10 Great Travel Tips for the Trade Show Warrior

Traveling to various trade shows around the country can be a hectic and time-consuming experience. It can also drain your wallet if you’re not careful. Hopefully you’ve done a good job of planning and budgeting for your trade show. However, there are many hidden fees that can quickly force you to spend $100 to $200 more than you had planned.  If these particular expenses are not in the approved trade show budget, then you may end up footing the bill for the unplanned expenses. Needless to say, this is a situation you want to try to avoid at all costs.

There are also things you can do while you are going to trade shows to make your visit more efficient. Time is a valuable commodity. By doing a few simple things, you will be amazed at how much time you can save and how much more work you will be able to accomplish while you are on your trip. This article will discuss various tips that are designed to save you both time and money while you are on a trade show trip.

1. Hotel

If your trade show is being held at a hotel, your best bet is to stay at that hotel. The price of the hotel will most likely be more than a cheap motel. However, the ability to socialize with potential clients is worth much more than the money you could save by getting yourself a cheaper room. As the saying goes, you have to spend money to make money. When it comes to a trade show, you want your base of operations to be in the center of where all the action is taking place.

2. Avoid traffic

If you are attending a trade show in a major city, traffic can be a major concern when it comes to getting around town. If traffic is particularly bad, it can severely limit the time you have to get your work done. In order to avoid this, try to get a room at a hotel that is located close to the convention center where your trade show will take place. If you can find a hotel within walking distance, this is even better. This will allow you to cut the traffic out of the equation completely.

3. Wi-Fi

Wherever you decide to stay, it is important for you to make sure that your room is equipped with Wi-Fi service. This will allow you to make the most of the time you spend back in your hotel room. You can iron out last minute details, set up important meetings, email colleagues and complete any other tasks that you need to do during your trip.

4. Meeting rooms

Before you get to the hotel, you should call ahead and find out exactly what type of meeting rooms the hotel has available for you to use upon your arrival. You need to consider the size room you will require based on the number of staff members that will be attending the meetings, as well as the number of potential clients. If you plan on more intimate meetings with your clients, you may prefer smaller meeting rooms.

5. Shipping

If you are going to be exhibiting at one of the larger trade shows, you will often have to pay union labor costs. If you are planning on having your materials shipped to the convention center, you will often have to pay a handling fee. However, many hotels will not charge a handling fee for receiving your materials. Therefore, it might be cheaper to bring your materials from the hotel to the convention center yourself.

6. Renting a car

You should always rent the sub-compact car that is the lowest price offered at the rental agency, unless you have plans to do a large amount of driving during your trip. Car rental agencies usually do not have a large amount of sub-compact cars in their inventory. If they are currently out of this type of car, many rental agencies will give you a larger car at the same price of the sub-compact. If they do not give you the lower price automatically, do not forget to ask them.

7. Rental car insurance

If you are going to be renting a car on your trip, contact your credit card company or insurance provider to see if the auto insurance that you currently have will cover rental cars. Using your credit card to charge the car rental might have automatically enabled the insurance. If this is the case, there is no need for you to pay for insurance from the rental agency.

8. Fuel Charges

Once you have selected a rental car that is to your liking, you must also take the fuel charges into consideration. When you get your car, ask the rental agency to give you a full tank of gas. Before you return the car, it is critical that you fill the tank completely to the level that it was when you got it. If you fail to do this, the agency will charge you for the gas, but they will most likely charge you at a premium rate that is much higher than a gas station. Agencies often include a service charge if they are forced to refill the gas tank.

9. Meals

Hotel restaurants are usually notorious for jacking up the price of their foods to ridiculous levels. It is not out of the question that you could spend as much as $20 for breakfast or $40 for room service at your hotel.  Ask some locals or even the concierge where a good place is to get an inexpensive meal that is in close proximity to your hotel. If you ask a few people, their advice should point you in the right direction.

10. Water

We have all seen the bottles of water that hotels have available for their guests. Of course, this water is not free. In fact, you can go to a nearby drug store and buy a pack of eight or 10 bottles for what many hotels charge for one. Do not let the convenience of having water in your room make you pay many times what that water is worth. Do a little leg work and save yourself a tremendous amount of money.