Business Travel vs. Personal Travel

I used to travel primarily for personal reasons but now the majority of traveling that I do now is for business. When I became a business traveler I quickly learned the etiquette of business travelers.

I flew from Seattle to Las Vegas today for a business/pleasure trip and it very evident that I was surrounded by vacationers and not business professionals. The differences....

• Business travelers can take the one square foot of space offered by a tray table and turn it into a full functional office. They can create proposals, reply to email, edit spreadsheets and function completely normally in this tiny space. Personal travelers require the use of multiple tray tables for their drinks and a deck of playing cards.
• Business travelers are courteous to one another but don't engage in idle chit-chat. They have brought things along with them on the plane (book, newspaper, computer) to keep them fully occupied. Personal travelers see their time on the plane as the perfect excuses to chit-chat your ear off.
• Business travelers don't make unnecessary noise. Personal travelers find unnecessary noise very entertaining. Their traveling companions think it's hysterical how they "woo-hoo" every time the stewardess announces the destination city. They talk about EVERYTHING they are going to see, do and experiences once they arrive. And they do it all in a disruptive and annoyingly loud volume.
• Business travelers have often not chosen their destination cities so they are not *thrilled* to arrive, in fact they often don't remember where they are going, unless it's home. Personal travelers are so excited to get where they are going that they ooohhh and aaahhh every landmark out the windows including taking pictures that will never turn out, but their friends and families will be subjected to anyway.
• When the plane arrives the business travelers in the back stay seated because they are well aware of the many minutes that will pass until they are able to gather their belongings and head towards the door. Personal travelers remove their seatbelts and jump out of their seats the minute that the plane arrives and then are completely annoyed when they have to wait for the passengers in front of them to clear out of the way.

With all that said, I have to admit that I love the routine and etiquette of the business traveler and wish that the personal travelers would pick up a few hints from us!

Happy Travelin'