Monday, December 16, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Joyce Hoff joyce@pachter.com



A couple had some problems with the ticketing for a trip, and both were yelling and being rude to the ticket agent. The agent kept her cool and took care of their problems. After the couple left, the ticket agent next to her said, "Boy, they were really being nasty to you." The agent replied, "That's okay. They're going to London--their luggage is going to Bulgaria!"

"There are lots of reasons to exhibit good manners when traveling, not the least of which is that you don't want your luggage going to Bulgaria!," says business etiquette expert Barbara Pachter, author of numerous etiquette books including The Essentials of Business Etiquette: How to Greet, Eat, and Tweet Your Way to Success (McGraw-Hill, August 2013).

But Pachter, who has traveled the world giving her seminars, acknowledges that keeping your cool during the holidays can be a challenge. Travelers are paying more and still enduring long lines, cancellations, delays and lost luggage. With our recent atypical weather patterns the unusual is now to be expected.

Polite behavior cannot stop the weather, but it can make a bad situation better.

Here are Pachter's 8 travel-smart tips for the holidays.

1. Be prepared for delays. Take food and water with you. (You have to buy your water after you pass through airport security.) Have your necessities in your carry-on. Make sure your cell phone and all electronic devices are fully charged. Always bring something to read, listen to or watch. If you're prepared for the worst, if and when it happens, you'll be less stressed and better able to handle the situation.

2. No cursing, name calling or rude behavior. Do you really think that the person you just called all sorts of names will want to help you? One ticket agent deliberately scheduled a foul-mouthed passenger for a four-hour wait when an earlier flight was available. Customer service people tell me that although they are required to help rude people, they will do as little as possible. If you are polite, they are more likely to go out of their way for you.

3. Don't make threats. In the post-911 world, threats are taken seriously. Don't joke around or try to intimidate people.

4. Acknowledge the difficulty. When talking to the customer service person who can potentially help you, acknowledging his or her challenges can go a long way in helping you connect. Simply say: "It looks like it has been a really tough day," or "It has been a difficult time, hasn't it?"

5. Politely ask for what you want. If you ask for what you want and it's a reasonable request, you are more apt to get it. Saying "Any chance for a dinner coupon?" may very well produce one.

6. Befriend other passengers. It makes for a more pleasant trip when things get difficult. You will have a "we're in this together" mentality. As a bonus, people may share what they know. During one recent delay, a man that I had spoken to earlier found out that the airline had opened a new line upstairs. Before he went upstairs, he came and told me.

7. Be alert but don't be a bully. Pay attention to your surroundings. Additional customer service personnel may appear and new lines may open up. You'll need to be ready to move quickly…but it's not okay to push or shove.

8. Don't announce your travel plans on your social media sites. There are numerous examples of people's homes being burglarized because they let their "friends" know they were away. A New York Times headline summed it up best: Burglars Said to Have Picked Houses Based on Facebook Updates.



Barbara Pachter, president of Pachter & Associates, has spent much of her career inspiring others to achieve professionally, whether through her ten published books – including the highly-acclaimed The Power of Positive Confrontation – or through her thousands of seminars for such clients as Microsoft, Chrysler, Con Edison, Wawa, Pfizer and Campbell Soup.

As an adjunct faculty member at Rutgers University, she was recognized with a Teaching Excellence Award. Pachter has appeared on national television, including Today, The Early Show and the news magazine 20/20, and has been featured in major publications such as TIME Magazine, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, providing suggestions on professional development and business etiquette.

For a review copy of Pachter's latest book The Essentials of Business Etiquette: How to Greet, Eat, and Tweet Your Way to Success, contact: Laura Yieh at McGraw Hill email: laura.yieh@mheducation.com.

For a free copy of Pachter's communication e-newsletter, "Competitive Edge," your readers can go to www.pachter.com.

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