I just got back from putting on a workshop in Denver (and being with the most delightful group of students). However, the return trip home was horrendous. Highlights of the trip include:

* Two canceled flights

* One missed flight (due to a delayed flight, but my baggage made it — so much for airline security)

* Got labeled an extra security risk TWICE

* Had to spend the night in Atlanta

I could go on and on but I’m thinking about my audience (YOU) and you don’t care.

On the positive side, I can pass on what I learned about my experience to those of you who have small travel sites who are trying to compete with the large Expedias of the world.

And yes, you CAN compete. How? By offering the personal touch.

Here are my Ten Tips for Making Your Air Travel More Bearable. Travel sites are free to post these tips on your Web sites as additional content. This will help you prove how valuable it is to have a travel agent and not be an impersonal Web site that simply saves clients a few dollars.

1. Get a travel agent. That’s the absolutely smartest thing you can do when you travel. My travel agent is Teresa Smith of Pro Travel (601-582-3300). (If you call Pro Travel, ask for Teresa specifically or leave a message for her. They’re in the process of setting up a Web site, and I’ll post their URL when they get it ready.)

I have two Internet-related companies, but when I travel, I go to Teresa. She can find me the best deal out of the five airports from the many different airlines that could provide airline reservations for me. I could spend hours doing the same thing, but Teresa can get me where I’m going for the best price at the time I need to be there. I may be able to save a little by shopping around for myself, but when time equals money, I save by going to Teresa. I wouldn’t do it any other way. She’s the best.

At times like this past weekend, while I waited in an endless line after my first flight was canceled in Denver, I called Teresa. She found me a return flight with a competing airline for $780. American let me use that flight because they wanted as many happy customers as they could get.

When I got stuck in Atlanta for the night and couldn’t make it home, Teresa found me a hotel room near the airport. Hundreds of travelers couldn’t find a room because of the conventions in town, but Teresa found me a room.

How much is Teresa worth to me? Priceless.

If you have a travel site, offer to be a travel agent for your customers. Be the friendly voice at the other end of the phone. Large sites like Expedia and Priceline will never be able to compete against that kind of customer service.

2. Keep your travel agent’s cell or home phone number with you at all times. This may seem self explanatory, but you don’t want to be stuck in NYC on a Sunday night and only know your agent’s office number.

3. Put all of your gels, lotions, shampoos, etc., in a small plastic bag with a Ziploc top. Security is cracking down on the plastic bags now, so my round lip gloss was in a bag of its own. I’ve often wondered about my lip gloss vs. Bruce Lee IV whose body is a lethal weapon. I’m not criticizing our security measures, because they’re doing everything they can to keep us safe. But I’ve been stopped because of my cat ink pen, my dog-shaped powder, and my bottle of Advil. Bruce Lee IV gets on just fine.

4. With certain airlines, like AirTran and Delta, you can upgrade to their version of first class for $50 if they have any open seats. They don’t always announce this, however. So go up to the counter and ask about upgrading to first class. For $50, it’s worth the upgrade, especially if it’s a lengthy flight.

5. If you have problems with your flight related to weather, remember that it’s not the fault of the lady behind the counter. It’s not her supervisor’s fault. It’s not the weatherman’s fault. It’s not even God’s fault. It’s just the . . . WEATHER. The airline isn’t going to give you free meals or a free hotel room due to weather conditions. However, they will do everything they can to get you home or to your destination.                            

Here’s the secret though. Being nice goes a lot further than being a screaming idiot. Think about it from your position. Would YOU want to help a screaming idiot? (or kick him in certain strategic areas accidentally)

When Teresa found me a flight on a different airline, I went up to the counter. I told the clerk that I knew the weather wasn’t her fault, and she laughed a little. She was so uptight and stressed out. I told her that I hoped she was getting paid enough for what she was having to endure (namely, this one jerk from New Orleans). Then I told her that my travel agent had found me a flight on a different airline. I told her that I knew it wasn’t one of American’s partners, but would she please consider allowing me to use the ticket because I really needed to get home. She told me SURE, that my travel agent had done a great job finding me the ticket. It wasn’t a problem at all.

In other words, I had helped to make her job easier, and I had helped to make American look good. It was a win/win situation. Everyone else in line had “saved money” by going through the Internet to buy their tickets. They didn’t have a travel agent to call.

Some of them had to wait for three days to get out of Denver. They weren’t happy campers.

6. Be prepared for emergencies. Carry a day or two’s worth of medication with you at all times. Then if you get stuck in a city overnight, forget your luggage. Leave it at the airport. If you try to find your luggage due to missing a flight, it could take hours of time and undue insanity. In all likelihood, it’s probably on its way to your destination anyway, but no one will ever admit it to you due to the fact that they screwed up. Just forget it and go to a nearby hotel (with reservations made by your travel agent) and relax.

So you’ll look like a drowned rat for a day. Who cares? Will you ever see these people again? Pay $50 for an upgrade to first class, wear the same clothes for two days in a row (the same ones you slept in), kick back and enjoy yourself, or crash. Life is good for a change.  

7. If you’re having trouble flying back into the same airport you flew out of, could you fly into another airport nearby? I have several options, which made it a lot easier for my travel agent and the airlines to work with me. Remember that if it’s an option for you.

8. Try to check on your flight before leaving for the airport. You can do this by logging in to their Web site. This can save you some undue stress and standing in line. You can see about making changes online or calling your travel agent before ever getting to the airport.

Don’t just check on the outgoing flight. Check on your connecting flight as well. Also, check on weather conditions. In my case, I was connecting in Dallas, and Texas was full of wind storms. Few flights were making it to or from Dallas or Houston on Saturday. Ice canceled my first flight of the day, and wind in Dallas canceled my second flight of the day.

9. Try not to get upset when things don’t go smoothly when traveling. Things NEVER go smoothly when you travel. The kids will fight; flights will get delayed or canceled; children will sit beside you and cry; the person walking down the aisle blowing her nose will sit next to you; you will get pulled aside by security to go through extra screening; you will stand in monster lines moving at the rate of 1″ per hour; you will stand near Mr. Obnoxious as he yells at the clerk behind the counter; etc.

These things will happen . . . and more. Accept it, don’t fight it, and move on. If you get upset, your trip will become even more miserable for you. These things are all part of traveling. Laugh about it! Find something funny about the experiences and move on.

Set up a blog about what the airline security people do with everything they confiscate through the security line (do they sell the items on eBay, or is there a special Web site called HowSecurityProspers.com); or the funniest airline security stories; or the worst travel stories; or whatever. Even if you don’t do any of these things, thinking about it will help at the time. (My creative mind was going haywire all day–you can imagine.)

However, small travel sites could actually do some of these things quite effectively using customer input.

10. Learn something from my experiences and find a travel agent. I can’t stress that enough. Teresa makes traveling a breeze for me. She even keeps up with all of my frequent flyer miles, my canceled trips so I can make sure I use those tickets, etc.

Find your own Teresa, or I’ll share my Teresa with you. Ask for Teresa Smith at Pro Travel of Hattiesburg at 601-582-3300. She’s the best.

The Expedias of the world can never compete on a personal level. They’ll never be there to answer the phone, find you an alternate flight when thousands of other travelers have been stranded, or find you a hotel room in a town you’re totally unfamiliar with. Only travel agents can do that. THIS is how small travel sites can compete.

This is part of your USP, your Unique Selling Proposition. Capitalize on it. Again, feel free to use my content on your site. Yes, you can put your own agent’s name in place of Teresa’s, but don’t use my personal recommendation. Teresa is the only one with my personal recommendation. If you use my content, I ask that you link back to this site and reference my name as the author.

Happy traveling! I’ll be in Vegas next month. Hope to see you there!

Robin