Seven habits of highly effective business travellers

See, the change in your passenger status at checkin is one of the issues that people don't realise in the era of online seat selection. That "SEQ" number determines all kinds of things in the event of things going wrong in particular, and the earlier you check in the higher you are on the priority list in case someone gets bumped. Last-minute changes in aircraft are usually confirmed right before check-in opens, so your excellent seat could be swapped for a dire one by the computer algorithm.

I may be a weirdo, but yes, I do test the seat as soon as I get on, and I can point to several times where there's been something wrong with it. (This is especially true when flying in the US, where aircraft tend to be older and maintenance issues more frequent, but new planes also suffer from teething trouble too.) We're seeing more and more airlines offering gate-to-gate entertainment systems, though, and many modern aircraft power points have an indicator light to show that they're working even on the ground when nothing's supposed to be plugged in.

And I'm absolutely not suggesting that you introduce yourself to the cabin manager every flight. But on a 14-hour trip where you really need to get sleep/work/etc, it can really make a difference. (Try it sometime!)

I'm with Chandi regarding the lounge... I generally avoid spending time at the airport if at all possible. The lounge no longer has much attraction to me.

I'll tell you what is the best way to avoid being bumped... Status. Be a top tier and you generally won't get hassled with being bumped... of unless of course the entire cabin is top tier status.

I fly at least twice a month and have done so for the last 6 years. I can count the number of times that I have checked in online for an international flight and I have never been approached to be bumped off. How often does this really happen to be the number one item on your list?

Ah, but as I said elsewhere in a comment, there are times when you can't avoid the lounge, like a morning checkout before an evening flight. So it pays to know where the good ones are, and how much time you need to leave before trundling down to your plane.

You're right that status helps with being bumped, and you're equally right that it sometimes doesn't help at all on platinum-heavy routes! I remember one Chicago-Dallas flight on AA where I spotted on the manifest that the entire front of the plane was an AA statusholder of some form or another. Of course, in those situations check-in priority comes back into effect even for the "heavy metal" cardholders.

Oh, and in terms of the order of the list, I ordered it by stage of travel, not necessarily priority. My number one tip would probably be the one about empty seats, as it happens.

A very well-travelled grasshopper, it sounds like!

I like your tips too -- especially the packing, since I always goggle at the people who bring a massive bag on board and wonder why it doesn't fit.

I guess that lounge point depends on your circumstances, but I often find myself with an afternoon or evening flight and a morning hotel check-out, so the lounge is the better option. Stopping by for a 15-minute pre-flight blitz on the old email inbox before the flight is also pretty useful. 

And I love Google Maps too, though I wish it did transit for more cities. I'm actually seriously concerned that Apple will break much of the most useful functionality in iOS 6 Maps. We'll see soon!

Well, you can't help it if the thing breaks halfway through the flight, but wouldn't you want to swap seats in advance to one that worked if you had the option?

I'm not suggesting snagging pillows and blankets from other passengers before the flight takes off, but there's often an overhead bin with extra ones available.

Checking in early is a decent way to try to avoid the problems of a late aircraft swap -- a fair majority of the time when I get a swap, I end up finding that out at the T-24 hours online check-in window.

As I said to Chandi, I think we'd all prefer to waltz straight through the airport, but sometimes a morning checkout and evening flight combo can't be avoided. Lounges are great for productivity at that point -- or for simply catching up with the fam back home.

And Twitter is one of the most useful things in travel these days. We'll see you on there, @grumpyoldgrasshopper! ;)

*pretentious 

I'm absolutely serious, but obviously not for every flight. If you want to conk out for the whole flight, asking them for a "do not disturb" order is a good plan (remember those stickers that some airlines used to hand out for your eye mask?), while if you need to get some work done on a 14-hour flight I've had several helpful suggestions -- including a BA Purser who gave me the tip of snagging a centre pair of business seats as a spacious mini-office, with extra table room, power points and so on. 

Don't forget, many Asian airlines prefer business/first passengers to use the call bell than to send their crew walking regularly through the plane. 

I also find that the vast majority of crew are genuinely interested in helping you have an enjoyable flight. I certainly don't suggest a "don't you know who I am?!" attitude (I'd laugh along with them, not least because the airplane's manifest means that they really do know who you are) but a bit of civility and saying hello has never gone amiss.

Well, I certainly don't mean it to be pretentious or DYKWIA -- more as a bit of common courtesy between people who fly a lot, whether that's us or crew. But popping your head around the galley "door" to say hello at the beginning of a 14-hour flight doesn't strike me as making a pain of yourself. 

(And I use your chocolates tip too, especially on long flights.) 

I might have to try the chocolates... I have to say that I have purely relied on smiling nicely at the crew and not being overly demanding. I see so many people that treat them like they are not worthy that I feel that just being nice to them works a treat.

The worse cases are usually Australian and British men on an Asian carrier like Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines. Wow some of these guys can be really dismissive and nasty! Maybe AusBT can do an article on the behaviour of these people!

You're not wrong about people treating crew badly, AusFlyer -- I've seen some absolutely appalling behaviour over the years, and it's just inexcusable.