Category Archives: Business Traveler Advice

Travel Health Tips from CHBO

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Property Owners: Make sure you provide a list of emergency numbers like Poison Control, Fire and local hospitals.  Also add to this list local urgent care facilities, pharmacies or other local tips.  Laminate this information and have it on the refrigerator door.

Traveler – Health Cards:  Use your phone and take a photo of your health cards for backup just in case.  Also have a printout of your and all your family member cards that you leave in a centralized place at home that can be easily reach if needed.

Urgent Care Directories:  www.besturgentcaredirectory.com or  www.findurgentcare.com are two national directories to help you out.

Dr Questions:  www.webmd.com,  www.askthedoctor.com, www.diagnose-me.com

Healthcare Apps:  Medscape, iTriage, WebMD, Urgent Care

911 Cell Phone:  When you call 911 from a cell phone, the call often lands in a regional center. A call-taker in a far-away city or county may answer your call. To get help to you, there are two pieces of information the call-taker needs to know immediately:

  1. Tell the call-taker which city you’re calling from.
  2. Tell the call-taker what type of emergency you have.

911 VOIP Phone:  When you call 911 from a traditional telephone, the call in most cases is sent to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) that is responsible for helping people in a particular geographic area or community. PSAP personnel often can automatically identify your location and direct the closest emergency personnel to that location. They also often can automatically identify your telephone number so that they can call you back if you are disconnected. Since VoIP service works differently from traditional phone service, consumers who use it should be aware that VoIP 911 service may also work differently from traditional 911 service. VoIP service providers, in response to FCC action, are making progress in eliminating these differences, but some of the possible differences include:

  • VoIP 911 calls may not connect to the PSAP, or may improperly ring to the administrative line of the PSAP, which may not be staffed after hours, or by trained 911 operators;
  • VoIP 911 calls may correctly connect to the PSAP, but not automatically transmit the user’s phone number and/or location information;
  • VoIP customers may need to provide location or other information to their VoIP providers, and update this information if they change locations, for their VoIP 911 service to function properly;
  • VoIP service may not work during a power outage, or when the Internet connection fails or becomes overloaded.

These are just a few ideas I was thinking about – Do you have any other great ideas that can keep us all healthy when we travel?

Traveling With Colleagues? Get a Corporate Rental

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If you’re one of the 3.9% Americans expecting to take a business trip in the next 6 months (Source: USTravel.org), you might want to consider taking a fresh look at where you stay. While hotels are great for short-term stays, for longer stays it might be nice to have a home away from home where you can “move-in” for a longer period of time.

But what if you’re traveling for business pals, a business partner, or a close colleague? The thought of saving a buck and sharing a hotel room might sound nice at first or even commanded by Corporate, but what about a longer stay? Do you really want to spend a month or longer “bunking up” with your colleague?

A solution to this dilemma  is corporate housing. When traveling with a business pal, you can share a corporate rental to save money, yet still have your own space.

In a corporate rental, you can each retreat to your own bedrooms when you need alone time, then share a main living area for business meetings, pow-wows, meals, and even for a little kick-back time together.

So the next time you’re assigned an extended business trip with your business partner, business colleague, or even boss, and “Corporate” orders you to “bunk up” to save money, consider a corporate rental. It’ll keep your professional and personal relationship with your colleague in-tact!

Where to find a corporate apartment? Visit CorporateHousingbyOwner.com or CHBO!

Southwest Airlines Adds Non-Stop Flights Between Pittsburgh and Houston

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southwest airlinesGreat news for those of you who love to fly Southwest Airlines. The no-frills airline launched non-stop flights from Pittsburgh International Airport to Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport today.

You can read more about the flight’s schedule between the two business destinations at Frequent Business Traveler online.

To find corporate housing in Houston or Pittsburgh during your extended stay visits in either city, visit CorporateHousingbyOwner.com for the web’s largest selection of executive short-term housing.

 

Super Bowl Bound? Find Corporate Housing in New Orleans

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If you’re one of the lucky ones to snag tickets to this year’s Super Bowl, listen up! Instead of crashing in a hotel for a few nights, make a trip of it and spend a few weeks, even a whole month, in The Big Easy.

new orleans short term rental property

This CHBO short-term rental property is available for rent and is located in the heart of New Orleans! http://corporatehousingbyowner.com/7632

Corporate Housing by Owner has 30+ rental properties available during Super Bowl week (and the week’s leading up to and after the big game) available for short-term rent.

Enjoy living in your own home with your own kitchen and your own privacy without the noise and hassles associated with traditional hotels.

So get your game on and head over to CHBO to find a short-term rental property in New Orleans!

PS – If you have a rental property available during Super Bowl week or month, make sure you mention “Super Bowl Housing” in your detailed property listing!

How to Capture Holiday Cheer When Staying in a Corporate Rental

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corporate renters can enjoy the holidays tooYou might be spending the December holidays in a corporate rental this year – but don’t fret – the good news is that you’re in a corporate rental, not a cramped hotel. A corporate rental gives you the flexibility to channel your own holiday cheer with few limitations.

Here are some tips to surviving the December holidays during your temporary stay in a corporate rental:

Decorate:  Just because you’re staying in a furnished rental property doesn’t mean you can’t bring along some of your own decorations. Put up that Christmas tree, hang those stockings, light that menorah, and decorate your rental to your liking. A little bit of your personal holiday touch will bring cheer to you during your temporary stay.

Host:  A corporate rental gives you the flexibility to host a few friends for dinner one night. Prepare some food, invite a few friends over and host that holiday dinner party like usual. If you’re staying in a corporate rental over the holidays and plan to host a dinner party, look for properties with a large dining room to give you the extra space you’ll need.

Get Local:  If you’re staying in a corporate rental away from home, take advantage of your new location to live like the locals live. Check out the local holiday events and holiday foods special to the area you’re staying near. There’s no time like the present to take advantage of local holiday traditions!

If you’re staying in a corporate rental this holiday season, don’t fret. Rather, make the most of it by hanging your own decorations, hosting your own dinner party and enjoying everything your temporary location has to offer.

Red Flags When Screening a Corporate Housing Tenant

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I’ve been in the property management field long enough to know red flags when I see them. You know, the tenant calls you and something just doesn’t feel right.

In my experience, here are some red flags every corporate housing landlord should be on the look out for:

A tenant who doesn’t want to complete the rental application. Every tenant should complete the rental application with a few core exceptions. For example, if the tenant has had their identity or credit card stolen, you may consider waiving the rental application. Also, elderly clients and someone who has never leased a property before may be more reluctant to complete an application and may not  know it is a standard procedure. Any of the exceptions mentioned above would be an acceptable reason to lower the flag and give a prospective tenant alternatives to getting you the information.

Tenants who leave off numbers when providing their credit card and/or social security numbers. If any important information or numbers are missing, your flag should raise.  If they are unwilling to provide this information then they need to understand that you have done all you can do but you cannot lease to them due to company policy.

Urgency. If a client is rushing you and says he needs to move in ASAP but is not getting you the information you need to do the lease, your red flag should be sky-high. Never rush into a deal until all your T’s are crossed. Rushed deals are often riddled with fraud – beware.

Their story changes. Another red flag can occur when a prospective tenants calls over and over again and gives you sob story after sob story. Or, sometimes they call and ask to speak to someone else so they can mix up the story and use one agent against another agent. Also, be weary of prospects who will only speak on the phone because they don’t want facts written down – these prospects can turn into he said she said cases.

Lies. If a prospective tenant lies on the application for any reason, they should be immediately disqualified from renting your property.

Someone who doesn’t want to fill out a rental credit application. This one speaks for itself. If someone has bad credit it doesn’t necessarily mean that they can’t afford the payments or should be immediately disqualified. But if they aren’t willing to have that discussion with you and disclose the truth upfront, your guard should be way up.

What other red flags have come up in your interactions with prospective renters?

Find Temporary Housing in San Francisco During America’s Cup

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If you’re an America’s Cup competitor, involved in the planning any of the events or simply a spectator, consider staying in short-term corporate rental during your stay in San Francisco.  Avoid the packed touristy hotels and instead cherish the laid-back lifestyle and creature comforts of home that a fully-furnished apartment or house has to offer. Plus, you can live like the locals (not the tourists) live.

San Francisco housing is available through CorporateHousingbyOwner.com and individuals can either search for corporate housing in San Francisco of submit a CHBO Housing Request to find a short-term, furnished rental property.

America’s Cup events run August 21-26 and October 4-7, 2012 (this is the America’s Cup World Series event that takes place during San Francisco’s annual Fleet Week).