Over the past 15 years, I’ve flown 6.5 million miles to build businesses, speak on stage, meet clients, and run workshops. These are the business travel hacks I’ve learned along the way—how I travel efficiently, stay productive on the road, and avoid common mistakes.

1. Always Build in Buffer Time

Travel doesn’t follow a perfect schedule.

• In Costa Rica, my rental car broke down a day from the nearest city. Because I built in buffer time, I didn’t miss any meetings.
• Extra time lets you meet people, explore new places and find great hotel deals, and recover from surprises.

2. Use the Right Travel Programs Together

These tools save hours every trip:

• TSA PreCheck for faster domestic security.
• CLEAR to skip long ID lines.
• Global Entry + NEXUS for easy international re-entry.
• TripIt to track all your flights (6.5 million miles logged).

3. Don’t Check a Bag

Lost bags ruin meetings.

• I once had to meet the CMO of California Pizza Kitchen in gym shorts.

What I carry:

• 22” TravelPro roller.
• Backpack with chargers, adaptors, an extra shirt, and pants.
• Running shoes, dress shirts, t-shirts.
• Supplements and IV therapy for travel, and a global power adaptor.
• Goggles, ring lights, and even a squeaky rubber chicken as a gift.

4. Use Airline + Credit Card Perks

Southwest is my domestic favorite:

• Companion Pass: Bring someone free on every flight.
• Easy rebooking with points.
• Boarding pass trick: Book and cancel to get people through security.
• Combine with Priority Pass and Admirals Club access.

5. Cut Flight Costs with Smart Tactics

These tricks save thousands each year:

• Use SkipLagged to find hidden city tickets (only if no bags are checked).
• Book directly after searching to avoid jump fees.
• Choose smaller airports (e.g., Burbank vs. LAX).
• Use back-to-back ticketing to beat weekend fare hikes.
• Redeem points when fares spike—12k-15k points can be worth more than cash.

6. Stay Productive in Transit

Airports are my mobile office:

• Record videos, answer emails, and review edits in lounges.
• Preload videos on YouTube Premium for offline review.
• Jack Wendt and I often shoot quick clips between flights, upload them to Google Photos, and pass them to our VAs for the Content Factory process.

Whether it’s layovers, road trips, or international flights, Jack Wendt is one of my most frequent travel partners. We’ve logged countless miles together—always making the most of travel time by filming, strategizing, and building the business on the go.

7. Book Functional Hotels

The wrong hotel can kill momentum.

Look for:

• 24-hour gyms.
• Strong Wi-Fi.
• Quiet rooms with desks.

That’s where I review campaigns and lead team meetings.

8. Use Lesser-Known Flight Programs

Not just Southwest:

• Frontier GoWild Pass: $299/year for unlimited direct flights (plus taxes).
• I’ve flown international first class for under $100 using old employee perks.
• Know your routes and perks—some passes work best last-minute or off-peak.

9. Pick Uncommon Destinations

One of my favorite trips:

• Svalbard, near the North Pole.
• Flew from Oslo and shot content with Logan Young.
• That footage still drives agency training years later.

Make Travel Work for You

Test these systems. Refine them. Build your own checklist.

Use every trip to create content, build relationships, and move business forward.

Some of my best travel memories are with fellow business builders who share the same mindset. Danny Leibrandt and I travelled and connected in Brooklyn, New York—exploring the city, talking strategy, and finding new opportunities in every conversation.

George Paladichuk is another business builder I’ve been fortunate to travel with. Here we are in Atlanta—proof that great partnerships are built on the road, one city at a time.

Make These Business Travel Hacks Work for You

Test these systems. Refine them. Build your own checklist. Use every trip to create content, build relationships, and move business forward. Some of my best travel memories are with fellow business builders who share the same mindset—whether that’s finding a great restaurant like Maison Boulud in Singapore or figuring out the most popular places on Google to build authority in each city I visit.