Well-travelled entrepreneurs share their tips on surviving the red eye

If your last business flight bore more resemblance to a military evacuation than your chosen airline’s soft-focus TV campaign, queue here.

There’s no disguising the fact that foreign travel can be a minefield, but fear not. EN has quizzed some of the region’s more successful frequent flyers to find out how they tip-to through the long-haul flights, luggage problems and language barriers that can turn a trip into a trap.

We found advice which varied (and was sometimes contradictory) but the underlying theme that united our experts was “comfort”. Not necessarily physical comfort, but peace of mind.

“When I travel I only have two things in my pocket: my passport and a detailed one-page itinerary with names, phone numbers, flight times and departure gates,” says Iain Evans, who runs Manchester-based event design firm Alexander Events. “I know it sounds obvious, but it is a simple thing that many people overlook.”

However, ask Paul Georgeson, MD of Liverpool-based Famous Bankrupt Stores, and he’ll give you a very different story: “We never plan anything meticulously because things go wrong!”

So the most important tip may be “whatever gets you through the flight”: although Georgeson is happier to let things develop, Evans plans for all eventualities and both systems work perhaps because each reflects the business needs it serves.

Evans makes around 40 overseas journeys each year for clients requiring him to design and deliver sporting spectacles across the globe including boxing events in Las Vegas, football at Real Madrid and golf in Portugal.

He’s dealt with a range of unexpected turns in his time (including a bus full of tired transatlantic travellers showing up at a blazing New York hotel) but he tries to prepare for just about anything: “A technique I use is visualisation. I go through the entire trip in my mind; you have to think about the worstcase scenario.

“What happens if your translator is not there to meet you? Do you have a back-up plan? For example I went to Russia and so learned how to speak phonetically. You would be amazed how many people turn up in a country where they don’t speak the language.”

Preparation is also key to helping Serkan Senol, of Boltonbased Goss Marble, travel more easily. He flies to Brazil, India, China and Turkey sourcing the materials that form the bedrock of a business founded in 2005 which now has a turnover of £1 million.

Senol makes full use of the Government’s UK Trade and Investment body to get information about his destinations and even potential clients: “They will provide lists of approved businesses and recognised companies and even provide meeting facilities in the consulates. We would really recommend it.”

Evans agrees that on-the-ground assistance at a destination is a great way of smoothing the journey there: “If you are staying in a five star hotel, get the concierge to organise your taxis from the airport in advance; it may cost you a bit more but it looks good, you are taken care of from the moment you arrive and, particularly if you don’t speak the language, you are free to face the business at hand.”

Georgeson’s business is different in that his trips often have a short lead-in time which limits preparation but when he travels to new destinations he does take time to talk to those have been there before him in order not to break any local taboos – like the time he almost offered to split the restaurant bill with his hosts in China.

“Luckily somebody told me about the paying customs there,” he says. “We in the West don’t realise we are insulting them, we think we are being nice – it’s good to take all the advice you can get.”

As for the journey itself, Evans reckons any flight benefits from quality time on the ground and swears by the business lounges now available at even the smaller airports:You can pay £20 to get into these lounges where there are complimentary drinks, and the cost is well worthwhile if you are there for two hours.”

And he always opts for business class seats too. As someone who has his own “turn left rule” when boarding an aircraft, Evans says he is surprised so many businesspeople continue to fly (false) economy: “If I have had a good night’s sleep on board a flight I will earn more money the next day than the difference in cost between economy and business class.”

And he says there are other benefits too: “We try and spend as much money as we can with a single airline. We book hundreds of flights with BA and, every time we do, we get points back which can be used against a personal flight or hotel breaks. There are lots of budget airlines but it is sometimes best to pay that little bit more now and again and collect the points.”

But Paul Georgeson disagrees, and sees the budget airlines as key tools which allow him flexibility in his overseas business commitments: for example he rarely books return flights within Europe because he never knows where he’ll be going next.

He says, “We have opened up our stores in Europe because of easyJet, really. Wherever they fly gives us options to perhaps do business. I can make an easyJet booking in two minutes. For me, business class is money out of my pocket.”

For example, earlier in the summer he and a colleague needed to travel from Paris to Stuttgart. Direct flights cost £1,200 but by flying to Frankfurt and hiring a car (which he needed any way) he paid just £250: “If I save £1,000, I don’t need to make that money when I’m there. And there is nothing wrong with flying out with one airline and back with another; you don’t get your tickets cheaper because you are booking a return ticket.”

Someone else who specialises in flexibility, albeit of a different kind, is physiotherapist Chris Norris, who has seen many a lower spine defeated by the trauma of long-haul business travel.

The founder of Norris Associates, which has 25 staff based in Sale and Congleton, says regular travellers must take care of their bodies. He warns that laptops are dangerous beasts as their expensive nature can lead to a reluctance to trust them to baggage handlers: “So some people carry a laptop, a PowerPoint presentation projector and cables; it can all add up to 20kgs, and it’s a hell of a weight. I saw a patient the other day who was literally lopsided and that was through carrying their laptop.”

He says the most common symptom of “laptop-sidedness” is pins and needles, and a wheeled flight case is the best solution: “People think they will look like a pensioner using a shopping trolley, but wheels are sensible. If you are not willing to do that, swap your bag between shoulders each trip.”

Similarly Norris also suggests that those who fly long haul regularly should take an inflatable lumbar support to maintain the shape of the spine and stretch regularly to prevent aches, pains and long-term damage.

So on your next trip if, apart from your luggage, you take some of this advice on board it should make you all the more relaxed for the ensuing nightmare security queues.

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