I live in the UK and work for Network Rail. I'm a Railway Signalman on the East Coast Main Line looking after the safety and punctuality of high speed trains between London and Scotland. When I'm not at work, I can usually be found in an IHG property somewhere in the world, and given that my job is "hours restricted" for safety... that means lots of time off!

Tristan Casson

Royal Ambassador

Ron

I've answered you in the thread about upgrades. Hope that's ok!

Tris ;-)

Tristan,

Good to see you participating on the board again. How are things? Where have you been

Your buddy,

Amanda Kehoe

Hi Jon,

I live in the US and travel in the US for work. My situation is probably different than most in that I don't usually stay at the same hotels, and often it's only for one night. That is not my choice; it's because I visit many different locations, and will usually choose my hotel based on the  locations of the places I need to visit--as long as there is an acceptable hotel in that location. I sometimes drive farther than I'd rather if there are no name brand hotels in the town where I want to stay. Tonight is a perfect example - I wanted to stay in a more centrally located town about 1/2 hour away from where I am, but there were no decent hotels, so I am driving a bit each morning (I get to stay here 2 nights--yay!).

I have Platinum status with IHG, and Gold, Silver, and basic status with many other hotel chains as well. I am an Independent Contractor; I work for consulting firms analyzing customer retention and service in banking and hospitality industries.

Paul,

So your'e a computer expert/trouble shooter.  Boy, oh, boy, I wish you lived in my neighborhood; I would phone  you with  lots of dopey questions. . 

When something goes awry with my computer, I

1. call the helpline, and speak with a  techie in Madras who may or may not be helpful.

2. call my grandsons who live in New Jersey,  and if  one or both come to my apartment to fix the problem, it is a double reward:. M y computer is fixed and I get to spend quality time with  grandchildren

3.  onced called  Geek Squad., a national company, that sends  a techie to your home, by appointment on the following day.
The guy who came  was really good and I would recommend Geek Squad to folks in the US, who need this  housecall service.  . They are costly, but  give a 30% discount with an AAA card. .

Rick,

Re Geek Squad;

I used their service a year ago, so I don't remember  all the glitches with my computer, but there were several which he fixed and made a recommendation to buy  somthing that would speed up my slow computer.

I think they charge  $125 or 150 per  visit, with a discount of 30% with AAA, perhaps a senior discount , too.

Good question!  I am a high school Spanish and French teacher.  I travel for pleasure with my family, mostly during the summer.  It has not been easy for me to maintain Platinum status; but thanks to all the tips from you fellow members, I am adding more points every day.  (It doesn't hurt that I won 40,000 points in the recent contest either.)  I am very much enjoying reading member posts.  Keep them coming.

Valerie

Amanda,

I double majored in college, and spent some time living in Spain and France.  I teach in a public high school.  We go back next week.  It will be my 29th year!

I was in sales of products to surgeons in hospitals. I had no inclination to enter management, as I knew their stress levels, rewards, and working time did not compare favorable with mine. As such I was able to control my life and retire early on a better package than I could have earlier believed possible. Hence the ability to now take about 10 weeks holidays a year.

I install, calibrate, test, and hand off radiation therapy machines at cancer clinics and hospitals in the US, Canada, and Mexico.  My schedule is basically ten days on, four days off, so a hotel is sometimes more like home than.... well, home.  I use the points for gift certificates and donate the money saved to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.

Well I work as an IT Solutions Architect for Fujitsu UK & I

Mainly designing solutions for our customers and potential new customers.

My niche area is in Enterprise Management, making sure that the critical systems are monitored and available as required.

More recently I have been taking the ITIL v2 Service Manager training and have the exams at the end of October, hopefully will pass and then be able to move to V3 !!!

At home I am the nred/geek of the family, friends and neighbours.... always on hand to fix a variety of problems !!

Danny

Hi

I teach First Aid, I travel mostly round Wales training people in Emegency First Aid, First Aid at Work and derfibrillation.

Prior to this I was in the Royal Air Force and that gave me the travel bug.

I also like to travel for fun and have managed to see a good slice of the world, but there is still soooooo much to see.

Mal.

Hi. I work for a major freight forwarding company with my base at our Bristol office. I am a Project Manager and travel around our UK offices implementing new procedures and monitoring compliance to them. Main concentration at the moment being around our Customer Service teams. I stay anything from 1 night to 4 nights a week at various locations from London to Glasgow. I don't always use Holiday Inn, it depends on the location, but as a Platinum member, I do try to stay at HI as often as possible to get the points !!

B.Regards   Barry

I work for an international motor manufacturer as an auditor and cover the whole UK. I use Holiday Inns where possible and generally find them good value but sometimes they are not in the location I need. I am away from home about 3 nights in a week. I always look for hotels with easy parking on site. My biggest bugbear are those electronic keycards that do not work!!!!

South Central Sales Manager for Datalux Corp. which manufactures rugged mobile computers for health care and public safety.

Well for my sins I am Contracting Division EHS/QA Manager covering all sites within the UK...........mainly stay at IH's.

Environmental, Health & Safety/Quality Assurance just in case!!!!!!!   

CEO of $10 M+ international comopany developing premioum incentive prorgrams for the Direct MArketing industry.

This is my 35th year and we have 3 ooffices abroad besides  NYC.

I travel monthly to Europe, quarterly to Asia and  at least one a year to Africa  and Australia

Isaac

Hello, I'm Scott Day. I work within the division of Protective Packaging for Sealed Air, here in the UK. As a Regional Sales Manager I have sales responsibility for the following product lines; Instapak, Korrvu, New Air IB and FillTeck, covering a region, North East and East Midlands, UK. Guess most of you know Sealed Air for the brand name Aircap Bubble Wrap.

I'd like to know if an of the community work for Sealed Air....drop me a line.

Scott

False teeth, Ron?

Were they dentures, custom made and fittted by the dentist for his patients?

Or were they sold  over the counter, one size fits all?

My late husband was a dentist, so I'm always curious about bicuspids, molars and  implants.

I would for an international IT Company and am project based working to improve the performance of particular areas of the business. This means a good deal of travel and sometimes long periods (up to years) based away from home (the UK). I love working within different cultures (both national and business) and enjoy the travel - I have never been to a country that I can't say good things about.

What I have realised is that we (regular travellers) are quite a small bunch - I regularly get people who want to join my team who have an exotic, romantic view of business travel - they think it is all dining out, cultural visits and hotel bars. Well it can be, but they don't seem to realise it is also flight delays, long nights travelling and the only thing you get to see is an airport, a taxi, a hotel and an office!

I explain to new starters that the most important things to remember are:

1) Airport Security are always right - don't argue or you will be naked in a small windowless room and you will miss your flight.

2) Always check which side of the bedroom the wardrobe is as the bath room is opposite - this can be very important late at night.

3) You are the visitor,you need to understand that it is you who has to change or flex - don't expect a whole country to change for you (particularly important as most of my team are British).

4) If someone doesn't understand you shouting doesn't help (again a british thing)

5) Adding 'O' to the end of a word does not mean that you are speaking the language.(God another British thing)

6) Try everything once - not much in this world (at least in mine) is dangerous and if you never try, you never know. This is as simple as eating street food in asia rather than western food in the hotel. I would never have known how much I like fried whole frog, without doing this.

7) If you love a country or city, always leave one thing undone - for example I have been to Amsterdam 10 times a year for the past 10 years and have never been to Anne Franks house. This way you always have a reason to return.

8) Thank everyone who has treated you well - especially if you want to return.

9) Duty free is not an obligation - nothing is cheap if you don't plan to use it / drink it - especially true in Europe where Duty Free can be more expensive than street prices.

10) Learn how to ask for a beer and the informal international sign language for asking for the bill and  where are the toilets.

Above all start the day with a smile and check you still have it throughout the day.