My wife is a modern-day road warrior.
When she goes on a business trip, she typically brings her laptop, her cellphone, her portable DVD player, our 5-year-son and me.
One in six business travelers takes the spouse along, and one in 10 takes the kids too, according to the Travel Industry Association of America.
“It goes along with the trend of tacking fun and leisure onto business trips,” said Eileen Ogintz, a nationally syndicated travel columnist. Ogintz is the author of “Taking the Kids” travel guides and also a paid spokeswoman for The Homewood Suites by Hilton.
Homewood, designed for business travelers, claims that 25 percent of its guests are showing up with spouses and kids.
“People are feeling so pressed by work,” Ogintz said. “So if the company is going to pay for a flight and the hotel, and it’s at a nice place, why not grab a little time with the kids?”
My wife and I look at it this way: Who wants to die in a plane crash alone? If our plane goes down, at least we won’t be eternally separated. Our son is too young to contemplate such post-9/11 fears. He laughs with delight when our plane hits severe turbulence, like it’s an amusement park ride.
The frequent-flier miles and hotel points that road warriors collect can make it affordable to bring the whole family on business trips.
“It’s not uncommon to see kids reaching ‘premier level,”‘ a lofty designation for frequent fliers, Frontier Airlines spokesman Andrew Hudson said.
Frontier’s fleet of new Airbus jets features televisions in every seatback.
“We have three cartoon channels, Animal Planet, TV Land and lot of other selections for kids,” Hudson said. “We don’t have half the problems of screaming kids who get bored on the flights.”
Kids are often in the entourages of business guests at Denver’s finest hotels.
The Westin Tabor Center Hotel has bikes, strollers and a “Kids Club” for guests, general manager Dani Stern said.
“It’s a wonderful thing when parents have an opportunity to spend time with their children while being on the road and taking care of business,” said Allen Seott, guest services manager at the new J.W. Marriott in Cherry Creek North.
Whatever happened to the days when guys went to conventions so they could party at strip clubs?
Now even conventions are offering amenities for children.
A San Diego company called Kiddie Corp offers day care and activities for kids of all ages at conventions, trade shows and corporate events across North America. The business grows every year, said sales manager Kristin Long, after telling her child to “sssshhh.” She said she always takes her kid to the office.
As a side benefit of my wife’s business travels, my son has been nearly 20 times to Disneyland and Disney World. He has visited the Statue of Liberty, the Sears Tower and the Seattle Space Needle.
He once met rocker Eddie Van Halen at Ivy by the Shore, a restaurant catering to the stars in Santa Monica, Calif. And he recently went backstage to meet the stars of the Broadway musical “All Shook Up.”
My son recently helped me charm my way into an interview in Seattle with Peter Nordstrom of Nordstrom department store fame. A Nordstrom’s PR woman said she was wary about granting me an interview.
When I told her I would have to bring my 5-year-old to Nordstrom’s corporate headquarters, she eased up. How tough could I be if I was toting a kid around?
Experts say it’s OK to bring kids on business trips but not to business meetings. Not everyone thinks kids are cute. And even if people do find them cute, they’re still a distraction.
My son drew on the white board in the meeting room and immediately took charge when Peter Nordstrom arrived.
“My mom bought me this shirt and these boots at Nordstrom,” he told Peter Nordstrom.
“You can come here any time,” Nordstrom chuckled graciously.
I had to slap headphones over my kid’s head and plug him into a DVD player to keep him from dominating the interview.
But at least I got the interview.
Al Lewis’ column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at 303-820-1967 or alewis@denverpost.com.
