Going the extra mile

Entrepreneur, June, 1997 by Shirley Louise Walker

Business owners travel differently than employees on business trips. They pay for their travel expenses out of their own pockets, with no generous corporate expense accounts to fall back on.

The bad news for you business owners: Business travel costs rose to record levels last year. In a recent survey, American Express found that travel and entertainment expenses were the "third-largest controllable expense" for its mostly Fortune 500 client base. But for small companies with aspirations to grow, travel and entertainment is probably the largest controllable expense.

The good news is the word "controllable." Even in times of rising rates, there are still ways you can cut travel costs. That's why our annual Business Travel Awards are devoted to recognizing the suppliers that cater to entrepreneurial travelers - those who seek value and economy over cushy comforts and status symbols. Our 4th Annual Business Travel Awards are not an official ranking or a formal survey but simply a recognition of those companies that consistently offer entrepreneurs an affordable option to overpriced travel.

Air Travel

Best Domestic Low-Fare/Upstart Airline: Western Pacific Airlines

Colorado Springs, Colorado-based Western Pacific earns our praise this year for offering business travelers an inexpensive transcontinental travel option. Major carriers may offer more trips between major East and West Coast cities, but they're often unaffordable. Western Pacific, however, offers one-stop service at prices that make a cross-country trip a possibility, not a nightmare.

Major airlines' fares for midweek travel typically run in the $1,000-plus range. However, WestPac (as it is known to loyalists) offers fares in the more manageable under-$400 range. Best of all, it allows business travelers to have a life by not requiring that dreaded Saturday-night stayover to get a reasonable fare. The downside: All flights stop over in Colorado Springs, and there are no in-flight meals.

Major West Coast cities served are Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix, and Portland, Oregon; major East Coast cities are Newark, New Jersey; Washington, DC; Atlanta; and Miami and Orlando, Florida.

Visit Western Pacific's Web site at www.westpac.com, or for reservations, call (800) 930-3030.

Best Trans-Atlantic Business Class: Continental Business First

Although many major airlines flying across the Atlantic claim to offer a hybrid product - meaning a combination of first- and business-class comforts and amenities - Continental's BusinessFirst product still stands alone. The difference is in the seat - a huge sleeper with a whopping 55 inches of legroom, far more than what other airlines offer. (The BusinessFirst cabin topped the charts in a Consumer Reports comfort ranking last summer.)

Continental's BusinessFirst still offers the same basics that have kept it our lave for the past four years - the giant seat with electronically controlled lumbar support and footrest, plus an extensive menu of options on the in-seat video system. As other airlines watch passengers defect to Business-First cabins, they have made moves to upgrade their creature comforts. But Continental has continued to tweak its product to stay ahead of the competition: It now offers "cookie jar service," allowing BusinessFirst passengers access to a snack bar during flights. Arrival lounges in Frankfurt, Germany, and London and Manchester, England, offer hot showers.

Continental's proposed (as of press time) alliance with Virgin Atlantic Airways will increase the airline's international presence by making London's Heathrow Airport more accessible. In the meantime, BusinessFirst is available from Newark, New Jersey, and Houston to cities in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Portugal.

Visit Continental's Web site at www.flycontinental.com, or for reservations, call (800) 525-0280.

Best Trans-Atlantic Coach Class: Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy

Virgin Atlantic earns our kudos for the second year in a row because other airlines' economy cabins are still, for the most part, unimaginative sardine cans. Most Europe-bound business travelers cannot take advantage of the deep discounts offered to vacationers. Virgin's Premium Economy section was developed with the idea that those paying full economy fares (which are usually at least twice as much as vacationers' excursion fares) should get full frills. Travelers in this section will find a separate cabin with fewer seats per row, more legroom and wider seats.

But even if you are at the back of the plane (regular economy) with Virgin, you still get service you won't find on other airlines. Each economy seat has a personal video screen offering a wide array of movies, news, documentaries and games - plus free drinks, ice cream and an amenity kit with more goodies than you'll get in other airlines' business classes.

Call (800) 862-8621 or visit Virgin's Web site at www.fly virgin. comatlantic/.

Best Trans-Pacific Business Class: Cathay Pacific Airways