The GT staff went West this week, descending upon Los Angeles for our annual awards event. As I checked in for my flight on Monday, I was thankful for the ways in which online check-in was making my pre-dawn Tuesday travel easier and less stressful.

I checked in to my Virgin America flight about 24 hours in advance of the flight. In just five minutes, my boarding pass was printed. I had a 7 a.m. flight, which means my alarm went off at 3:30 a.m. and I was out the door by 4:30 a.m. Had I been forced to worry about standing in line to check in and print my boarding pass, I would have needed to leave even earlier. Instead, it was the downpour as I drove to the airport that slowed me down. Once I arrived and found parking and with no checked luggage, I bypassed the confusion of the airport’s check-in area entirely and walked right to the security line. The process is nothing new but another reminder of the ways in which the life of a business traveler can be made simpler and more pleasant.

In-flight WiFi is another way. I’m sending this blog along to my colleague with the use of Virgin America and GoGo’s in-flight Internet. For a minimal cost, I was able to catch up on a backlog of writing projects and answer emails overlooked in the craze of the week leading up to our event.

With a hectic travel schedule, especially during the busy holiday season, easier is better. Eliminating any level of stresses is key to a successful business trip; and thanks to the dependability of Virgin America and The Peninsula Beverly Hills, where I stayed, my trip to Los Angeles went off without a hitch. 

— Kim Krol, managing editor