I don't think rental car companies keep very good track of their cars. I have returned a car to a FBO, come back a week later and found the car still parked where I left it. I've also had one supposedly delivered, couldn't find it, called the rental car company and they knew it was delivered someplace but couldn't figure out where.A bit of thread creep.
Some of those car rentals are the worst. Here's a good example. You rent from Avis via Signature. You turn the car into the FBO Friday night. The company wants to know the amount of the charge on Monday, but... The FBO doesn't turn the car into Avis until sometime on Monday. Avis doesn't run the charges until a day or two later. It doesn't show up on the AmEx until a day or two after that, and it'll finally hit the company expense software about a week later.and the receipts (required with the expense report) won't show up on the car rental website until up to two weeks after the rental was turned in (which could be a few days after dropping it off at an FBO). I've had to argue extra day charges with the car rental places more than once due to FBO's not turning the car in on a timely fashion.
back to the main thread now...
The past 18 months have been really great. I was only having to travel a couple of times a year. I even managed to get out of a trip to Estonia and China. Last year I barely flew at all: two trip to San Diego, one to Dallas and one to Taiwan. What a great year. I was at O'Hare airport a few weeks ago and realized I had not been there for six months!!! That break was unprecedented in my adult life here in Chicago. But now I am going back on the road. I have a full travel schedule this year, thankfully my business class travel budget was approved!!! YEAH ME! That at least makes these long hauls bearable.
I was in LHR just a couple of days back. Flew over Windsor, looked like a straight-in landing, no sitting for 45 minutes to cross an active runway, and immigration was polite and asked only two questions. I guess it will be back to normal when I leave in a week or so.I have a rule about travel to Europe these days. That is to avoid LHR at all costs. I have to be in Nice, FR at the beginning of next month. In order to avoid LHR I am taking UAL to Munich and then Lufthansa to Nice. I got a coach class upgradable ticket, 20,000+$250 each way and that is cheaper than the $5k they wanted for a biz ticket. I then have to go to Romania at the end of the month. I am trying to convince work it would be better if they just let me stay, on expenses of course, on the French Riviera for a couple of weeks and then I will head to Romania and home. So far they are not going for it.
BTW had to request an upgrade of my Amex card to a higher level. Seems I already spent the $10k/mo corporate limit we have. Shucks.
Wish I could avoid it. but that's where I needed to go this time.
Kinda hard to do setting up a new lab 1/4 the way around the world. Real-time is better for this.You guys really need more videoconferencing in your lives.
And I say that as no longer an employee of a company that sells such things.
Video conferencing really only works if the meeting has a simple dynamic. When there are conferences that require lots of offline negotiating, hall way conversations, etc. to get the work done, nothing beats face to face. The other problem with video conferencing is timing. It really stinks having to be the group of people up at 2am to get onto a call with Japan. At least in real time you sort of feel normal. But videoconferencing does have its place and I have used. In my line of work, standards development, we have to meet face to face.You guys really need more videoconferencing in your lives.
And I say that as no longer an employee of a company that sells such things.
