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ELECTING BETTER TRAVEL CONDITIONS
By Joe Brancatelli
October 3, 2012 --I wouldn't go so far as saying that business travel is a cult, but those of us who live our lives on the road sure do have some odd and interesting obsessions. We're just not like everyone else.

While the rest of the nation is worrying about jobs, we talk about what the presidential candidates say (or don't) about the transportation system. We continue to pay attention to court cases long after they've fallen out of the news. We fret about airport-club access and where to find the best rates on hotel rooms. And while the rest of Americans go to Starbucks for WiFi, we wonder whether it'll be on our next flight.

If the questions that I've gotten recently via email from readers of Seat 2B is any indication, here's what we're talking and thinking about as we head into the last 45 days of heavy business travel for the year.

Do President Obama and Mitt Romney differ about issues that are important for business travelers?
Even the most frequent flyer isn't going to vote based on how the candidates perceive "business travel issues." But it is worth noting that the Department of Transportation under President Barack Obama has been bold and effective in the area of consumer protection. The DOT has promulgated rules that made airline prices more transparent, and it has virtually eliminated the plague of long tarmac holds. And despite airline-industry scare-mongering over the regulations, there has been no spike in fares or increase in cancellations. It's hard to conceive of a DOT under a Romney administration that would be as actively engaged.

On the other hand, the Republican party platform at least pays lip service to reforming the TSA, which has continued its mission creep and bureaucratic arrogance under Obama. The GOP's remedy—"We call for the private sector to take over airport screening where feasible and look toward development of security systems that can replace the personal violation of frisking"—is more political boilerplate than policy formulation, of course. But at least there's an inkling that the TSA is ripe for remaking.

Speaking of the TSA, whatever happened to the lawsuits over the full-body scanners and the pat-downs you get if you "opt out" of submitting to a so-called nude-o-scopes?
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court specifically refused to hear the appeal of a man who claims the devices and pat-downs violate his Fourth Amendment rights against illegal search and seizure. Lower courts also ruled against him, although the decisions were more procedural than substantive. The TSA has even won a remarkable amount of time to hold court-ordered public hearings and create specific regulations to govern the use of the devices. Although a court demanded the agency to act "promptly" in July, 2011, a federal appeals court ruled last week that the TSA has until next March to comply.

How come all airlines don't have WiFi on their aircraft by now?
Gogo Infight claims 1,500 U.S. and Canadian aircraft are now wired. Its chief domestic competitor, Row 44, is busily wiring the jets of Southwest Airlines. Lufthansa leads international carriers, and Singapore Airlines is also beginning a wide rollout of in-flight WiFi. But as much as some business travelers adore the access and are willing to pay the comparatively hefty prices, the public at large simply isn't all that interested. In the first half of this year, Gogo reports a paltry 5.4 percent "uptake" rate among passengers flying on Gogo-equipped commercial aircraft. More startling, the growth in passenger usage is slow. For the first half of 2011, Gogo reported a 4.3 percent uptake rate.

Is calling the hotel directly still the best way to get the best rate on a hotel room?
I think it depends on the type of lodging you're looking to book. If it is a superdeluxe independent, calling through to the property and asking to speak to the general manager might yield the best rate or a great room upgrade. This theory, persuasively expounded by the hotelier-turned-columnist Michael Matthews, may also work with humble, side-of-the-road motels.

For the vast majority of branded chain hotels, however, I'd say the best place to find a deal is at the chain's proprietary website. Most chain hotels no longer even have an on-site reservation or sales department, and the general manager is often little more than a functionary executing a corporately mandated operations book.

Sometimes, in fact, individual chain properties can't even tell you whether they have inventory on which to offer a deal. A business traveler told me on Sunday that he called a Sheraton hotel looking for a room next weekend and was informed by the front-desk manager that the property was sold out with a wait list of 15 people. He then went to the Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) website and booked a suite at the same Sheraton for the dates he needed for $200 a night.

I received a Lounge Card in the mail promising me free entry to a number of airport clubs around the world. What is it?
Lounge Club is a new entry from the people who sponsor Priority Pass, the global airport-lounge plan. My admiration for Priority Pass is boundless, but its value as a standalone product has been eroded in recent years as more credit cards offered lounge access as part of their core benefits. But credit-card companies that partner with airlines also have demanded more exclusivity for the club-access benefit. That forced Priority Pass to create a sub-brand called Priority Pass Select to distribute with some credit cards. It doesn't offer access to all of the clubs that the flagship Priority Pass card does. But the similarity of names and the nearly identical black-and-gold cards is confusing. As a result, Priority Pass Select is slowly being renamed Lounge Club, and the card has a unique (mostly gray and green) look. The original Priority Pass works at about 600 airport clubs. Lounge Club, which is only available from financial institutions as part of a package of benefits, is valid at about 300 lounges.
ABOUT JOE BRANCATELLI Joe Brancatelli is a publication consultant, which means that he helps media companies start, fix and reposition newspapers, magazines and Web sites. He's also the former executive editor of Frequent Flyer and has been a consultant to or columnist for more business-travel and leisure-travel publishing operations than he can remember. He started his career as a business journalist and created JoeSentMe in the dark days after 9/11 while he was stranded in a hotel room in San Francisco. He lives on the Hudson River in the tourist town of Cold Spring.

THE FINE PRINT This column is Copyright © 2012 American City Business Journals. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. JoeSentMe.com is Copyright © 2012 by Joe Brancatelli. All rights reserved.