Archive for the ‘Tips for Workforce Travelers’ Category
CLC Announces Hotel Locator iPhone app – Coming Soon!
Friday, August 10th, 2012
Workforce travelers and administrators – business lodging with CLC just got even easier. CLC Lodging is proud to announce its Hotel Locator iPhone app – available for free through Apple’s iTunes store in Q4 of 2012. With its hotel search tool using iPhone’s built-in GPS capability to instantly map CLC hotels to a traveler’s current location, CLC hopes to ease the hectic business travel life of many of its customers.
CLC Lodging’s Hotel Locator iPhone app coming soon!
The Hotel Locator mobile app takes full advantage of iPhone technology – allowing users to:
- Easily search from CLC’s broad network of hotels using current location orcity, address or ZIP
- Map hotels using GPS technology and get directions in seconds
- Fine tune hotel searches by distance and rate ranges
- Toggle hotel search results quickly between a hotel list and map view
- Filter by breakfast, high speed internet and truck parking
- View hotel details, amenities and photos
- One-tap dial to the hotel to make reservations
- Access CLC’s 24-hour Traveler Support Center support line
An Android version of the Hotel Locator app is in development. It will offer the same features and functionality as the iPhone app and will be available this coming September.
Not a CLC member yet? Call (866) 857-9783 or e-mail: sales@clclodging.com. Smaller companies can receive free membership by using the key code “APPNEWS” during registration at www.clclodging.com or by calling 1-866-857-9747, Option 1.
Tags: business travel, CheckINN card, CLC Hotels For Workforce Travelers, CLC Lodging, corporate lodging card, Corporate Lodging Consultants, workforce travelers
Posted in CLC Hotels For Workforce Travelers, CLC Workforce Lodging, Money-Saving Tips, Tips for Workforce Travelers | No Comments »
Free Wi-Fi? Do Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
Many workforce travelers look forward to a free Wi-Fi connection to when staying in a hotel for business travel. Whether they’re checking work email, catching up with friends and family, looking for transactions in their bank accounts or just surfing the net after a long day, Wi-Fi is a definite plus when spending time on the road. Unfortunately, hackers also enjoy the service, making the idiom “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” a falsehood. You should definitely look at these horse choppers and purchase some bite insurance.
According to Business Travel News, hackers are using free hotel Wi-Fi to load malware in the form of software updates onto your smart phone, computer or Ipad. A warning was issued by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (ICCC) after several instances were reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other government agencies. As if road warriors didn’t have enough to worry about, now you need to be doubly cautious and ensure your data and hardware is protected.
Malware, short for malicious software, is software designed to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, etc.
What does this mean for the business traveler? There are a variety of possible outcomes depending on the type of malware. Slow load times, loss of personal data and computer failure are all possibilities. What can you do to protect yourself? The ICCC recommends that you check digital certificates of all updates, perform software updates before you travel and only download updates from trusted vendor websites while on the road.
Tags: business travel, business travelers, CLC Hotels For Workforce Travelers, Workforce Travel, workforce traveler
Posted in Tips for Workforce Travelers, Travel Safety | No Comments »
Hotel Pet Peeves – And How to Solve Them
Friday, March 23rd, 2012
Travel Powerstrips - Avoid Frustration of Too Few Outlets
Apparently, this experienced workforce traveler isn’t the only one who’s exasperated when there aren’t enough outlets next to the bed to charge my cell phone or laptop. In a recent article by USA Today’s Barbara De Lollis, former press secretary for President Bush, Dana Perino tweets about her hotel pet peeves.
Her laundry list of tweets include: coffee-flavored hot water and stubbing her toes moving the heavy bedside table to get to an outlet. A few of my pet peeves are dirty towels and cigarette smoke in a non-smoking room.
How to solve them:
Power outlets
- Pack a compact, travel sized power strip in your lap top case
- Ask the front desk if they have a spare power strip
Coffee-flavored tea water
- Pack a coffee urn cleaner packet in your luggage
- You’ll only need 1/3 of the packet due to the smaller size of hotel coffee makers
- Go to Starbucks
Dirty Towels
- Call the front desk and ask for replacement towels
- Invest in a micro-fiber travel towel – it will dry in a few hours and it’s eco-friendly
Cigarette Smell
- Report the smoke smell to the front desk
- the previous occupant may incur a fine for smoking in a non-smoking room
- Request a room-change
- No non-smoking room available?
- Whip out your travel spray to mask the odor
Above all, make sure you make the effort to fill out customer surveys or talk directly to the hotel manager. Hotels take customer feedback seriously. Another great way to avoid frustration is to make your next workforce travel hotel stay a CheckINN Direct stay.
Tags: business travel, business travel discounts, hotel discounts, save on hotels
Posted in Green Business Travel, Tips for Workforce Travelers | No Comments »
CheckINN Direct Saves Your Company Time, Money on Hotels
Thursday, February 9th, 2012
Got employees who travel to do their work in boots, not suits? Construction crews, tower erectors, drivers, field reps, installers, inventory teams and others who stay in economy and mid-scale hotels?
- Higher occupancy — Forget recent years when your travelers could bargain for a cheap rate at the front desk. Now the lodging industry recovery is well under way. According to Smith Travel Research, hotel occupancies rose to 67 percent last year from 2010 occupancy of 64 percent.
- Steadily climbing rates — 2012 is on track to continue last year’s rising occupancy trend, and higher rates go along with it. Last week the U.S. hotel industry saw average occupancy gains of 5.5% to 51.7%, reports Hotel News Now. Last week’s average daily room rate across the country went up 3.1%.
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Possibly exceeding your travel budget — Travel planners surveyed by Carlson Wagonlit Travel admit to worries over ever-increasing costs, especially since many travel planners found they’d exceeded their travel budgets before 2011 was over. Business demand was mandating travel, but costs were higher than many companies planned for. This year they want to optimize their hotel spend to stretch their lodging dollars, more than 50% of respondents told Carlson pollsters.
If your company is ready for an easy way to save time and money on workforce travel, there’s no need to wait.
Tags: business travel discounts, CheckINN card, CheckINN Direct, CLC Lodging, Company hotel discounts, corp lodging card, Corporate Lodging Consultants, corporate lodging rates
Posted in CLC Hotels For Workforce Travelers, Tips for Workforce Travelers | No Comments »
Rx for Workforce Travel Health Emergencies
Sunday, February 5th, 2012
Workforce travelers, it’s American Heart Month. Would you recognize the warning signs of a heart attack in yourself or others? What about CPR – can you perform it?
It’s smart to be prepared for medical emergencies on the road, and the American Heart Association (AHA) offers a variety of tools to help you. CheckINN Direct provides these tips to help keep you safe and heart-healthy wherever your workforce travel takes you.
Put Your Smartphone to Work
The Pocket First Aid and CPR App not only helps you know what to do if someone isn’t breathing, but also if they’ve been biten, bruised or burned. The app includes videos from the American Heart Association to show you how to do CPR and handle medical emergencies. It is available from the iTunes App store for the iphone and from Android Market for Android phones, and costs $3.99.
Learn To Perform CPR
AHA offers an online tool to help you find CPR training that’s convenient for you. Find a CPR class.
Start Thinking Healthy
Or, if hearing about American Heart Month serves as a timely reminder about eating better and moving around more, check out the Getting Healthy section of the AHA website.
Go Red for Women
You may be seeing “Go Red for Women” banners around your travel areas all across the country this month, too. That’s the AHA’s annual focus on heart health for women, who often suffer heart symptoms that are different from the classic heart attack signs seen in men. Find out more.
Get Heart-Smart & Hotel-Savvy
With your job keeping you on the road frequently, you know it’s smart to have a company lodging plan (like joining CheckINN Direct). Now you can be just as savvy about overcoming – or better yet, preventing – health emergencies on the heart health on the road as you are about using CheckINN Direct to save you 20-40% off hotel room rates.
Not yet a member? Sign up today.
Tags: American Heart Month, CheckINN card, CheckINN Direct, clc hotels, CLC Lodging, CLC Lodging hotels, CLC Loding savings card, corp lodging, corporate hotel rates, corporate lodging, CPR tips
Posted in Tips for Workforce Travelers, Travel Safety | No Comments »
Turn Your Smartphone into Hotel Remote Control
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
Here’s an exciting new innovation for workforce travelers (almost as good as CheckINN Direct saving you 20-40% off hotels). Now a new smartphone app lets you control the TV remote in some hotel rooms when you’re traveling for business.
That’s great news for frequent company travelers who may consider in-room remotes as germ magnets.
USA Today reports that travelers staying in hotels that get in-room TV entertainment from LodgeNet can use its free app for iPhones, iPads and Androids.
Here’s how it works:
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Download the app, called LodgeNet Mobile, from your mobile device app store
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Follow the directions on how to link to a specific hotel TV
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Use the app to control free TV channels, pay-per-view movies and on-demand TV shows
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Pay-per-view selections can be charged to your hotel bill or you pay for them separately with the app
Download Before Traveling
Be aware that before you hit the road, you may need to download the app via a computer since its size makes it too large to immediately download on an iPhone, for example.
Currently, LodgeNet has updated its TV systems in about 2,000 hotels for its new app, so it may take awhile before you can put it into practice at your specific workforce lodging. But since LodgeNet can be found in around 500,000 hotel rooms, the app eventually will be useful in many more locations.
You’ll also find that adult-only selections aren’t accessible through the app. But in addition to channel surfing, you can use it to control the TV volume, program guide and TV menu.
Just another convenience for workforce travelers – just like CheckINN Direct from CLC Lodging. When you’re a CheckINN Direct member, your business travel is discounted at more than 10,000 hotels across the U.S. and Canada.
Tags: business travel, CheckINN card, CheckINN Direct, clc card, CLC Lodging, corporate travel discounts, economy hotel rates, hotel bargains, hotel discounts, workforce lodging, Workforce Travel
Posted in Tips for Workforce Travelers, Workforce Travel | No Comments »
Business Travelers: Are You Paying Too Much for Hotels?
Monday, January 30th, 2012
Now that the first month of the New Year has sped by, ask yourself: Are you saving as much money on your company’s workforce lodging as you could this year?Saving money on your employees’ hotel stays is what CheckINN Direct from CLC Lodging is all about. We’re talking discounts of 20-40% off hotels’ lowest published rates, thanks to the negotiating power CLC leverages from its purchases of more than 10 million room nights a year for clients.
Not surprisingly, CheckINN Direct’s deeply discounted rates are exactly what our customers love most about the program. After all, who isn’t looking for ways to cut company costs?
Here’s what one CheckINN Direct advocate told us after saving nearly $7,000 on employee lodging in just six weeks:
“At one hotel, I had negotiated a rate of $100 a night. Your rate is $55 plus tax. That’s really noticeable…I can look at your Web site and instantly see which hotels are within my price range, so I no longer need to call around to get rate quotes.”
In other words, if you’ve got drivers, installers, construction crews or other employees frequently on the road, you can pay less for hotels AND save yourself time finding hotels and negotiating rates.
Not bad, huh? Particularly when CheckINN Direct requires are no contract commitments or annual minimum usage requirements.
2012 is just getting started, but there’s no need to waste any more time paying more for a hotel room than you have to. You easily can make 2012 the year that you get your company travel costs under control. In fact, you can sign up immediately.
Tags: CheckINN card, CheckINN Direct, clc card, CLC Lodging, corporate hotel discounts, Corporate Lodging Consultants, economy and midscale hotels, hotel and motel discounts, hotel bargains, hotel coupons, save on business travel, workforce lodging, Workforce Travel
Posted in Tips for Workforce Travelers | No Comments »
CheckINN Direct Members: Tips On Electronics Ahead
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
Not many CheckINN Direct members likely make it to the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held in Las Vegas in 1.86 million square feet of exhibit space. But it’s always good for small businesses like yours to keep up on the latest electronic gadgets that are showcased at the show so you’ll know what’s coming soon — and what it might mean for your company.
So what was hot at this year’s show, wrapping up this week? John Brandon’s report for Inc. identifies key trends: including:
Expect 4G signals to become the norm for your next smartphone. They’ll bring lightning quick speed to video downloads and make video conferencing smoother than previously possible. You’ll be able to move swiftly across the Web and Internet back-ups will be easier than ever.
Smart phones also are going to be working harder on your behalf, including for productivity like word processing and online accounting. They’ll be more like notebook computers than ever before, complete with full-size keyboards. One version on CES view, the Astrix 4G, uses a docking station to connect to a desktop monitor and keyboard.
Electric cars are moving from concept to reality. Ford chose CES to roll out its electric Ford Focus. In recent weeks, the Chevy Volt has been arriving at dealer showrooms. As Brandon notes, businesses may want to start considering the idea of electric fleets to lower fuel costs.
Hope you’re already on top of keeping your workforce travel costs low. That’s what CheckINN Direct is all about. No need to get to Vegas to find out how it works – read all about it now.
Tags: CES tips for small business, CheckINN card, CheckINN Direct, CLC Lodging, corp lodging, corporate lodging, hotel discounts for business
Posted in Tips for Workforce Travelers | No Comments »
Workforce Travel Tip for Commercial Drivers: Put Down Those Cellphones
Monday, January 2nd, 2012
We know a lot of CLC Lodging clients drive commercial vehicles, so here’s a heads-up: Put down that cellphone!
Starting Jan. 3, 2012, commercial drivers are prohibited from using handheld cellphones when behind the wheel on highways.
The new government mandate was created in the name of transportation safety – any drivers distracted by dialing or reaching for a phone are more likely to be involved in accidents.
Failure to comply with the new regulation could result in a $2,750 fine per offense, and you could lose your license for repeat offenses. Commercial truck and bus companies that allow handheld cellphone use face a penalty of up to $11,000. Even if your CLC Lodging Savings Card gets you big discounts on hotels when you travel, those fines are serious money.
Workforce travelers won’t be completely incommunicado, though. Use of speakerphones and headsets are allowed – anything that makes your phone usage hands-free is still available to commercial drivers.
Exceptions are based on common sense. Drivers can use a handheld phone to alert authorities of an accident or impaired driver. The rules exclude brief periods of two-way radios or walkie-talkie use when needed for critical communications by specialty haulers, school bus operators or utility workers.
The cellphone fight for commercial drivers may not be over. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration’s Advisory Committee want to ban hands-free mobile phone usage for CMV drivers, too. So far they have failed to get that restriction approved.
Tags: CheckINN Direct, CLC Lodging, CLC Workforce Lodging, Corporate Lodging Consultants, distracted driving, highway safety
Posted in Tips for Workforce Travelers, Travel Safety | No Comments »
Stretch Your Company’s Lodging Budget for 2012
Sunday, January 1st, 2012
What’s ahead for workforce travel in 2012? Some changes on the road, some adjustments at the gas pump and a continued need to hold the line on hotel expenses.
Here’s what CLC Lodging wants you to know to help your company’s travel budget get ready:
Toll roads raising commercial rates. Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida among the states where turnpike fares for commercial vehicles will increase, with most increases effective Jan. 1, 2012. Landline Magazine gives the details on where drivers can expect to pay more when they’re on company business.
Retail gas prices holding steady. The short-term energy outlook indicates that retail gas prices will stay at or lower than current levels until early spring. That’s the word from the DOE’s Energy Information Agency, which didn’t speculate on diesel prices.
Hotels hanging tough on negotiating rates. Business Travel News reports that buyers are facing higher business lodging rates for the year ahead. With demand up and capacity down, hotels are raising corporate rates by “mid-single-digit percentages,” BTN said.
If your company is looking for ways to stretch its workforce travel budget, see how CLC Lodging’s Savings Card can help.
Tags: CheckINN card, CheckINN Direct, CLC Lodging, CLC lodging savings card, corporate hotel discounts, corporate lodging, Corporate Lodging Consultants, corporate travel rates, hotel and motel discounts
Posted in CLC Workforce Lodging, Money-Saving Tips, Tips for Workforce Travelers | No Comments »
