As most small business owners know, traveling is both costly and a big drain on your time. Checking in, getting through security lines, the boarding process, are all hassles even before getting off the ground. Then add in smaller seats, higher occupancy on board, smaller overhead storage, and it quickly becomes an inconvenience. Doing a road trip, with several stops, is an exercise in strategic planning and at times plain luck.
So, we have done some research to discover the top 3 U.S. airports that make your travels as a small business owner, just a little bit easier.
1. SFO – San Francisco International Airport. Topping our list in 2015 is SFO. This airport has been upgraded to accomidate larger amounts of transit traffic. The expanded infrastructure has taken the burden off the older terminals while also allowing for more travel options. The dining options are excellent. As anyone who has traveled and not had a moment to eat during the day can attest, airport food is nothing to look forward to. Not at SFO, where dining options include 65 food outlets. Wifi is free of charge at SFO. And, best of all, SFO is one of the airports with an American Express Centurion Lounge.
2. CLT – Charlotte International Airport. Coming in at #2 this year is Charlotte International Airport. A favorite at Manetane. We love any airport where you can grab some excellent bbq in between flights! The best part of CLT is the flow of the airport. It is very easy to get from one terminal to another in only a few minutes. Try doing that in Atlanta. Wifi is free at CLT, which is served by Delta and US Air.
3. SFB – Sanford International Airport. #3 this year is a bit of a shocker. Only a short 30 minute ride to downtown Orlando, SFB is a best-kept-secret for fliers travelers to Orlando that normally fly into MCO. Traveling to MCO once or twice a year is generally no big hassle as the airport is generally well laid out with an efficient security flow. But, depending on where you need to go in the Orlando area, MCO can quickly become a big hassle if you need to head downtown which is now over an hour drive. SFB on the other hand, is fast and easy. Serviced by most car rental companies, you can be in your car at SFB before you would even get your luggage at MCO, and it is only a 30 minute drive to downtown Orlando along the I-4 corridor. Wifi is free at SFB.
So, the next time you have a choice of connections, why not consider one of these airports and possibly your travels will be less of a hassle.
Let us know what you think of the list. Do you have other airports you would rate higher?
jellybeanchickJanuary 16, 2011 How much time can you afford to spend tievalrng? Amtrak will take several days, and I assume the bus will also take several days. Either way, you are going to be sinking a lot of your time into tievalrng, and even if it is cheaper than flying (Amtrak is usually the same or even more expensive), not being able to work for several days may not be worth any savings you are getting.I would suggest getting familiar with hunting for bargain air fare. There are websites where you can get great deals on last minute flights, but you will have to be flexible about layovers. Also, look at Oakland and San Jose airports too, to expand your options. If the uncertainty of a last minute flight isn’t for you, you may want to opt for a frequent-flyer program, if these still exist. As a frequent flyer, you will be booking flights on one airline and earning points with them that you can use in the future for free flights.
I get those in most European hotels – and that funny pants press (which rlaley works nicely) too boot.Most/many hotels I stay at charge me for internet regardless (that is why I travel with my verizon aircard and skip their network).Hot breakfast is very common (although give me a “nordic” style breakfast of cheeses and fishes and cold meats any day)..refrigerator – most of them have the mini-bar 🙂 But I don’t tend to use the fridge’s regardless.TV – whats that…Parking place, it is all about taxi’s….Phones – I’ve not used a hotel phone for years, all about the mobile…I find the rooms are perhaps smaller, but big enough in Europe, the one thing that most US hotels have that they do not however is the drip coffee pot in the room! That I rlaley do miss as I tend to get up, make the pot of coffee work for an hour or two and then go where I was supposed to be.
there are quite a few sites that you can search that will likely give you the best prices available. check out the website BookMe and you will be able to compare prices on all the reputable travel sites in just a couple minutes. it’s very convenient and will save you a bunch of time and money. Also, make sure you buy them online otherwise they charge much higher fees for phone orders. good luck.
Anyway, my point is – traveling in North America, not a user frliedny experience in general. In Europe – not too bad. I agree with this, as long as “traveling” is limited to the airports and planes… if you broaden the definition a bit, then I think North America is more user frliedny because the hotels tend to offer MUCH more for only a fraction of the cost.Internet connection, hot breakfast, refrigerator, microwave oven, cable TV in a big screen, parking place, exercise room, free local phone calls, etc., are all quite common in USA even in affordable hotels… try to get the same in Europe! (or at least in Western Europe)
I end up with similar situations all the time. Flying back from West Palm Beach last week, I finished a couple of hours earlier than expected and tried to go standby on an earlier flight. But, my ticketed flight was oversold, so (new United partner) Continental offered a flight 3 hours earlier out of Fort Lauderdale via Houston to SFO (my original flight was via Houston too) but they gave me first class on both legs for the trouble of switching airports. I had to hustle a bit to get there, but it was no problem. They thanked me for helping them balance their oversold flights better, when in fact I ended up getting home 3 hours earlier in first class. And oddly enough, at the Fort Lauderdale flight they called for volunteers because that flight was also oversold…Did a similar thing in Montreal 3 weeks ago, but I feel kind of bad for that one because I kind of tricked an inexperienced United ticket agent into rebooking me on an earlier Air Canada flight. Was trying to go standby on an earlier flight, but they cancelled it. So many people were rebooking. I wasn’t ticketed for that flight, so she shouldn’t have rebooked me. But she didn’t ask, she just assumed I was booked on the cancelled flight. That one got me back 6 hours early and helped mostly beat the snowstorm on the way to Tahoe.