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Stress Less Over Holiday Travel!

February 2009

Traveling at any time of the year can be challenging, however traveling over the holidays can present a unique set of challenges. Here are a few tips that may help you survive the season in style:

1. Don’t take work with you. Make sure that you have tied up all of the loose ends and leave them all back at
the office. Make a list of all the small details that need your attention prior to your departure, and diligently complete them all. There is nothing worse than having that one little task nagging at you while you are trying
to enjoy Christmas dinner with your family…and no, I do not have any helpful tips of how to survive Christmas
dinner with the family.

2. Always check with the airlines before heading to the airport. Christmas is a busy travel time, and often
weather has an impact on the arrival and departure of flights. Call the airlines in advance to ensure that your
flight is on time, or worse, not cancelled because it couldn’t get off of the runway in Chicago. If your flight is delayed, you can put the extra time to much better use…like last minute gift shopping.

3. Call the airlines and ensure that the seats you reserved are still reserved. This makes more sense than you think. As almost all holiday flights are booked (dare we say overbooked) often seat assignments are changed without notice to accommodate the capacity. This is especially important when you are flying with small children, as you would not want your children separated from you…on second thought, you just might.

4. Put your cell phone charger in your carry-on luggage. With the way the weather can play havoc with flight cancellations and delays, you will want to be able to stay connected during any long layovers that you may experience. In these circumstances, a fully charged cell phone is essential…and if you are travelling with
children, the games that come on all cell phones can keep them entertained, and may be the only way for you
to save your sanity.

5. Travel on the actual holiday day. It may not be ideal, but if you can, try and travel on the day that the holiday takes place. The flights tend to be less crowded, the line ups are shorter…and it may actually turn out to be an enjoyable experience.

6. Many hotels offer Christmas dinner . If you find that you need to be in a hotel and away from your family over the holidays, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you still can’t have a traditional Christmas dinner with all
the fixin’s. Many hotels offer Christmas dinner in their restaurants. Therefore, when making your reservation, ask the agent if a traditional dinner is being offered…and make a reservation.

Toni Daoud began his concierge career as part of the opening team at the Renaissance Sky Dome Hotel in Toronto. Since that time he has held concierge positions at The Park Hyatt and Air Canada Centre. He is currently the Concierge at the Sutton Place Hotel, Toronto.

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