Triangle Trip

Now there’s all the more reason to room hop for those extra nights! SPG is offering free Internet service to Platinum members:

“As a Platinum member, you have access to our highest level of benefits, which now includes complimentary in-room Internet access. Now when you travel with SPG you’ll enjoy in-room Internet access — on us — at any of our more than 940 participating properties worldwide.”

In addition to the free Internet access, you can get double, triple, and quadruple Starwood points between now and March 31, 2010. Check out my previous post in case you have missed it. Enjoy!

Most hotels charge $10 to $15 per night for Internet service. Furthermore, the Internet connections at hotels are spotty – especially wireless connections. Companies and consulting firms generally reimburse their employees for in-room Internet access because it is work related or expects the employee to be doing something billable when they are in their hotel rooms.

If you are frequent traveler staying at hotels and accessing the Internet for at least 5 nights a month, you have enough budget to get a mobile broadband card from Sprint or Verizon for the same price ($50 a month). The mobile broadband cards from Sprint and Verizon offer faster service and allow you to access the Web or your corporate network when your clients doesn’t allow you on their network. Additionally, you can access the Web and your corporate network while you’re idle at the airport or at a Starbucks. A full day Wifi pass at an airport or Starbucks is around $10.

So internal finance team or auditors, you need to wake up and smell the coffee. Let your consultants and employees charge in the $50 a month for a mobile broadband card because it actually saves your company and clients money. Five Internet access at a hotel, Starbucks, airport or any where for paid wifi will pay for the mobile broadband card monthly fee (of $50). Clients should also realize they are paying their consultants less when they reimburse for mobile broadband cards vs paying for the nightly Internet charges. I have used this business case at my prior employer and was able to get this through the corporate bureaucracy. I urge our readers to try the same. FYI, I own a Sprint card for nearly 3 years and love the freedom of mobile broadband.