Life at 35,000 feet

If you're a frequent business traveler, you know we're in the midst of the busy summer air travel season or, as I like to think of it as, amateur season. It's a time when things which worked marginally smoothly during the first half of the year self-destruct like baggage on an airline conveyer belt.

I've just wrapped up six months of being on the road nearly every week for clients and conferences. Twenty-six roundtrips give one ample time to reflect on things one should have known before, say, having to choose between the ham and turkey sandwich. (Tip: They taste identical. I know, because when I asked the Northwest flight attendant, that's what she told me.)

So while I haven't written as many tech analyses and commentaries as I'd like since beginning my journeys, I can offer hard-earned advice for the infrequent business traveler:

1) Wear new socks. You've often heard the advice to wear loafers, since the TSA screeners now request -- more often than not -- that shoes be removed for screening. Less noted is what the screeners and other passengers see when you take off your shoes. Gold toe dress socks seem to impress the most; Hello Kitty stocking motifs, not so much.

2) Arrive early. If half of life is just showing up, half of travel is showing up on time. I'm still surprised at the number of business travelers I see who miss their flights because they knew that arriving 45 minutes before departure worked fine just last week. Never underestimate the power of the TSA to keep otherwise law-abiding citizens guessing as to what new screening or ID-checking procedure is currently in place (at Raleigh, NC, last month, my ID and/or boarding pass was checked three times while I was waiting to be screened).

And don't forget -- airlines now routinely give away reserved seats to standby passengers 20-30 minutes before scheduled departure. During the summer, there are lots of standby passengers. I still arrive at least 90 minutes early and use airport clubs to work and check e-mail, one of the best non-deductible business investments I've ever made.

3) Sit exit-row aisle. Know the best seats and snag 'em, even on the day of departure. They aren't all in first. Alaska and Northwest Airlines, my two usual carriers, actually have more leg room in the coach exit rows than first class rows. Use the seat maps on the airline Web sites; they're usually pretty accurate, as is the site Seat Guru. Do make sure you have an assigned seat, any seat, before the day of travel -- you'll be less likely to be bumped on oversold flights.

4) Don't connect, drive. This may seem counter-intuitive; after all, you paid for a ticket, why not fly the entire way? But during the summer -- both because of heavy travel and thunderstorms at hubs -- driving instead of taking a puddle jumper for a short hop can actually be faster and more reliable, especially if you need to rent a car anyway. On a recent trip , I flew from Seattle to Chicago and instead of connecting, drove the three-and-a-half hours to Iowa City. The wisdom of this became apparent on my return, when I had to drive through 130 miles of thunderstorms to get back to ORD. Ugly? You bet. But my return flight from Iowa would never have taken off. As it was, I left Chicago with minimal delays. Just bring a few good CDs or a voice note recorder.

5) Buy noise-canceling headphones. Everyone from Bose to Brookstone is selling headphones, in sizes from earbud to full ear cans, that electronically subtract out droning background noise such as airplane roar and low conversations. They can actually make watching a movie or listening to MP3 files on a plane pleasant, as you can hear soft sounds without cranking up the volume control to the Ear Damage setting. A good unit will set you back about $150. Tip: Don't do what some travelers do and wear them to the lavatory; you just look like a dork and people, well, will wonder why you need them in there.

6) Bring your own coffee. Almost every hotel now has an in-room coffee maker with pre-packaged in-room coffee that would make even Juan Valdez gag. Buy a couple of small vacuum-packed bags of Starbucks or Millstone, add some paper filters, and put them in a Ziploc bag in your luggage. You'll thank me in the morning.

7) Smile a lot -- but not too much. Somehow, being pleasant during the inevitable waits and delays of frequent travel effectively negates the kill instinct in most, but not all, travel service workers (a rare few actually see removing the smile as a challenge). Still, don't overdo it. Otherwise, the TSA will start to wonder what you're hiding -- and your fellow passengers may classify you as a Stepford Traveler.

There are other tips I could have provided, based on 90,000 actual air miles of experience this year: exercise on the road, drink plenty of water and bring a list dial-up Internet numbers (it's amazing which high-end hotels, including San Diego's Hotel Del Coronado, don't have high-speed Internet or, like Scottsdale's Phoenician, charge a usurious $20/day to hook up). But I'm still waiting for the ultimate frequent flyer's accessory: A good-looking dress belt that doesn't have a screening-unfriendly metal buckle.