Darren Booth (@FrequentlyFlyin) offers travelers a first-hand tour of Virgin Australia’s Domestic Lounge at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport in his latest post over at Frequently Flying. Swanky, modern and showcasing one of the most unattractive hot dogs we’ve ever seen, Booth walks you through the full experience from start to finish. Good on ya’ mate!

Credit: Frequently Flying

Atlas Van Lines has held the title of longest running survey regarding corporate relocation in the industry for, well, as long as they’ve been in the industry and putting out this survey. They have recently released their 2012 edition, and the results are a mixed bag of inspiring and sobering. Despite all talk (truthful and hopeful) that the economy is on its way back up and overall spending will increase, the reports from the survey indicate that both sides are technically correct.

In general, most firms reported that overall spending and budgets related to relocation increase and  faith in the future of the housing market has grown as well.

Not Great, But Not Bad Either

“most firms, regardless of size, expect their overall financial performances to improve.While nearly half of all firms expect the U.S. economy to improve, mid-size firms are the most optimistic – over half (53%) expect the U.S. economy to improve, far more than respondents at small and large firms (40% and 37%). Expectations for the U.S. real estate market are similar across firms of all sizes: more than half expect stability compared to 2011, and about a third or more expect improvement”

Despite this positive outlook, however, most firms are reporting cautionary strategies when it comes to investing in moving employee’s around the country. Due primarily to wariness about the future, American companies have taken on “smarter spending” strategy that has seen a decrease in relocating spending across all levels of employment (new hires, middle management, senior management). Basically, people are moving, but not as many and not as lavishly as in pre-downturn years.

Mid-Upper Level Management Has Seen Increases In Budgeting For Relocation

“The continued decrease is being driven by far fewer mid-size and large firms decreasing relocations among entry level/new hires (15% vs. 28%, 21% vs. 40%) and fewer firms of every size decreasing middle management relocations compared to 2010 (20% vs. 28%, 18% vs. 26%, 12% vs. 35%), with the biggest drop occurring at large firms.”

While the report delves much deeper into other external and internal factors that play a role in corporate budgeting in the future, we here at PC Housing are equal parts excited and optimistic about a positive upswing in the corporate housing industry. Providing furnished apartments to business travelers and casual travelers alike is a pleasure for us and while wild and lavish spending budgets aren’t exactly in the cards, we’re happy to report that America is slowly getting back on track.

According to our stats, smartphones and tablets are slowly placing themselves in between water and food as top necessities for business travelers. It makes sense. Being on the road is simply made easier and more manageable by these tools that allow us to stay connected but are these mobile devices taking up too much of our time?

Check out our infographic below to see how dependent you are in comparison to other road warriors!

[Click to Enlarge]

Embed this Infographic on Your Blog:

<a href="http://www.pchousing.com/blog/968/pc-housing-infographic-mobile-dependence-a-growing-trend-in-business-travel/?utm_source=shares&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=mobileinfographic"><img width="600" title="Business Traveler's Mobile Dependence Infographic" alt="Business Traveler's Mobile Dependence Infographic, created by PC Housing" src="http://www.pchousing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/PC_Infographic_2MB.jpg"></a><br /> </ br><br /> <a title="Business Traveler's Mobile Dependence Infographic" href="http://www.pchousing.com/blog/968/pc-housing-infographic-mobile-dependence-a-growing-trend-in-business-travel/?utm_source=shares&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=mobileinfographic">Business Traveler’s Mobile Dependence Infographic</a> created by <a title="PC Housing" href="http://www.pchousing.com/">PC Housing</a>

Does it get much better than this?

Just a hop, skip and a jump up from where the “turf meets the surf” in Del Mar lies the cozy beach town of Carlsbad. If there was ever a place to be forced to travel in Southern California, this would be it (Psst, we won’t tell anyone if you need an extra day or two for “work related purposes!”). Ideally located about 20 miles north of Downtown San Diego, Carlsbad offers the entire California package. Outdoor enthusiasts can get their wakeboarding and waterskiiing fix at the Carlsbad Lagoon, home base for a multiple professional wakeboard company athletes. Of course, the ocean is always just around the corner and with world-class beaches and the iconic California coastline for those inclined to just sit back and take it all in.

Whether for work or play, PC Housing has a variety of furnished apartments for corporate travelers and long-term visitors alike. The convenient locations of our temporary housing suites mean you can be downtown in 20-30 minutes taking only the I-5, or up to Orange County in 30-45 via the same route. A coastal trip watching the sun set over the ocean is never a bad way to end a long day at the office, so if you’re planning on taking an extended stay in the Carlsbad area in the near future, do yourself a favor and book a furnished corporate housing suite with PC Housing.

Image: Carlsbadvillagebungalo

Making time for the soothing luxury of a “spa-day” is not likely to be the first thing on every road warriors mind when sprinting from terminal to terminal. No matter how nice it sounds, there just aren’t enough hours in the day for lavish, self-indulgent treatments. Or are there?

One of 2011’s biggest travel trends (other than the rise of corporate housing and furnished apartments, of course!) is poised to make 2012 the most affordably relaxing year in recent memory. Behold, the “express spa treatment,” a 30-minute-or-less option that is aimed squarely at YOU, the stressed out, busy bee.

As reported by CNN, “The No. 1 reason people go to the spa is to relax and reduce stress. Catching flights and conducting meetings from cell phones can trigger added stress for many business travelers,” says ISPA (International Spa Association) President Lynne McNees. “An express treatment is the perfect alternative to help them balance before getting back to work.”

Rather than spending hours being endlessly pampered in exchange for a healthy chunk of change, the express treatment revolution is an affordable way to work the kinks out.

“Studies have shown that even an affordable 15- minute massage can reduce tension headaches, stress and anxiety”

The emergence of the express treatment option in 2011 has proven wildly popular with travelers on a tight financial budget and only a few minutes to spare, so expect to see it truly take off in 2012 as more airport terminals and lounges begin offering the service.

JFK Airport has the Xpress Spa that has no problem with walk-in’s, and Newark Liberty International Airport has the D_parture Spa, which offers quick and easy touch ups for ladies on the move.

“Business travelers demand [express treatments] and the driving force is that time is increasingly their most rare and precious commodity…So the spa trend now is … all about letting business people have it their way.”

Well, there you have it folks. Imagine just how much easier life on the road will be when you can spend those 20-30 minutes waiting for takeoff getting the knots worked out of your neck and shoulders. We’ve got our money on more and more of these types of offerings becoming commonplace throughout the country as we make our way through the year.

Have you had any experiences either positive or negative with an express spa treatment? Sound off in the comments, we’d love to hear about it!

Image: Mandicresswell

We’re only days away from the year of the apocalypse predicted by the Mayan’s oh so many hundreds of years ago. With that in mind, PC Housing suggests not showing up to work anymore and eating In-n-Out (or Five Guys for our East Coasters!) every day until it all goes down in flames.

Well, maybe not.

Considering this comic is probably spot on, unfortunately for you it means business as usual for 2012.  So looking ahead, PC Housing thought we would weigh in on some resolutions positive goals to focus on to stimulate both body and mind when out on the road in the coming year.

Put Down the Laptop and Pick up a Book (fine, or a Kindle)

Yes, we all know how important it is to stay on task while out on the road for business, but the hum drum of connecting flights and late nights does more to dull the ol’ noggin more than you think. Indulge your inner-creative soul and dig in to something completely out of the ordinary and you might just find yourself hooked. Two series that were making big news in 2011, A Song of Ice and Fire & The Hunger Games, are perfect escapist fiction that will pass the time nicely yet keep your mind limber.

Healthy Snacking

We can’t stress enough how easy and manageable it is to maintain healthy eating habits while out and about. We’ve highlighted some great tips before, so take a look if you missed it the first time and get inspired to pack healthy snacks and consider the benefits of bringing along some running shoes for the trip.

Get to Work Refining Your People Skills

In the growing age of digital relationships and online meetings, its easy to let our inter-personal skills slack a bit. But as someone who is on the go in new places more often than not, it’s always important to never forget how small the world truly is. Yes, your mother was right, and you know it’s true. We covered some great tips to step up your game and become a truly elite social strategist a few months back, but the advice is timeless.

Get Busy Livin’

Yes, we know there really isn’t all that much “free” time on a business trip. But rather than simply heading straight back to the furnished apartment or corporate housing suite after a long day, make a point to explore where you are. With the many simple tools available for smartphones these days, you really have no excuse not to expand your horizons and stop in for a drink or some appetizers at a place where no one knows your name once the day is done.

As always, we here at PC Housing wish you nothing but the best for the coming year. Reflecting on 2011, a year of dynamic change and worldwide uprisings, we can’t help but look forward to 2012 and all the new beginnings that are to come.

Image: RandomFunnyPictures

Well, friends and travelers, the time has come. You’ve been dreading it since last December. Planning, plotting, and predicting how you’re going to survive the 2011 holiday travel season is a skill that most corporate travelers have honed to an exact science, but not everyone is as adept at navigating the terminals with ease during the hectic winter months. With this in mind, we here at PC Housing thought we’d share some of the hard-earned wisdom we’ve gleaned from our own experiences and others from around the web to offer a definitive guide to everything from finding holiday deals on cheap airfare to strategically transporting your gifts. Together, we’re going to make it and live to tell the tale!

Research Cheap Airfare and the Best Days to Fly
According to a study done by FareCompare, the best time to purchase airline tickets is Tuesday at 3 p.m. Eastern time. Airlines are prone to dropping ticket prices during the early parts of the week before jacking them back up again after Thursday’s when they know most people will spend more time researching flights.

They also found that Wednesday was the cheapest day of the week to fly on. Sandwiched in between the higher volume days of Tuesday and Thursday, Wednesday is traditionally a slower travel day, but planes still need to move around to be ready for the rest of the week and thus ticket prices tend to be a bit lower for these mid-week flights.

Arrive Early
This seems like a bit of a no-brainer for business travelers, but when it comes time to actually have the bags packed, the gifts ready, and possibly the kid(s) in the car, that hour and a half you promised yourself would get you through in time somehow has turned into 35 minutes and you’re speeding down the highway praying for a delayed flight.

The volumes of vacationers and inexperienced travelers tend to back the lines in security and check-in to at least twice their normal volume. While common knowledge recommends getting to the airport an hour before your flight, we say go for broke and double that, because waiting for a flight is boring but missing it and waiting 2-3 times as long is a killer.

Bringing Gifts? Save the Wrapping for Later
Ideally, you’ll want to ship your gifts ahead of time to ensure that they’ll arrive on time and in good condition. But if you must bring them along, save the wrapping for after you arrive. Oftentimes security officers must unwrap packages in order to move through checkpoints and will likely have no patience for your plea that “it’s only a Batmobile, I swear!”

Pack Light and Bring Extra Bags
Luggage fee’s have been on the rise of over the last few years, so unless you absolutely have to, save some time and cash by getting it all in your carry-on. Similar to our advice on gifts, it might be easier and cheaper to simply FedEx that extra bag ahead of time to ensure arrival as well as comfort.

In addition, though you’ll be bringing gifts/etc. along with you, what about those that you will be receiving? Packing an extra, empty duffel bag somewhere gives you a place to store any expected items, because you never really know how much or how big those gifts may be.

While this is only a short list of some helpful hints, we here at PC Housing hope it helps and wish you and yours a safe, mellow experience while roaming about the country this holiday season

Image: TravelSmartBlog

We here at PC Housing know how hard you, the tireless corporate traveler, work day in and day out. Long flights, delays, layovers, rental cars and red-eyes tend to add up after a while and even the most dedicated of us needs a break from time to time.

When it comes time to let loose, there are few places better than the Gaslamp Quarter in our hometown of San Diego. With plenty of furnished apartment options in the nearby area and the San Diego Convention Center just a block from the district, the hard working corporate traveler has (literally) hundreds of options for washing away the long hours and satiating their appetites.

According to GoTime, the Gaslamp has over 132 happy hours each night across its 16 ½ blocks. The recent boom in the craft beer industry has placed San Diego in the #1 spot for locally brewed ales and spirits, complimented by the emergence of a great gastropub scene, many of which feature locally grown, organic ingredients.

Our top 10 favorites are:

1. Proper

2. The Hopping Pig

3. Whiskey Girl

4. Yard House

5. The Fleetwood

6. Double Duece

7. The Local

8. The Tipsy Crow

9. Turf Supper Club

10. Vin De Syrah

While we generally like to keep things professional, we know everyone needs to let their hair down every now and then. And if you happen find yourself at one of our furnished apartments in San Diego, we hope you find the time to explore our beautiful backyard and all the amazing food, drink, and friends there are to find here.

Image: wildnatureimages