The Monday Report

The Monday Report

Flying Smarter: How Hypnosis Professionals Can Reduce Travel Costs, Avoid Disruptions, and Stay in Control

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Good morning, everyone. Dan Goinget here, your host for the Monday Report, along with my good friend and colleague right here, Frank T. Rex, manning the studio as always. And I want to welcome you to this episode of the Monday Report, which is being brought to you by, as always, the North American Hypnotherapy Guild. Scan the QR code, check out the website, become a member today, and as well as HypnoWorld magazine. That's right. Scan the QR code. Subscribe, excuse me, to the magazine to be in the know about all the things happening in the world of hypnosis. So that being said, welcome, welcome, welcome. Um spring issue is out. We're going to be sending those. Actually, came arrived here at the office uh just the other day. As a matter of fact, I'm going to be mailing those out. Uh full disclosure, we did have a little issue with the production on the spring run. We've talked to the printers, that has been solved. Oh, as we are always trying to put out a quality magazine for our readers. So um, you guys might notice a little uh one of the pages was out, isn't where it's supposed to be. Uh, they just didn't have time to do a reprint on that. So sorry about that, but we've talked to them, they've fixed the issue, and will not be happening again. But the summer issue is what we're working on right now. And before I go forward, I want to talk about the summer issue for a minute because what we're gonna be doing in the summer issue is we are going to be doing an in-depth look at the cost and economics of working in the hypnosis hypnotherapy field. Uh, so we're gonna be uh doing a lot with that. That's gonna be that's gonna be really at the forefront of the summer issue, given everything that is going on and the current situations that we find ourselves in, it's important to look at, to talk about, and to assess. So, yeah. That's a good cup of dew. And yeah, always got to have my coffee uh on the Monday report because I like it. And if you watch this on the replay, please put hashtag replay in the uh comment section so that we can give you a shout out. And I'm just gonna make sure that we're broadcasting everywhere that we should be broadcasting, and we are broadcasting on our Facebook page and on the YouTube page, and we are broadcasting live on the website at hypnoworldmagazine.com. So that is happening. Love it when a plan comes together and we are broadcasting in all the places we should be broadcasting in. So, um, really quick, upcoming this weekend, as a matter of fact. I believe this weekend. So, oh, hello Paula! Paula is here. So, yes, I grew my goatee back, Paula. Uh, it's been many years gone, but I grew it back. It's a little more white in it than I would like, but there it is. Um, so but upcoming this weekend, I believe, yes, it is Heartland Hypnosis Conference. And I'm gonna put that in the link so you guys can see that that's coming up. Uh, that's gonna be happening in St. Louis, I believe, there. Um, there's the link for you guys to check out. Went last year and had a great time. So, Heartland Hypnosis Conference, I think they've got about 45 speakers this year. So it's a it's a good lineup of speakers. Um and it is, I think, one of the one of the better conferences out there. Oddly enough, coming up in the same weekend is the Irish Hypnosis Conference. But as one is happening in um St. Louis and the other is happening in Ireland, as I throw that link up there for you, um, it is not a real big conflict of interest. I've been I went to the Irish Hypnosis Conference in 2025 and had a great time there. I should say the magazine went. We both went uh to cover both the Irish Hypnosis Conference and Heartland Hypnosis Conference, as we did articles about those in the magazine and do a lot of traveling, covering events coming up and going on throughout the year of uh hypnosis hypnotherapy field. So that is uh pretty much what we do with that. And I think last year we went to just about every conference and every event out there, covering them for the magazine and covering them for our readers. So it was a busy year for Hypno World Hypno World magazine and a busy year for me, as I travel a lot, and that's what we're talking about today. Traveling, excuse me. So okay, so let's get into it here this morning. Travel has become an issue, obviously, rising cash prices, um the TSA agents, uh agency being involved in that partial shutdown, and just um a lot of things happening in the world of travel, whether you're driving, whether you're flying, uh fuel prices are up, you know, airline tickets are up. Uh it has become something to really look at as I get comfortable in my chair there. Yeah. So uh so yeah. What am I talking about here today? Is this right? If you're a hypnotist, you're a hypnotherapist, uh, NLP, whatever you're working in in that field, stage hypnosis, travel can be an essential part of our business. I know it's an essential part of my business as a speaker and as uh the head guy, if you will, for Hypno World magazine. So that is a big thing, right? So that we see that hypnosis professionals and as hypnosis professionals, you know, conferences and live events can be essential, right? For education, visibility, networking, just marketing ourselves, marketing our business, our brand, visibility, and establishing author authority, right? You want to be seen as the authority in something. Um, however, travel to these events has become increasingly unpredictable. As you don't know, you know, is my flight going to be canceled? Um, am I gonna get held up in security? You know, has the price gone up? What have we got going on there? Flight delays, uh cancellations, um, staffing shortages, weather disruptions, uh just becoming more and more common each year. So, as millions of us fly out there, and they are, right? It's not just us, it's a lot of passengers are affected by these issues, ranging from the weather delays um to the operational staffing. And I will say this, I will say this weather delays. I've already experienced this. Uh, last year we went to the Performing Hypnosis Summit and had um a really great time out there. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna throw the QR code up there. That is the QR code for the Performing Hypnosis Summit coming up in January at the Gold Coast Casino. I'm gonna be there covering it for the magazine, and there's a possibility that I may or may not do a presentation. Um, so yes. It is really hits hard. Um, so what happened? Well, we got out there, we actually arrived a day early because I wanted or two days early, I think. I wanted to have a little time to kind of do some sightseeing in Las Vegas, see a show, go here, go there, do this. Unfortunately, the trip got cut short because of those winter storms last year. If many of you saw those or remember those, we actually had to fly out uh that Saturday night so to get home before the storms hit. Otherwise, I think we would have been stranded there, not stranded, but uh, we would have had to stay there an extra two, maybe three days. And my business partner just couldn't do it. Uh, obviously, has other uh responsibilities outside of the magazine and the North American Hypnotherapy Guild, so really couldn't do it. So we were affected by weather, which affected the conference, which means I've got to go. And um, I wasn't happy about that because I would have rather stayed and had at least another two days of working vacation, and that's kind of how I view it, is as a working vacation. So that weather impact, uh, that weather delay impacted me, and I I've seen that. Not only that, I think the year before that, I want to say I went to Heartland, no, not Heartland, excuse me. Um, Hypnoths, world's biggest hypnosis conference. And I didn't think I was gonna make it back. Uh, that was the year that the Microsoft shutdown happened, and it just massive, massive impact to flights. So I will say, I want to say this about Delta Airlines. Uh, they stepped up. I remember being there, I remember the young lady at the counter, and I can't imagine the pressure she was under. Uh, but they they found flight crews and they found a plane and they found a pilot and they found, and I was able to get back, but really, really scrambling to do so. So um those events can impact your travel, right? So if you're a presenter like me, as many of us are, um these disruptions can result in, you know, they missed speaking opportunities, lost revenue, uh, reputational risk. Oh, this person didn't come to my conference. Um, they said they were gonna be there and then they weren't. So now I've got to mess around with the schedule. I'm also an event coordinator. The good news is that um with the right strategies, and and I know you're about to go really damn the right strategies, but you can uh reduce those risks, right? So one strategy, first strategy, right? Book smart, as I often do. So let me just say this book smart, right? I use Expedia for a lot of my travel. Some people use Priceline, uh, some people actually go through the airline, but I like Expedia um for research. Now you can use Expedia. You don't have to book through Expedia, you don't have to book through Priceline, you don't have to book through Travago or anything like that, but you can use them for research. Um for, but not always for purchase, right? You know, you can platforms like Expedia and Priceline are powerful, and you can look around and see what the average price is right now. Why is that important? So you can use these for tools for comparing flights, building your itineraries, and finding bundle deals. Uh and that's always fun, right? You as as they um as these options come across the airlines uh and often surface, you get this competitive pricing, right? You know, and there's uh important considerations to be put in with this, right? When booking your flight. Yeah. When booking your flight. So third third-party platforms like Priceline, Travago, Expedia, um, they act as intermediaries. So if something goes wrong during disruptions, uh, airlines may require you to go back through that platform for changes. Now, this being said, um I've not had this delay a rebooking. I know that some people say that, oh, that can delay your rebooking when time is critical. But usually what happens even with the the weather, last year I got I received updates not only from Delta, but from Expedia. That's you know, well, I'll talk about that in a minute. Um, and I'll I'll show you here something in a minute, right? But yeah, you may have to go through that. Trip protection is offered with this. Um, I like to get that. I do like to get the trip protection. Um, so some of the best practices for speakers, as we all know, right? Here's some of them, right? You can use that expedient price line to research and compare. If you get a better price for that flight on Expedia or Price Line as opposed to the airline itself, um, you can do that, right? Or then you can book directly through the airline for greater control, if possible. And if the price does not change, sometimes it does, not always, but I've seen it. I've seen it. I've gone and looked at the price on Expedia and Priceline, and then I go back to Delta or I go back to United, and like, oh, that that's not the same price. That's that's more. So of course I'm gonna spend less money. Um, and this approach can uh provides both price awareness and greater flexibility when disruptions occur. But like I said, even with doing the expedia, even with doing that, um I've almost always been rebooked without having to do anything. Um, they will ask you, hey, do you want to use this, these options? Let's look, look, look, but or you can just take the rebooking that they give you. And you know, not that it's happened to me often, but it has happened and I have rebooked. So that becomes interesting when these disruptions occur. The other thing is sometimes you spend 12 hours in an Amsterdam airport, which I have. Uh so when choosing your flight, uh that choose your flights that are less likely to be disrupted. Not all flights present the same risk. So, how do you do that, right? Well, a couple things. Um, and the data cited by Expedia and some of the industry analysts shows that early morning flights have the less chance or the significantly fewer, I would say, uh, delays. And this is true. Uh, usually if I'm flying somewhere, like if I'm flying out to Las Vegas, uh, if I'm flying to Ireland, if I'm flying to St. Louis, which I have, but I've also driven to St. Louis, um, I tend to take the earliest flight I can. You know, I've been in the airport at four in the morning, two in the morning. I've been on the road at one o'clock in the morning, driving to the airport uh from my office to QuickPark, uh, which is the airport parking I use when I go to Detroit Metro Airport. Um, that's where I fly out of most of the time. Two hours and 44 minutes to get there. And boy, do I know that. Uh, that's another thing I do long-term parking, right? Find the one that's best for you. Uh, Quick Park there in uh Detroit seems to have been the best for me. I haven't had any issues with any of the vehicle there. I haven't had any issues. I can get it done online, I can um have it all paid for before I get there. So, yes. But getting back to flights, right? The afternoon flights, afternoon flights, they say tell me, are um 50% more likely to be delayed. And I know you're thinking um about the the fuel costs and those increased prices, and we are gonna be doing articles on that in the summer magazine coming up. And wondering what the long-term effect of that is gonna be, right? Right now, we know that fuel prices are up, the situation we find are in, the Strait of Hormuz uh being closed. Um, so we're looking at that, and we have reached out to Expedia, uh, to Priceline, Delta, and United for comment on that. We haven't got a comment back yet, but we've reached out uh for comment about that to those organizations or businesses so that when we're doing the article, we're hopefully having um some input from them. Hopefully. Because again, the summer issue is going to be dealing a lot with the economics of where we find ourselves at as practitioners, entrepreneurs, uh, presenters, speakers, travelers. So that'll be happening. And getting off of that for a moment and getting back to where we're going, midweek. Uh, I've often found that when I book a flight, when I do something like that, um, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, those tend to be more reliable and they also tend to be less expensive, right? If you're a presenter and you know you're gonna be flying out that weekend, you're gonna be presenting at a conference at weekend, such as um Heartland or Ireland or Hypnothoughts or um gosh, anywhere. So I tend to hey Brian Bay, hi sir. Uh my gas tank, my gas tank hurts too, Brian. So um, yes, it it is definitely feeling the pinch, right? So fly in a minimum, all right. Uh at least a day before minimum. I like to show up two days before, just so that um I've got that cushion. And I know what you're thinking, well, Dan, do I really have a a week to take away from my practice? Uh, do I have that time? And the answer should be yes, and I'll tell you why. Because going to a conference, going to a live event is investing in yourself, investing in your business, and is an open marketing opportunity. And it's completely tax deductible. I mean, whether you're doing it under travel, whether you're doing it under marketing as an expense, a lot of that I take off my taxes from that. You know, hey, I'm I'm marketing my business, I'm marketing the magazine, I'm marketing my practice, um, I'm marketing the guild, if you will. So, and making those all important connections. So that becomes uh fairly important. So, and you want to choose, and getting back to traveling, so choose the first flight of the day whenever possible. I do that all the time, even though my business partner doesn't always like that because it's very early, right? Avoid those tight connections, delays cascade quickly across the entire system, and this is important because airline networks are interconnected. A delay in one city can affect subsequent flights in another or nationwide. So you want to make sure that you're building in that cushion for your connection. Connecting flights. A lot of international travelers come over for us here to the Michigan Conference, to the heartland. I have flown over to the UK Hypnosis Conference, the Irish Hypnosis Conference. So I know that that travel is much more than just get on a plane and fly to Las Vegas or fly to um St. Louis. You really have to know that you're going to land at least two days prior. Um just because flying to the Irish Hypnosis Conference, uh, I think when I was there, I had to fly. Oh no, it was UK, because I had to fly from Michigan to Canada to um Heathrow Airport there, the London Heathrow Airport. So I left, I didn't want to say two days early, and I arrived because you couldn't across the dateline, and I arrived the day before the conference. So um that becomes issues, right? And gas again. Absolutely, Brian. Brian Bay, one of the great guys that uh works for the works on the performing hypnosis summit. Uh, and I'm looking forward to being out there in January of this year. Right. So moving on for a moment from the travel, right? Build a speaker buffer into your travel schedule. It's what I call the speaker buffer, right? Uh, common mistakes among presenters are scheduling travel too tightly, and I am afraid. And I'm sorry to say I've made that mistake. I have. I'm like, oh yeah, I'll fly out there the day before and it'll be fine. And you know, then all of a sudden there's a delay and a delay and a delay, and you're just like, oh man, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be late, or I'm gonna get in super late, um, and then I'm gonna be tired the next day, and I've got to present, and I've got to be on, I've got to be on my game. Um, so I'm gonna have to have a lot of coffee in the morning, take that, you know, a little hotter shower, maybe a cold shower to wake up. I don't know. But um, I've made those mistakes, and I will honestly say this I am done. Uh no more red eyes trying to do a red eye flight. I am 55 years old this year. Uh, this summer I'm gonna be 56. The the flying the red eye that has passed me by. Um, I would recommend don't do a red eye. Um, so yeah, don't do it. Right? Uh as I laugh. Uh so don't do that tight scheduling to yourself. Give yourself that time, right? That's those get those recent disruptions from the winter storms. Again, we go back to the staffing shortages that have caused thousands of delays. They just they don't have the people that they used to have working. So um, and those cancellations um can happen in a matter of days. So let's talk about professional strategy. So, again, we're arriving 24 hours early for important speaking engagements, especially like if you're the guy leading off the conference, like right after the keynote, or you are the keynote speaker, you want to be there two days ahead of time. So um for high-stakes presenters, consider that uh uh 48 hours early, right? Book the return flights with flexibility in case the event runs long. Uh, yeah, I like to like fly back like the day after if I can, like if it's all gonna be Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, I like to fly back on a Monday. Uh that way I'm there for the whole thing. Um and you can consider this, you can consider this an aspect of your professional reliability, not just travel planning, right? You minimize those connection risks and uh you get each additional flight in the segment for, yeah. If you get a additional flight, every time you're doing that, every connection, right? That increases your risk of disruption or being late, or missing that connection. So that becomes uh uh tell the people what you learned about Delta Sky Miles. Why you gotta do that, Brian? Why why you gotta go there? Why you gotta I'm not gonna tell the people what I learned about Delta Sky Miles. No, so yeah, not gonna do it. Um because I was wrong. But that's okay. Uh where was I, right? You missed those connections. Uh right. And and this is one of the most common uh travel issues, excuse me. Uh uh so when those delays accumulate across the network, it happens. Uh actually happened at Michigan. We had a speaker coming in and their flight got delayed, and their flight got delayed, and their flight got delayed, and I had to contact the individual that my point person at the hotel to change their hotel night. Um, and well, I put on my um uh I put on my uh my business hat and um took care of it. So yeah. But it happens. So what's the best thing you can do? Saving money, right? Prioritize nonstop flights, right? And I know you're gonna say, but Dan, don't those cost more? Well, yes and no, because if you look at it as, well, I've got one flight, one flight, one flight. You're taking three flights, um, you might actually wind up paying more as opposed to one nonstop flight. And then you have to also factor in the cost of professionalism, reliability. It those are the things that get you invited back to present at events, um, is just that reliability. So I like a nonstop flight. Plus, um, my business partner likes a non-stop flight. Uh, she does not like doing connections or exchanges. And so we compromise, and I do what Heather tells me to, right? So if a connecting allows longer layovers than recommended, like 12 hours in Amsterdam, uh, you want to avoid the tight airport transfer in those high traffic hubs. And there's a lot of them out there. Detroit Metro, Chicago, O'Hare. Um, these are some of their things that you've got out there. Uh London Heathrow, you know. So some of the travel experts, and we've talked to this with um Expedia, uh, recommend booking those non-stop routes whenever possible to minimize those cascading delays. Travel light, stay mobile. Uh, I don't always get to do that when I'm taking the um portable um set for the Hypno World magazine, the Monday report. So I don't always get to travel light, but when I do, I'm pretty happy about it. Which travel light, I mean, just you're taking your um carry-on, little carry-on suitcase. And if you're a presenter, for the love of all that is good, keep your laptop with you. Do not check that bad boy. Uh, I have had that come up at many conferences. I've actually twice, maybe three times, I've loaned presenters, other presenters, my laptop so that they could pull their presentation down off the cloud and do their presentation because they checked it through with the baggage and their bag got lost. So they didn't have it, they didn't have their laptop, they couldn't get to their presentation, they couldn't show their slides, they couldn't show their videos. So, me being me, hey, like borrow mine, it'll be fine. Um, and it saves you money in the long run, so that's always good. Because, right, lost luggage, tight connections, never good. So, and one of the other things I will say um is those delays in retrieving bags during rebooking. All right, increased time navigating the airports, and I've actually had that happen. I had to run um uh experienced speaker as I am, I went to the wrong gate, and then I looked down at my phone and realized I had to be all the way across the other airport, and I was I was hoofing to get there. So if you can travel with that carry-on only, um pack your presentation essentials, slides, adapters, notes, um in your in your travel bag, your computer bag, if you will, keep that with you. Um keep a backup copy of your materials on the cloud. I do that too. Something goes wrong, it's right there. And this ensures that even if your flight changes, um you can still deliver your presentation. So how do you how do you how do you as we're talking here on this particular Monday report, um make sure you know about your hotel, all right? I often book uh my hotel. Sometimes I will book the hotel if I'm going to a conference through Expedia, just so I can keep my gold level. Uh but most of your events will give you a discount rate. I think I did it's a$36 deposit um for performing Hypnosis Summit. And I think I booked the Canadian conference through Expedia, but there was no deposit on that that I had to do. I just booked the room and I pay for it when I get there. So that's another way to save money if you can, right? Sometimes you don't have to put up any money. Um, it's just like book the room, pay when you get to the site, and you're you're good. You know you got hotel room booked, you know you're gonna pay when you get there, you know one of the things that we got going on. So you know exactly how much you're paying. And you can use Expedia again to look at hotel expenses, um, resort fees, taxes. Make sure that you know exactly how much you're gonna spend. That actually happened to a friend of mine. I won't mention any names, but got to a conference, got to the hotel, and realized that with all the taxes and resort fees, that oh my goodness, this is eating up all my food money. So, yeah, make sure that you know that. And as we look at this, uh, because the summer travel season is about to start, the conference season is um on us for those of us that are presenters and travel throughout the year to these. Um, yeah, we know that, right? Heartland generally kicks things off, and now there's the Irish Hypnosis Conference, and then there's so many, but um Hypnoths is in the summer, and then in September, there's Michigan, October, there's the Canadian Hypnosis Conference, um, just a lot of them out there, so that we tend to go to these events and market ourselves throughout them. So that becomes really good. So if you are a passenger or you are a presenter and you want to respond quickly and have access to the best rebooking options, there are some tools to use. And here's where we're gonna get into my phone um airline mobile apps, they're critical if booked directly. Um, but if you use a third party, you're still gonna get those messages. Flight tracking apps, real-time updates. So if you look at my phone, and I'm just gonna pull it up. Sure, I am. Um, yeah, here we go. That's my app settings for it. Uh, and on this particular app, I've got Expedia, uh, I have Priceline, I have my uh Delta app KLM, which is the international partner uh for Delta, United, London Heathrow Airport, uh, Uber, Lyft. So for all these apps that I've got on my phone for traveling, I get those real-time updates, the gate changes, baggage, where that's at. You can track your bags, you know where they're gonna be. Um have them, have them, have them, even if you don't always use them. And from time to time, I'll just pull it up so it opens, so I don't get any delays. So, but use those tools. Update, update, update. Um, so you get those text messages, gate changes, schedule changes, flight changes, um, money, money, money is what we're talking about here. Saving money, saving time, saving frustrations. Uh, and I'm gonna imagine with fuel costs being up, we're gonna look. I should reach and we're gonna reach out to them, as a matter of fact. Uh, just thought about that. We're gonna reach out to Uber as well for um comment on the uh upcoming article because as those fuel costs have gone up, right? That means your Uber ride is going up. So prepare for that this year. Or if you use Lyft, um taxis are definitely gonna be up. Uh, yeah. So going back, I always get the lift, the lift, excuse me, trip protection, trap will insurance. This is just something good to have. Um, you get into your hotel stays, make sure that you are planning appropriately for that. Meals, right? Meals, food, you know, uh alternate flights, all this good stuff. So um that travel insurance can help you offset these costs if something happens, right? You you've got something there, you're not just out money, um, or you know, misconnections, uh, cancellations covered by those. You you're not just out money, also, and but check the policy, make sure you that you read through it. Um, so yeah. Have a virtual backup if options fail. Now we don't do um virtual at the Michigan, but I know that uh the performing hypnosis summit does virtual, they are a hybrid. Last year, however, we did have one presenter, and it wasn't because they couldn't travel. They I think yeah, they couldn't travel, they couldn't, they just couldn't make the conference. Um, so their fellow presenter asked, hey, would it be all right if I zoomed in my other presenter? And you know what? I was fine with that. Yes, uh, we are not a hybrid conference, but in that instance, I thought it would be okay. So that's something to consider. And if you get lost, call your coordinator, call your event coordinator, right? Um, so so that's kind of what we're talking about this year, is to make sure that you are saving as much money as you possibly can because we know that airline travel is gonna be up. We do not look for it to rebound right away. Um, I am gonna say, I'm going out on a limb here and saying that fuel prices, even if they get something done with the Strait of Hormuz and the gas prices start coming down, you're not gonna be seeing that rebound until after September. I'm going out on a limb, and which is bad for us. Um, so yeah, save every dime everywhere you can. That is my suggestion. So wanna thank you guys for being here today as we talk about this on the Monday report, and we're gonna continue to watch this. We're gonna continue to watch the trends, watch fuel prices, watch the travel trends. Why do we do that here on Hypno World magazine? It is because of this. There are hundreds, thousands of hypnotists and hypnotherapists traveling throughout the year to go to live events, training, um, traveling to do shows, traveling to um do all the things we do in hypnosis and hypnotherapy. I know we tend to think of ourselves as always in our office, working with clients one-on-one, on Zoom, online, and that's what we do. But at the same time, we're also driving, we're in an airport, we're in a hotel, we're at a conference, we're presenting knowledge, we're sharing that. So this becomes an expense, and that expense has to be mediated and recovered. So, anyways, you guys have a good day. Stay safe, and as always, I will see you out there.