Every year there are thousands of exciting business conferences taking place across all parts of the US and whether you are attending a medical conference in Las Vegas, a marketing conference in Silicon Valley or the International Conference on Men’s Issues, you should have plenty to look forward to.
Although many conferences have been cancelled in 2020, there is a lot of optimism that next year should be getting back to life as we knew it before the pandemic and travel restrictions and social distancing can hopefully be a thing of the past. If you are looking at the business conference options coming up in the near future, here are some tips to make your business travel a bit smoother:
Check your travel document validity
Firstly, you require a valid passport, so it is a good idea to check the expiry date now as there could be a longer wait than normal to get your passport renewed. When you’re travelling to the US, you are generally required to have at least six months left on your passport.
The other travel documentation you will require for entering the US is the ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) which citizens of countries that are members of the Visa Waiver Program are able to apply for. The ESTA USA is an alternative to obtaining a US visa and it is much easier and quicker to apply for an ESTA compared to a visa. The ESTA is for visits to the US that are for tourism or business purposes for stays of up to 90 days. This makes it the ideal option for people visiting the US for a business conference.
Booking accommodation
It might be tempting to hold off booking accommodation until closer to the time to check the conference is still going ahead but if you do that you could end up paying much more. It is better to try and book accommodation as soon as you know the date of the conference, making sure you have a cancellation policy, to secure your accommodation. With conferences, you often find that the local hotels get booked out very fast and you could end up paying a significantly higher amount for the exact same accommodation when you leave it to nearer the date.
Carry-on luggage
If you want to make sure that you are not spending hours at the airport, you will be better carrying on luggage rather than waiting for your luggage to get unloaded and brought to the baggage reclaim area. So, you should make sure that you have the right sized baggage for the airline you are traveling with, preferably with wheels to make it easier to travel with.
Research the local area
Before you travel, you should do a bit of research about the area you will be staying in to make sure that you can get essentials like toiletries, food, water etc. or you might need to grab some shopping on your way from the airport. Also, research the best way to get from your hotel to the conference venue, your hotel should be able to provide you with details of transport options.
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