Traveling for work

[BoosTT]

I'm interviewing for a field engineering job that requires 50% travel, mostly in 2 days at a time and home weekends. Does anyone else travel a lot and if so, can you provide your suggestions or tips?

[DirtyMax]

Depends on if there's anything keeping you home alot. If you're married and/or have any kids, can you handle being away from them 50% of the time?

[BadAzzGTA89]

My buddy travels all over for work it sucks staying in motels or hotels in the middle of no were not being around for fun weekends and festivals it pretty much sucks he says after awhile!
But me on the other hand i do a lot of traveling being a heavy hauler but i get home alot it is nice to see diffrent stuff and just drive but again you do miss everyone when your all alone!

[Karps TA]

sign up for every rewards card you can. The perks are worth it, especially with air travel. Take enough trips you get free upgrades which is awesome. Or save your miles and perks for your own personal vacations.

Other then that learn how to pack and travel lightly. The movie Up in the Air with George Cloony is pretty accurate when it comes to that stuff.

[PureSound15]

I used to travel and while it seems obvious - check out how they pay for your reimbursements.

I still travel a lot but only within WI, which isn't so bad. Look into how they pay meals & hotels. Some will give you $150 per day/night which you're supposed to eat/sleep with. If you're able to stay somewhere cheap and eat cheap, it works out well because you can pocket some extra cash.

My current employer pays whatever I pay. If I stay at a 5 star hotel and eat steak - they pay for it no matter what.

Also - if you're going to driving, see what they're paying for mileage. I get $.55/mile now vs the $.30 I got before (or whatever the IRS recommends). It adds up when you're driving 500+ miles a week.

I agree with Karps - get a card with great rewards and only use it for business expenses. That way you're promised that you can pay it off and you can cash in the rewards that will add up quickly.

[BoosTT]

Well, I am *almost* married, but no kids or anything. I think it could be fun. Please keep the suggestions coming.

[Gregor]

I travel alot. I average about 5 days out. And home on the weekends. I end up spending my weekends doing the things that would normally get done the week day.

For tips,

1, Eat out at a good place once a week. Stay away from fast food as much as possible. Thats a quick way to pack on the pounds.

2, A good way to save cash is to bring a console system with you this will kill the time in the Hotel. I have a beat up PS2 that I play. This keeps some of the Per Diem in your pocket. 150 a day is out of hand. That's a really good Per Diem rate. Way better than mine.

[team beater]

Traveling gets old, its cool at first but after a while its just another hotel in some different random town. Like said earlier stay away from fast food and take advantage of the hotel's gym. Its a good way to stay busy and get in shape.

[fly5150]

I am usually only home on weekends. I spent more nights last year in a hotel than I did at home. Its hard traveling that much, but make sure the pay is worth it. Every vacation I take is usualy free, with all the frequent flyer points, hotel points, car rentals.
Also keep in mind that when you are traveling, you arent spending your own money on food and gas. That accounts for quite a bit of money if you travel a lot.
And Gregor hit the bigest point, I have zero free time because my weekends are running around catching up on stuff.

[WickedSix]

MY father was a field service engineer for I want to say 18 years for a company in waukesha that builds filling and bottling equipement. From the family perspective it is rough. One year my pop missed everyones birthday, christmas and thanksgiving because he was out on jobs. Depending on the work you can find yourself in some of the most frustrating situations of your life... like say if you have to work with a union where they have to do everything and you just sit there instructing them.... or if you go somewhere and find half the parts you needed to work are missing...

On the plus side it can be nice if you get to travel to places you want to go. Whenever my dad had business near a theme park it was a free hotel for the family to use and goto the park. And when we ALL went on vacation he'd have so many points on his Hilton cards and flyer miles that we'd basically have a week free vacation.

But as said above it is very STRENUOUS if you have a significant other...calls every night only go so far... 9 out of 10 field service engineers my dad worked with went through a divorce.... And though they have told you it is only 2-3 days at a time mostly...there is a qualifier...some jobs take much longer....like months.... he spent 3 months in south africa with a machine installation.... thats a long time to be away from the people you know and love.

[davidrab]

Definitely sign up for all the rewards programs you can. I try and stick
with just a few on a regular basis to get the best benefits. Like try and
stick with one airline 80% or more if you can. American, in my case, is
pretty darn accommodating to me when I need things. As far as hotels
go, I like Holiday Inns because Priority Club points can be used for gift
cards from a bunch of places.

I've been traveling for about 15 years and I hate being gone on weekends
on a regular basis. My current job usually only has me gone for the week
and that's not so bad (not married). Also, you'll enjoy your time being home
much more, at least I do. I've been working on an R&D project for the last
6 months and really like being home again. I don't know if I'll like going back
on the road.

As far as the 50%, remember if that's what they tell you, it'll probably be more.
We had a joke that we would take the % travel time and double it to
get the real amount.

Also, remember to stay calm when traveling. There will be a lot of bad
travelers out there (especially traveling) and plans are always screwed up.
I've learned to roll with it and just kinda take it as it comes.