reliability of the system has eroded. ... So there's actually more reason to go in the day before and incur the hotel charge so that you know you will make your meeting in the morning."
Still, Bruce Thomas is another business traveler who believes that fast trips have their benefits.
A national spokesman for an electronics company, Thomas, 47, flies round trip in a single day from his Kansas City, Mo., home to meetings in Orlando or other cities across the U.S. He's often able to get back home in time to see his two daughters play in an evening soccer match.
"We still spend money on travel," Thomas says. "We just try not to waste it. If you can do more with less, then do it."
