Short and Sweet – Letter From the President

Posted on May 5, 2009
Filed Under Destinations, Health, Johnny Jet, Letter From the President, Medjet, Rudy Maxa Top Six, Safety, Travel, Travel Products | 1 Comment

By Roy Berger, Medjet President/CEO

Spring gets ready to roll into summer. Baseball season moves into full bloom. Basketball and hockey get ready to move stage right and crown their champions. And, about this time of year, it becomes Short-Term Membership Season at the MedjetAssist offices in Birmingham, Alabama.

Mom’s, Dad’s, Grandma’s and Pop’s begin to prepare the kids for summer travel.  Some are going off to camp; others are traveling the globe for the first time perhaps with organized tour groups. Then there is the mainstream staying in the States but visiting family and friends from the East Coast to the West Coast. And now with the swine flue virus scare it is more important than ever that people travel with a ‘protection’ plan.

As the bags are being packed we have seen, in increasing demand, parents and grandparents not wanting to send the kids away without a MedjetAssist card with them. And with that demand we always see a spike in short-term memberships during the summer months.

As a Medjet member you are protected wherever and whenever you travel over 150 miles from home.
However, it’s certain you will know someone that is getting ready to take a holiday journey in the upcoming months or preparing to send the kids off for a jaunt.

Recommend that they too carry the Medjet card!  Our short-term memberships of 7, 14, 21 and 30 days are perfect for those perhaps only taking one trip this year.  With the travel economy in the condition it is, we are seeing more folks whose travel patterns have changed and perhaps they now are only taking a trip or two in a given year. And with that we have seen an uptick in our short-term membership sales.

Our short-term memberships start at $95 for seven days and then incrementally increase to 14, 21 and 30 days.  A very small price to pay for your peace of mind, not to mention the doubled peace of mind when you are sending that son, daughter or grandchild away for a summer fun trip and visit.

For complete information on the Medjet Short-Term Membership please visit www.medjet.com or call any of our membership services associates at 1-800-527-7478 and they will be glad to help with the membership option best for your or your loved ones.

Safe Travels

Roy

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Business Continuity

Posted on May 5, 2009
Filed Under Destinations, Health, Johnny Jet, Safety, Travel, Website Tips | Comments Off

Did Your Plan Include Pandemic Preparedness?

With international health and governmental officials declaring a heightened state of alert in regions around the world and corporations, schools and other institutions of daily life disrupted, many companies have reflexively reached for their Crisis Management Plan.

Unfortunately, many such plans haven’t historically included a “Pandemic Preparedness” section. As the number of diagnosed cases of the H1N1 virus (or “Swine Flu”) has steadily mounted over recent days, many have felt the need to add such a chapter.

When it comes to pandemic response, the best way to minimize physical, financial and psychological loss is to avert or at least mitigate risk amidst fluid conditions. Some basic crisis management techniques – many of them linked closely with effective communications –  will come into play:
•    Establish and communicate the chain of command with clearly defined roles, responsibilities and authorities.
•    Prevent and deflect rumors by providing honest information that is neither alarmist nor dismissive of the threat.
•    Identify and work with suppliers and clients to ensure business continuity in the event of transportation and distribution disruptions. Identify existing and projected critical skills shortages. Put in place staff cross-training, testing and certification.
•    Reinforce corporate-wide understanding about hygiene and measures for minimizing transmission of infection.
•    Communicate to employees that it is company policy that anyone exhibiting symptoms should avoid the workplace and remain at home until fully recovered and symptom-free for at least 24 hours.
•    Articulate your company’s posture, day by day, as developments unfold and various responses are required. Acknowledge fears, keep workers informed, don’t lie or tell half-truths and if you don’t know the answer, don’t say you do. Be calm and consistent.
•    Visit www.pandemicflu.gov to make sure that planning is current and in concert with best practices for workforce safety and continuous operations as recommended by the U.S. government.
•    Revisit existing plans and make sure that all telephone trees and other contact sources are accurate and up-to-date.

For more information, contact info@wwsteele.com, visit www.steelefoundation.com or call 415-505-6147.

STEELE is a global business advisory and risk management company and longtime provider of investigative, security and consulting services for multinational Fortune 500 companies, as well as small and mid-sized businesses, governmental and nonprofit organizations. With regional offices in 16 strategic locations around the world and engagements in over 90 countries, STEELE’s solutions respond to the complexity of doing business in today’s fluid, outsourced marketplace.  Specialized local expertise includes intellectual property and brand protection, compliance auditing, forensic accounting, due diligence and background investigations, incident management, emergency response and executive protection.

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Mind Your Manners

Posted on October 2, 2008
Filed Under Johnny Jet, Safety, Travel | 16 Comments

Airplane Etiquette

By: Johnny Jet

John E. DiScala (a.k.a. Johnny Jet) travels over 150,000 miles and visits over 20 countries each year. He and his website JohnnyJet.com have been featured over 1,000 times in major publications. Every week, Johnny hosts a “travel website of the week” for several radio stations around the country and he writes weekly for Frommers.com.

As I write this, I’m flying over Detroit on my way to New York from Los Angeles. I’ve decided to write about airplane etiquette because more than a few things have irked me on this four and a half hour flight. For starters, I’m sitting in the first row of economy and the pilot just got on the PA and requested everyone to take their seats and put their seatbelts on, including the flight attendants.  So you know we’re about to go through some rough air. Well, what do you know? Just a minute later, a line for the bathroom, which is right in front of me, forms.  It’s longer now than it has been the whole flight.  What the heck?! This doesn’t make any sense and a flight attendant just got on the PA to reiterate the instructions. But passengers still aren’t listening.

Listen up, people!  I dated a flight attendant for four years and I believe I know what bothers them most. Not listening to crew instructions has to be their number one pet peeve; it’s also a felony offense.  As the announcement stated, the seat belt sign isn’t on just for your safety, but for the safety of others around you. If one of those people had landed on me when the plane hit an air pocket, you know I would have given them an extra elbow, just to knock some sense into them.

Turn down The Music
Another annoyance on this flight: excessive headphone noise. Yes, we’ve all experienced it — on the subway, on the bus and now on the plane.  Everyone in the world seems to have an iPod and some just don’t have a clue how much noise the earbuds emit.  I’m seated in 19A and the dude in 19F, six seats and an aisle away, has his music so loud that I can hear every beat. Unfortunately, he’s listening to heavy metal, which I don’t care for so it’s really annoying and, I might add, rude.  If he wasn’t three times my size and didn’t have that gangbanger tattoo on his elbow and cheek, I would just get up and slap him.  But instead, I gave him the ol’ stink eye and it looks like we now have a date to rumble when we land.  Be aware, will you?

Easy Does It
It really amazes me how much travelers lack common courtesy these days.  If it’s a short flight (three hours or less), I rarely ever recline my seat because space is already limited. The only time I do lean back is when the person in front of me reclines. Then, before I recline, I turn around and give a heads up to the person behind me, letting them know that I’m about to invade their personal space.  As a frequent laptop user, I appreciate when the person in front of me allows me the time to adjust my laptop so my computer screen doesn’t get wedged and break. TIP:  Another tip regarding laptops is to always close them when drinks are being served because spills happen.

Be Friendly
Other notables: When you take your seat for the first time, smile and say hello to your seatmate. If the person beside you is chatty and you don’t want to be, then immediately put your headphones on, even if you don’t want to listen to music. This indicates that you aren’t interested in idle chitchat and they’ll get the message.  If they don’t, just explain that you’ve had a long day and you want to get some sleep, catch up on some TV, finish your book club book or whatever excuse suits you.

Don’t Pull Hair
When getting up to use the loo, don’t push or grab the seat in front of you in such a way that you wake the person seated in it or worse, pull on their hair. I barely even have any hair and this has happened to me many times! It not only startles me but makes me want to pay the guy in 19F to, well you get the idea… Again, just be aware!

Middle Seat
We all know the most unpopular seats on the plane are the middle seats. And in my experience, it’s rarely filled by a solo female traveler who is pretty, or a passenger who is in good shape with pleasant body odor. When the plane is full, which is typically the case these days, and some poor soul gets stuck in the middle seat, it’s common knowledge that they get both armrests. So don’t try to elbow them for space … even if they are smelly.

Don’t Spread Germs
If you need to cough or sneeze, cover your mouth!  The flying tube is already infested with germs from the re-circulated air and we don’t need any more nasties flying around. Just cover your mouth or better yet, wear a mask like the Japanese do when they’re sick.

Wear Shoes to The Bathroom
I’m a male and I realize how messy we men can be when using the loo.  Maybe if the aircraft toilets had a bulls-eye, we would aim better. If you haven’t noticed it by about 20 minutes into the flight, the bathroom floor is already in bad state. Personally, I think airplanes should have male and female bathrooms not only because then we wouldn’t have to wait so long in line, but also to be more considerate to women because they don’t miss.  For the men out there with bad aim … tidy up before leaving and always be sure the bathroom doors are closed behind you!

No McDonalds
Yes, the airlines are all cutting back and some don’t even offer food on board (jetBlue is one of them).  If you are going to bring food on the plane, which I suggest you do, try not to bring anything hot or smelly like McDonald’s. Though it smells good in the airport, it won’t when you are 37,000 feet up.

Cell Phones
Turn your cell phone off when you’re told to. We hear you sneaking your last minute calls while taxiing down the runway.  More importantly, don’t speak so loudly that everyone can hear you. My dad is almost deaf and I can still talk to him without letting the passenger next to me hear what I’m saying. If this annoys you, too, a solution is to bring earplugs and/or noise canceling headsets.

Everything above should be common sense but you’d be surprised … it’s not. So, here’s a list of other common courtesies gone bad.

Boarding
When you come cruising down the aisle to take your seat, try not to take seated passengers out with your swinging backpack or purse.  Also, how difficult is it to put your bags in the overhead compartments correctly and quickly?  The moment you find your seat, throw whatever you need (iPod, newspaper, food) on your seat and then put your bag up wheels first and sit down.  Don’t decide when you get to your seat to go hunting for your glasses, pen or magazine once you’ve stowed your luggage up above, because then you’re just blocking the aisle. Have everything ready when you’re in the gate area.

Miscellaneous
Snoring also bothers many passengers but that’s a tough one to deal with it. Earplugs do the trick for me but if it’s really too loud, I rip a string off my baggage tag and tickle the person’s neck so they wake up. Of course, I only do this while no one else is looking. Window shade: If it’s a night flight, lower the window shade so when the sun comes up in the middle of the flight no one is disturbed; I bring eye shades to prevent this. And finally: For that kicking kid sitting behind you … if the parent doesn’t get the stink eye, try to make friends with him by bribing him.  Five dollars often does the trick.  But I know you’d rather give him and his parents a swift kick in the !!!

Finally, in today’s flying environment, no one is more stressed out than the flight attendants and gate agents. Their pay and their benefits have been cut and they often take the heat from passengers, like it’s their fault. I see so many passengers taking their problems out on these people. Instead, be very kind to them and the gate agents. I almost always bring them a box of chocolates and a smile.  They are always appreciative and will make my flight as pleasurable as can be. Besides, I might need them to help me take out the gym monkey in 19F.

Happy Travels!

Gadget Alert – Power Pod

Posted on August 27, 2008
Filed Under Gadget Alert, Johnny Jet, Travel, Travel Products | Comments Off

Both myself and Johnny Jet have spoken to the value of traveling with a power strip. This rendition of the traditional powerstrip looks to be a perfect fit for travel.

The 6-Outlet Power Pod

Unlike awkward power strips that won’t lay flat when power cords exert their pull, Power Pod’s round stable shape, wider at the base than at the top, can’t be pulled over.Slanted facade lets you use the least amount of space to plug in large, awkward power transformers – without blocking adjacent outlets. Built-in surge protection circuitry puts 420 joules of surge defense between sensitive electronics and damaging power spikes. Six outlets; 5-foot power cord.

If you are interested you can find it online at this link for $34.95 – http://www.herringtoncatalog.com/t476.html.

The World Wide Will

MedjetAssist -Take Trips, Not Chances



Johnny Jet’s Top 12 Tips for Surviving a Long Flight

Posted on August 4, 2008
Filed Under Johnny Jet, Travel, Website Tips | Comments Off

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John E. DiScala (a.k.a. Johnny Jet) travels over 150,000 miles and visits over 20 countries each year. He and his website JohnnyJet.com have been featured over 1,000 times in major publications. Every week, Johnny hosts a “travel website of the week” for several radio stations around the country and he writes weekly for Frommers.com.

Flight Plan

These are in no particular order, mind you …

1. Use sleeping pills. Consult your doctor but Ambien seems to be the drug of choice. 2. Bring a blanket and pillow. Many airlines have cut back which means you might not even get one and if you do, it probably won’t be very comfortable or clean (unless you are in business or first class). Many companies sell travel pillows/blankets from DreamSack (you can buy it here) to Satori. 3. Wear comfortable clothing. Smart travelers look sharp when boarding and deplaning but in between, they change out of their restrictive clothing and into pajamas, sweat pants and/or cozy socks. 4. Bring your iPod, Bose noise-canceling headset and earplugs. Need I say more? 5. Travel armed with magazines, newspapers and books. Everyone needs something good to read to pass the time. 6. Bring an eye mask. I don’t like the cheap scratchy ones that the airlines pass out – instead, spend $9 and buy a fluffy one that will make you look silly but feel fresh. I have one from Lewis & Clarke. 7. Use the First Class Sleeper (buy it here) or the Travel Rest Pillow. Click here for more gadgets. 8. Filter your air. I haven’t used this yet but I like the concept of filtering the re-circulating air (PlaneCleanAir.com). 9. Bring snacks. 10. Get your game on. If you are traveling with someone, bring a deck of cards or games. My favorite is Travel Scrabble. 11. Reserve a good seat! Your travel agent can be of great assistance with this. You can also consult SeatExpert.com for the choice ones. 12. Put on a smile and bring a box of chocolates. Be nice to the gate agents and flight attendants. They can make or break your flight.

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